What is API Authentication? Definition and Working

What is OAuth (Open Authorization) ?

Last Updated : 01 Nov, 2023

OAuth (Open Authorization)

is an open standard protocol for authorization of an application for using user information, in general, it allows a third party application access to user related info like name, DOB, email or other required data from an application like Facebook, Google etc. without giving the third party app the user password. It is pronounced as

oh-auth

. You might have seen a “login with Google” or “login with Facebook” button on the login/signup page of a website that makes easier to get using the service or website by simply logging into one of the services and grant the client application permission to access your data without giving Password. This is done with the OAuth.

It is designed to work with

HTTP(Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)

and it allows access tokens to be issued to the third party application by an authorization server with the approval from the owner. There are 3 Components in

OAuth Mechanism

–

OAuth Provider – This is the OAuth provider Eg. Google, FaceBook etc.
OAuth Client – This is the website where we are sharing or authenticating the usage of our information. Eg. GeeksforGeeks etc.
Owner – The user whose login authenticates sharing of information.

OAuth can be implemented via google console for “Login/Sign Up with Google” on a web app.

Pattern to be Followed

–

Get OAuth 2.0 Client ID from Google API Console
Next, Obtain an access token from the Google Authorization Server to access the API.
Send the request with the access token to an API .
Get Refresh token if longer access is required.

What is API Authentication? Definition and Working

M

MayankKhare

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