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OAuth - Overview

Zoho REST APIs use the OAuth 2.0 protocol to authorize and authenticate calls. It provides secure access to protect resources thereby reducing the hassle of asking for a username and password every time a user logs in. Follow the steps listed here, to access Zoho APIs using OAuth 2.0.

Note: The API URLs in this section should be modified, based on your domain.

 

Data Center                                    Domain                           Base API URI                           
United States .comhttps://accounts.zoho.com/
Europe.euhttps://accounts.zoho.eu/
India.inhttps://accounts.zoho.in/

 

Step 1: Registering New Client

You will have to first register your application with Zoho's Developer console in order get your Client ID and Client Secret.
 

To register your application, go to https://accounts.zoho.com/developerconsole and click on Add Client ID. Provide the required details to register your application.
 

On successful registration, you will be provided with a set of OAuth 2.0 credentials such as a Client ID  and Client Secret that are known to both Zoho and your application. Do not share this credentials anywhere.

Step 2: Generating Grant Token

Redirect to the following authorization URL with the given params

https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v1/auth?

Parameter                              Description                                                                                        
scope *SCOPE for which the token to be generated. Multiple scopes can be given which has to be separated by commas. Ex : ZohoIOT.modules.devices.ALL,ZohoIOT.modules.assets.ALL
client_id *Client ID obtained during Client Registration
stateAn opaque string that is round-tripped in the protocol; ie., whatever value given to this will be passed back to you.
response_type *code
redirect_uri *One of the redirect URI given in above step. This param should be same redirect url mentioned while registering the Client
access_typeThe allowed values are offline and  online  access_type gives your application only the access_token which is valid for one hour. The   offline access_type will give the application an access_token as well as a refresh_token. By default it is taken as  offline  
promptPrompts for user consent each time your app tries to access user credentials. Ex:  consent 

Note: Fields with * are mandatory

On this request, you will be shown with a "user consent page".

Upon clicking “Accept”, Zoho will redirect to the given redirect_uri with code and state param. This code value is mandatory to get the access token in the next step and this code is valid for 60 seconds.

On clicking “Deny”, the server returns an error

Request Example

Copiedhttps://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/auth?

To be modified
scope=ZohoIOT.modules.devices.ALL,ZohoIOT.modules.assets.ALL&client_id=1000.0SRSxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx239V&state=testing&response_type=code&redirect_uri=http://www.zoho.com/books&access_type=offline 

Step 3: Generate Access And Refresh Token

https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token?

Parameter                           Description                                                                                        
code *code which is obtained in the above step
client_id *Client ID obtained during Client Registration
client_secret *Client secret obtained during Client Registration
redirect_uri *This param should be same redirect url mentioned while adding Client
grant_type *authorization_code 
scopeSCOPE for which token to be generated. E.g. :  ZohoIOT.iotfullaccess.ALL. Multiple scopes has to be separated by commas.
stateAn opaque string that is round-tripped in the protocol; that is to say, value will be passed back to you.

 

Note: Fields with * are mandatory

In the response, you will get bothaccess_token and refresh_token.

1. The access_token will expire after a particular period (as given in expires_in param the response).

2. The  refresh_token  is permanent and will be used to regenerate new access_token  if the current access token is expired.

Note: Each time a re-consent page is accepted, a new refresh token is generated. The maximum limit is 20 refresh tokens per user. If this limit is crossed, the first refresh token is automatically deleted to accommodate the latest one. This is done irrespective of whether the first refresh token is in use or not.

 

Request Example

Copiedhttps://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token?code=1000.dd7exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx9bb8.b6c0xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxdca4&client_id=1000.0SRSxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx239V&client_secret=fb01xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx8abf&redirect_uri=http://www.zoho.com/books&grant_type=authorization_code 

 

Step 4: Generate Access Token From Refresh Token

Access Tokens have limited validity. In most general cases the access tokens expire in one hour. Until then, the access token has unlimited usage. Once it expires, your app will have to use the refresh token to request for a new access token. Redirect to the following POST URL with the given params to get a new access token.

https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token?

 

Parameter                           Description                                                                                        
refresh_token *REFRESH TOKEN which is obtained in the above step
client_id *Client ID obtained during Client Registration
client_secret *Client secret obtained during Client Registration
redirect_uri *This param should be same redirect url mentioned while adding Client
grant_type *refresh_token 

Request Example

Copiedhttps://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token?refresh_token=1000.8ecdxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx5cb7.4638xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxebdc&client_id=1000.0SRSxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx239V&client_secret=fb01xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx8abf&redirect_uri=http://www.zoho.com/books&grant_type=refresh_token

Step 5: Revoking A Refresh Token

To revoke a refresh token, call the following POST URL with the given params

https://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/revoke?

Parameter                           Description                                                                                        
tokenREFRESH TOKEN which is to be revoked

Step 6: Calling An API

Access Token can be passed only in header and cannot be passed in the request param.

  • Header name should be  Authorization
  • Header value should be   Zoho-authtoken {access_token}
     

Example Request

Copiedhttps://accounts.zoho.com/oauth/v2/token/revoke?token=1000.8ecdxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx5cb7.4638xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxebdc