Facebook Graph API: Client side requests without user login? - javascript

I'm trying to get graph api data for public Facebook events rendered in an html document. The site I need to put it on is made with a website builder so I don't have control over the server that generates the html. I can only insert JavaScript code into the page.
The only solution I've found now is by using an app access_token in the client side request:
FB.api(
"/<event_id>?fields=start_time,description",
function (response) {
if (response && !response.error) {
console.log(response.start_time, response.description);
}
},
{access_token: "<app access token>"}
);
I've read through the docs on access tokens
and the JavaScript sdk docs, but the app token solution I've found is not secure (from the docs):
... app access token should never be hard-coded into client-side code.
I don't think the user access token is the flow I want because I don't want people to have to log in; it's only for public events. I don't think the page access token is right either.
Is there:
a way to use the Graph API for public events without requiring a user to log in or without introducing an insecurity?
or a way to make sharing my app access token with the world have no bad consequences?

Related

Google api php client code not return refresh token

I have been trying to get refresh token from google api using javascript google client " code " that google return from client side. It returns me the code which i send to the server side. Now from server side i am sending the code to get the refresh token and access token using using google-api-php-client with this call :
https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v4/token
While i use the same code from google playground i get the response with refresh token as well but i do not get it from my own server..
This is the code
public function getRefreshToken($code)
{
$client = new Google_Client();
$client->setClientId(config('services.google.client_id'));
$client->setClientSecret(config('services.google.client_secret'));
$client->setRedirectUri('postmessage');
$client->setScopes(config('services.google.scopes'));
$client->setAccessType("offline");
$client->setApprovalPrompt("force");
dd($client->authenticate($code));
dd($client->getRefreshToken());
return ;
}
I have set access type to offline as mentioned in some answers but still i get the response with our refresh token.. this is the response
access_token :"xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
created:1510242052
expires_in:3598
id_token:"xxxxxxxx"
token_type:"Bearer"
Your php code looks fine to me. I suspect your front end javascript, specifically the link to google that it builds, may be to blame. Whether the authorization_code produces a refresh token when redeemed is partially dependent on what parameters are included in the initial link to Google.
As detailed in this answer, the javascript client library uses "client side flow". Normally in a front end app you'd specify response_type=token, but if you specify response_type=code, instead, you'll get a code back. But when redeemed, that code will not produce a refresh token.
For example, a link built by a front end javascript library might look like this:
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?client_id=7xxxxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxxxxx.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=http://localhost:8080/oauth2callback.php&response_type=code&scope=profile
Your back end can redeem the code that comes back, but the response will not include a refresh token. This is by design.
One way to get a code that is eligible for refresh tokens, would be to use the back end PHP client library to build the link, rather than the javascript client library. $client->createAuthUrl() will build a link like this:
https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?response_type=code&access_type=offline&client_id=7xxxxxxxxxx-hxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8080%2Foauth2callback.php&state&scope=profile&approval_prompt=force
This toy example builds the link this way and does receive refresh tokens.
Note the addition of access_type=offine and approval_prompt=force. After successful authentication, the redirect in this case includes a code that does provide a refresh token when redeemed.
The OAuth 2.0 playground builds an initial link that contains access_type=offline and prompt=consent, which also creates a code that is redeemable for a refresh token.
If this isn't helpful, perhaps you could update the question with the link to google that your front end is building? (With client id redacted, of course)

Google OAuth2 JS can't get Authorization Code

I have a custom Google Sign In button in React (follows branding guidelines) that I need to implement into a web app. The android app already has Google Sign In implemented with the BE and requires the authorization code to be sent to the BE. I seem to have trouble accessing the authorization code (I can get the access token, id, and id_token fairly easily though).
I initialize as such:
static googleInit (googleSignInID) {
gapi.load('auth2', () => {
ThirdPartyLogInApi.auth2 = gapi.auth2.init({
// Retrieve the singleton for the GoogleAuth library and set up the client.
client_id: `${googleSignInID}.apps.googleusercontent.com`,
})
})
}
In my React component, I attach a click handler to a React ref (as I've seen in other stackoverflow problems).
componentDidMount () {
// element, options, success, failure
ThirdPartyLogInApi.auth2.attachClickHandler(
this.button,
{},
this.onGoogleSuccess,
this.setProcessingToFalse
);
}
In the success callback (this.onGoogleSuccess), I am able to call googleUser.getBasicProfile() to get user information and googleUser.getAuthResponse(true) to get id_token and access_token, but I need the authorization code too.
I'm at my wits end with Google's documentation on this - can someone point me in the right direction? I don't want to switch the entire auth flow to use gapi.auth2.authorize, as I do need the user information.
Thanks
EDIT: Is it even possible to access the authorization code? It seems like Google abstracts away that step and just returns the id_token right away. I just need something that looks like:
4/RQFWJLGd3sJQrgxuRaguzJy2yiUV4fAqVGftRSUYuqc

Making server to server request to Google Calendar API

I am building a SPA using vue.js which has a PHP backend server (slim framework 3). These are two separate projects, leave on two different servers and the backend has no front end at all.
SPA (vue.js) makes requests to backend via ajax.
Now I want to implement Google Calendar API to create a calendar and events every time user creates a todo item. To do that I need server to server access to Google Calendar API (I might need to make changes to the event on GCAL even if user is not logged in).
What I am trying to understand, how can I get the access token (and refresh token) using Google JS library using vue.js and save this in the db so that my backend can use it to make offline requests to GCAL Api.
When I use the Oauth v.2 using the JS library, all I get is the access_token which cannot be using for server to server communications.
[UPDATE]
Ok, a little bit more information. I am following the guides from Google and my front end looks like this at the moment
jsbin
So I can successfully authorise user and access their calendar using the javascript sdk. But the token Javascript SDK returns is something like this
{
_aa: "1"
access_token: "xxxxxxx"
client_id: "yyyyyyyyyy"
cookie_policy: undefined
expires_at: "1456400189"
expires_in: "3600"
g_user_cookie_policy: undefined
issued_at: "1456396589"
response_type: "token"
scope: "https://www.googleapis.com/auth/calendar"
state: ""
status: Object
google_logged_in: false
method: "AUTO"
signed_in: true
token_type: "Bearer"
}
I send this token to my backend server and try to make a request to GCAL api as follows
$token = $request->getParam('token');
$client = new Google_Client();
$client->setApplicationName('Web');
$client->setScopes([Google_Service_Calendar::CALENDAR]);
$client->setAuthConfigFile(ROOT_DIR . '/client_secret.json');
$client->setAccessType('offline');
$client->setAccessToken(json_encode($token));
$service = new Google_Service_Calendar($client);
$calendarId = 'primary';
$optParams = array(
'maxResults' => 10,
'orderBy' => 'startTime',
'singleEvents' => TRUE,
'timeMin' => date('c'),
);
$results = $service->events->listEvents($calendarId, $optParams);
And it returns error saying the token is expired. I checked the Google Code and found out the reason it returns this error is because of these lines
public function isAccessTokenExpired()
{
if (!$this->token || !isset($this->token['created'])) {
return true;
}
// If the token is set to expire in the next 30 seconds.
$expired = ($this->token['created']
+ ($this->token['expires_in'] - 30)) < time();
return $expired;
}
As you can see the token that comes from the front end doesn't have created field as well as no refresh_token field.
Thanks for updating the question! I am thinking the issue is that using the client-side flow does not allow you to get a refresh token. From the docs:
OAuth 2.0 client-side flow (AKA Implicit flow) is used to obtain
access tokens (it does not support the issuance of refresh tokens) and
is optimized for public clients known to operate a particular
redirection URI. These clients are typically implemented in a browser
using a scripting language such as JavaScript.
The authorization server MUST NOT issue a refresh token.
see for more: How to get refresh token while using Google API JS Client
You'd need to use the server-auth flow to get a token you can refresh and use long-term. Here's a quickstart guide for PHP.
One other thing to consider is that you will only receive a refresh_token the first time someone authorizes your app. After that, auth attempts will only return an access token. So if you lose the refresh token, you will need to either disable the authorization from your google account, or use the "force re-auth" option in the API.

Get an access token without being connected to facebook

I need to retrieve a facebook page's list of posts (feed) using their javascript SDK, just like they explain in their docs: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/reference/v2.4/page/feed
/* make the API call */
FB.api(
"/{page-id}/posts",
function (response) {
if (response && !response.error) {
/* handle the result */
}
}
);
I need it to be my website's "news section", so users should see it even if they are not connected to facebook.
The problem
Cool, but there is a problem... It returns: An access token is required to request this resource.
Holy cow... I'd like to get some access token for you #facebook, but my app doesn't make use of your authentication tools/plugins.
ANYWAY, I tried with FB.getLoginStatus(); but doesn't work, because the only way it can return an access_token is if the user is actually connected to the application. My users may not even be logged to facebook!
So, ¿How can I get an access_token to be stored into a variable, and later be used to get /{my-page}/posts?
I've already payed a look to this SO question, but it doesn't solves my problem, simply because there are no such "generic tokens".
I've also read https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/access-tokens/ and that also relies on tokens generated through facebook login methods... So, can't I display a list of fb page's posts in my website, without being connected into facebook, hence an application?
ADD: My app is build with angularJS, I'm not dealing with server-side code. I shall rely purely on javascript methods.
You could either use an page or an app access token, but as you'd be using them on the client-side, neither of them are an option.
See
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/access-tokens#apptokens
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/facebook-login/access-tokens#pagetokens
Note that because this request uses your app secret, it must never be made in client-side code or in an app binary that could be decompiled. It is important that your app secret is never shared with anyone. Therefore, this API call should only be made using server-side code.
I'd strongly recommend to build a simple server-side script (PHP for example) to proxy the request to the Graph API. You could then call this via AJAX for example and load the posts asynchronously (and alse get rid of the FB JS SDK!). There is NO way to handle this in a secure manner if you don't want to use FB Login for all of your users (which also doesn't make much sense IMHO).
I think it's straightforward :)
Since pages' posts are always public, it only needs a valid access token to retrieve page posts.
Quoting what you've written:
So, ¿How can I get an access_token to be stored into a variable, and later be used to get /{my-page}/posts?
You only require an access token.
My suggestion would be;
- Generate an access token for yourself (no extra permission needed)
- request page-id/posts
This way you don't require other users to be connected to facebook, you can simply requests page-id/posts to retrieve posts with access token you generated for yourself.
I hope it solves your problem :D
TIP: As long as posts are public, you only require a valid access token, it doesn't need to be user or page specific.

Using Facebook Javascript SDK to get Graph Data

FIXED NOW! But I can't answer my own question yet. See my comment below. And thanks for helping.
I've searched and searched and read the docs and still can't figure this out.
I have a web page about an event. There's also a public Facebook "event" for my event. I'm trying to use the FB Javascript SDK to get the number of attendees for the Facebook event and add it to the number of people who've registered through the website.
I've created an app and I have an appID and secret string. I can get an access token from:
https://graph.facebook.com/oauth/access_token?client_id=XXXX&client_secret=XXXXX&grant_type=client_credentials
and I can then use that access token to get the attendees for a public event:
https://graph.facebook.com/331218348435/attending?access_token=XXXXXXXXX
That's all fine.
I'm now trying to do this same thing using the Javascript SDK.
I've loaded the SDK and done an init:
FB.init({
appId : 'XXXXXXXX',
status : true, // check login status
cookie : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session
xfbml : true // parse XFBML
});
and I know the SDK is working because I can get an object with the data that doesn't need an access token:
FB.api( '/331218348435', function (response) { console.log ( response ) } );
but when I try to get the attendee data that needs the access token:
FB.api( '/331218348435/attending', function (response) { console.log ( response ) } );
I get an OAuthException: "An access token is required to request this resource."
All the tutorials and information I can find all refers to using the .login method, but I don't want a user to login, I want to login using my app ID without any user interaction.
I'd assumed that the API took the SDK's init request and granted me an access token when I called the .init method, the authentication being done against my website's address (the HTTP referrer - yes I have set my website URL in the Facebook app settings).
Any ideas what might be causing this to not work? How can I get the access token using the Javascript SDK without doing a .login? Am I missing a step? Is this even possible?
Thanks
Form what the rather circular documentations says, getting the attending feed requires a 'generic access_token`. In Facebook terms:
Any valid access_token
Any valid access token returned by our APIs. An access token may not be valid if, for example, it has expired. No special permissions are required. Occasionally, this is referred to as a generic access_token.
So this means that you can use any token you like to access the attending feed, as long as the event is public. The easiest access token to get seems to be an app token: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/#applogin. You can get this token using only your App ID and Secret, and no user interaction is required.
To summerise the link content: You can get an application access token by sending a GET request to
https://graph.facebook.com/oauth/access_token?client_id=YOUR_APP_ID&client_secret=YOUR_APP_SECRET&grant_type=client_credentials
You can then use that access_token to make the call for you attending list
FB.api('MyEvent/attending?access_token=ACCESS_TOKEN');
Oh. OK.
Well, for whatever reason, I went away and had my dinner and when I come back it's working fine.
When I updated the settings for my app Facebook said it might take a few minutes for the change to get around the servers. Turned out to take over an hour!
My code was fine.
Thanks for your help.

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