Using OAuth 2.0 for JavaScript Web Applications

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

Generate a URL to request access from Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoint at https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth. This endpoint is accessible over HTTPS; plain HTTP connections are refused.

The Google authorization server supports the following query string parameters for web server applications:

Sample redirect to Google's authorization server

The sample URL below requests offline access (access_type=offline) to a scope that permits access to retrieve the user's YouTube Analytics reports. It uses incremental authorization to ensure that the new access token covers any scopes to which the user previously granted the application access. The URL also sets values for the required redirect_uri, response_type, and client_id parameters as well as for the state parameter. The URL contains line breaks and spaces for readability.

https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?
 scope=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fyt-analytics.readonly&
 include_granted_scopes=true&
 state=state_parameter_passthrough_value&
 redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Foauth2callback&
 response_type=token&
 client_id=client_id

After you create the request URL, redirect the user to it.

JavaScript sample code

The following JavaScript snippet shows how to initiate the authorization flow in JavaScript without using the Google APIs Client Library for JavaScript. Since this OAuth 2.0 endpoint does not support Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS), the snippet creates a form that opens the request to that endpoint.

/*
 * Create form to request access token from Google's OAuth 2.0 server.
 */
function oauthSignIn() {
  // Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoint for requesting an access token
  var oauth2Endpoint = 'https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth';

  // Create <form> element to submit parameters to OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
  var form = document.createElement('form');
  form.setAttribute('method', 'GET'); // Send as a GET request.
  form.setAttribute('action', oauth2Endpoint);

  // Parameters to pass to OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
  var params = {'client_id': 'YOUR_CLIENT_ID',
                'redirect_uri': 'YOUR_REDIRECT_URI',
                'response_type': 'token',
                'scope': 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly',
                'include_granted_scopes': 'true',
                'state': 'pass-through value'};

  // Add form parameters as hidden input values.
  for (var p in params) {
    var input = document.createElement('input');
    input.setAttribute('type', 'hidden');
    input.setAttribute('name', p);
    input.setAttribute('value', params[p]);
    form.appendChild(input);
  }

  // Add form to page and submit it to open the OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
  document.body.appendChild(form);
  form.submit();
}

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

The OAuth 2.0 server sends a response to the redirect_uri specified in your access token request.

If the user approves the request, then the response contains an access token. If the user does not approve the request, the response contains an error message. The access token or error message is returned on the hash fragment of the redirect URI, as shown below:

• An access token response:

  https://oauth2.example.com/callback#access_token=4/P7q7W91&token_type=Bearer&expires_in=3600

  In addition to the access_token parameter, the fragment string also contains the token_type parameter, which is always set to Bearer, and the expires_in parameter, which specifies the lifetime of the token, in seconds. If the state parameter was specified in the access token request, its value is also included in the response.

• An error response:

  https://oauth2.example.com/callback#error=access_denied

Sample OAuth 2.0 server response

You can test this flow by clicking on the following sample URL, which requests read-only access to view metadata for files in your Google Drive:

https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?
 scope=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fyt-analytics.readonly&
 include_granted_scopes=true&
 state=state_parameter_passthrough_value&
 redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%2Foauth2callback&
 response_type=token&
 client_id=client_id

After completing the OAuth 2.0 flow, you will be redirected to http://localhost/oauth2callback. That URL will yield a 404 NOT FOUND error unless your local machine happens to serve a file at that address. The next step provides more detail about the information returned in the URI when the user is redirected back to your application.

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

After your application obtains an access token, you can use the token to make calls to a Google API on behalf of a given user account if the scope(s) of access required by the API have been granted. To do this, include the access token in a request to the API by including either an access_token query parameter or an Authorization HTTP header Bearer value. When possible, the HTTP header is preferable, because query strings tend to be visible in server logs. In most cases you can use a client library to set up your calls to Google APIs (for example, when calling the YouTube Analytics API).

Note that the YouTube Analytics API does not support the service account flow. The YouTube Reporting API supports service accounts only for YouTube content owners that own and manage multiple YouTube channels, such as record labels and movie studios.

You can try out all the Google APIs and view their scopes at the OAuth 2.0 Playground.

HTTP GET examples

A call to the reports.query endpoint (the YouTube Analytics API) using the Authorization: Bearer HTTP header might look like the following. Note that you need to specify your own access token:

GET /youtube/analytics/v1/reports?ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views HTTP/1.1
Host: www.googleapis.com
Authorization: Bearer access_token

Here is a call to the same API for the authenticated user using the access_token query string parameter:

GET https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports?access_token=access_token&ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views

curl examples

You can test these commands with the curl command-line application. Here's an example that uses the HTTP header option (preferred):

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer access_token" https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports?ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views

Or, alternatively, the query string parameter option:

curl https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports?access_token=access_token&ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views

JavaScript sample code

The code snippet below demonstrates how to use CORS (Cross-origin resource sharing) to send a request to a Google API. This example does not use the Google APIs Client Library for JavaScript. However, even if you are not using the client library, the CORS support guide in that library's documentation will likely help you to better understand these requests.

In this code snippet, the access_token variable represents the token you have obtained to make API requests on the authorized user's behalf. The complete example demonstrates how to store that token in the browser's local storage and retrieve it when making an API request.

var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET',
    'https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports?ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views&' +
    'access_token=' + params['access_token']);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function (e) {
  console.log(xhr.response);
};
xhr.send(null);

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

This code sample demonstrates how to complete the OAuth 2.0 flow in JavaScript without using the Google APIs Client Library for JavaScript. The code is for an HTML page that displays a button to try an API request. If you click the button, the code checks to see whether the page has stored an API access token in your browser's local storage. If so, it executes the API request. Otherwise, it initiates the OAuth 2.0 flow.

For the OAuth 2.0 flow, the page follows these steps:

1. It directs the user to Google's OAuth 2.0 server, which requests access to the https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly scope.
2. After granting (or denying) access to one or more requested scopes, the user is redirected to the original page, which parses the access token from the fragment identifier string.

3. The page uses the access token to make the sample API request.

   This API request calls the YouTube Analytics API's reports.query method to retrieve view counts for the authorized user's YouTube channel.

4. If the request executes successfully, the API response is logged in the browser's debugging console.

You can revoke access to the app through the Permissions page for your Google Account. The app will be listed as OAuth 2.0 Demo for Google API Docs.

To run this code locally, you need to set values for the YOUR_CLIENT_ID and YOUR_REDIRECT_URI variables that correspond to your authorization credentials. The YOUR_REDIRECT_URI variable should be set to the same URL where the page is being served. The value must exactly match one of the authorized redirect URIs for the OAuth 2.0 client, which you configured in the API Console Credentials page. If this value doesn't match an authorized URI, you will get a redirect_uri_mismatch error. Your project must also have enabled the appropriate API for this request.

<html><head></head><body>
<script>
  var YOUR_CLIENT_ID = 'REPLACE_THIS_VALUE';
  var YOUR_REDIRECT_URI = 'REPLACE_THIS_VALUE';

  // Parse query string to see if page request is coming from OAuth 2.0 server.
  var fragmentString = location.hash.substring(1);
  var params = {};
  var regex = /([^&=]+)=([^&]*)/g, m;
  while (m = regex.exec(fragmentString)) {
    params[decodeURIComponent(m[1])] = decodeURIComponent(m[2]);
  }
  if (Object.keys(params).length > 0 && params['state']) {
    if (params['state'] == localStorage.getItem('state')) {
      localStorage.setItem('oauth2-test-params', JSON.stringify(params) );

      trySampleRequest();
    } else {
      console.log('State mismatch. Possible CSRF attack');
    }
  }

  // Function to generate a random state value
  function generateCryptoRandomState() {
    const randomValues = new Uint32Array(2);
    window.crypto.getRandomValues(randomValues);

    // Encode as UTF-8
    const utf8Encoder = new TextEncoder();
    const utf8Array = utf8Encoder.encode(
      String.fromCharCode.apply(null, randomValues)
    );

    // Base64 encode the UTF-8 data
    return btoa(String.fromCharCode.apply(null, utf8Array))
      .replace(/\+/g, '-')
      .replace(/\//g, '_')
      .replace(/=+$/, '');
  }

  // If there's an access token, try an API request.
  // Otherwise, start OAuth 2.0 flow.
  function trySampleRequest() {
    var params = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('oauth2-test-params'));
    if (params && params['access_token']) {
      var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
      xhr.open('GET',
          'https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports?ids=channel%3D%3DMINE&start-date=2016-05-01&end-date=2016-06-30&metrics=views&' +
          'access_token=' + params['access_token']);
      xhr.onreadystatechange = function (e) {
        if (xhr.readyState === 4 && xhr.status === 200) {
          console.log(xhr.response);
        } else if (xhr.readyState === 4 && xhr.status === 401) {
          // Token invalid, so prompt for user permission.
          oauth2SignIn();
        }
      };
      xhr.send(null);
    } else {
      oauth2SignIn();
    }
  }

  /*
   * Create form to request access token from Google's OAuth 2.0 server.
   */
  function oauth2SignIn() {
    // create random state value and store in local storage
    var state = generateCryptoRandomState();
    localStorage.setItem('state', state);

    // Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoint for requesting an access token
    var oauth2Endpoint = 'https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth';

    // Create element to open OAuth 2.0 endpoint in new window.
    var form = document.createElement('form');
    form.setAttribute('method', 'GET'); // Send as a GET request.
    form.setAttribute('action', oauth2Endpoint);

    // Parameters to pass to OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
    var params = {'client_id': YOUR_CLIENT_ID,
                  'redirect_uri': YOUR_REDIRECT_URI,
                  'scope': 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly',
                  'state': state,
                  'include_granted_scopes': 'true',
                  'response_type': 'token'};

    // Add form parameters as hidden input values.
    for (var p in params) {
      var input = document.createElement('input');
      input.setAttribute('type', 'hidden');
      input.setAttribute('name', p);
      input.setAttribute('value', params[p]);
      form.appendChild(input);
    }

    // Add form to page and submit it to open the OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
    document.body.appendChild(form);
    form.submit();
  }
</script>

<button onclick="trySampleRequest();">Try sample request</button>
</body></html>

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

In this example, the calling application requests access to retrieve the user's YouTube Analytics data in addition to any other access that the user has already granted to the application.

To add scopes to an existing access token, include the include_granted_scopes parameter in your request to Google's OAuth 2.0 server.

The following code snippet demonstrates how to do that. The snippet assumes that you have stored the scopes for which your access token is valid in the browser's local storage. (The complete example code stores a list of scopes for which the access token is valid by setting the oauth2-test-params.scope property in the browser's local storage.)

The snippet compares the scopes for which the access token is valid to the scope you want to use for a particular query. If the access token does not cover that scope, the OAuth 2.0 flow starts. Here, the oauth2SignIn function is the same as the one that was provided in step 2 (and that is provided later in the complete example).

var SCOPE = 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly';
var params = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('oauth2-test-params'));

var current_scope_granted = false;
if (params.hasOwnProperty('scope')) {
  var scopes = params['scope'].split(' ');
  for (var s = 0; s < scopes.length; s++) {
    if (SCOPE == scopes[s]) {
      current_scope_granted = true;
    }
  }
}

if (!current_scope_granted) {
  oauth2SignIn(); // This function is defined elsewhere in this document.
} else {
  // Since you already have access, you can proceed with the API request.
}

OAuth 2.0 Endpoints

To programmatically revoke a token, your application makes a request to https://oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke and includes the token as a parameter:

curl -d -X -POST --header "Content-type:application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
        https://oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke?token={token}

The token can be an access token or a refresh token. If the token is an access token and it has a corresponding refresh token, the refresh token will also be revoked.

If the revocation is successfully processed, then the HTTP status code of the response is 200. For error conditions, an HTTP status code 400 is returned along with an error code.

The following JavaScript snippet shows how to revoke a token in JavaScript without using the Google APIs Client Library for JavaScript. Since the Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoint for revoking tokens does not support Cross-origin Resource Sharing (CORS), the code creates a form and submits the form to the endpoint rather than using the XMLHttpRequest() method to post the request.

function revokeAccess(accessToken) {
  // Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoint for revoking access tokens.
  var revokeTokenEndpoint = 'https://oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke';

  // Create <form> element to use to POST data to the OAuth 2.0 endpoint.
  var form = document.createElement('form');
  form.setAttribute('method', 'post');
  form.setAttribute('action', revokeTokenEndpoint);

  // Add access token to the form so it is set as value of 'token' parameter.
  // This corresponds to the sample curl request, where the URL is:
  //      https://oauth2.googleapis.com/revoke?token={token}
  var tokenField = document.createElement('input');
  tokenField.setAttribute('type', 'hidden');
  tokenField.setAttribute('name', 'token');
  tokenField.setAttribute('value', accessToken);
  form.appendChild(tokenField);

  // Add form to page and submit it to actually revoke the token.
  document.body.appendChild(form);
  form.submit();
}