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Use OAuth 2 to securely authenticate your application's API requests without storing user passwords. Register your app to generate OAuth credentials, choose between public or confidential client types, and implement the authorization flow to obtain access tokens. This setup allows you to manage API access effectively, refresh tokens as needed, and ensure secure interactions with your data.
You can use OAuth 2 to authenticate all your application's API requests to Zendesk. OAuth provides a secure way for your application to access Zendesk data without having to store and use the passwords of Zendesk users, which is sensitive information.
To use OAuth authentication, you need to register your application with Zendesk. You also need to add some functionality to your application to support the OAuth authorization flow.
Topics covered in this article:
- Registering your application with Zendesk
- OAuth client types
- OAuth client credentials grant type
- Implementing an OAuth authorization flow in your application
Related topics:
- For a tutorial on building a web application that implements an OAuth authorization flow, see Building an OAuth web app.
- To implement an OAuth authorization flow in Zendesk apps, see Adding third-party OAuth to a Support app.
- If you don't need users to grant your application access to their accounts, you can still use OAuth tokens to authenticate API requests. See Creating and using OAuth tokens with the API.
Registering your application with Zendesk
You must register your application to generate OAuth credentials that your application can use to authenticate API calls to Zendesk.
To register your application
- In Admin Center, click
Apps and integrations in the sidebar, then select APIs > OAuth clients.
- Click Add OAuth client on the right side of the QAuth client list.
- Complete the following fields to create a client:
- Name - Enter a name for your app. This is the name that users will see when asked to grant access to your application, and when they check the list of third-party apps that have access to their Zendesk.
- Description - Optional. This is a short description of your app that users will see when asked to grant access to it.
- Company - Optional. This is the company name that users will see when asked to grant access to your application. The information can help them understand who they're granting access to.
- Logo - Optional. This is the logo that users will see when asked to grant access to your application. The image can be a JPG, GIF, or PNG. For best results, upload a square image. It will be resized for the authorization page.
- Identifier - The field is auto-populated with a reformatted version of the name you entered for your app. You can change it if you want.
- Client kind - Public or Confidential. Public OAuth clients are applications that run in environments where credentials cannot be securely stored, such as mobile and web apps. These clients are required to use PKCE. Confidential OAuth clients run on secure servers where their credentials can be kept secure. These clients can use PKCE, client secret, or both. See OAuth client types.
- Redirect URLs - Enter the URL or URLs that Zendesk should use to send the user's decision to grant access to your application. The URLs must be absolute and not relative, https (unless localhost or 127.0.0.1), and newline-separated.
- Click Save.
After the page refreshes, a new pre-populated Secret field appears on the lower side. This is the "client_secret" value specified in the OAuth2 spec.
- Copy the Secret value to your clipboard and save it somewhere safe. Note: The characters may extend past the width of the text box, so make sure to select everything before copying.
Important: For security reasons, your secret is displayed fully only once. After clicking Save, you'll only have access to the first nine characters.
- Click Save.
Use the unique identifier and the secret value in your application as described in this following topic.
OAuth client types
Zendesk OAuth clients include a kind
property that is passed during OAuth client creation, and can have one of the following values:
- Public: Public OAuth clients are applications that run in environments where credentials cannot be securely stored, such as mobile and web apps. These clients are required to use PKCE.
- Confidential: Confidential OAuth clients run on secure servers where their credentials can be kept secure. These clients can use PKCE, client secret, or both.
For more information, see Client Types.
Zendesk OAuth client type applies only to the Zendesk Support ticketing system. It is not supported in Chat, Conversations, or Sell.
Existing Zendesk OAuth clients currently have the kind
property set to unknown
. These clients remain unaffected until the kind
property is updated to either public
or confidential
. New OAuth clients created in Admin Center must set the kind
property during creation.
kind
property to public
, you must first implement PKCE. Failure to do so will result in the client not working, as PKCE will be immediately required.Setting the kind
property is mandatory for all new OAuth clients created in Admin Center. While the kind
property is not required for OAuth clients created with the api/v2/oauth/clients endpoint
, Zendesk recommends including it.
OAuth client credentials grant type
The OAuth client credentials grant type is only for confidential clients and allows you to create an OAuth token using only a specific client’s secret. To use this flow, pass a valid client_secret
parameter to the /oauth/tokens
endpoint using grant_type: client_credentials
to generate a new OAuth access token. Unlike other authorization flows, this grant type does not return a refresh token and it does not require user authorization. The user associated with the token will be the same as the user linked to the client that was used. You can optionally include an expires_in
value to set the token's expiration time in milliseconds. For security reasons, public clients are not permitted to use this grant type. For more information, see Oauth Clients.
OAuth refresh token grant type
The OAuth refresh token grant type allows for refreshing an access token that has either expired or is about to expire. To generate a new OAuth access token, pass a refresh_token
parameter to the https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/tokens
endpoint using grant_type: refresh_token
, which returns a new access token and refresh token while invalidating the previous ones.
Your OAuth client should implement a fallback mechanism to handle expired access tokens and expired refresh tokens. For example, if the access token expired or encounters an error, you can refresh it. However, if the refresh process fails or there is no refresh token linked to the access token, you must redirect the user to https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/authorizations/new
to re-authorize your application. For more information, see OAuth Tokens for Grant Type and Creating and using OAuth access tokens with the API.
Implementing an OAuth authorization flow in your application
Zendesk supports the authorization code grant flow to get access tokens. This flow is called the authorization code grant flow because you have to get an authorization code before you can request an access token.
The flow uses refresh tokens, which allows you to generate new access tokens without requiring user re-authorization. The access token may expire if the API provides a valid expires_in
parameter, indicating a specific lifespan for the token. In such cases, implement a mechanism to refresh the access token using the provided refresh token before it expires.
To implement the authorization code grant flow, you need to add the following functionality to your application:
- Step 1 - Send the user to the Zendesk authorization page
- Step 2 - Handle the user's authorization decision
- Step 3 - Get an access token from Zendesk
- Step 4 - Use the access token in API calls
For a tutorial on building a web application that implements an OAuth authorization flow, see Building an OAuth web app.
The authorization code grant method supports Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE), which adds an additional layer of security. For more information, see Using PKCE to make Zendesk OAuth access tokens more secure in the developer documentation.
Step 1 - Send the user to the Zendesk authorization page
First, your application has to send the user to the Zendesk authorization page. The page asks the user to authorize your application to access Zendesk on their behalf. After the user makes a choice, Zendesk sends the choice and a few other bits of information back to your application.
To send the user to the Zendesk authorization page
Add a link or button in your application that sends the user to the following URL:
https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/authorizations/new
where {subdomain}
is your Zendesk core subdomain, not a host-mapped subdomain.
You can use either a POST or a GET request. Include the following parameters:
-
response_type - Required. Zendesk returns an authorization code in the response, so specify
code
as the response type. Example:response_type=code
. - redirect_uri - Required. The URL that Zendesk should use to send the user's decision to grant access to your application. The URL has to be absolute and not relative. It also has to be secure (https) unless you're using localhost or 127.0.0.1.
- client_id - Required. The unique identifier you obtained when you registered your application with Zendesk. See the section above.
- scope - Required. A space-separated list of scopes that control access to the Zendesk resources. You can request read, write, or impersonate access to all resources or to specific resources. See Setting the scope.
-
state - An arbitrary string included in the response from Zendesk after the user decides whether or not to grant access. You can use the parameter to guard against cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. In a CSRF attack, the end user is tricked into clicking a link that performs an action in a web application where the end user is still authenticated. To guard against this kind of attack, add some value to the
state
parameter and validate it when it comes back. - code_challenge - Required if using PKCE. A string representing a code challenge derived from a code verifier. See Generating the code_challenge value in the developer documentation.
- code_challenge_method - Required if using PKCE. The method used to derive the code challenge. Specify "S256" as the value.
Make sure to URL-encode the parameters.
Example GET request
https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/authorizations/new?response_type=code&redirect_uri={your_redirect_url}&client_id={your_unique_identifier}&scope=read%20write
The Zendesk authorization page opens in the end user's browser. After the user makes a decision, Zendesk sends the decision to the redirect URL you specified in the request.
Setting the scope
You must specify a scope to control the app's access to Zendesk resources. The read scope gives an app access to GET endpoints. It includes permission to sideload related resources. The write scope gives an app access to POST, PUT, and DELETE endpoints for creating, updating, and deleting resources.
For more on the scope, see OAuth Tokens for Grant Types.
The impersonate scope allows a Zendesk admin to make requests on behalf of end users. See Making API requests on behalf of end users.
For example, the following parameter gives an app read access to all resources:
"scope": "read"
The following parameter gives read and write access to all resources:
"scope": "read write"
You can fine-tune the scope to the following resources:
- tickets
- users
- auditlogs (read only)
- organizations
- hc
- apps
- triggers
- automations
- targets
- webhooks
- zis
The syntax is as follows:
"scope": "resource:scope"
For example, the following parameter restricts an app to only reading tickets:
"scope": "tickets:read"
To give an app read and write access to a resource, specify both scopes:
"scope": "users:read users:write"
To give an app write access only to one resource, such as organizations, and read access to everything else:
"scope": "organizations:write read"
Step 2 - Handle the user's authorization decision
Your application has to handle the response from Zendesk telling it what the user decided. The information is contained in URL parameters in the redirect URL.
If the user decided to grant access to the application, the redirect URL contains an authorization code. Example:
{redirect_url}?code=7xqwtlf3rrdj8uyeb1yf
The authorization code is only valid for 120 seconds.
If the user decided not to grant access to the application, the redirect URL contains error
and error_description
parameters that inform the app that the user denied access:
{redirect_url}?error=access_denied&error_description=The+end-user+or+authorization+server+denied+the+request
Use these values to control the flow of your application. If the URL contains a code
parameter, get an access token from Zendesk as described in the following section. This is the token to include in API calls to Zendesk.
Step 3 - Get an access token from Zendesk
If your application received an authorization code from Zendesk in response to the user granting access, your application can exchange it for an access token. To get the access token, make a POST request to the following endpoint:
https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/tokens
Include the following required parameters in the request:
- grant_type - Specify "authorization_code" as the value.
- code - Use the authorization code you received from Zendesk after the user granted access.
- client_id - Use the unique identifier specified in an OAuth client in the Support admin interface (Admin > Channels > API > OAuth Clients). See Registering your application with Zendesk.
-
client_secret - Use the secret specified in an OAuth client in the Support admin interface (Admin > Channels > API > OAuth Clients). See Registering your application with Zendesk.
If you use the PKCE
code_challenge
andcode_verifier
parameters,client_secret
is not required. You can use this characteristic to migrate from the implicit grant flow, which is no longer recommended because of security concerns. See Using PKCE to migrate from the implicit grant flow in the developer documentation. - redirect_uri - The same redirect URL as in step 1. For ID purposes only.
- scope - See Setting the scope.
-
code_verifier - Required if using PKCE. The string used to generate the
code_challenge
value. See Generating the code_challenge value in the developer documentation. - expires_in - Optional. Number of seconds the access token is valid. See OAuth Tokens for Grant Types.
- refresh_token_expires_in - Optional. Number of seconds the refresh token is valid. See OAuth Tokens for Grant Types.
The request must be over https and the properties must be formatted as JSON. If you use a custom or third-party application to make the API request, see its documentation for the proper format of property values.
Using curl
curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/oauth/tokens \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"grant_type": "authorization_code", "code": "{your_code}",
"client_id": "{your_client_id}", "client_secret": "{your_client_secret}",
"redirect_uri": "{your_redirect_url}", "scope": "read" }' \
-X POST
Example response
Status: 200 OK
{
"access_token": "gErypPlm4dOVgGRvA1ZzMH5MQ3nLo8bo",
"token_type": "bearer",
"scope":"read"
}
Step 4 - Use the access token in API calls
The app can use the access token to make API calls. Include the token in an HTTP Authorization header with the request, as follows:
Authorization: Bearer {a_valid_access_token}
For example, a curl request to list tickets would look as follows:
curl https://{subdomain}.zendesk.com/api/v2/tickets.json \
-H "Authorization: Bearer gErypPlm4dOVgGRvA1ZzMH5MQ3nLo8bo"
65 comments
Yevheniy Oliynyk
Hey Zendesk Support Team!
I am trying to implement login thru Zendesk in my UI application and faced issue with losing popup window that is opened for user to log in into Zendesk.
The way how it supposed to work is:
1. User clicks login button
2. It opens new window and redirects to `/oauth/authorizations/new`
3. Once user is successfully logged in, on final redirect, I am preserving code (for this I need a way to communicate back to main window)
And it all works fine if in the same browser session user is already logged into Zendesk so on login thru my application it immediately receives code/token, all is working fine.
But if user is not signed into Zendesk yet, then when I am opening popup, Zendesk closes it and opens new, with it's login form. Not sure why it can't happen in the same window. And the issue here is that I don't have anymore a way to communicate with my main window where the login flow was initiated.
Is it something that was done by intention? Is there any way to prevent this extra window re-creation?
0
Mick Cunningham
Hi folks! I have this flow working perfectly - only I have had some users state that they normally login to Zendesk via SSO or Google. Right now my OAuth flow requires them to sign in with username and password - and in some cases - users dont remember their login/password ha! Is there any way to quickly add these methods ? Or do I need to develop that from start to finish? Thanks!
0
Atha Parveen
HI Team,
I am using my global identifier as the subdomain instead of subdomain, but nothing is working. Can someone help please ?
0
Tipene Hughes
Here's a link to the docs on third-party OAuth tokens. Let me know if this helps at all!
0
SPARTAN
Hi Greg Katechis,
We have been trying to create a channel app where we are attempting to implement OAuth with a third-party application.
As expected, we have been granted the code to our redirect URL and we generated the access token, but I am clueless as to where I can find information on how to redirect back to the admin UI in the channel app automatically once the OAuth process is completed.
Could you please help me on this
0
Dane
Our Product Team is already aware of this behavior and is actively working on a fix. As of the moment, we don't have an ETA for it.
0
Robert Hung
Hello! I have tested the two endpoints for revoking token, and noticed the one ending with /current does not work as expected. I get a 204 response, but I can continue using the same token for future requests.
I did a comparison of the other revoke endpoint that requires you to pass in the /{oauth_token_id} and this works as expected - all subsequent requests return with a 401 unauthorized.
Is this expected, or am I missing something?
I would prefer to use that endpoint because the access token we provide does not have full read scopes, preventing the use of the show token endpoint to retrieve the oauth_token_id and revoke using the working endpoint.
0
Mike DR
0
Alex
For generate token i use link https://{{sub-domain}}.zendesk.com/oauth/tokens
after that try send request to endpoint https://api.getbase.com/v2/leads
and receive response:
0
Walter
Hi Dane
Is there anyway to prevent the delete capability when I need the write scope for tickets and users?
0
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