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Facebook API with Paw

Facebook API with Paw¶

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Facebook

Register with Facebook¶

Create a new app or pick an existing one at Facebook Developer Apps
Select the Dashboard tab and save the codes under App ID (OAuth2 Client ID) and App Secret (OAuth2 Client Secret)

Select Settings > Advanced tab and, under Client OAuth Settings:
- Enable Client OAuth Login
- Enable Web OAuth Login
- Add the URI API users should be redirected after authorization under Valid OAuth redirect URIs

Set the Authorization header

Set the Authorization header¶

In the Request Headers tab, add a new Authorization header, and right-click the value field. In the contextual menu, pick “Authorization” then “OAuth 2.0 Authorization Header”.

You can now set your Client ID and Secret, as well as the authorization URLs:
- Client ID: the App ID code from Facebook OAuth Settings
- Client Secret: the App Secret code from Facebook OAuth Settings
- Authorization URL: it’s the URL you would normally bring users so they can authorize your app. At time of writing it was https://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth
- Access Token URL: it’s the URL your server would use to get an access token, from the code returned by the authorization page. At time of writing it was https://graph.facebook.com/oauth/access_token. More about Facebook Access Tokens.
- Callback URL: one of the URLs previoulsy configured on Facebook Client OAuth Settings, and where the API users should be redirected after the authorization process
- Scope: the OAuth scopes you want to authorize against, for example user_photos (see on Facebook’s documentation: OAuth Scopes)

Authorize (get the Access Token)

Authorize (get the Access Token)¶

Now that you’ve setup the OAuth settings, you can manually request an access token, or skip this section and let Paw automatically handle authorization when needed (when sending request, Paw will automatically ask authorization if there is no access token or if it has expired).

In Paw, hit the Get Access Token button from the OAuth2 Dynamic Value.
A web view is shown and you’re prompted (as the end-users would be) to authorize your app to access the provider’s API.
Once done, you’re redirected to the “Callback URL” page (should be a page on the client server). It doesn’t matter if that page is not functional yet. At this step, Paw will be calling the “Access Token URL” to get a token in exchange of the code that has been returned by the OAuth provider.
The Access Token should now appear at the bottom of the window. Hit the Use Access Token button.
Your request is now configured to be using OAuth 2.

Use the API (example: List Facebook User Photos)

Use the API (example: List Facebook User Photos)¶

We will now setup Paw for listing the Facebook photos from this user:

Method: select GET
URL: enter as https://graph.facebook.com/me/photos as URL
Request Name: give a user-friendly name to this request in Paw, like “Facebook User Photos”

Learn more about Facebook APIs.

Use Environment Variables

Use Environment Variables¶

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As you may often switch between development and production environments, or between several users, you may need to have several OAuth credentials you may apply to your Requests. You can keep those credentials in Environments, and then use them in the OAuth Header Dynamic Value.

Read more about Environments and how to use Environments as Reusable Presets.