Get Access Token

Access tokens are similar to session tokens and allow entering of credentials once per session. Once authenticated, a user is provided with an access token that is submitted with every secure request (those containing '/secure/' in the URL path, e.g. submitting a donation) instead of always submitting a username and password. Access tokens are short-lived and can expire so users need to re-GET a token at the start of each session or if their current access token expires. Note that access token timeouts are individually set for each API user as a database configuration and by default are set to 10 hours.

NOTE: Credentials used to receive an access token are the same credentials used when signing up for an API Key. That is, the email and password associated with the new or existing GlobalGiving account used to request an API Key.

HTTP Method:

POST

Content Type:

xml, json

Accept Type:

xml, json

Path:

Data Parameters:

email - user's email used to sign up for the GlobalGiving account and API key, required

password - user's password used to sign up for the GlobalGiving account and API key, required

api_key - api_key for the API user which is provided by GlobalGiving, required

NOTE: If the request is using an XML payload, be careful to escape the password with <![CDATA[ PASSWORD ]]> because passwords may contain characters that are invalid in an XML element body.

HTTP POST XML Request using cURL:

curl -H "Accept: application/xml" -H "Content-Type: application/xml" -d "<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' standalone='yes'?>
<auth_request>
   <user>
      <email>John_Doe@hotmail.com</email>
      <password>somepassword</password>
   </user>
   <api_key>YOUR_API_KEY</api_key>
</auth_request>" -X POST https://api.globalgiving.org/api/userservice/tokens

HTTP POST JSON Request using cURL:

curl -H "Accept: application/xml" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"auth_request":{"user":{"email":"John_Doe@hotmail.com","password":"somepassword"}, "api_key":"YOUR_API_KEY"}}' -X POST https://api.globalgiving.org/api/userservice/tokens

XML Response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<auth_response>
    <access_token>sqbkktg3s00vzz7gg3s198rzb9g3s2me2u2ng3s3</access_token>
</auth_response>

JSON Response:

{"auth_response":{"access_token":"njd9wng4d0ycwnn3g4d1jm30yig4d27iom5lg4d3"}}

Get Access Token Request Structure

auth_request

user email string password string api_key string

Element Definitions for Get Access Token Request

Element	Mandatory	Description
email	required	Api user's email used to set up a GlobalGiving account and receive an API Key.
password	required	Api user's password used to set up a GlobalGiving account and receive an API Key.
api_key	required	Key for the API user which is provided by GlobalGiving.

Get Access Token Response Structure

auth_response

access_token string

Element Definitions for Get Access Token Response

Element	Mandatory	Description
access_token	required	Resulting access token to use for further requests.