OAuth procedure for the Zoho Creator API

zoho_oauth_demo.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import json
import sys
import requests


def get_secrets():
    j = json.loads(open("secrets.json").read())
    return (j["client_id"], j["client_secret"])


def request_auth(code):
    base_accounts_url = "accounts.zoho.com"
    client_id, client_secret = get_secrets()
    url = f"https://{base_accounts_url}/oauth/v2/token?grant_type=authorization_code&client_id={client_id}&client_secret={client_secret}&code={code}&access_type=offline"

    resp = requests.post(url)
    return resp.json()


def refresh_auth(auth):
    base_accounts_url = "accounts.zoho.com"
    client_id, client_secret = get_secrets()
    refresh_token = auth["refresh_token"]
    url = f"https://{base_accounts_url}/oauth/v2/token?grant_type=refresh_token&refresh_token={refresh_token}&client_id={client_id}&client_secret={client_secret}&access_type=offline"

    resp = requests.post(url)
    resp_j = resp.json()
    resp_j["refresh_token"] = refresh_token
    return resp_j


def read_report(auth, path):
    token = auth["access_token"]

    url = f"https://creator.zoho.com/api/v2/USER/APP/report/{path}"
    headers = { "Authorization":  f"Zoho-oauthtoken {token}" }

    resp = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
    resp_j = resp.json()

    return resp_j


if __name__ == "__main__":

    # if new code on cmd line, generate auth
    if len(sys.argv) > 1:
        auth = request_auth(sys.argv[1])
        if auth is not None and "access_token" in auth:
            open("auth.json", "w").write(json.dumps(auth))

    # get saved auth
    auth = json.loads(open("auth.json", "r").read())

    # refresh auth if required
    try:
        read_report(auth, "All_Items")["data"]
    except KeyError:
        auth = refresh_auth(auth)
        if auth is not None and "access_token" in auth:
            open("auth.json", "w").write(json.dumps(auth))

    # some test
    resp_j = read_report(auth, "All_Items")
    print(json.dumps(resp_j, indent=1))

How to use

Requires requests.

Refer to the Zoho OAuth authentication documentation.

Create a "Self Client" client at the Zoho API Console, and put the client ID and client secret into secrets.json in the same directory as the Python script, following this format:

{
  "client_id": "1000.G****************************E",
  "client_secret": "7****************************************1"
}

Next, find USER, APP, and All_Items in the script, replacing them with your own, real, details.

Next, generate your authorization code at the API Console and run the script with the code as the only argument:

python zoho_demo.py 1000.f***************************************************************b

This generates the access and refresh tokens and stores them in auth.json, so next time you run the demo, you don't need to give an authorization code (just run python zoho_demo.py).

If the access token expires, the script will refresh it using the refresh token for you!