Cart is empty What is OAuth2?
OAuth2 is a security protocol that allows applications to access user information without having to store their credentials. Authorization is managed through access tokens and granular permissions to ensure the security and privacy of users. Google uses OAuth2 to allow applications to securely access protected resources, such as user data or Google APIs. To start using OAuth2 with Google APIs, you need to register an application and obtain a client ID and a secret key. Afterwards, you can use Google’s client libraries to obtain a valid OAuth2 access token and use it to make requests to Google APIs. Client libraries are available in several programming languages including, but not limited to, Java, Python, C#, and JavaScript.
How to use OAuth2 to access Google APIs
To use Google APIs with OAuth2, the first step is to create a project in the Google Cloud Console and enable the desired APIs for your project. Next, you will need to create OAuth2 credentials for your project. If your project is a web application, you will need to provide a redirect URL to which the user will be sent after authentication. On the other hand, if the project is a server application, no redirect URL needs to be specified. The example below generates a Web API key in the Google Cloud Console and enables some Google libraries. In this example, we will use Google’s redirect URL to test authentication: https://developers.google.com/oauthplayground
Enabling Libraries to Use
To use Google’s client libraries with your application, you need to enable the corresponding library in the Google Cloud Console. Once you have logged in to the console, select your project and go to the “APIs & Services” section. Here you can search for the library you want to use and enable it. After enabling the library, you can download the client library for your preferred programming language and use it to integrate OAuth2 and access Google APIs. The example below shows the enabling procedure for the YouTube library.
Testing Libraries using Google OAuth Playground
Google OAuth Playground is a useful tool for testing Google’s client libraries and verifying that they are functioning properly. You can access Google OAuth Playground from the Google Cloud Console and use it to generate valid OAuth2 access tokens. This way, you can simulate the authorization and authentication process of your application and verify if the client library is functioning correctly. You can also test granular permissions by using Google OAuth Playground to selectively access Google APIs. The example below depicts testing YouTube APIs using previously generated credentials.
An example of using OAuth2 on the server side in C#
In the video below, you can find an example of how to practically use OAuth2 in a simple application created in Visual Studio, using the C# programming language.