I’m stuck and could use some help. I’ve been trying to set up an ASP.NET app that uses OAuth 2 so it can work with Zapier. The tricky part is I want my app to be the OAuth provider, not the other way around.
I’ve looked into OWIN providers, but I’m not sure how to configure them for this use case. Has anyone done something similar? I’d love to see an example of how to set up an ASP.NET Web API 2 app that can authenticate users for Zapier.
To be clear, I’m not trying to let users log in with Facebook, Google, or other third-party services. I want Zapier to be able to authenticate my users through my own system.
If anyone has experience with this or can point me in the right direction, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any help!
I’ve actually gone through this exact process recently, and I can tell you it’s not as daunting as it seems at first.
The key is to implement the OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow in your ASP.NET application.
First, you’ll need to set up endpoints for authorization and token exchange. The authorization endpoint is where Zapier will redirect users to grant permission, and the token endpoint is where Zapier will exchange the authorization code for an access token.
I found the IdentityServer4 library incredibly helpful for this. It abstracts away a lot of the OAuth complexity and integrates well with ASP.NET Core. You’ll need to configure your client (Zapier in this case) and define the scopes you want to expose.
One gotcha I encountered was ensuring the redirect URI matched exactly what Zapier expected. Double-check this in your Zapier developer account settings.
Remember to implement token refresh as well, as Zapier will need to periodically get new access tokens without user intervention.
Hope this helps point you in the right direction. Let me know if you need more specific guidance on any part of the implementation.
I’ve implemented OAuth 2 in ASP.NET for third-party integrations before, and it’s definitely doable. For your Zapier integration, you’ll want to focus on the authorization code grant flow.
Start by creating endpoints for authorization and token issuance in your Web API. You’ll need to handle the initial authorization request, generate and store authorization codes, and then exchange those codes for access tokens.
Consider using a library like OpenIddict to simplify the OAuth implementation. It’s lightweight and integrates well with ASP.NET Core. You’ll need to configure your client settings, define scopes, and implement secure token generation and validation.
One crucial aspect is proper error handling and logging. OAuth flows can be complex, and good logging will save you headaches during development and debugging.
Remember to thoroughly test your implementation, especially token expiration and refresh processes. Zapier will need to handle token refreshes seamlessly for long-term integration stability.
hey, i’ve done this before. u need to set up ur own auth server in asp.net. use identityserver4, it’s awesome for this. make sure u got endpoints for auth and token exchange. zapier needs to get tokens from ur app. watch out for redirect uris, they gotta match exactly. good luck mate!