Hey everyone, I’m stuck with a problem when making a POST request to the Spotify API. I keep getting a 401 error saying “No token provided”. Here’s what I’ve tried:
const headers = {
Authorization: `Bearer ${myAccessToken}`
};
fetch('https://api.spotify.com/v1/users/myUserId/playlists', {
headers: headers,
method: 'POST',
body: JSON.stringify({ name: 'My New Playlist' })
});
I’m sure I’m setting the Authorization header correctly, but it’s not working. I’ve double-checked that myAccessToken is valid. Am I missing something obvious? Maybe there’s an issue with how I’m structuring the request?
I’m working on a React app that interacts with Spotify, if that helps. Any ideas on what might be causing this or how to troubleshoot further? Thanks for any help!
I’ve been down this road before, and it can be frustrating. One thing that’s not immediately obvious is that Spotify’s API is quite particular about content types. Have you tried adding ‘Content-Type’: ‘application/json’ to your headers? Sometimes that’s the culprit.
Another potential issue could be with the access token itself. Are you using the Implicit Grant flow or the Authorization Code flow? I’ve found the Authorization Code flow to be more reliable for these types of requests.
Lastly, don’t forget to check your app settings in the Spotify Developer Dashboard. Make sure the redirect URI is correctly set and that you’ve added the necessary scopes. It’s a small detail, but it’s bitten me more than once.
If none of that works, you might want to try using the Spotify Web API JS wrapper. It can sometimes handle these edge cases more gracefully than raw fetch requests.
hey claire, have u tried refreshing ur token? sometimes they expire quicker than expected. also, double-check ur API endpoint - make sure its the latest version. i once spent hours debugging only to realize i was using an outdated URL. spotify can be finicky like that. good luck!
yo claire, i had similar issue. check if ur token expired? spotify tokens only last an hour. also, make sure ur using the right scopes when requesting the token. for creating playlists, u need ‘playlist-modify-public’ or ‘playlist-modify-private’. hope this helps!
I encountered a similar issue recently. Have you verified that your access token is actually being included in the request? You might want to log the headers before sending the request to ensure the Authorization header is present and correctly formatted. Also, double-check that you’re not accidentally overwriting the headers somewhere else in your code. If the token is definitely present and valid, the problem could be on Spotify’s end. Try using a tool like Postman to test the API request independently of your React app. This can help isolate whether it’s a code issue or an API problem. If all else fails, regenerating a fresh token sometimes resolves mysterious authorization errors.