OAuth Access

Aspen allows you to create OAuth tokens. OAuth tokens provide authorization for third-party applications to access information from your Aspen database. This lets vendors access Aspen's API or Ed-Fi connector.

Configuring OAuth Access

OAuth access points provide an alternate way for a user to access information in Aspen.

  1. Log on to the District view.
  2. Select Admin > Security > OAuth Access.
  3. Select Options > Add.
  4. Use the table to complete the fields.
  5. Field Description
    Enable Access Select this checkbox to enable API or Ed-Fi access. By doing so, you agree to Follett API Terms of Service.

    Client identifier

    Type a string of text you want to use to identify this access point.

    Note: The third-party vendor may suggest a name. If not, consider typing something similar to their product name, using lowercase letters and no spaces.

    User

    		 Click to open the pick list and select an Aspen user (preferably a District Admin user).

    Client secret key

    		 Click Edit to open the "Set Client secret key" pop-up. Type a key, and repeat to confirm. This key acts like a password.

    Associated roles:

    		 This field is automatically populated based on the roles that the selected user has assigned to them.
  1. Click OK.
  2. Click Save.

You can now use this client ID and secret to get an OAuth token to use for authenticated Aspen APIs.

Note: To help monitor user actions involving shared student data, select Options > Add to view the Change History pop-up for an OAuth client.

Using an OAuth Token to Query Aspen

Use a third-party application to run queries without logging in to Aspen. See "Create a Query for Third-Party Applications" for more information.

  1. In a REST client, use a "Post to" request using the following request URL:
  • http(s)://aspen-url.com/oauth/rest/v2.0/auth
  • where http(s)://aspen-url.com is the URL to the Aspen database you want to query.
  • Set the following parameters:
    client_idClient Identifier
    client_secretClient Secret Key
  1. Send the Post request.

  2. A bearer token is returned.

  1. Use a "Get with the following request URL" to make your query:
  • http(s)://aspen-url.com/query/rest/api/query-name?query-variable
  • where http(s)://aspen-url.com is the URL to the Aspen database, query-name is a query you created in Aspen, and query-variable defines the specific query input.
  1. Add an authorization header. In the header value, add the bearer token returned after your Post request using the following format:
  • bearer beartokenvalue
  1. Send your request.

The data requested by your query is returned.