OAuth 2.0 Guide for Twitter
Learn how to securely authorize applications and APIs using OAuth 2.0 with Twitter. This guide covers the different flows, security best practices, and implementation examples.
OAuth 2.0 Overview
What is OAuth?
OAuth is an open standard for access delegation, commonly used to grant web or mobile applications limited access to a user's data without sharing passwords.
Why Use It?
OAuth protects user credentials by using tokens instead of passwords. Twitter's API v2 supports both authorization and token grant types for secure integration.
Web Application Flow
Step 1: Register App
Create a developer account at developer.twitter.com to get your API keys and secrets.
Step 2: Redirect for Auth
curl -X POST \ https://twitter.com/oauth2/authorize \ -d "client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID" \ -d "redirect_uri=YOUR_REDIRECT_URI"
Step 3: Exchange Token
When users approve, Twitter redirects to your URI with authorization code. Exchange this code for an access token.
Security Tip:
Always store tokens securely and rotate client secrets regularly. Never expose secrets in client-side code.
Mobile Application Flow
For mobile apps, use OAuth 2.0 with PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange) to securely handle access tokens without storing secrets locally.
- Generate a code_verifier and derive code_challenge
- Request authorization from Twitter with code_challenge
- Exchange authorization_code for tokens using code_verifier
Security Best Practices
Token Scopes
Always request minimal required permissions.
Token Refresh
Use refresh tokens for long-lived sessions