Twilio using access token to send SMS - node.js

I keep reading in the doc that the access token can be used for services like Voice/Chat/Video, but I don't see anywhere mention sending SMS. Does Twilio exclude this functionality on purpose? i.e. my mobile app can acquire an access_token to send SMS

Twilio developer evangelist here.
Sending SMS messages uses the Twilio REST API and to use the REST API you always need your Account Sid. There are two ways you can authenticate to the API though.
You can either authenticate with your Account Sid and Auth Token, both found on your Twilio console. Then, using Node.js and the Twilio Node module, you would authenticate your client like this:
var client = require('twilio')(accountSid, authToken);
Alternatively, you can generate an API Key and Secret from the Twilio console or you can create an API Key and Secret using the REST API. With those credentials you can also authenticate a client, but you still need to supply the Account Sid for the resource you want to use.
var client = require('twilio')(apiKey, apiSecret, { accountSid: accountSid });
The services that use access tokens are Video, Chat, Sync and the Programmable Voice SDKs. These are all services that have SDKs and run in the client side, either on iOS, Android or in the browser. They use access tokens because they allow the developer to authenticate users with Twilio without giving away the Auth Token or API Keys.

You can send the message via twilio module with relevant information
See the example below
// Twilio Credentials
var accountSid = 'ACXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX';
var authToken = 'your_auth_token';
//require the Twilio module and create a REST client
var client = require('twilio')(accountSid, authToken);
client.messages.create({
to: "+15558675309",
from: "+15017250604",
body: "This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs?",
mediaUrl: "https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2899/14341091933_1e92e62d12_b.jpg",
}, function(err, message) {
console.log(message.sid);
});
You can refer the sending-messages docs here

Related

Login user from backend (firebase + node.js)

I'm looking for a way to send user's email and password from the client to my Firebase Backend Functions and make the login from the backend, I find out info about Id tokens and stuff like that, but I need just simple function that receives email and password and make the request to Firebase Auth.
On firebase late versions you might have something like "signInWithEmailAndPassword(email, password)", So I'm looking the exact operation just for the SDK for node.js, and I dont seems to find one.
Thank you.
Firebase Auth only allows you to use signInWithEmailAndPassword on client side.
You should not authenticate users on backend (although it's possible), because it might have unintended consequences, but you can authenticate user with signInWithEmailAndPassword on the browser and then verify "ID Token" to your backend.
Frontend (using firebase):
const payload = {
uid: user.id,
idToken: await user.getIdToken()
}
//send payload to server
Backend (using firebase-admin):
const decodedToken = await getAuth(app).verifyIdToken(body.idToken)
//check decodedToken.uid equals body.uid
You can read more into "ID token verification" here:
https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/admin/verify-id-tokens#web

Can an open id connect id token be used to authenticate to an api

I am building a mern application.
the backend built using express exposes an api which users can create data and access the data they have created.
I want to allow users to sign in with google and get authorization to create and access the resources on this api which i control (not on google apis).
I keep coming across oauth 2 / open id connect articles stating that an Id token is for use by a client and a access token provided by a resource server should be used to get access to an api.
e.g. https://auth0.com/blog/why-should-use-accesstokens-to-secure-an-api/
the reason stated for this is that the aud property on the id token wont be correct if used on the api.
I realise that some sources say: that if the spa and api are served from same server and have same client id and therefore audience I can use and id token to authenticate to the api, but I am looking to understand what I can do when this is not the case?
I feel using oauth2 for authorization is overkill for my app and I cant find any information about how to use open id connect to authenticate to my api.
Surely when you sign in to Auth0 authourization server using google it is just requesting an open id connect id token from google?
I am wondering if using Authorization Code Grant flow to receive an id token on the api server would allow me to authenticate a user to my api?
in this case would the api server be the client as far as open id connect is concerned and therefore the aud value would be correct?
I can generate an url to visit the google oauth server using the node googleapis library like so:
const { google } = require("googleapis");
const oauth2Client = new google.auth.OAuth2(
'clientid','clientsecret',
"http://localhost:3000/oauthcallback",//this is where the react app is served from
);
const calendar = google.calendar({ version: "v3", auth: oauth2Client });
const scopes = ["openid"];
const url = oauth2Client.generateAuthUrl({
// 'online' (default) or 'offline' (gets refresh_token)
access_type: "offline",
// If you only need one scope you can pass it as a string
scope: scopes,
});
async function getUrl(req, res) {
console.log(url)
res.status(200).json({
url,
});
}
and use the following flow.
You are not supposed to access any API's using the ID-Token. First of all the life-time of the ID-token is very short, typically like 5 minutes.
You should always use the access-token to access API's and you can using the refresh token get new access-tokens. The ID-token you can only get one time and you use that to create the local user and local cookie session.
If you are using a SPA application, you should also consider using the BFF pattern, to avoid using any tokens in the SPA-Application
see The BFF Pattern (Backend for Frontend): An Introduction
I agree with one of the commenters that you should follow the principle of separation of concern and keep the authorization server as a separate service. Otherwise it will be a pin to debug and troubleshoot when it does not work.

Twilio - sending sms doesn't call the statusCallback URL

Twilio free account.
This is how I send the message:
const args = {
from : TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER,
to : '+15005550006', // magic test number
body : "test",
statusCallback: 'https://postb.in/1604476976671-5019259769469' //twilioCallback.getUrl()
}
message = await this.client.messages.create(args)
Results: postbin never receives a request. nor does my own twilio callback url. Do I need to subscribe, create a messaging service, pay for a sender phone number, and use that messaging service id in the args? Does that make it work?
Magic numbers / test credentials don’t send requests. Use your production Account SID and Auth Token and a real Twilio number to send the request.
Why aren't my test credentials working?

Oauth2 flow without redirect_uri

I am creating an Android/iOS app which communicates with a Node.js server and would like to identify them securely on my server using Google (and/or Facebook) and OAuth2. I've looked at the following documentation: https://developers.google.com/+/web/signin/server-side-flow
I do not need authorization, I only need authentication (I only want to make sure that the person calling my Node.js service is the person they say they are). To achieve this, if I understand properly, I have to let the user log in using Google on the client side, this will give them an authorization_code which they can then give to my server. My server can then exchange that code for an access_token, and therefore retrieve information about the user. I am then guaranteed that the user is the person they say they are.
The Google documentations (link above) says: "In the Authorized redirect URI field, delete the default value. It is not used for this case.", however, for my server to exchange the authorization_code for an access_token, it needs to provide a redirect_uri, am I missing something?
The redirect_uri is useless for Unity games, for instance (since logging in with Google simply opens a new "window", which is closed when logged in, no redirection involved).
TL;DR
How do you use OAuth2 to authenticate users between my client and my server without redirection?
TL;DR How do you use OAuth2 to authenticate users between my client and my server without redirection?
You can't. OAuth requires that the user is directed to an authorization (and possibly login) screen, and then redirected back to your app.
EDIT 20/12/22. See comment below regarding latest status
Have you looked at this documentation? https://developers.google.com/accounts/docs/OAuth2InstalledApp#choosingredirecturi
Choosing a redirect URI
When you create a client ID in the Google Developers Console, two
redirect_uris are created for you: urn:ietf:wg:oauth:2.0:oob and
http://localhost. The value your application uses determines how the
authorization code is returned to your application.
http://localhost
This value signals to the Google Authorization Server that the
authorization code should be returned as a query string parameter to
the web server on the client. You may specify a port number without
changing the Google Developers Console configuration. To receive the
authorization code using this URL, your application must be listening
on the local web server. This is possible on many, but not all,
platforms. If your platform supports it, this is the recommended
mechanism for obtaining the authorization code.
I had this problem and it took me ages to find the "postmessage" solution that Nepoxx mentions in the comments of the accepted answer here.
For clarification, here's what worked for me.
Follow steps 1-6 here: https://developers.google.com/identity/sign-in/web/server-side-flow
Install googleapis library npm install --save googleapis
For the server-side token exchange do this:
var googleapis = require('googleapis');
var OAuth2 = googleapis.auth.OAuth2;
var oauth2Client = new OAuth2(
GOOGLE_SSO_CLIENT_ID,
GOOGLE_SSO_CLIENT_SECRET,
'postmessage' // this is where you might otherwise specifiy a redirect_uri
);
oauth2Client.getToken(CODE_FROM_STEP_5_OF_INSTRUCTIONS, function(err, tokens) {
// Now tokens contains an access_token and an optional refresh_token. Save them.
});
The redirect_uri can be a URL with a custom URL scheme for which the client registered a handler. This is described here: What's a redirect URI? how does it apply to iOS app for OAuth2.0?. It is not so much about "redirecting" it is about a callback endpoint to your app.
And it become really easy if you use VueJS with https://github.com/guruahn/vue-google-oauth2
Client side
import GAuth from 'vue-google-oauth2'
Vue.use(GAuth, {
clientId: 'xxxxxxx.apps.googleusercontent.com',
scope: 'profile',
})
async signWithGoogle() {
const code = await this.$gAuth.getAuthCode() //
console.log(code ) // { code: 'x/xxxxxxxxxx' }
// send the code to your auth server
// and retrieve a JWT or something to keep in localstorage
// to send on every request and compare with database
}
Server side
import { google } from 'googleapis'
const oauth2Client = new google.auth.OAuth2(GOOGLE_ID, GOOGLE_SECRET, 'postmessage')
google.options({ auth: oauth2Client })
async function getAccount(code) {
// the code you sent with the client
const { tokens } = await oauth2Client.getToken(code)
oauth2Client.setCredentials(tokens)
const oauth2 = google.oauth2({ version: 'v2' })
const { data: { id } } = await oauth2.userinfo.get()
// there you have the id of the user to store it in the database
// and send it back in a JWT
}

How do you call an authenticated ServiceStack service once the client is authenticated using OAuth?

Lets say I have a web client (i.e. MVC 4 client) that authenticates users using an oAuth provider (i.e. Facebook, Google etc).
I want to call another web service in my client logic, and that web service also authenticates with oAuth providers.
What would the web service request look like from the client? What do I need to pass to the web service?
I suggest you review this question, How do I authorize access to ServiceStack resources using OAuth2 access tokens via DotNetOpenAuth?. The poster provided his final solution, including a link to a sample solution, which he has graciously open sourced. The client side code, for his solution, looks like this:
// Create the ServiceStack API client and the request DTO
var apiClient = new JsonServiceClient("http://api.mysite.com/");
var apiRequestDto = new Shortlists { Name = "dylan" };
// Wire up the ServiceStack client filter so that DotNetOpenAuth can
// add the authorization header before the request is sent
// to the API server
apiClient.LocalHttpWebRequestFilter = request => {
// This is the magic line that makes all the client-side magic work :)
ClientBase.AuthorizeRequest(request, accessTokenTextBox.Text);
}
// Send the API request and dump the response to our output TextBox
var helloResponseDto = apiClient.Get(apiRequestDto);
Console.WriteLine(helloResponseDto.Result);
A similar solution is provided here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13791078/149060 which demonstrates request signing as per OAuth 1.0a
var client = new JsonServiceClient (baseUri);
client.LocalHttpWebRequestFilter += (request) => {
// compute signature using request and a previously obtained
// access token
string authorization_header = CalculateSignature (request, access_token);
request.Headers.Add ("Authorization", authorization_header);
};
var response = client.Get<MySecuredResponse> ("/my/service");
You will, of course, need to adjust to fit the requirements of your OAuth providers, i.e. signing, token, etc.

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