Implicit flow

The Implicit flow is an authorization protocol that can be used to implement . This page provides an overview of the flow and explains how to implement it.

Implicit flow (deprecated)
Figure A: The Implicit flow

The Implicit flow is an workflow previously used in client-facing web applications. Authorization occurs in a single step, with the app requesting an directly from the .

The general steps of how the Implicit flow works are:

  1. Application sends a request to the that includes a client_id and redirect_url from . The response_type is specified as token.

  2. The application user signs in with an . The authorization endpoint verifies the user's identity and returns an to the specified redirect URL.

  3. Application uses the to authorize requests to .

Manual implementation

The remainder of this page shows how to manually implement without using an ArcGIS or . Instead, authentication is implemented by directly making HTTP requests to the proper endpoints.

This sample is written in JavaScript, but can be implemented in any language. It adheres to the OAuth 2.0 specification for the Implicit flow.

Create OAuth credentials

requires a set of .

The steps to create OAuth credentials with an are:

  1. Sign in to your .

  2. Click Content > My content > New item and select .

  3. In the Credential types menu, select .

  4. Add a redirect URL and click Next.

  5. In the Privileges and Grant item access menus, click Next; these are not required for .

  6. Name the credentials and click Next to review. When you are ready to create the credentials, click Create.

Configure authentication variables

  1. Copy your client ID and chosen redirect URL from your and include them in your app.

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                const clientId = '<YOUR_CLIENT_ID>';
                const redirectUri = '<YOUR_REDIRECT_URL>';
    
                let session = null;
                let map = null;
                const signInButton = document.getElementById('sign-in');
                const signOutButton = document.getElementById('sign-out');
    

Request an access token

  1. Format a GET request to the . Include your client_id and redirect_uri, and set the response_type parameter to token.

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                const authorizationEndpoint = 'https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/oauth2/authorize'+
                '?client_id=' + clientId +
                '&redirect_uri=' + window.encodeURIComponent(redirectUri)+
                '&response_type=token'+
                '&expiration=20160';
    
    
  2. When the user clicks 'Sign in', open the authorization endpoint in a new window.

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                const authorizationEndpoint = 'https://www.arcgis.com/sharing/rest/oauth2/authorize'+
                '?client_id=' + clientId +
                '&redirect_uri=' + window.encodeURIComponent(redirectUri)+
                '&response_type=token'+
                '&expiration=20160';
    
                signInButton.addEventListener('click', () => window.open(authorizationEndpoint, 'oauth-window', 'height=400,width=600,menubar=no,location=yes,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes'));
    

Create a callback

  1. Create a callback function in index.html that will receive the authorization code.

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                const oauthCallback = (authorizationCode) => {
    
                }
                window.oauthCallback = oauthCallback; //required due to the module scope of this script
    
  2. Create a new HTML page at the location of your redirect URI. When a user successfully authenticates at the authorization endpoint, they will be redirected to this page.

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    <!DOCTYPE html>
      <head>
        <title>ArcGIS user authentication OAuth 2.0 callback (vanilla JS)</title>
      </head>
      <body>
        <script type="module">
    
        </script>
      </body>
    </html>
  3. Retried the returned from the endpoint. It is found in the hash parameter of the URL. Pass the token to the callback function created in index.html.

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    <!DOCTYPE html>
      <head>
        <title>ArcGIS user authentication OAuth 2.0 callback (vanilla JS)</title>
      </head>
      <body>
        <script type="module">
    
            const match = (window.location.hash) ? window.location.hash.match(/\token=([^&]+)/) : false;
            // if we found an access token in the URL, pass the token up to a global function in index.html
            if(match[1]) {
                window.opener.oauthCallback(match[1]);
            }
            window.close();
    
        </script>
      </body>
    </html>

Serialize session info

  1. Serialize the session information from the authorization endpoint and add it to local storage to make the session persistent across page refreshes.

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                const updateSession = (sessionInfo) => {
                    const userInfo = document.getElementById('user-info');
    
                    if (!sessionInfo) {
                        localStorage.removeItem("__ARCGIS_USER_SESSION__");
                        session = null;
    
                        destroyApp();
    
                        // signed out sidebar state
                        userInfo.classList.add('hide');
                        userInfo.innerHTML = ``;
                        signOutButton.classList.add('hide');
                        signInButton.classList.remove('hide');
                    }
    
                    else {
                        session = sessionInfo;
                        localStorage.setItem("__ARCGIS_USER_SESSION__", JSON.stringify(session));
    
                        // signed in sidebar state
                        userInfo.classList.remove('hide');
                        userInfo.innerHTML = `Welcome, ${sessionInfo.username}.`;
                        signOutButton.classList.remove('hide');
                        signInButton.classList.add('hide');
                    }
    
                }
    

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