API Bearer Auth vs Social Pulse

The API Bearer Auth plugin enables authentication for the REST API by using JWT access an refresh tokens. After the user logs in, the access and refresh tokens are returned and can be used for the next requests. Issued tokens can be revoked from within the users admin screen. See below for the endpoints. Note that after activating this plugin, all REST API endpoints will need to be authenticated, unless the endpoint is whitelisted in the api_bearer_auth_unauthenticated_urls filter (see FAQ for how to use this filter). JWT Access tokens can be formatted as JWT tokens. For this to work, you first have to create a secret and add it to the wp-config.php file. If you don’t do this, access tokens will work also, but are just random strings. To create a random secret key, you can do for example: base64_encode(openssl_random_pseudo_bytes(64)); And then add the result to wp-config: define('API_BEARER_JWT_SECRET', 'mysecretkey'); If you have problems, you can verify your JWT tokens at: https://jwt.io/ Revoke tokens This plugin adds a column to the users table in de admin where you can see when a token expires. You can also revoke tokens by selection the “Revoke API tokens” from the bulk actions select box. API endpoints Note that all endpoints expect JSON in the POST body. Login Endpoint: POST /api-bearer-auth/v1/login Request body: Note: client_name is optional. But if you use it, make sure to use it as well for the refresh call! {"username": "my_username", "password": "my_password", "client_name": "my_app"} Response: { "wp_user": { "data": { "ID": 1, "user_login": "your_user_login", // other default WordPress user fields } }, "access_token": "your_access_token", "expires_in": 86400, // number of seconds "refresh_token": "your_refresh_token" } Make sure to save the access and refresh token! Refresh access token Endpoint: POST /api-bearer-auth/v1/tokens/refresh Request body: Note: client_name is optional. But if you did use it for the login call, make sure to use it here as well! {"token": "your_refresh_token", "client_name": "my_app"} Response success: { "access_token": "your_new_access_token", "expires_in": 86400 } Response when sending a wrong refresh token is a 401: { "code": "api_api_bearer_auth_error_invalid_token", "message": "Invalid token.", "data": { "status": 401 } } Do a request After you have the access token, you can make requests to authenticated endpoints with an Authorization header like this: Authorization: Bearer Note that Apache sometimes strips out the Authorization header. If this is the case, make sure to add this to the .htaccess file: RewriteCond %{HTTP:Authorization} ^(.*) # Don't know why, but some need the line below instead of the RewriteRule line # SetEnvIf Authorization .+ HTTP_AUTHORIZATION=$0 RewriteRule ^(.*) - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%1] If you are not logged in or you send an invalid access token, you get a 401 response: { "code": "api_bearer_auth_not_logged_in", "message": "You are not logged in.", "data": { "status": 401 } } Important update Update immediately if you’re using a version below 20200807. Before this version all access tokens were updated when calling the refresh callback. If you are affected by this the fastest solution is to execute this query: update wp_user_tokens set access_token_valid = NOW(); This will invalidate all access tokens. This means that all users need to refresh their access token and will get a new access token and a unique one this time. A big thank to @harchvertelol for reporting this and suggesting the fix as well!

Social Pulse … is a WP plugin showing follower counts from YouTube, Facebook, X, and Steam. It uses Leader/Follower modes to reduce API requests. General Idea Social Pulse retrieves follower numbers from multiple platforms and displays them via WordPress shortcodes. In Leader mode, the plugin directly makes API requests to obtain the latest values, which are then cached and exposed at a dedicated URL. In Follower mode, the plugin skips direct API calls and instead retrieves the pre-fetched data from the Leader instance. * Screenshot Leader-Mode * Screenshot Follower-Mode Try it out! Download the ZIP Navigate to the WordPress Playground Go to the “Plugins” page Click “Add New Plugin” Click “Upload Plugin” Select the ZIP and click “Install Now” Click “Activate Plugin” The plugin should now be visible at the bottom of the WordPress menu. Leader and Follower Mode Leader Mode: In this mode, Social Pulse performs the actual API calls to get the latest follower counts and caches these values. The current values are also exposed at a special URL (e.g. /social-counters/values), which can be used by Follower instances. Follower Mode: Follower mode is designed to minimize API calls on installations that do not need to fetch data directly. Instead of making API requests, the plugin retrieves the cached values from the Leader URL. This is particularly useful when dealing with strict API rate limits. How to Use Social Pulse in Leader Mode Activate Leader Mode: In the plugin settings, select Leader as the mode. Configure API Credentials: Enter your API keys, tokens, and IDs for YouTube, Facebook, X, and Steam in the respective fields. Save Changes: Make sure to save your settings. Retrieve Values: The plugin will automatically fetch and cache the current follower counts. The exposed values URL (displayed on the settings page) can be used by Follower installations. How to Use Social Pulse in Follower Mode Activate Follower Mode: In the plugin settings, select Follower as the mode. Enter Leader URL: Provide the URL from a Leader installation (the URL where the leader exposes its cached values). Save Changes: Save your settings to store the Leader URL. Automatic Data Fetch: The plugin will now retrieve the follower values from the Leader URL every 5 minutes or whenever manually tested. Direct API requests are disabled in this mode. Where to Find the Necessary Information For each platform, you will need to obtain API keys, tokens, or IDs. Here are some helpful links to get you started: YouTube: YouTube Data API v3 – Getting Started (Find your API key and channel ID here.) Facebook: Facebook for Developers, Long Lasting Tokens for Clients (Learn how to create an app, get an access token, and locate your Page ID.) X (formerly Twitter): X Developer Platform, Generating and Using an App-Only Bearer-Token (Obtain a Bearer Token and set up your developer credentials.) Steam: Steam Web API Documentation (Find information on obtaining your Steam App ID and using the API.) External services WordPress guidelines require that the use of external services is clearly statet. Although this is the sole purpose of this plugin I hereby state the following external service usage: * Youtube API (https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/channels) The Youtube API is used to receive the youtube followers of the account the “Youtube API Key” belongs to. * Steam API (https://api.steampowered.com/ISteamUserStats/GetNumberOfCurrentPlayers/v1/) The Steam API is used to receive the current players of the Steam app with the “Steam App ID” you enter. * Facebook API (https://graph.facebook.com/v22.0/) The Facebook API is used to gather fan or follower count of the facbook page with the “Facebook Page ID” you enter. * X API (https://api.twitter.com/2/users/by/username/) The X API is used to gather the follower count of the account with the “X Username” you enter.