API Auth Is Deeper Than It Looks

Integrating products with external APIs requires navigating a complex authentication landscape, as the experience of implementing authentication for over 400 APIs shows. The challenges stem from various factors, such as the sprawling OAuth standard with its non-standard extensions and quirks, the user-unfriendly nature of API keys, and the rise of custom authentication flows by platforms like GitHub and Stripe. Each API's unique requirements and behaviors, including token refresh mechanisms and additional parameters, add layers of complexity. Authentication often involves handling revoked credentials, managing permissions and scopes, and ensuring robust security measures. Many existing OAuth libraries focus primarily on user login rather than API access, prompting the development of a custom open-source solution to address these gaps. This intricate authentication process highlights the need for detailed documentation, user-friendly interfaces, and centralized logic to manage API requests, ultimately aiming to streamline integration and enhance user experience.