node-linkedin-headless-oauth

Handle the node-linkedin package's authentication procedures without ever having to interact with a browser.

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Overview

There are two parts to authenticating with OAuth 2.0 in the Linked API:

1. Requesting an Authorization Code
2. Exchanging the Authorization Code for an Access Token

Normally, for step 1, node-linkedin requires the client to start the server, open a browser, and navigate to a specific url (e.g., http://localhost:5000/oauth/linkedin) to authorize the app to connect to the LinkedIn API.

Thanks to this library, the client no longer needs to do so; instead, she can now programmatically obtain the authorization code. As of v2.0.0, this library also handles step 2; it programmatically obtains an authorization code and trades said code for an access token. Afterwards, it utilizes the access token to initiate a connection the LinkedIn API (a.k.a, LinkedIn.init('access_token')) and exposes said connection to the user. All in all, this library handles authenticating to the LinkedIn API via OAuth 2.0, so that consumers only have to provide the necessary credentials before using the API.

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Specifics

WITHOUT THIS LIBRARY

var app = require('express')();
 
var linkedin = null;
 
var linkedinAuthMgr = require('node-linkedin')('app-id','secret','callbackUrl');
 
// User needs to open browser and navigate to this
// URL, where she will enter email & password to
// authorize this app to connect to LinkedIn API.
app.get('/oauth/linkedin', function(req, res) {
    linkedinAuthMgr.auth.authorize(res, 
        ['r_basicprofile']);
});
 
app.get('/oauth/linkedin/callback', function(req, res) {
    linkedinAuthMgr.auth.getAccessToken(
        res, req.query.code, req.query.state, 
        function(err, results) {
            if(err) { throw err; }
            linkedin = linkedinAuthMgr.init(
                result.access_token);
            return res.redirect('/');	
        }
    );
});
 
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
    linkedin.people.me(function(err, $in) {
        console.log($in);
    });
});

WITH THIS LIBRARY

var app = require('express')();
 
// This library
var linkedinAuthUtils = require('node-linkedin-headless-oauth');
linkedinAuthUtils.run('config.json', app, function(req, res) {
    res.redirect('/');
});
app.get('/', function(req, res) {
    linkedinAuthUtils.linkedin.people.me(function(err, $in) {
        console.log($in);
    });
});
 
var port = process.env.PORT || 5000;
app.listen(port, function() {
    console.log('Node app is running on port', port);
});

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Usage

linkedinAuthUtils.run(pathToJsonConfigFile, expressJSAppObject, responseHandlerFunction);

pathToJsonConfigFile Path to JSON configuration file. File should be structured as follows: { "apiKey": "", "secret": "", "email": "", "password": "", "callbackUrl": "", "scope": [""] }

expressJSAppObject The ExpressJS app that is connecting to the LinkedIn API and is using this library to authenticate into LinkedIn via OAuth 2.0 Example: "require('express')()"

responseHandlerFunction Function to execute after receiving the access token and initializing the connection to the LinkedIn API (stored in linkedinAuthUtils.linkedin). Example: function(req, res) { res.redirect('/'); }

linkedinAuthUtils.linkedin Object that serves as a connection to LinkedIn API; use to make API calls. Check node-linkedin: 0.5.4 for usage information.

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Dependencies

phantomjs-prebuilt: 2.1.12 node-horseman: 3.1.1 node-linkedin: 0.5.4 jsonfile: 2.3.1