1.4 KiB
title, order, status
| title | order | status |
|---|---|---|
| C06. Call an API with a Bearer Token | 6 | draft |
For Bearer token authentication — common in OAuth 2.0 and modern Web APIs — use set_bearer_token_auth(). Pass the token and cpp-httplib builds the Authorization: Bearer <token> header for you.
Basic usage
httplib::Client cli("https://api.example.com");
cli.set_bearer_token_auth("eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...");
auto res = cli.Get("/me");
if (res && res->status == 200) {
std::cout << res->body << std::endl;
}
Set it once and every subsequent request carries the token. This is the go-to pattern for token-based APIs like GitHub, Slack, or your own OAuth service.
Per-request usage
When you want the token on only one request — or need a different token per request — pass it via headers.
httplib::Headers headers = {
httplib::make_bearer_token_authentication_header(token),
};
auto res = cli.Get("/me", headers);
make_bearer_token_authentication_header() builds the Authorization header for you.
Refresh the token
When a token expires, just call set_bearer_token_auth() again with the new one.
if (res && res->status == 401) {
auto new_token = refresh_token();
cli.set_bearer_token_auth(new_token);
res = cli.Get("/me");
}
Warning: A Bearer token is itself a credential. Always send it over HTTPS, and never hard-code it into source or config files.
To set multiple headers at once, see C03. Set Default Headers.