JWT with SDKs

The official Box SDKs have built-in support for JWT authentication. This guide will take you through user authentication using JWT with the use of the Box SDKs. JWT authentication is designed for working directly with the Box API without requiring a user to redirect through Box to authorize your application.

Overview

To complete a JWT authorization the following steps need to be completed.

Read the configuration file
Initialize an SDK client

At the end of this flow, the application has a Box SDK client that can be used to make API calls on behalf of the application.

The default method of authentication through JWT is inherently tied to the Service Account for the application. Any API call made with this token will seem to come from this application and will not have access to files and folders from other users without explicitly getting access to them.

Prerequisites

Before we can get started, you will need to have completed the following steps.

Create a Box Application within the developer console
Create and download the private key configuration file for your application and save it as config.json
Ensure your Box Application is approved for usage within your enterprise

1. Read JSON configuration

After creating a Box Application there should be a config.json file containing the application’s private key and other details. The following is an example.

config.json

{
  "boxAppSettings": {
    "clientID": "abc...123",
    "clientSecret": "def...234",
    "appAuth": {
      "publicKeyID": "abcd1234",
      "privateKey": "-----BEGIN ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----\n....\n-----END ENCRYPTED PRIVATE KEY-----\n",
      "passphrase": "ghi...345"
    }
  },
  "enterpriseID": "1234567"
}

If your SDK takes the configuration values as individual parameters instead of reading the file, map the config.json fields as follows.

`config.json` field	Value
`boxAppSettings.clientID`	Client ID
`boxAppSettings.clientSecret`	Client secret
`boxAppSettings.appAuth.publicKeyID`	JWT key ID (public key ID)
`boxAppSettings.appAuth.privateKey`	Private key
`boxAppSettings.appAuth.passphrase`	Private key passphrase
`enterpriseID`	Enterprise ID, used to authenticate as the Service Account

To use this object in the application it needs to be read from file.

var reader = new StreamReader("path/to/config.json");
var json = reader.ReadToEnd();
var config = BoxConfig.CreateFromJsonString(json);

Reader reader = new FileReader("path/to/config.json");
BoxConfig config = BoxConfig.readFrom(reader);

from boxsdk import JWTAuth

config = JWTAuth.from_settings_file('path/to/config.json')

var config = require("path/to/config.json");

Parsing JSONIn some programming languages there is more than one way to read and parse JSON from a file. Refer to guides on your preferred programming language for more complete guides, including error handling.

2. Initialize SDK client

The next step is to configure the Box SDK with the configuration and then initialize the client to connect as the application.

var sdk = new BoxJWTAuth(config);
var token = sdk.AdminToken();
BoxClient client = sdk.AdminClient(token);

BoxDeveloperEditionAPIConnection api = BoxDeveloperEditionAPIConnection.getAppEnterpriseConnection(config);

client = Client(config)

var sdk = BoxSDK.getPreconfiguredInstance(config);
var client = sdk.getAppAuthClient("enterprise");

Service AccountsAt this point the application is authenticated as an application user, not as a managed or app user. Head over to our guide on to learn more about the different types of users.SummaryBy now the application should be able to authorize an application using JWT with any of our official SDKs, by using the following steps.

Read the configuration file
Initialize an SDK client

To learn how to use this client head over to the guide on .Using SDKs and JSON Web TokensTo learn more about JWT for each SDK head over to:

Getting started

Applications & integrations

Identity & access

Using the API

Troubleshooting

Content

Collaboration

Metadata & search

Events & webhooks

Users

Intelligent workflow

E-signatures

Security & compliance

Overview

Prerequisites

1. Read JSON configuration

2. Initialize SDK client

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​1. Read JSON configuration

​2. Initialize SDK client

Overview

Prerequisites

1. Read JSON configuration

2. Initialize SDK client