What is OAuth

OAuth (Open Authorization) is an open standard for access delegation, commonly used as a way to grant websites or applications limited access to user account information without exposing passwords. It allows third-party services to exchange information on behalf of a user without needing to directly handle the user's credentials.

OAuth is widely used for authorizing APIs and web services, allowing users to connect their accounts from different services securely. For example, using OAuth, a user can permit a third-party application to access their Google or Facebook account without sharing their login information.

Here's a simple example of how OAuth works in PHP:

<?php // Step 1: Redirect to the OAuth server $client_id = 'your-client-id'; $redirect_uri = 'your-redirect-uri'; $oauth_url = "https://oauth-server.com/auth?response_type=code&client_id={$client_id}&redirect_uri={$redirect_uri}"; header("Location: $oauth_url"); exit; // Step 2: Handle the callback from the OAuth server if (isset($_GET['code'])) { $code = $_GET['code']; // Request the access token // ... } ?>

OAuth Authorization API Access Secure Access Third-party Services