Checking if the token provided is valid

[arky]

I have get the token manually from this page and save it environment everytime I run my notebook. The token is valid for 24 hours, is there a function in pyinaturalist to check if the token is valid or not.

Currently I notice that pyinaturalist doesn't provide a descriptive error when an invalid or expired token is used.

[JWCook]

For error messages, currently you should see something like this:

requests.exceptions.HTTPError: 401 Client Error: Unauthorized for url: https://api.inaturalist.org/v1/observations

I don't currently know of a way to differentiate between a 401 error due to an invalid token vs something you shouldn't have access to (like modifying another user's observations).

I could definitely add a function to check if a token is valid, though.

You might already be aware, but there are some other authentication features documented here, like keyring integration. Those do require creating an iNat Application, though, which is a bit inconvenient. You used to be able to get one instantly, but now you have to apply for one (I'm guessing because someone abused it at some point).

You mentioned you're running this in a notebook; are you using Jupyter or something else that runs in the browser? There might be an easier way to refresh access tokens without needing to copy/paste it every 24 hours. I should have some time to look into that later next week.

[arky]

@JWCook This issue could be resolved by writing documentation. I could help with it, now that I have spent a week looking into pyinaturalist.

Creating iNat Application requires you to have significant contributions so I choose to go with the grabbing API token route which seems less painless.

[JWCook]

I added a few more notes about authentication to the docs, but any contributions to that would be welcome!