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Setup with OAuth 2.0

Guides Authentication OAuth 2.0 Auth Setup with OAuth 2.0
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Setup with OAuth 2.0

A Custom App can be set up to use client-side OAuth 2.0 authentication.

Learn how OAuth 2.0 authentication works

Prerequisites

To set up a Custom App using OAuth 2.0 authentication, you will need to ensure you have access the Developer Console from your Box enterprise account. Alternatively, you may sign up for a developer account.

App creation steps

Navigate to the Developer Console

Log into Box and go to the Developer Console. Select Create Platform App.

Select application type

Select Custom App from the list of application types. A modal will appear to prompt a selection for the next step.

Application selection screen

Provide basic application information

To describe your app, provide an app name and description. Use the drop-down list to select the app's purpose. Depending on the option chosen, you might need to specify further details.

PurposeDetails
Automation, Custom PortalSpecify if the app is built by a customer or partner.
IntegrationSpecify the integration category, external system name if the app is built by a customer or partner.
OtherSpecify the app purpose and if it is built by a customer or partner.

Auth selection screen

Select application authentication

Select User Authentication (OAuth 2.0) and confirm with Create App.

Once you make a selection, you will not be able to change to a different authentication method without creating a new application.

Auth selection screen

Basic configuration

Before the application can be used, some additional configuration is required.

Redirect URI

During the OAuth 2.0 flow, users are redirected to their browser to authenticate and then authorize the application to take actions on their behalf.

Prior to redirecting the user, Box verifies that the redirect_uri parameter passed into the authorization URL matches one of the redirect URIs configured for the application. This will be an exact match check, meaning the URIs must be exactly the same. Localhost and loopback address redirect URIs will be permitted redirect to any port, but the scheme, domain, path and query parameters must match one of the configured URIs.

You can configure these under the OAuth 2.0 Redirect URI section on the Configuration page in the developer console. These must be valid URIs that are HTTPS, or a less secure HTTP for localhost or loopback address. We do not permit duplicate URIs to be saved.

Starting November 29, 2021, new applications using OAuth 2.0 will require the URIs set in the configuration tab of the Developer Console to strictly match the one used during redirect. In addition, both new and existing applications, will gain the ability to add multiple redirect URIs.

If you configured multiple redirect URIs for the application, the authorization URL must include the redirect_uri parameter matching one of the URIs configured in the developer console. If the parameter is not specified, the user will see a redirect_uri_missing error and will not be redirected back to the app after granting application access.

For existing applications, the deadline to make changes to this URL to avoid service disruption is May 13, 2022.

App name form

Application Scopes

Scopes define what permissions your application has in order to access data. See the scopes guide for detailed information on each option.

App name form

CORS Domains

If your application makes API calls from front-end browser code in Javascript, the domain that these calls are made from will need to be added to an allow-list due to Cross Origin Resource Sharing, also known as CORS. If all requests will be made from server-side code, you may skip this section.

To add the full URI(s) to the allow-list, navigate to the CORS Domain section at the bottom of the Configuration tab in the Developer Console.

App name form