FreshBooks Cloud Accounting Authenticate an Element Instance

You can authenticate with FreshBooks to create your own instance of the FreshBooks Cloud Accounting element through the UI or through APIs. Once authenticated, you can use the element instance to access the different functionality offered by the FreshBooks platform.

Authenticate Through the UI

Use the UI to authenticate with FreshBooks and create an element instance. Because you authenticate with FreshBooks via OAuth 2.0, all you need to do is add a name for the instance and provide your default Freshbooks business name. After you create the instance, you'll log in to FreshBooks to authorize Cloud Elements access to your account. For more information about authenticating an element instance, see Authenticate an Element Instance (UI). 

After successfully authenticating, we give you several options for next steps. Make requests using the API docs associated with the instance, map the instance to a virtual data resource, or use it in a formula template.

Authenticate Through API

Authenticating through API is similar to authenticating via the UI. Instead of clicking and typing through a series of buttons, text boxes, and menus, you will instead send a request to our /instances endpoint. The end result is the same, though: an authenticated element instance with a token and id.

Authenticating through API follows a multi-step OAuth 2.0 process that involves:

• Getting a redirect URL. This URL sends users to the vendor to log in to their account.
• Authenticating users and receiving the authorization grant code. After the user logs in, the vendor makes a call back to the specified url with an authorization grant code.
• Authenticating the element instance. Using the authorization code from the vendor, authenticate with the vendor to create an element instance at Cloud Elements.

Getting a Redirect URL

Use the following API call to request a redirect URL where the user can authenticate with the service provider. Replace {keyOrId} with the element key, freshbooksv2.

curl -X GET /elements/{keyOrId}/oauth/url?apiKey=<Freshbooks Client ID>&apiSecret=<Freshbooks Client Secret> &callbackUrl=<Freshbooks Redirect URI>

Query Parameters

Example Request

curl -X GET \
'https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/elements/freshbooksv2/oauth/url?apiKey=Rand0MAP1-key&apiSecret=fak3AP1-s3Cr3t&callbackUrl=https:%3A%2F%2Fwww.mycoolapp.com%2auth' \

Example Response

Use the oauthUrl in the response to allow users to authenticate with the vendor.

{
"oauthUrl":
"https://my.freshbooks.com/service/auth/oauth/authorize?response_type=code&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fhttpbin.org%2Fget&state=freshbooksv2&client_id=l7xx1cf795a3144b42ac96cbb3f301af6b7b",
"element": "freshbooksv2"
}

Authenticating Users and Receiving the Authorization Grant Code

Provide the oauthUrl in the response from the previous step to the users. After users authenticate, Freshbooks provides the following information in the response:

• code
• state

Authenticating the Element Instance

Use the code from the previous step and the /instances endpoint to authenticate with Freshbooks and create an element instance. If you are configuring events, see the Events section.

To authenticate an element instance:

1. Construct a JSON body as shown below (see Parameters):

   {
     "element": {
       "key": "freshbooksv2"
     },
     "providerData": {
       "code": "<AUTHORIZATION_GRANT_CODE>"
     },
     "configuration": {
       "oauth.api.key": "<Freshbooks app Client ID>",
       "oauth.api.secret": "<Freshbooks app Client Secret>",
       "oauth.callback.url": "<Freshbooks app Redirect URI >",
       "business.name" : "<Freshbooks Company Name>"
     },
     "tags": [
       "<Add_Your_Tag>"
     ],
     "name": "<INSTANCE_NAME>"
   }
   

2. Call the following, including the JSON body you constructed in the previous step:

   POST /instances
   

   Note: Make sure that you include the User and Organization keys in the header. For more information, see Authorization Headers, Organization Secret, and User Secret.

3. Locate the token and id in the response and save them for all future requests using the element instance.

Example Request

curl -X POST \
  https://api.cloud-elements.com/elements/api-v2/instances \
  -H 'authorization: User <USER_SECRET>, Organization <ORGANIZATION_SECRET>' \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "element": {
    "key": "freshbooksv2"
  },
  "providerData": {
    "code": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
  },
  "configuration": {
    "oauth.api.key": "Rand0MAP1-key",
    "oauth.api.secret": "fak3AP1-s3Cr3t",
    "oauth.callback.url": "https;//mycoolapp.com",
    "business.name" : "MyBiz"
  },
  "tags": [
    "Docs"
  ],
  "name": "API Instance"
}'

Authentication Parameters

API parameters in the UI are bold, while parameters available in the instances API are in code formatting.

Example Response for an Authenticated Element Instance

In this example, the instance ID is 12345 and the instance token starts with "ABC/D...". The actual values returned to you will be unique: make sure you save them for future requests to this new instance.

{
  "id": 12345,
  "name": "Instance via API",
  "createdDate": "2017-11-30T21:53:35Z",
  "token": "ABC/D...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "element": {
      "id": 10701,
      "name": "Freshbooks Cloud Accounting",
      "hookName": "Freshbooksv2",
      "key": "freshbooksv2",
      "description": "Add a Freshbooks Cloud Accounting Instance to connect your existing Freshbooks account to the Finance Hub",
      "image": "elements/custom-element-default-logo.png",
      "active": true,
      "deleted": false,
      "typeOauth": false,
      "trialAccount": false,
      "resources": [ ],
      "transformationsEnabled": true,
      "bulkDownloadEnabled": true,
      "bulkUploadEnabled": true,
      "cloneable": true,
      "extendable": true,
      "beta": false,
      "authentication": {
          "type": "oauth2"
      },
      "extended": false,
      "hub": "finance",
      "protocolType": "http",
      "parameters": [  ]
    },
    "elementId": 10701,
    "tags": [
        "Docs"
    ],
    "provisionInteractions": [],
    "valid": true,
    "disabled": false,
    "maxCacheSize": 0,
    "cacheTimeToLive": 0,
    "providerData": {
        "code": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    },
    "configuration": {    },
    "eventsEnabled": false,
    "traceLoggingEnabled": false,
    "cachingEnabled": false,
    "externalAuthentication": "none",
    "user": {
        "id": 123456,
        "emailAddress": "claude.elements@cloud-elements.com",
        "firstName": "Claude",
        "lastName": "Elements"
    }
}