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zendesk-authorization-base64-encoder

This utility helps you encode your Zendesk API authentication credentials into a Base64 string. It is especially useful in scenarios involving low-code or no-code platforms that might not natively support such encoding mechanisms.

Features

  • Generate Base64-encoded authentication strings for use with the Zendesk API.
  • Simple command-line interface for quick encoding.
  • Ideal for integration into automated scripts or low-code platforms.

Prerequisites

Before using this utility, ensure you have Node.js installed on your system. You can download Node.js from here.

You will also need typescript and ts-node. See below for installation if they are not installed globally.

Installation

Clone the repository to your local machine using:

git clone https://github.com/shawilly/zendesk-authorization-base64-encoder.git
cd zendesk-authorization-base64-encoder

Install the required dependencies:

npm install

# optional, see prerequisites
npm install -D typescript
npm install -D ts-node

Usage

To encode your Zendesk API credentials, run the script with your email and API token as arguments:

npm run tokenize <your-email> <your-api-token>

Example:

npm run tokenize jdoe@example.com abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

The script will output a Base64-encoded string that you can use as the Authorization header for API requests.

How It Works

The utility takes your email and API token, combines them into a string formatted as email/token:token, and then encodes this string in Base64.

Background

Zendesk API requires authentication for accessing its endpoints, which typically involves sending a Base64-encoded header. This utility simplifies the creation of this encoded string.

Authentication with Zendesk API

Basic Authentication

For basic authentication, you would normally combine your email address and password:

email:password

and then encode it in Base64. However, when using API tokens, the format becomes:

email/token:token

Including the Token in Requests

To use the encoded token in HTTP requests, you include it in the Authorization header like so:

Authorization: Basic {base64-encoded-string}

For example:

Authorization: Basic amRvZUBleGFtcGxlLmNvbTpwYSQkdzByZA==

Important Notes

  • Ensure password access is enabled in the Zendesk Admin Center under Apps and integrations > APIs.
  • If your organization uses SSO or two-factor authentication, you cannot use basic authentication with your password. You will need to use an API token or an OAuth access token instead.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit pull requests or open issues to improve the utility or suggest new features.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

For more information on authenticating API requests with Zendesk, refer to the official Zendesk documentation.

Happy encoding!