Authenticate Your Users with Tokens

Authentication is the act of validating the identity of each user before they access your system. Agora uses digital tokens to authenticate users and their privileges before they access an Agora service, such as joining an Agora call, or logging into the real-time messaging system.

To enhance its authentication and security services, Agora provides a new version of token called AccessToken2 as of August 18, 2022. For how to upgrade from AccessToken to AccessToken2, see Upgrade from AccessToken to AccessToken2.

This page shows you how to create a token server and a client app for AccessToken2. The client app retrieves a token from the token server. This token authenticates the current user when the user accesses the Agora service.

Understand the tech

The following figure shows the steps in the authentication flow:

A token is a dynamic key generated on your app server that is valid for a maximum of 24 hours. When your users connect to an Agora channel from your app client, Agora Platform validates the token and reads the user and project information stored in the token. A token contains the following information:

• The App ID of your Agora project
• The channel name
• The user ID of the user to be authenticated
• The privilege of the user, either as a publisher or a subscriber
• The time after which the token expires

Prerequisites

In order to follow this procedure you must have the following:

• A valid Agora account.
• An Agora project with the App Certificate enabled.
• Golang 1.14+ with GO111MODULE set to on.
  If you are using Go 1.16+, GO111MODULE is on by default. See this blog for details.
• npm and a supported browser.

Implement the authentication flow

This section shows you how to supply and consume a token that gives rights to specific functionality to authenticated users using the source code provided by Agora.

Get the App ID and App Certificate

This section shows you how to get the security information needed to generate a token, including the App ID and App Certificate of your project.

1. Get the App ID

Agora automatically assigns each project an App ID as a unique identifier.

To copy this App ID, find your project on the Project Management page in Agora Console, and click the icon in the App ID column.

2. Get the App Certificate

To get an App Certificate, do the following:

1. On the Project Management page, click Config for the project you want to use.
   
2. Click the copy icon under Primary Certificate.
   

Deploy a token server

Token generators create the tokens requested by your client app to enable secure access to Agora security infrastructure. To serve these tokens you deploy a generator in your security infrastructure.

In order to show the authentication workflow, this section shows how to build and run a token server written in Golang on your local machine.

This sample server uses BuildTokenWithUid[1/2].

1. Create a file, server.go, with the following content. Then replace <Your App ID> and <Your App Certificate> with your App ID and App Certificate.

package main

import (
    rtctokenbuilder "github.com/AgoraIO/Tools/DynamicKey/AgoraDynamicKey/go/src/rtctokenbuilder2"
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "net/http"
    "encoding/json"
    "errors"
    "strconv"
)

type rtc_int_token_struct struct{
    Uid_rtc_int uint32 `json:"uid"`
    Channel_name string `json:"ChannelName"`
    Role uint32 `json:"role"`
}

var rtc_token string
var int_uid uint32
var channel_name string

var role_num uint32
var role rtctokenbuilder.Role

// Use RtcTokenBuilder to generate an RTC token.
func generateRtcToken(int_uid uint32, channelName string, role rtctokenbuilder.Role){

    appID := "<Your App ID>"
    appCertificate := "<Your App Certificate>"
    // Number of seconds after which the AccessToken2 expires.
    // When the AccessToken2 expires but the privilege does not expire, the user remains in the channel and can continue to publish streams. No callback is triggered from the SDK.
    // However, once disconnected from the channel, the user cannot rejoin the channel with that token. Ensure the AccessToken2 does not expire before the privileges.
    tokenExpireTimeInSeconds := uint32(40)
    // Number of seconds after which the privilege expires.
    // The token-privilege-will-expire callback occurs 30 seconds before the privilege expires.
    // The token-privilege-did-expire callback occurs when the privilege expires.
    // For demonstration purposes the expire time is set to 40 seconds. This shows you the automatic token renew actions of the client.
    privilegeExpireTimeInSeconds := uint32(40)

    result, err := rtctokenbuilder.BuildTokenWithUid(appID, appCertificate, channelName, int_uid, role, tokenExpireTimeInSeconds, privilegeExpireTimeInSeconds)
    if err != nil {
        fmt.Println(err)
    } else {
        fmt.Printf("Token with uid: %s\n", result)
        fmt.Printf("uid is %d\n", int_uid )
        fmt.Printf("ChannelName is %s\n", channelName)
        fmt.Printf("Role is %d\n", role)
    }
    rtc_token = result
}


func rtcTokenHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request){
    w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
    w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
    w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "POST, OPTIONS");
    w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "*");

    if r.Method == "OPTIONS" {
        w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
        return
    }

    if r.Method != "POST" && r.Method != "OPTIONS" {
        http.Error(w, "Unsupported method. Please check.", http.StatusNotFound)
        return
    }


    var t_int rtc_int_token_struct
    var unmarshalErr *json.UnmarshalTypeError
    int_decoder := json.NewDecoder(r.Body)
    int_err := int_decoder.Decode(&t_int)
    if (int_err == nil) {

                int_uid = t_int.Uid_rtc_int
                channel_name = t_int.Channel_name
                role_num = t_int.Role
                switch role_num {
                    case 1:
                        role = rtctokenbuilder.RolePublisher
                    case 2:
                        role = rtctokenbuilder.RoleSubscriber
                }
    }
    if (int_err != nil) {

        if errors.As(int_err, &unmarshalErr){
                errorResponse(w, "Bad request. Wrong type provided for field " + unmarshalErr.Value  + unmarshalErr.Field + unmarshalErr.Struct, http.StatusBadRequest)
                } else {
                errorResponse(w, "Bad request.", http.StatusBadRequest)
            }
        return
    }

    generateRtcToken(int_uid, channel_name, role)
    errorResponse(w, rtc_token, http.StatusOK)
    log.Println(w, r)
}

func errorResponse(w http.ResponseWriter, message string, httpStatusCode int){
    w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
    w.Header().Set("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
    w.WriteHeader(httpStatusCode)
    resp := make(map[string]string)
    resp["token"] = message
    resp["code"] = strconv.Itoa(httpStatusCode)
    jsonResp, _ := json.Marshal(resp)
    w.Write(jsonResp)

}

func main(){
    // RTC token from RTC int uid
    http.HandleFunc("/fetch_rtc_token", rtcTokenHandler)
    fmt.Printf("Starting server at port 8082\n")

    if err := http.ListenAndServe(":8082", nil); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}

2. A go.mod file defines this module’s import path and dependency requirements. To create the go.mod for your token server, run the following command:

   $ go mod init sampleServer

3. Get dependencies by running the following command. You can use a Go mirror origin such as https://goproxy.cn/ to speed up the process.

   $ go get

4. Start the server by running the following command:

   $ go run server.go

Use AccessToken2 for client-side user authentication

This section uses the Web client as an example to show how to use a token for client-side user authentication.

1. Create the project structure of the Web client with a folder including the following files.

   • index.html: User interface

   • client.js: App logic with Agora RTC Web SDK v4.x (Must be v4.8.0 or higher)

     |
     |-- index.html
     |-- client.js

2. In index.html, add the following code to include the app logic in the UI:

    <html>
    <head>
        <title>Token demo</title>
    </head>
    <script src="https://unpkg.com/axios/dist/axios.min.js"></script>
    <body>
        <h1>Token demo</h1>
   
        <script src="https://download.agora.io/sdk/release/AgoraRTC_N-4.8.0.js""></script>
        <script src="./client.js"></script>
   
    </body>
    </html>

3. Create the app logic by editing client.js with the following content:

   • Replace <Your App ID> with your App ID. The App ID must match the one in the server.
   • Replace <Your Host URL and port> with the host URL and port of the local Golang server you have just deployed, such as 10.53.3.234:8082.

var rtc = {
     // For the local audio and video tracks.
     localAudioTrack: null,
     localVideoTrack: null,
 };

 var options = {
     // Passes your app ID here.
     appId: "<Your app ID>",
     // Sets the channel name.
     channel: "ChannelA",
     // Sets the user role in the channel.
     role: "host"
 };

 // Fetches a token from the Golang server.
 function fetchToken(uid, channelName, tokenRole) {

     return new Promise(function (resolve) {
         axios.post('http://<Your Host URL and port>/fetch_rtc_token', {
             uid: uid,
             channelName: channelName,
             role: tokenRole
         }, {
             headers: {
                 'Content-Type': 'application/json; charset=UTF-8'
             }
         })
             .then(function (response) {
                 const token = response.data.token;
                 resolve(token);
             })
             .catch(function (error) {
                 console.log(error);
             });
     })
 }

 async function startBasicCall() {

     const client = AgoraRTC.createClient({ mode: "live", codec: "vp8" });
     client.setClientRole(options.role);
     const uid = 123456;

     // Fetches a token before calling join to join a channel.
     let token = await fetchToken(uid, options.channel, 1);

     await client.join(options.appId, options.channel, token, uid);
     rtc.localAudioTrack = await AgoraRTC.createMicrophoneAudioTrack();
     rtc.localVideoTrack = await AgoraRTC.createCameraVideoTrack();
     await client.publish([rtc.localAudioTrack, rtc.localVideoTrack]);
     const localPlayerContainer = document.createElement("div");
     localPlayerContainer.id = uid;
     localPlayerContainer.style.width = "640px";
     localPlayerContainer.style.height = "480px";
     document.body.append(localPlayerContainer);

     rtc.localVideoTrack.play(localPlayerContainer);

     console.log("publish success!");

     client.on("user-published", async (user, mediaType) => {
         await client.subscribe(user, mediaType);
         console.log("subscribe success");

         if (mediaType === "video") {
             const remoteVideoTrack = user.videoTrack;
             const remotePlayerContainer = document.createElement("div");
             remotePlayerContainer.textContent = "Remote user " + user.uid.toString();
             remotePlayerContainer.style.width = "640px";
             remotePlayerContainer.style.height = "480px";
             document.body.append(remotePlayerContainer);
             remoteVideoTrack.play(remotePlayerContainer);

         }

         if (mediaType === "audio") {
             const remoteAudioTrack = user.audioTrack;
             remoteAudioTrack.play();
         }

         client.on("user-unpublished", user => {
             const remotePlayerContainer = document.getElementById(user.uid);
             remotePlayerContainer.remove();
         });

     });

     // When token-privilege-will-expire occurs, fetches a new token from the server and call renewToken to renew the token.
     client.on("token-privilege-will-expire", async function () {
         let token = await fetchToken(uid, options.channel, 1);
         await client.renewToken(token);
     });

     // When token-privilege-did-expire occurs, fetches a new token from the server and call join to rejoin the channel.
     client.on("token-privilege-did-expire", async function () {
         console.log("Fetching the new Token")
         let token = await fetchToken(uid, options.channel, 1);
         console.log("Rejoining the channel with new Token")
         await rtc.client.join(options.appId, options.channel, token, uid);
     });

 }

 startBasicCall()

In the code example, you can see that token is related to the following code logic in the client:

• Call join to join the channel with token, user ID, and channel name. The user ID and channel name must be the same as the ones used to generate the token.
• The token-privilege-will-expire callback occurs 30 seconds before the privilege expires. When the token-privilege-will-expire callback is triggered, the client must fetch the token from the server and call renewToken to pass the new token to the SDK.
• The token-privilege-did-expire callback occurs when the privilege expires. When the token-privilege-did-expire callback is triggered, the client must fetch the token from the server and call join to use the new token to join the channel.

4. Open index.html with a supported browser to perform the following actions:
   • Successfully joining a channel.
   • Renewing a token every 10 seconds.

Reference

This section introduces token generator libraries, version requirements, and related documents about AccessToken2.

SDK compatibility for AccessToken2

AccessToken2 supports the following versions of the Agora RTC SDK:

RTC SDKs that use AccessToken2 can interoperate with RTC SDKs that use AccessToken. RTC SDKs that support AccessToken2 also support AccessToken.

AccessToken2 generator libraries

Agora provides an open-source AgoraDynamicKey repository on GitHub, which enables you to generate tokens on your server with programming languages such as C++, Java, and Go.

BuildTokenWithUid API Reference

This section introduces the core method for generating AccessToken2: BuildTokenWithUid. The AccessToken2 generator libraries provide two BuildTokenWithUid methods:

• BuildTokenWithUid [1/2]: Generates an AccessToken2, and sets the expiration for AccessToken2 and the expiration for all privileges.
• BuildTokenWithUid [2/2]: Generates an AccessToken2, and sets the expiration for the following:
  • AccessToken2
  • The privilege of publishing audio streams in a channel
  • The privilege of publishing video streams in a channel
  • The privilege of publishing data streams in a channel

BuildTokenWithUid [1/2]

This method uses a token_expire parameter to set the expiration for AccessToken2 and a privilege_expire parameter to set the expiration for all privileges.

// Take C++ as an example
static std::string BuildTokenWithUid(const std::string& app_id,
                                       const std::string& app_certificate,
                                       const std::string& channel_name,
                                       uint32_t uid, UserRole role,
                                       uint32_t token_expire,
                                       uint32_t privilege_expire = 0);

BuildTokenWithUid [2/2]

To facilitate privilege-level configuration in a channel, Agora provides an overloaded method, BuildTokenWithUid [2/2], to support configuring the expiration of the AccessToken2 and related privileges:

• Join a channel
• Publish audio streamsin a channel
• Publish video streams in a channel
• Publish data streams in a channel

// Take C++ as an example
static std::string BuildTokenWithUid(
       const std::string& app_id,
       const std::string& app_certificate,
       const std::string& channel_name,
       uint32_t uid,
       uint32_t token_expire,
       uint32_t join_channel_privilege_expire = 0,
       uint32_t pub_audio_privilege_expire = 0,
       uint32_t pub_video_privilege_expire = 0,
       uint32_t pub_data_stream_privilege_expire = 0);

This method generates an RTC AccessToken2 and supports configuring the expiration time of the token and the following privileges:

• Joining an RTC channel
• Publishing audio streams in an RTC channel
• Publishing video streams in an RTC channel
• Publishing data streams in an RTC channel

The privileges of publishing audio streams in an RTC channel, publishing video streams in an RTC channel, and publishing data streams in an RTC channel only take effect after enabling co-host authentication.

You can assign multiple privileges to a user. When a privilege is about to expire or has expired, the RTC SDK triggers the onTokenPriviegeWillExpire callback or the onRequestToken callback. You need to take the following actions in your own app logic:

1. Tag the type of privilege that is about to expire or has expired in your app logic.
2. The app fetches a new AccessToken2 from the token server.
3. The SDK calls renewToken to renew the AccessToken2.

You need to set an appropriate expiration timestamp. For example, if the expiration time of joining a channel is earlier than that of publishing audio in the channel, when the privilege of joining a channel expires, the user is kicked out of the RTC channel. Even if the privilege of publishing audio is still valid, user cannot exercise that privilege.

1. Log in to Agora Console. Under Projects, choose a project for which you want to enable co-host authentication, click the Config icon, and enter the Edit Project page.
2. In the Features area, click Enable authentication.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to learn more about this function, check the box, and click Enable.

Co-host authentication takes effect in 5 minutes.

Once you have enabled co-host authentication, a user using your app must meet both of the following requirements to publish streams in a channel:

• The user role in setClientRole is set as host.
• The user joins the channel with a token that has the privilege of a publisher (by setting the role parameter in the buildToken method as kRolePublisher).

Upgrade from AccessToken to AccessToken2

For how to use AccessToken to authenticate your users and how to upgrade to AccessToken2, see Upgrade from AccessToken to AccessToken2.