Create Directus Personal Access Token — generate_directus

This function generates a personal access token (PAT) for a user who has been registered on data.drives-network.org. The PAT is an alternative to an API key, meant for short-term use within the API. There are two ways to generate a PAT. The first is to enter user credentials (email and password) to generate a new API session (fetch_option = "regenerate"). The second is to extend an API session without re-entering credentials (fetch_option = "refresh"). The "regenerate" option is recommended for new users and users with a week or more of inactivity. The "refresh" option is recommended as a more secure option for users with a valid refresh token. The PAT expires after about 15 minutes. The refresh token expires after seven days.

Usage

generate_directus_pat(
  useremail = NULL,
  userpassword = NULL,
  fetch_option = c("regenerate", "refresh", "load")[1],
  refresh_token = NULL,
  save = TRUE,
  output_type = c("auth", "list")[1],
  savedir = ".",
  savename = "directus_PAT.txt",
  myurl = getOption("drivesR.default.url")
)

Arguments

useremail: Email address registered with data.drives-network.org. Not needed if fetch_option = "refresh".
userpassword: Account password. Not needed if fetch_option = "refresh".
fetch_option: Options are "regenerate", "refresh", or "load". "regenerate" means that a new personal access token and refresh token are generated for the user. This option should be used for first-time access, or "refresh" means that a new personal access token and refresh token are generated without needing to re-enter user credentials. Previous PATs and refresh tokens will not work after refreshing.
refresh_token: An optional string input for the refresh token used to update the PAT. Only applies if fetch_option = "refresh". If NULL, the refresh token is read from the file specified in savedir and savename. Because the refresh token is reset after each use, we recommend reading from a file.
save: If TRUE, the personal access token is saved to a file specified in savedir and savename.
output_type: If set to "auth" (default), the function returns a character string ready for Directus API calls ("Bearer insertaccesstoken"). If set to "list" the function returns a list of variables supplied by the Directus API (expiration time, refresh_token, access_token). The list output is included for troubleshooting and in case there is some issue with saving data to files.
savedir: Directory where the text file containing the personal access token should be saved. Defaults to the working directory.
savename: Name of the file containing the PAT. Default is directus_PAT.txt.
myurl: Default url (data.drives-network.org)

Value

Returns a text object "Bearer newPAT" that can be used as the input for set_default_token().

Details

By default, this function saves and loads the PAT to and from an external file. This file should not be edited by the user. If you're using Git, be sure to add this file to your git ignore.

Examples

# to begin a new API session:
#not run: mypat <- generate_directus_pat(useremail = "yourDirectusEmail", 
#                                          userpassword = "yourDirectusPassword",
#                                           fetch_option = "regenerate",
#                                             savedir = "mysupersafefolder", # default is working directory
#                                           savename = "directus_pat.txt")
#
#
# to extend an existing API session:
# not run: mypat <- generate_directus_pat(fetch_option = "refresh",
#                                            savedir = "mysupersafefolder", # dir and 
#                                           savename = "directus_pat.txt) # name must match initial run
# not run: set_default_token(mypat)
# not run: test_api_token(mypat) # to check if it works.