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Retrieving Client Alerts session information is not working properly. The "Login" call often fails with "Invalid ClientAlerts Auth Token" error, even though the client alerts token is valid.
Summary
Once you receive <ClientAlertsAuthToken> data in the response, it needs to be URL-encoded to escape special characters like "+", "=", space etc., before you can use it as a parameter in the "Login" request.
Detailed Description
After you URL-encode the Client Alerts Auth Token, it can be safely sent over as a URL param in the "Login" call. It is always a good practice to URL-encode the parameters that are sent as URL params.
Here is an example:
Step 1: Retrieve Client Alerts Auth token
REQUEST:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<GetClientAlertsAuthTokenRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<RequesterCredentials>
<eBayAuthToken>INSERT_YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN_HERE</eBayAuthToken>
</RequesterCredentials>
<ErrorLanguage>en_US</ErrorLanguage>
<WarningLevel>High</WarningLevel>
</GetClientAlertsAuthTokenRequest>
RESPONSE:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GetClientAlertsAuthTokenResponse
xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
<Timestamp>2022-09-07T20:10:59.819Z</Timestamp>
<Ack>Success</Ack>
<Version>1173</Version>
<Build>E1173_CORE_APINOTIFY_19146596_R1</Build>
<ClientAlertsAuthToken>AQAAAYL2WPAAAA0xfDEzMjg0NzczM3w3MzI2M3wxNjYzMTg2MjU5Nzg2fHVNY0V2VmhwTU5xTGV1YUZQMDVSWWQxeERmVXhjWmJlWGVEMDBLR3BaeFhBUU1VdS9QVTdHTzlhSXFXTWpPU0FjVDhyVjRyWnVHVE9WUGRxeFpHcHFnPT2lVnATfzq0HfP0hNgLD/OvolhnLw==</ClientAlertsAuthToken>
<HardExpirationTime>2022-09-14T20:10:59.786Z</HardExpirationTime>
</GetClientAlertsAuthTokenResponse>
Step 2: URL-encode the <ClientAlertsAuthToken> retrieved in Step 1
Retrieved Token:
AQAAAYL2WPAAAA0xfDEzMjg0NzczM3w3MzI2M3wxNjYzMTg2MjU5Nzg2fHVNY0V2VmhwTU5xTGV1YUZQMDVSWWQxeERmVXhjWmJlWGVEMDBLR3BaeFhBUU1VdS9QVTdHTzlhSXFXTWpPU0FjVDhyVjRyWnVHVE9WUGRxeFpHcHFnPT2lVnATfzq0HfP0hNgLD/OvolhnLw==
Token after encoding:
AQAAAYL2WPAAAA0xfDEzMjg0NzczM3w3MzI2M3wxNjYzMTg2MjU5Nzg2fHVNY0V2VmhwTU5xTGV1YUZQMDVSWWQxeERmVXhjWmJlWGVEMDBLR3BaeFhBUU1VdS9QVTdHTzlhSXFXTWpPU0FjVDhyVjRyWnVHVE9WUGRxeFpHcHFnPT2lVnATfzq0HfP0hNgLD%2FOvolhnLw%3D%3D
Note that after URL encoding, the "/" and the "=" symbols in the token are encoded as %2F and %3D respectively
Step 3: Establish a Client Alerts session by passing in the Client Alerts token and retrieving session information
REQUEST:
http://clientalerts.ebay.com/ws/ecasvc/ClientAlerts?version=1235&appid=YOUR_APP_ID_HERE&callname=Login&ClientAlertsAuthToken=AQAAAYL2WPAAAA0xfDEzMjg0NzczM3w3MzI2M3wxNjYzMTg2MjU5Nzg2fHVNY0V2VmhwTU5xTGV1YUZQMDVSWWQxeERmVXhjWmJlWGVEMDBLR3BaeFhBUU1VdS9QVTdHTzlhSXFXTWpPU0FjVDhyVjRyWnVHVE9WUGRxeFpHcHFnPT2lVnATfzq0HfP0hNgLD%2FOvolhnLw%3D%3D
Additional Resources
Client Alerts API Guide: http://developer.ebay.com/DevZone/client-alerts/docs/Concepts/ClientAlertsAPIGuide.html