Client Alerts Login Request fails with "Invalid ClientAlerts Auth Token"

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