Authorization code (private)

The Authorization Code (private) flow works for applications that can securely store a client secret (for example, server-side services, desktop apps). A user authenticates interactively, and the SDK exchanges the authorization code for tokens.

Objective

Configure and use the Authorization Code (private) OAuth flow with the Service‑Now SDK using values provided by your ServiceNow administrator.

Required values

Your administrator must provide:

Value	Description
Service‑Now URL	Base URL of the instance
Client ID	From a ServiceNow OAuth application registry entry
Client Secret	From the same registry entry
Redirect URL	Must match the redirect URL configured in ServiceNow
Authorization URL	OAuth authorization endpoint
Token URL	OAuth token endpoint

SDK flow

flowchart TD
    A[App Code] --> B[NewAuthorizationCodeAuthenticationProvider]
    B --> C{clientSecret provided?}
    C -->|Yes| D[newConfidentialClient]
    D --> E[AuthorizationCodeCredential]

    %% Initial Token Acquisition
    E --> F[retrieveInitialToken]
    F --> G[Generate state UUID]
    G --> H[Start local redirect server on port 5001]
    H --> I[client.getAuthorizationURL]
    I --> J[Open Browser to Authorization URL]
    J --> K[Wait for redirect to local server]
    K --> L[Extract Authorization Code]
    L --> M[client.acquireTokenByCode]
    M --> N[Access Token + Refresh Token]
    N --> O[Cache Token]

    %% Refresh Flow
    O --> P{Token Expired?}
    P -->|Yes| Q[client.acquireTokenByRefreshToken]
    Q --> O

    %% Request Pipeline
    P -->|No| R[Kiota Request Adapter]
    R --> S[HTTP Request to ServiceNow]

Initialize the SDK

import (
    "log"

    credentials "github.com/michaeldcanady/service-now-sdk/credentials"
    servicenow "github.com/michaeldcanady/service-now-sdk"
)

func main() {
    authority := credentials.NewInstanceAuthority("{instance}")

    cred, err := credentials.NewAuthorizationCodeAuthenticationProvider(
        clientID,
        clientSecret,
        authority,
        []string{string(authority)},
    )
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    clientOpts := []credentials.ServiceNowServiceClientOption{
        servicenow.WithAuthenticationProvider(cred),
        servicenow.WithInstance("{instance}"),
    }

    client, err := servicenow.NewServiceNowServiceClient(clientOpts...)
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}