zoom-oauth

Zoom OAuth

Background reference for Zoom auth and token lifecycle behavior. Prefer setup-zoom-oauth first, then use this skill for the exact flow, scope, and error details.

Zoom OAuth

Authentication and authorization for Zoom APIs.

📖 Complete Documentation

For comprehensive guides, production patterns, and troubleshooting, see Integrated Index section below.

Quick navigation:

• 5-Minute Runbook - Preflight checks before deep debugging
• OAuth Flows - Which flow to use and how each works
• Token Lifecycle - Expiration, refresh, and revocation
• Production Examples - Redis caching, MySQL storage, auto-refresh
• Troubleshooting - Error codes 4700-4741

Prerequisites

• Zoom app created in Marketplace
• Client ID and Client Secret
• For S2S OAuth: Account ID

Four Authorization Use Cases

Industry Terminology

Which Flow Should I Use?

                              ┌─────────────────────┐
                              │  What are you       │
                              │  building?          │
                              └──────────┬──────────┘
                                         │

Account Authorization (Server-to-Server OAuth)

For backend automation without user interaction.

Request Access Token

Response

Refresh

Access tokens expire after 1 hour. No separate refresh flow - just request a new token.

User Authorization (Authorization Code Flow)

For apps that act on behalf of users.

Step 1: Redirect User to Authorize

Use https://zoom.us/oauth/authorize for consent, but https://zoom.us/oauth/token for token exchange.

Optional Parameters:

Step 2: User Authorizes

• User signs in and grants permission
• Redirects to redirect_uri with authorization code:

  https://example.com/?code={AUTHORIZATION_CODE}

Step 3: Exchange Code for Token

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=authorization_code&code={CODE}&redirect_uri={REDIRECT_URI}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

With PKCE: Add code_verifier parameter.

Response

{
  "access_token": "eyJ...",
  "token_type": "bearer",
  "refresh_token": "eyJ...",
  "expires_in": 3600,
  "scope": "user:read:user",
  "api_url": "https://api.zoom.us"
}

Refresh Token

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=refresh_token&refresh_token={REFRESH_TOKEN}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

• Access tokens expire after 1 hour
• Refresh token lifetime can vary; ~90 days is common for some user-based flows. Treat it as configuration/behavior that can change and rely on runtime errors + re-auth fallback.
• Always use the latest refresh token for the next request
• If refresh token expires, redirect user to authorization URL to restart flow

User-Level vs Account-Level Apps

Device Authorization (Device Flow)

For devices without browsers (e.g., Meeting SDK apps).

Prerequisites

Enable "Use App on Device" in: Features > Embed > Enable Meeting SDK

Step 1: Request Device Code

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/devicecode?client_id={CLIENT_ID}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

Response

{
  "device_code": "DEVICE_CODE",
  "user_code": "abcd1234",
  "verification_uri": "https://zoom.us/oauth_device",
  "verification_uri_complete": "https://zoom.us/oauth/device/complete/{CODE}",
  "expires_in": 900,
  "interval": 5
}

Step 2: User Authorization

Direct user to:

• verification_uri and display user_code for manual entry, OR
• verification_uri_complete (user code prefilled)

User signs in and allows the app.

Step 3: Poll for Token

Poll at the interval (5 seconds) until user authorizes:

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code&device_code={DEVICE_CODE}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

Response

{
  "access_token": "eyJ...",
  "token_type": "bearer",
  "refresh_token": "eyJ...",
  "expires_in": 3599,
  "scope": "user:read:user user:read:token",
  "api_url": "https://api.zoom.us"
}

Polling Responses

Polling Implementation

async function pollForToken(deviceCode, interval) {
  while (true) {
    await sleep(interval * 1000);
    
    try {
      const response = await axios.post(
        `https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code&device_code=${deviceCode}`,
        null,
        { headers: { 'Authorization': `Basic ${credentials}` } }
      );
      return response.data; // Success - got tokens
    } catch (error) {
      const err = error.response?.data?.error;
      if (err === 'authorization_pending') continue;
      if (err === 'slow_down') { interval += 5; continue; }
      throw error; // expired_token or access_denied
    }
  }
}

Refresh

Same as User Authorization. If refresh token expires, restart device flow from Step 1.

Client Authorization (Chatbot)

For chatbot message operations only.

Request Token

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=client_credentials
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

Response

{
  "access_token": "eyJ...",
  "token_type": "bearer",
  "expires_in": 3600,
  "scope": "imchat:bot",
  "api_url": "https://api.zoom.us"
}

Refresh

Tokens expire after 1 hour. No refresh flow - just request a new token.

Using Access Tokens

Call API

GET https://api.zoom.us/v2/users/me
 
Headers:
Authorization: Bearer {ACCESS_TOKEN}

Me Context

Replace userID with me to target the token's associated user:

Revoke Access Token

Works for all authorization types.

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/revoke?token={ACCESS_TOKEN}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

Response

{
  "status": "success"
}

PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange)

For public clients that can't securely store secrets (mobile apps, SPAs, desktop apps).

When to Use PKCE

How PKCE Works

┌──────────┐                              ┌──────────┐                    ┌──────────┐
│  Client  │                              │   Zoom   │                    │   Zoom   │
│   App    │                              │  Auth    │                    │  Token   │
└────┬─────┘                              └────┬─────┘                    └────┬─────┘
     │                                         │                              │
     │ 1. Generate code_verifier (random)      │                              │
     │ 2. Create code_challenge = SHA256(verifier)                            │
     │                                         │                              │
     │ ─────── /authorize + code_challenge ──► │                              │
     │                                         │                              │
     │ ◄────── authorization_code ──────────── │                              │
     │                                         │                              │
     │ ─────────────── /token + code_verifier ─┼────────────────────────────► │
     │                                         │                              │
     │                                         │     Verify: SHA256(verifier) │
     │                                         │            == challenge      │
     │                                         │                              │
     │ ◄───────────────────────────────────────┼─────── access_token ──────── │
     │                                         │                              │

Implementation (Node.js)

const crypto = require('crypto');
 
function generatePKCE() {
  const verifier = crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('base64url');
  const challenge = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(verifier).digest('base64url');
  return { verifier, challenge };
}
 
const pkce = generatePKCE();
 
const authUrl = `https://zoom.us/oauth/authorize?` +
  `response_type=code&` +
  `client_id=${CLIENT_ID}&` +
  `redirect_uri=${REDIRECT_URI}&` +
  `code_challenge=${pkce.challenge}&` +
  `code_challenge_method=S256`;
 
// Store pkce.verifier in session for callback

Token Exchange with PKCE

POST https://zoom.us/oauth/token?grant_type=authorization_code&code={CODE}&redirect_uri={REDIRECT_URI}&code_verifier={VERIFIER}
 
Headers:
Authorization: Basic {Base64(ClientID:ClientSecret)}

Deauthorization

When a user removes your app, Zoom sends a webhook to your Deauthorization Notification Endpoint URL.

Webhook Event

{
  "event": "app_deauthorized",
  "event_ts": 1740439732278,
  "payload": {
    "account_id": "ACCOUNT_ID",
    "user_id": "USER_ID",
    "signature": "SIGNATURE",
    "deauthorization_time": "2019-06-17T13:52:28.632Z",
    "client_id": "CLIENT_ID"
  }
}

Requirements

• Delete all associated user data after receiving this event
• Verify webhook signature (use secret token, verification token deprecated Oct 2023)
• Only public apps receive deauthorization webhooks (not private/dev apps)

Pre-Approval Flow

Some Zoom accounts require Marketplace admin pre-approval before users can authorize apps.

• Users can request pre-approval from their admin
• Account-level apps (admin scopes) require appropriate role permissions

Active Apps Notifier (AAN)

In-meeting feature showing apps with real-time access to content.

• Displays icon + tooltip with app info, content type being accessed, approving account
• Supported: Zoom client 5.6.7+, Meeting SDK 5.9.0+

OAuth Scopes

Scope Types

Classic Scopes

For previously-created apps. Three levels:

• User-level: Access to individual user's data
• Admin-level: Account-wide access, requires admin role
• Master-level: For master-sub account setups, requires account owner

Full list: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/integrations/oauth-scopes/

Granular Scopes

For new apps. Format: <service>:<action>:<data_claim>:<access>

Example: meeting:read:list_meetings:admin

Full list: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/integrations/oauth-scopes-granular/

Optional Scopes

Granular scopes can be marked as optional - users choose whether to grant them.

Basic authorization (uses build flow defaults):

Advanced authorization (custom scopes per request):

https://zoom.us/oauth/authorize?client_id={CLIENT_ID}&response_type=code&redirect_uri={REDIRECT_URI}&scope={required_scopes}&optional_scope={optional_scopes}

Include previously granted scopes:

https://zoom.us/oauth/authorize?...&include_granted_scopes&scope={additional_scopes}

Migrating Classic to Granular

1. Manage > select app > edit
2. Scope page > Development tab > click Migrate
3. Review auto-assigned granular scopes, remove unnecessary, mark optional
4. Test
5. Production tab > click Migrate

Notes:

• No review needed if only migrating or reducing scopes
• Existing user tokens continue with classic scope values until re-authorization
• New users get granular scopes after migration

Common Error Codes

See references/oauth-errors.md for complete error list.

Quick Reference

Demo Guidance

If you build an OAuth demo app, document its runtime base URL in that demo project's own README or .env.example, not in this shared skill.

Resources

• OAuth docs: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/integrations/oauth/
• S2S OAuth docs: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/internal-apps/s2s-oauth/
• PKCE blog: https://developers.zoom.us/blog/pcke-oauth-with-postman-rest-api/
• Classic scopes: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/integrations/oauth-scopes/
• Granular scopes: https://developers.zoom.us/docs/integrations/oauth-scopes-granular/

Integrated Index

This section was migrated from SKILL.md.

Quick Start Path

If you're new to Zoom OAuth, follow this order:

1. Run preflight checks first → RUNBOOK.md

2. Choose your OAuth flow → concepts/oauth-flows.md

   • 4 flows: S2S (backend), User (SaaS), Device (no browser), Chatbot
   • Decision matrix: Which flow fits your use case?

3. Understand token lifecycle → concepts/token-lifecycle.md

   • CRITICAL: How tokens expire, refresh, and revoke
   • Common pitfalls: refresh token rotation

4. Implement your flow → Jump to examples:

   • Backend automation → examples/s2s-oauth-redis.md
   • SaaS app → examples/user-oauth-mysql.md
   • Mobile/SPA → examples/pkce-implementation.md
   • Device (TV/kiosk) → examples/device-flow.md

5. Fix redirect URI issues → troubleshooting/redirect-uri-issues.md

   • Most common OAuth error: Redirect URI mismatch

6. Implement token refresh → examples/token-refresh.md

   • Automatic middleware pattern
   • Handle refresh token rotation

7. Troubleshoot errors → troubleshooting/common-errors.md

   • Error code tables (4700-4741 range)
   • Quick diagnostic workflow

Documentation Structure

oauth/
├── SKILL.md                           # Main skill overview
├── SKILL.md                           # This file - navigation guide
│
├── concepts/                          # Core OAuth concepts
│   ├── oauth-flows.md                # 4 flows: S2S, User, Device, Chatbot
│   ├── token-lifecycle.md            # Expiration, refresh, revocation
│   ├── pkce.md                       # PKCE security for public clients
│   ├── scopes-architecture.md        # Classic vs Granular scopes
│   └── state-parameter.md            # CSRF protection with state
│
├── examples/                          # Complete working code
│   ├── s2s-oauth-basic.md            # S2S OAuth minimal example
│   ├── s2s-oauth-redis.md            # S2S OAuth with Redis caching (production)
│   ├── user-oauth-basic.md           # User OAuth minimal example
│   ├── user-oauth-mysql.md           # User OAuth with MySQL + encryption (production)
│   ├── device-flow.md                # Device authorization flow
│   ├── pkce-implementation.md        # PKCE for SPAs/mobile apps
│   └── token-refresh.md              # Auto-refresh middleware pattern
│
├── troubleshooting/                   # Problem solving guides
│   ├── common-errors.md              # Error codes 4700-4741
│   ├── redirect-uri-issues.md        # Most common OAuth error
│   ├── token-issues.md               # Expired, revoked, invalid tokens
│   └── scope-issues.md               # Scope mismatch errors
│
└── references/                        # Reference documentation
    ├── oauth-errors.md                # Complete error code reference
    ├── classic-scopes.md              # Classic scope reference
    └── granular-scopes.md             # Granular scope reference

By Use Case

I want to automate Zoom tasks on my own account

1. OAuth Flows - S2S OAuth explained
2. S2S OAuth Redis - Production pattern with Redis caching
3. Token Lifecycle - 1hr token, no refresh

I want to build a SaaS app for other Zoom users

1. OAuth Flows - User OAuth explained
2. User OAuth MySQL - Production pattern with encryption
3. Token Refresh - Automatic refresh middleware
4. Redirect URI Issues - Fix most common error

I want to build a mobile or SPA app

1. PKCE - Why PKCE is required for public clients
2. PKCE Implementation - Complete code example
3. State Parameter - CSRF protection

I want to build an app for devices without browsers (TV, kiosk)

1. OAuth Flows - Device flow explained
2. Device Flow Example - Complete polling implementation
3. Common Errors - Device-specific errors

I'm building a Team Chat bot

1. OAuth Flows - Chatbot flow explained
2. S2S OAuth Basic - Similar pattern, different grant type
3. Scopes Architecture - Chatbot-specific scopes

I'm getting redirect URI errors (4709)

1. Redirect URI Issues - START HERE!
2. Common Errors - Error details
3. User OAuth Basic - See correct pattern

I'm getting token errors (4700-4741)

1. Token Issues - Diagnostic workflow
2. Token Lifecycle - Understand expiration
3. Token Refresh - Implement auto-refresh
4. Common Errors - Error code tables

I'm getting scope errors (4711)

1. Scope Issues - Mismatch causes
2. Scopes Architecture - Classic vs Granular
3. Classic Scopes - Complete scope reference
4. Granular Scopes - Granular scope reference

I need to refresh tokens

1. Token Lifecycle - When to refresh
2. Token Refresh - Middleware pattern
3. Token Issues - Common mistakes

I want to understand the difference between Classic and Granular scopes

1. Scopes Architecture - Complete comparison
2. Classic Scopes - resource:level format
3. Granular Scopes - service:action:data_claim:access format

I need to secure my OAuth implementation

1. PKCE - Public client security
2. State Parameter - CSRF protection
3. User OAuth MySQL - Token encryption at rest

I want to migrate from JWT app to S2S OAuth

1. S2S OAuth Redis - Modern replacement
2. Token Lifecycle - Different token behavior

Note: JWT App Type was deprecated in June 2023. Migrate to S2S OAuth for server-to-server automation.

Most Critical Documents

1. OAuth Flows (DECISION DOCUMENT)

concepts/oauth-flows.md

Understand which of the 4 flows to use:

• S2S OAuth: Backend automation (your account)
• User OAuth: SaaS apps (users authorize you)
• Device Flow: Devices without browsers
• Chatbot: Team Chat bots only

2. Token Lifecycle (MOST COMMON ISSUE)

concepts/token-lifecycle.md

99% of OAuth issues stem from misunderstanding:

• Token expiration (1 hour for all flows)
• Refresh token rotation (must save new refresh token)
• Revocation behavior (invalidates all tokens)

3. Redirect URI Issues (MOST COMMON ERROR)

troubleshooting/redirect-uri-issues.md

Error 4709 ("Redirect URI mismatch") is the #1 OAuth error. Must match EXACTLY (including trailing slash, http vs https).

Key Learnings

Critical Discoveries:

1. Refresh Token Rotation

   • Each refresh returns a NEW refresh token
   • Old refresh token becomes invalid
   • Failure to save new token causes 4735 errors
   • See: Token Refresh

2. S2S OAuth Uses Redis, User OAuth Uses Database

   • S2S: Single token for entire account → Redis (ephemeral)
   • User: Per-user tokens → Database (persistent)
   • See: S2S OAuth Redis vs User OAuth MySQL

3. Redirect URI Must Match EXACTLY

   • Trailing slash matters: /callback ≠ /callback/
   • Protocol matters: http:// ≠ https://
   • Port matters: :3000 ≠ :3001
   • See: Redirect URI Issues

4. PKCE Required for Public Clients

   • Mobile apps CANNOT keep secrets
   • SPAs CANNOT keep secrets
   • PKCE prevents authorization code interception
   • See: PKCE

5. State Parameter Prevents CSRF

   • Generate random state before redirect
   • Store in session
   • Verify on callback
   • See: State Parameter

6. Token Storage Must Be Encrypted

   • NEVER store tokens in plain text
   • Use AES-256 minimum
   • See: User OAuth MySQL

7. JWT App Type is Deprecated (June 2023)

   • No new JWT apps can be created
   • Existing apps still work but will eventually be sunset
   • Migrate to S2S OAuth or User OAuth

8. Scope Levels Determine Authorization Requirements

   • No suffix (user-level): Any user can authorize
   • :admin: Requires admin role
   • :master: Requires account owner (multi-account)
   • See: Scopes Architecture

9. Authorization Codes Expire in 5 Minutes

   • Exchange code for token immediately
   • Don't cache authorization codes
   • See: Token Lifecycle

10. Device Flow Requires Polling

    • Poll at interval returned by /devicecode (usually 5s)
    • Handle authorization_pending, slow_down, expired_token
    • See: Device Flow

Quick Reference

"Which OAuth flow should I use?"

→ OAuth Flows

"Redirect URI mismatch error (4709)"

→ Redirect URI Issues

"Token expired or invalid"

→ Token Issues

"Refresh token invalid (4735)"

→ Token Refresh - Must save new refresh token

"Scope mismatch error (4711)"

→ Scope Issues

"How do I secure my OAuth app?"

→ PKCE + State Parameter

"How do I implement auto-refresh?"

→ Token Refresh

"What's the difference between Classic and Granular scopes?"

→ Scopes Architecture

"What error code means what?"

→ Common Errors

Document Version

Based on Zoom OAuth API v2 (2024+)

Deprecated: JWT App Type (June 2023)

Happy coding!

Remember: Start with OAuth Flows to understand which flow fits your use case!

Environment Variables

• See references/environment-variables.md for standardized .env keys and where to find each value.