need Help for Migration to V3 version

[user959297]

Hi,

We need your help to migrating constant contact Api we are currently using https://api.constantcontact.com/ws/customers apis that want to migrate to V3 version.

Can you please help with that.

for existing api we are using Basic Auth Authorization were we are passing username with program guid and password.

but for V3 is the same way we can do it? 

[Courtney_E]

Hello user959297,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support. My team is here to assist outside software developers with questions about building into Constant Contact's API.

At this time, we are not offering any Basic Authentication solutions, as we are currently in the process of deprecating our V1 API. Our newest version, the V3 API, uses OAuth2.0 to authenticate and connect accounts to your integration.

Getting Started with V3 API
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/index.html

While the V3 API requires a few more steps to be programmed into your application for authentication, when end users go to connect the integration to their Constant Contact account, all they will need to do is: grant permission for the integration to access their account (and either be logged in, or log in at that time).

Please note that the V3 API OAuth2.0 Server Flow will return a unique authorization code and token set for each account that connects to your integration/key, so your application should store these token sets separately in a way that it can identify requests sent/received for each connected Constant Contact account based on the access token used when calling the API.

Authorization Request URL
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/server_flow.html#step-2-add-the-authorization-req...

Within your application, if you currently have an area where the user would have previously input their Constant Contact credentials (username/password), you’ll want to replace that with a “Connect Account” (or whichever preferred verbiage) button that redirects to the Authorization Request URL (step 1 of the V3 API OAuth2.0 Server Flow as detailed below).

You’ll want to start by going through the V3 API OAuth Server Flow. Please note, after step 1, you should set up step 4 before proceeding, because the authorization code from steps 2 and 3 only has a lifespan of 60 seconds.

V3 API OAuth2.0 Server Flow
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/server_flow.html

Tokens Overview
https://developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/auth_overview.html#tokens

In step one of the V3 API OAuth2.0 Server Flow, you’ll want to set up your “redirect_uri” so that after a client grants permission via the Authorization Request URL, Authorization Service can send the user to a webpage that you specify, and also send the Authorization Code back to your application so that it can complete the Authentication process.

Create an Authorization Request URL
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/server_flow.html#step-1-create-an-authorization-r...

Authentication Overview
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/auth_overview.html

Get the Token from the Redirect URL
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/auth_overview.html#get-the-token-from-the-redirec...

Once you have your first set of tokens, you’ll want to set the access token and the refresh token as values for corresponding variables (for each connected account) in your application, so that when your program runs through step 5 of the OAuth2.0 Server Flow to get the new set of tokens it can assign new values to those variables to maintain an authenticated connection.

You can either have the application refresh each account’s tokens on a timer based on the life of the access token, or you can have each submission check to see if the access token is still active, and then use the refresh token to generate a new set of tokens if not. If choosing the second (less recommended) option, it would be beneficial to make sure that the calls are synchronous.

V3 API - Refresh the Access Token
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/server_flow.html#step-5-refresh-the-access-token

How to Make Access Tokens Last Longer
https://developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/faqs_manage_applications.html

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions!

[user959297]

Hi support Team,
We need to purchase and create developer account to do integration?

What is the pricing involve for this account? 

[Courtney_E]

Hello user959297 ,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support.

There is no cost to access our developer page, API endpoints, documentation, or key creation. Constant Contact provides developers with free access to our API so that anyone can build their own application for integration.

Constant Contact V3 API Documentation
https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/getting_started.html

If you already have a Constant Contact account, it’s as simple as logging into your account, navigating to https://developer.constantcontact.com/,and clicking on the get started button.

If you do not have a paid account, but still want to develop an integration, you are able to create a free trial account with limited sending capabilities which you can use for your testing purposes. Trial accounts created through the developer portal do not expire, whereas standard trial accounts created through the main site expire after 60 days.

Constant Contact Developer Portal
https://developer.constantcontact.com/

If you are going to be developing an integration that will be used by a large number of end-users you can alsolook into becoming a Technology Partner where you are provided a free account as part of the partnership.

https://www.constantcontact.com/partners/technology

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions!

[user959297]

Hi Team,

What is the process to become technology partner and benefits we will get if we choose technology partner.

[Courtney_E]

Hello user959297,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support. My team is here to assist outside software developers with questions about building into Constant Contact's API.

If you are going to be developing an integration that will be used by a large number of end-users you can also look into becoming a Technology Partner where you are provided a free account as part of the partnership. To learn more, please check out the link below:
https://www.constantcontact.com/partners/technology

You can apply through the form within the link below and a member of the Partner team will contact you to discuss the Technology Partner Program:
https://constantcontact.tfaforms.net/547

[user959297]

Hi Support Team,

some more questions i have 

1. App key and App Secret will be same for life time or we need to rotate it after some internal like 3 months, 6 months etc.

2. Is there any limit on number of users (clients accounts) connected with the app key.

[Courtney_E]

Hello user959297 ,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support.

The V3 API key does not expire and should not need to be updated or replaced. The only time that it would need to be replaced is if you were to deactivate the key in the account it was created in (once deactivated, they cannot be reactivated). 

The Client Secret does not expire and should not need to be updated or replaced unless either a new secret is generated (invalidating the old one), or if the secret is lost/misplaced, as it is only visible upon initial generation and cannot be recovered. You would at that point need to generate a new one.

Generating a Client Secret

https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/developer_portal.html#generating-a-client-secret

While there’s not a specific set limit on the amount of users that are able to connect to a single V3 Key, the V3 API limits the number of requests you can send within a certain amount of time. You can use your API key to send up to 10,000 requests per day and 4 requests per second. 

V3 API Rate Limits

https://v3.developer.constantcontact.com/api_guide/rate_limits.html

Please have a look and let us know if you have any other questions!

[user959297]

Hi support team,

We are opening authorization url in browser control from code it's asking captcha again and again but same url is working fine with chrome browser.
Can you let us know how we can achieve this as we are a desktop application we can't open external browser and read authorization code.
Please advice us on this.

[Courtney_E]

Hello user959297,

Thank you for reaching out to Constant Contact API Developer Support. My team is here to assist outside software developers with questions about building into Constant Contact's API.

At this time, there is no way to bypass the Authorization Request screen for the V3 API and the Authorization Request URL must be accessed via a browser in order for the client connecting their account to grant permission.

If the method you are using (browser control) is having difficulties displaying captcha and is preventing user accounts from connecting, then it may be outdated or unsupported.

Please feel free to contact us directly via email at webservices@constantcontact.com with the language/platform you’re using, as well as samples/screenshots of any errors you are encountering so that we can look into this and investigate further with you as a courtesy.

We are limited in the support we can provide regarding the implementation of the API in any specific language or setting, but will try to answer any questions to the best of our ability as they pertain to Constant Contact’s API endpoints and functionality.