OAuth Client for Intuit

A Node.js client for Intuit's OAuth 2.0 implementation.

Features

• OAuth 2.0 authentication flow
• Token management and refresh
• API request handling
• Error handling with custom error types
• Automatic retry for transient errors
• Structured logging
• Response validation

Installation

npm install intuit-oauth

Usage

const OAuthClient = require('intuit-oauth');

const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: 'your_client_id',
  clientSecret: 'your_client_secret',
  environment: 'sandbox', // or 'production'
  redirectUri: 'http://localhost:8000/callback',
  logging: true // Enable logging
});

Error Handling

The client provides several custom error types for better error handling:

• OAuthError: Base error class for all OAuth related errors
• NetworkError: For network related errors
• ValidationError: For validation related errors
• TokenError: For token related errors

OAuth2 Error Response Handling

When OAuth operations fail (e.g., createToken(), refresh()), the library now properly surfaces the full error response from QuickBooks:

try {
  const authResponse = await oauthClient.createToken(code);
  const token = authResponse.getToken();
} catch (error) {
  // Access detailed OAuth2 error information
  console.error('OAuth Error:', error.error); // e.g., "invalid_grant"
  console.error('Description:', error.error_description); // e.g., "Token invalid"
  console.error('Transaction ID:', error.intuit_tid); // For debugging with QuickBooks support
  console.error('Full response:', error.authResponse.json); // Complete error payload

  // Handle specific OAuth2 errors
  if (error.error === 'invalid_grant') {
    // Authorization code expired or invalid - redirect user to re-authorize
  } else if (error.error === 'invalid_client') {
    // Client credentials are invalid - check configuration
  }
}

Error Handling Demo

Try the interactive error handling demo to see how OAuth2 errors are surfaced:

node test/error-handling-demo.js

This demo script demonstrates:

• How OAuth2 error responses are captured and surfaced
• Full error details including error codes, descriptions, and transaction IDs
• Programmatic error handling based on error types

Example error handling:

try {
  await oauthClient.makeApiCall({ url: 'https://api.example.com' });
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof TokenError) {
    // Handle token errors
    console.error('Token error:', error.code, error.description);
  } else if (error instanceof NetworkError) {
    // Handle network errors
    console.error('Network error:', error.message);
  } else if (error instanceof ValidationError) {
    // Handle validation errors
    console.error('Validation error:', error.message);
  } else {
    // Handle other errors
    console.error('Unexpected error:', error);
  }
}

Common OAuth2 Errors

The library properly handles and surfaces these QuickBooks OAuth2 errors:

Debugging OAuth Errors

When an OAuth error occurs, use these debugging strategies:

1. Log full error details:

   console.log('Error Code:', error.error);
   console.log('Description:', error.error_description);
   console.log('Transaction ID:', error.intuit_tid);
   console.log('Full Response:', JSON.stringify(error.authResponse.json, null, 2));
   

2. Use the Transaction ID: Contact QuickBooks support with the intuit_tid from the error for detailed troubleshooting

3. Check error code: Different error codes require different handling strategies (see table above)

4. Examine response body: error.authResponse.body contains the raw response string for detailed debugging

5. Enable logging: Set logging: true in OAuthClient config to capture detailed logs in logs/oAuthClient-log.log

Retry Logic

The client includes automatic retry logic for transient errors:

• Maximum 3 retries
• Exponential backoff (1s, 2s, 4s)
• Retries on specific status codes (408, 429, 500, 502, 503, 504)
• Retries on network errors (ECONNRESET, ETIMEDOUT, ECONNREFUSED)

You can configure retry behavior:

OAuthClient.retryConfig = {
  maxRetries: 3,
  retryDelay: 1000,
  retryableStatusCodes: [408, 429, 500, 502, 503, 504],
  retryableErrors: ['ECONNRESET', 'ETIMEDOUT', 'ECONNREFUSED']
};

Logging

The client provides structured logging when enabled:

const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  // ... other config
  logging: true
});

Log entries include:

• Timestamp
• Log level
• Message
• Request context (URL, method, headers)
• Error details (for error logs)
• Environment information
• Client ID

Example log entry:

{
  "timestamp": "2024-03-14T12:00:00.000Z",
  "level": "error",
  "message": "API call failed",
  "data": {
    "error": {
      "name": "TokenError",
      "code": "UNAUTHORIZED",
      "message": "Invalid or expired access token",
      "stack": "...",
      "intuit_tid": "1234-1234-1234-123"
    }
  },
  "environment": "sandbox",
  "clientId": "your_client_id",
  "request": {
    "url": "https://api.example.com",
    "method": "GET",
    "headers": {
      "Authorization": "Bearer ...",
      "Accept": "application/json"
    }
  }
}

Response Validation

The client validates responses and throws appropriate errors for common scenarios:

• 401 Unauthorized: Invalid or expired access token
• 403 Forbidden: Insufficient permissions
• 429 Too Many Requests: Rate limit exceeded
• Missing or invalid response data
• Invalid content types

API Reference

OAuthClient

constructor(config)

Creates a new OAuthClient instance.

const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: 'your_client_id',
  clientSecret: 'your_client_secret',
  environment: 'sandbox',
  redirectUri: 'http://localhost:8000/callback',
  logging: true
});

makeApiCall(params)

Makes an API call with automatic retry and error handling.

const response = await oauthClient.makeApiCall({
  url: 'https://api.example.com',
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'Custom-Header': 'value'
  },
  body: {
    key: 'value'
  }
});

validateResponse(response)

Validates an API response and throws appropriate errors.

try {
  oauthClient.validateResponse(response);
} catch (error) {
  // Handle validation errors
}

License

Apache License 2.0

Intuit OAuth2.0 NodeJS Library

The OAuth2 Nodejs Client library is meant to work with Intuit's OAuth2.0 and OpenID Connect implementations which conforms to the specifications.

Table of Contents

• Intuit OAuth2.0 NodeJS Library
  • Table of Contents
• Requirements
• Installation
  • Using NodeJS
    • Options :
• Usage
  • Authorization Code Flow
    • Step 1
    • Scopes :
    • Step 2
• Sample
  • Helpers
    • Is AccessToken Valid
    • Refresh access_token
    • Refresh access_token by passing the refresh_token explicitly
    • Revoke access_token
    • Getter / Setter for Token
      • Retrieve the Token :
      • Set the Token :
    • Migrate OAuth1.0 Tokens to OAuth2.0
    • Validate ID Token
    • Make API call
    • Auth-Response
    • Error Logging
  • FAQ
  • Contributing
    • Steps
  • Changelog
  • License

Requirements

The Node.js client library is tested against the Node 10 and newer versions.

Note: Older node versions are not supported.

Installation

Follow the instructions below to use the library :

Using NodeJS

1. Install the NPM package:

   npm install intuit-oauth --save
   

2. Require the Library:

   const OAuthClient = require('intuit-oauth');
   
   const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
     clientId: '<Enter your clientId>',
     clientSecret: '<Enter your clientSecret>',
     environment: 'sandbox' || 'production',
     redirectUri: '<Enter your callback URL>',
   });
   

Options

• clientId - clientID for your app. Required
• clientSecret - clientSecret fpor your app. Required
• environment - environment for the client. Required
  • sandbox - for authorizing in sandbox.
  • production - for authorizing in production.
• redirectUri - redirectUri on your app to get the authorizationCode from Intuit Servers. Make sure this redirect URI is also added on your app in the developer portal on the Keys & OAuth tab. Required
• logging - by default, logging is disabled i.e false. To enable providetrue.

Usage

We assume that you have a basic understanding about OAuth2.0. If not please read API Documentation for clear understanding

Authorization Code Flow

The Authorization Code flow is made up of two parts :

Step 1. Redirect user to oauthClient.authorizeUri(options).
Step 2. Parse response uri and get access-token using the function oauthClient.createToken(req.url) which returns a Promise.

Step 1

// Instance of client
const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: '<Enter your clientId>',
  clientSecret: '<Enter your clientSecret>',
  environment: 'sandbox',
  redirectUri: '<http://localhost:8000/callback>',
});

// AuthorizationUri
const authUri = oauthClient.authorizeUri({
  scope: [OAuthClient.scopes.Accounting, OAuthClient.scopes.OpenId],
  state: 'testState',
}); // can be an array of multiple scopes ex : {scope:[OAuthClient.scopes.Accounting,OAuthClient.scopes.OpenId]}

// Redirect the authUri
res.redirect(authUri);

Scopes

The available scopes include :

• com.intuit.quickbooks.accounting - for accounting scope include OAuthClient.scopes.Accounting
• com.intuit.quickbooks.payment - for payment scope include OAuthClient.scopes.Payment
• com.intuit.quickbooks.payroll - for QuickBooks Payroll API (whitelisted beta apps only)
• com.intuit.quickbooks.payroll.timetracking - for QuickBooks Payroll API for for access to compensation (whitelisted beta apps only)
• com.intuit.quickbooks.payroll.benefits - for QuickBooks Payroll API for access to benefits/pension/deduction (whitelisted beta apps only)

OpenID Scopes :

• openid - for openID assertion include OAuthClient.scopes.OpenId
• profile - for profile assertion include OAuthClient.scopes.Profile
• email - for email assertion include OAuthClient.scopes.Email
• phone - for phone assertion include OAuthClient.scopes.Phone
• address - for address assertion include OAuthClient.scopes.Address

Step 2

// Parse the redirect URL for authCode and exchange them for tokens
const parseRedirect = req.url;

// Exchange the auth code retrieved from the **req.url** on the redirectUri
oauthClient
  .createToken(parseRedirect)
  .then(function (authResponse) {
    console.log('The Token is  ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.getToken()));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
    console.error(e.intuit_tid);
  });

Sample

For more clarity, we suggest you take a look at the sample application below :
sample

Helpers

Is AccessToken Valid

You can check if the access_token associated with the oauthClient is valid ( not expired ) or not using the helper method.

if (oauthClient.isAccessTokenValid()) {
  console.log('The access_token is valid');
}

if (!oauthClient.isAccessTokenValid()) {
  oauthClient
    .refresh()
    .then(function (authResponse) {
      console.log('Tokens refreshed : ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.getToken()));
    })
    .catch(function (e) {
      console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
      console.error(e.intuit_tid);
    });
}

** Note: If the access_token is not valid, you can call the client's refresh() method to refresh the tokens for you as shown below

Refresh access_token

Access tokens are valid for 3600 seconds (one hour), after which time you need to get a fresh one using the latest refresh_token returned to you from the previous request. When you request a fresh access_token, always use the refresh token returned in the most recent token_endpoint response. Your previous refresh tokens expire 24 hours after you receive a new one.

oauthClient
  .refresh()
  .then(function (authResponse) {
    console.log('Tokens refreshed : ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.getToken()));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
    console.error(e.intuit_tid);
  });

Refresh access_token by passing the refresh_token explicitly

You can call the below helper method to refresh tokens by explictly passing the refresh_token.
**Note : refresh_token should be of the type string

oauthClient
  .refreshUsingToken('<Enter the refresh token>')
  .then(function (authResponse) {
    console.log('Tokens refreshed : ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.getToken()));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
    console.error(e.intuit_tid);
  });

Revoke access_token

When you no longer need the access_token, you could use the below helper method to revoke the tokens.

oauthClient
  .revoke()
  .then(function (authResponse) {
    console.log('Tokens revoked : ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.json));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
    console.error(e.intuit_tid);
  });

Alternatively you can also pass access_token or refresh_token to this helper method using the params object: refer to - Getter / Setter for Token section to know how to retrieve the token object

oauthClient
  .revoke(params)
  .then(function (authResponse) {
    console.log('Tokens revoked : ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.json));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.error('The error message is :' + e.originalMessage);
    console.error(e.intuit_tid);
  });

Note : params is the Token JSON object as shown below : ( If you do not pass the params then the token object of the client would be considered.)

{
    "token_type": "bearer",
    "expires_in": 3600,
    "refresh_token":"<refresh_token>",
    "x_refresh_token_expires_in":15552000,
    "access_token":"<access_token>",
    "createdAt": "(Optional Default = Date.now()) <Milliseconds> from the unix epoch"

}

Note :

Getter / Setter for Token

You can call the below methods to set and get the tokens using the oauthClient instance:

Retrieve the Token :

// To get the tokens
let authToken = oauthClient.getToken().getToken();

`OR`;

let authToken = oauthClient.token.getToken();

Set the Token :

// To Set the retrieved tokens explicitly using Token Object but the same instance
oauthClient.setToken(authToken);

OR;

// To set the retrieved tokens using a new client instance
const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: '<Enter your clientId>',
  clientSecret: '<Enter your clientSecret>',
  environment: 'sandbox',
  redirectUri: '<http://localhost:8000/callback>',
  token: authToken,
});

The authToken parameters are as follows:

{
    token_type: '<String>',
    access_token: '<String>',
    expires_in: '<Int> Seconds',
    refresh_token: '<String>',
    x_refresh_token_expires_in: '<Int>  Seconds',
    id_token: "(Optional Default = '') <String>",
    createdAt: '(Optional Default = Date.now()) <Milliseconds> from the unix epoch'
}

Note :
The OAuth Client library converts the accessToken and refreshToken expiry time to TimeStamp. If you are setting a stored token, please pass in the createdAt for accurate experiations.

oauthClient.setToken(authToken);

Migrate OAuth1.0 Tokens to OAuth2.0

You can call the below method to migrate the bearer / refresh tokens from OAuth1.0 to OAuth2.0. You

// Fill in the params object ( argument to the migrate function )

let params = {
  oauth_consumer_key: '<Enter oauth1ConsumerKey>',
  oauth_consumer_secret: '<Enter oauth1ConsumerSecret>',
  oauth_signature_method: 'HMAC-SHA1',
  oauth_timestamp: Math.round(new Date().getTime() / 1000),
  oauth_nonce: 'nonce',
  oauth_version: '1.0',
  access_token: '<Enter OAuth1.0 access_token>',
  access_secret: '<Enter OAuth1.0 access_secret>',
  scope: [OAuthClient.scopes.Accounting],
};

oauthClient
  .migrate(params)
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log('The response is ' + JSON.stringify(response));
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.log('The error is ' + e.message);
  });

Validate ID Token

You can validate the ID token obtained from Intuit Authorization Server as shown below :

oauthClient
  .validateIdToken()
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log('Is my ID token validated  : ' + response);
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.log('The error is ' + JSON.stringify(e));
  });

// Is my ID token validated : true

The client validates the ID Token and returns boolean true if validates successfully else it would throw an exception.

Make API Call

You can make API call using the token generated from the client as shown below :

// Body sample from API explorer examples
const body = {
  TrackQtyOnHand: true,
  Name: 'Garden Supplies',
  QtyOnHand: 10,
  InvStartDate: '2015-01-01',
  Type: 'Inventory',
  IncomeAccountRef: {
    name: 'Sales of Product Income',
    value: '79',
  },
  AssetAccountRef: {
    name: 'Inventory Asset',
    value: '81',
  },
  ExpenseAccountRef: {
    name: 'Cost of Goods Sold',
    value: '80',
  },
};

oauthClient
  .makeApiCall({
    url: 'https://sandbox-quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3/company/1234/item',
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  })
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log('The API response is  : ' + response);
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.log('The error is ' + JSON.stringify(e));
  });

You can also make the calling using the endpoint path:

// Body sample from API explorer examples
const body = {
  TrackQtyOnHand: true,
  Name: 'Garden Supplies',
  QtyOnHand: 10,
  InvStartDate: '2015-01-01',
  Type: 'Inventory',
  IncomeAccountRef: {
    name: 'Sales of Product Income',
    value: '79',
  },
  AssetAccountRef: {
    name: 'Inventory Asset',
    value: '81',
  },
  ExpenseAccountRef: {
    name: 'Cost of Goods Sold',
    value: '80',
  },
};

oauthClient
  .makeApiCall({
    url: '/v3/company/1234/item',
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify(body),
  })
  .then(function (response) {
    console.log('The API response is  : ' + response);
  })
  .catch(function (e) {
    console.log('The error is ' + JSON.stringify(e));
  });

The client validates the ID Token and returns boolean true if validates successfully else it would throw an exception.

Support for PDF format

In order to save the PDF generated from the APIs properly, the correct transport type should be passed into the makeAPI().Below is an example of the same:

.makeApiCall({ url: `${url}v3/company/${companyID}/invoice/${invoiceNumber}/pdf?minorversion=59` , headers:{'Content-Type': 'application/pdf','Accept':'application/pdf'}, transport: popsicle.createTransport({type: 'buffer'})})

The response is an actual buffer( binary BLOB) which could then be saved to the file.

Auth-Response

The response provided by the client is a wrapped response of the below items which is what we call authResponse, lets see how it looks like:

    1. response             // response from `HTTP Client` used by library
    2. token                // instance of `Token` Object
    3. body                 // res.body in `text`
    4. json                 // res.body in `JSON`
    5. intuit_tid           // `intuit-tid` from response headers

A sample AuthResponse object would look similar to :

{
  "token": {
    "realmId": "<realmId>",
    "token_type": "bearer",
    "access_token": "<access_token>",
    "refresh_token": "<refresh_token>",
    "expires_in": 3600,
    "x_refresh_token_expires_in": 8726400,
    "id_token": "<id_token>",
    "latency": 60000
  },
  "response": {
    "url": "https://oauth.platform.intuit.com/oauth2/v1/tokens/bearer",
    "headers": {
      "content-type": "application/json;charset=UTF-8",
      "content-length": "61",
      "connection": "close",
      "server": "nginx",
      "strict-transport-security": "max-age=15552000",
      "intuit_tid": "1234-1234-1234-123",
      "cache-control": "no-cache, no-store",
      "pragma": "no-cache"
    },
    "body": "{\"id_token\":\"<id_token>\",\"expires_in\":3600,\"token_type\":\"bearer\",\"x_refresh_token_expires_in\":8726400,\"refresh_token\":\"<refresh_token>\",\"access_token\":\"<access_token>\"}",
    "status": 200,
    "statusText": "OK"
  },
  "body": "{\"id_token\":\"<id_token>\",\"expires_in\":3600,\"token_type\":\"bearer\",\"x_refresh_token_expires_in\":8726400,\"refresh_token\":\"<refresh_token>\",\"access_token\":\"<access_token>\"}",
  "json": {
    "access_token": "<access_token>",
    "refresh_token": "<refresh_token>",
    "token_type": "bearer",
    "expires_in": "3600",
    "x_refresh_token_expires_in": "8726400",
    "id_token": "<id_token>"
  },
  "intuit_tid": "4245c696-3710-1548-d1e0-d85918e22ebe"
}

You can use the below helper methods to make full use of the Auth Response Object :

oauthClient.createToken(parseRedirect).then(function (authResponse) {
  console.log('The Token in JSON is  ' + JSON.stringify(authResponse.json));
  let status = authResponse.status();
  let body = authResponse.text();
  let jsonResponse = authResponse.json;
  let intuit_tid = authResponse.get_intuit_tid();
});

Error Logging

By default the logging is disabled i.e set to false. However, to enable logging, pass logging=true when you create the oauthClient instance :

const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: '<Enter your clientId>',
  clientSecret: '<Enter your clientSecret>',
  environment: 'sandbox',
  redirectUri: '<http://localhost:8000/callback>',
  logging: true,
});

The logs would be captured under the directory /logs/oAuthClient-log.log

Whenever there is an error, the library throws an exception and you can use the below helper methods to retrieve more information :

oauthClient.createToken(parseRedirect).catch(function (error) {
  console.log(error);
});

/**
* This is how the Error Object Looks : 
{  
   "originalMessage":"Response has an Error",
   "error":"invalid_grant",
   "error_description":"Token invalid",
   "intuit_tid":"4245c696-3710-1548-d1e0-d85918e22ebe"
}
*/

FAQ

Common Issues

API calls fail after upgrading to version 4.2.1

Problem: After upgrading from version 4.2.0 to 4.2.1, API calls started failing with malformed header errors.

Cause: Version 4.2.1 had a bug in the makeApiCall method where the Authorization header was incorrectly constructed, causing HTTP requests to have invalid headers.

Solution: Upgrade to version 4.2.2 or later, which fixes this issue. The fix ensures the Authorization header is properly set as:

Authorization: `Bearer ${access_token}`

How do I enable logging?

Pass logging: true when creating the OAuthClient instance:

const oauthClient = new OAuthClient({
  clientId: 'your_client_id',
  clientSecret: 'your_client_secret',
  environment: 'sandbox',
  redirectUri: 'http://localhost:8000/callback',
  logging: true // Enable logging
});

Logs will be stored in /logs/oAuthClient-log.log

How do I handle token expiration?

Access tokens expire after 1 hour (3600 seconds). You can check token validity and refresh:

if (!oauthClient.isAccessTokenValid()) {
  await oauthClient.refresh();
}

What's the difference between relative and absolute URLs in makeApiCall?

You can use either format:

• Absolute URL: https://sandbox-quickbooks.api.intuit.com/v3/company/123/item
• Relative URL: /v3/company/123/item (the client will automatically prepend the correct base URL based on your environment)

How do I customize retry behavior?

Configure the retry settings:

OAuthClient.retryConfig = {
  maxRetries: 3,
  retryDelay: 1000, // milliseconds
  retryableStatusCodes: [408, 429, 500, 502, 503, 504],
  retryableErrors: ['ECONNRESET', 'ETIMEDOUT', 'ECONNREFUSED']
};

How do I handle OAuth errors like invalid_grant?

As of version 4.2.2, the library properly surfaces OAuth2 error details. When an OAuth operation fails, you can access:

try {
  const authResponse = await oauthClient.createToken(code);
} catch (error) {
  console.log('Error:', error.error); // e.g., "invalid_grant"
  console.log('Description:', error.error_description); // e.g., "Token invalid"
  console.log('Transaction ID:', error.intuit_tid); // For support

  // Handle specific errors
  if (error.error === 'invalid_grant') {
    // Redirect user to re-authorize
  }
}

Run the demo to see error handling in action:

node test/error-handling-demo.js

See the Error Handling section for complete details.

For more questions, refer to our FAQ wiki.

Contributing

• You are welcome to send a PR to develop branch.
• The master branch will always point to the latest published version.
• The develop branch will contain the latest development/testing changes.

Steps

• Fork and clone the repository (develop branch).
• Run npm install for dependencies.
• Run npm test to execute all specs.

Changelog

See the changelog here

License

Intuit oauth-jsclient is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0