yup! that's the plan. sorry if it wasn't clear in the e-mail blast. On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 6:14 AM, tsmango <tsma...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just to clarify, xauth will be available to mobile applications (who > apply) going forward to authenticate users, not just a one time way to > exchange stored usernames and passwords? > > On Feb 11, 10:18 pm, Raffi Krikorian <ra...@twitter.com> wrote: > > hi all. > > > > this is a long overdue e-mail, but i wanted to tease out some of the > > directions that Twitter is going with OAuth. i want to touch upon four > > topics: delegation, OAuth WRAP/2.0, username/password OAuth token > exchange, > > and basic authentication deprecation. > > > > *DELEGATION - OAuth Echo* > > > > twitter users love posting media on third-party sites, and delegation in > > identity verification is one of the major hurdles for an OAuth-enabled > > twitter client to succeed. i started a series of blog posts around the > > following problem: > > > > You're an OAuth enabled Twitter client, and you've already authorized > your > > > > > user. Your user wants to use a media providing service like TwitPic. > > > TwitPic, currently, asks for the username and password of your user so > it > > > can store the photo on behalf of the Twitter user. You don't have that > > > username and password, so how do you give the ability to TwitPic to > verify > > > the identity of your user? > > > > check out the proposal for what we're calling "OAuth Echo" athttp:// > mehack.com/OAuth-echo-delegation-in-identity-verificatio. please > > feel free to comment there, or on the twitter development talk mailing > > list<http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talk>(or, even > > just reach out to me directly). i think this experiment in > > engaging the community around designing this security/identity workflow > has > > been definitely a success, and i feel we're rapidly converging on a > solution > > for identity verification delegation. in parallel, we're going to start > the > > process to engage our media providers in the conversation as well, and > we're > > hopeful we can move this forward quickly. > > > > *OAUTH WRAP/2.0* > > > > OAuth is evolving, and we at Twitter are keeping up with it. that being > > said, we're keeping our eyes on OAuth WRAP and OAuth > > 2.0<http://wiki.oauth.net/OAuth-WRAP>. > > we like a lot about it: > > > > - it requires the use of SSL; > > - there is no custom signing mechanism -- you simply pass us a token, > and > > that token is secured by SSL; and > > - it formalizes a bunch of "profiles" that we've been actively > thinking > > about (e.g. a username/password exchange) > > > > in general, we really like WRAP/2.0 because it's just *so* easy to > implement > > from the client side. there are no longer questions around creating the > > proper signature base string, etc. we're sure that developers will like > it > > as well. we've started work on an internal implementation of OAuth WRAP > and > > we envision that we'll simultaneously support both OAuth 1.0a and > WRAP/2.0 > > for a while. our hope is to get WRAP out the door soon (and before we > > finally deprecate basic authentication). > > > > *USERNAME/PASSWORD TO OAUTH TOKEN EXCHANGE - xAuth* > > > > @rsarver and @noradio announced that we are going to support a mechanism > > where a username and a password can be directly exchanged for an OAuth > token > > and secret -- we're calling this xAuth. if you've been watching the > mailing > > list, Seesmic Look <http://seesmic.com/look> has been a beta partner in > > testing xAuth exchange (and @abraham has already detailed how it > > works< > http://the.hackerconundrum.com/2010/02/sneak-peek-at-twitters-browser.. > .>). > > > > because we're moving everybody off basic authentication, we originally > > envisioned this as a mechanism for developers to exchange all the > username > > and passwords they have in their databases for OAuth tokens en masse. > > that's still one of our use cases. another use case is around > environments > > where software can't bring up a web browser (e.g. set top boxes, game > > consoles, embedded devices). we want to support those as well. > > > > you're going to have to apply to get access to this exchange mechanism > (by > > sending e-mail to a...@twitter.com), but, in general, all applications > except > > web applications will get access. we feel that the xAuth exchange allows > > for the best mix of security and user experience for desktop and possibly > > mobile applications. web applications will simply have to use OAuth as > it > > was designed, and send their users through the web flow. > > > > *BASIC AUTHENTICATION DEPRECATION* > > > > yup - it's still happening. we're targeting June 2010. everybody, > > including legacy applications, will have to move over. > > > > for those who are building new applications, use OAuth. save yourself > the > > transition time later, and start thinking about it now. for those who > have > > applications already out there, it would be really beneficial to start > > thinking about a migration path right now and we're here to help. if you > > need it, please feel free to reach out to us and we'll help you figure > out > > what you need to do. > > > > to help entice you over, as you know: > > > > - we have increased rate limits on api.twitter.com to those who are > using > > OAuth (350 calls to the REST API per hour -- and increasing towards > > 1500/hour); and > > - (as some of you are painfully aware) you can only set a source > > parameter with OAuth calls to status/update. > > > > we know some of you think there are hurdles in places to converting over > to > > OAuth -- suffice it to say, we're actively trying to address them. some > > potential hurdles are mentioned in this e-mail, and if you think there > are > > more then please feel free to reach out to us. again, we really want to > > make this switch-over easy for everybody. > > > > thanks! and, as always - feel free to reach out to us anytime here, or > to > > @twitterapi. > > > > -- > > Raffi Krikorian > > Twitter Platform Teamhttp://twitter.com/raffi > -- Raffi Krikorian Twitter Platform Team http://twitter.com/raffi
