How to Add a Bearer Token to Form Data Using Retrofit for Java API POST Requests

Learn how to seamlessly add a Bearer Token to your Retrofit form data for Java API POST requests. This guide provides detailed steps and code examples. --- This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/67976435/ asked by the user 'Fiyinfoluwa Osuntola' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5048059/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/67976643/ provided by the user 'Muhammad Ahmed' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/7956161/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions. Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: How do I add bearer token to a form data using retrofit to POST to a web API Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/licensing The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ ) license. If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com. --- How to Add a Bearer Token to Form Data Using Retrofit for Java API POST Requests If you're working with API requests in your Java application, you're likely using a library like Retrofit for making network calls. One common problem developers face is adding an authentication token, specifically a Bearer token, to their requests. In this guide, we'll walk through the steps to do just that, ensuring your POST requests are authenticated and can successfully communicate with the server. Understanding the Problem Imagine you want to post user data to a web service that requires authentication. The service employs a Bearer token to authorize requests. Your goal is to include this token in the headers of your API calls, but you're unsure how to go about it with Retrofit. You may have encountered issues where your API responses indicate that requests are 'Unauthenticated', which illustrates that the token isn't being passed correctly. Identifying the Code Challenge Here’s a snippet of the problematic code from your ApiClient.java file where the Bearer token is supposed to be added: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] The issue arises because the Bearer token is not included properly. Let's see how we can resolve this. Step-by-Step Solution 1. Retrieve the Bearer Token First, you'll need to ensure that you can access the Bearer token from your preferences or wherever you store it. This might typically be done using a SharedPreferences mechanism or some other storage pattern. 2. Modify the Interceptor Next, update your Retrofit interceptor to include the actual token in the Authorization header. Make sure to concatenate the token string properly. Here’s the corrected version of your interceptor code: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] 3. Adjust Logging Level It's also important to consider how you're logging requests. If you're only logging the body, you might miss important context. Consider changing or removing the line: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] You may want to log more comprehensive information such as headers, which can be invaluable for debugging. Final Code Sample Here’s how your complete ApiClient.java class might look after these changes: [[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]] Conclusion By following these steps, you can effectively add a Bearer token to your Retrofit API POST requests. This ensures that your authentication is handled correctly and that you're able to send data securely to your backend services. Don't forget to verify your API endpoints and token storage practices to keep your application's security robust. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to reach out in the comments! Happy coding!