Back
May 12, 2010

Twitter API, OAuth and decorators

In my current project I had a task to use twitter API. Twitter uses OAuth for authentication, which is pretty dreary. To avoid fiddling with it all the time, I've moved authentication to decorator, now it looks like this:

@twitter_api
def tweet_hello(request, api):
    api.update_status('hello')
# ...

Decorator checks if key is available, and, if needed - initiates authentication. User is redirected to twitter, grants permission and is redirected back to site, to the same place where he left off. If key is available - nothing happens, just view is launched as usual.

It's convenient that there's no need for additional twitter settings in user profile.

tweepy is used as an API wrapper.

def twitter_api(view):
    def wrapped(request, args, *kwargs):
        callback_url = absolute_url(oauth_endpoint)
        auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET, callback_url)

        if 'twitter_access_token' in request.session:
            key, secret =     request.session['twitter_access_token']
            auth.set_access_token(key, secret)
            return view(request, api=tweepy.API(auth), *args, **kwargs)

        request.session['twitter_action'] = request.path
        redirect_url = auth.get_authorization_url()
        request.session['twitter_request_token'] = (auth.request_token.key, auth.request_token.secret)
        return redirect(redirect_url)

    return wrapped


def oauth_endpoint(request):
    callback_url = absolute_url(oauth_endpoint)
    auth = tweepy.OAuthHandler(CONSUMER_KEY, CONSUMER_SECRET, callback_url)
    key, secret = request.session.pop('twitter_request_token')
    auth.set_request_token(key, secret)
    verifier = request.REQUEST.get('oauth_verifier')
    auth.get_access_token(verifier)
    request.session['twitter_access_token'] = (auth.access_token.key, auth.access_token.secret)
    return redirect(request.session.pop('twitter_action'))
  • of course, you need to wrap everything in try..except blocks and process errors accordingly
  • absolute_url should return full url, with http://
  • apart from request.path you can also store POST and GET.
  • path can be passed as an argument to callback_url

Subscribe for the news and updates

More thoughts
Mar 26, 2025Technology
Common Mistakes and Recommendations for Test Cases

The article highlights common test case mistakes, offers ways to fix them, and provides practical tips to improve and optimize test cases.

Feb 3, 2025Technology
Figma for Developers: What Dev Mode Offers and How to Use It

This article explores Figma’s Dev Mode, a tool that streamlines design-to-code translation by enabling precise inspection, automated code generation, and seamless integration with design systems.

Jul 13, 2022Technology
Prosemirror: Render node as react component

In this article I’m going to show how to declare custom prosemirror node, how to render it with toDom method and how improve that with custom NodeView using React component.

Feb 12, 2020Technology
5 Best Payment Gateways For 2020

We reviewed the best payment gateways in 2020. Here’s our comparison of their features, advantages, and disadvantages.

May 10, 2018Technology
How to Build a Cloud-Based Leads Management System for Universities

Lead management is an important part of the marketing strategy of every company of any size. Besides automating various business processes, privately-held organizations should consider implementing an IT solution that would help them manage their leads. So, how should you make a web-based leads management system for a University in order to significantly increase sales?

May 26, 2017Technology
Tutorial: Django User Registration and Authentication

In this beginners friends article I'll explain how to make authentication with Google account on your Django site and how to make authentication for you REST API.