Access Tokens and Authentication

In order to add most accounts in TINT, we require a secure account authentication process. This is why when you add an account or feed, you are prompted to enter login credentials for the social network (e.g. you need to sign in to Twitter before adding a Twitter account).

Entering your login credentials passes along an access token for us to store. Access tokens contain security credentials for the login session, and identify the user.

As an additional security measure, some social networks set an expiration date for their access tokens so this means that tokens will need to be refreshed. 

Access tokens can also expire as the result of new privacy restrictions, such as a password change (e.g. if you change your Facebook password, your previous token will usually be rejected).

Whenever an access token expires, we will no longer be able to get updates for your social feeds. That being said, when an access token expires, the admin(s) on the account will always be notified via email to log in and re-authorize the account.  This is an example of the email and the instructions on how to re-authorize your account.

In TINT, it will look like this:

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If you are logged into the account that you are re-authorizing then, you will see a pop-up box on the screen and disappear. 

If you aren't logged in, then the pop-up box will ask you to log in and possibly authorize TINT to access the information. The resolve button will also disappear and your feeds will be pulling content again.  For more information on how to fix your social accounts/feeds, click here.

For more information on access tokens feel free to read more from the API documentation of the social networks themselves: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.