node-getpocket

A Pocket API client for Node.js.

Installation

npm install node-getpocket

Authentication

The Pocket API uses a variant on OAuth 2.0 to authenticate access. This means writing some code to negotiate the OAuth handshaking process. If the next steps make no sense, or this seems too much like hard work or if you just want to get on with writing code to make your app ... work, then node-getpocket includes a thing called authorise.js to make this process a little bit less convoluted. Running ...

node authorise --consumerkey 'YOUR-CONSUMER-KEY'

... from within wherever you've installed node-getpocket (typically in node_modules/node-getpocket) will do the OAuth authorisation dance for you; just point your browser to http://localhost:8080. Running ...

node authorise --help

... will show you how to change the host name or IP address and the port number authorise listens on.

Obtaining a Platform Consumer Key

You'll need to register your app with Pocket by filling in the Create an Application form at http://getpocket.com/developer/apps/new.

Watch out. The permissions you specify when you register your application are carved in tablets of stone once you've registered. Or to put it another way, you can't change permissions for a registered application once it's been registered. It's a good idea at this point to work out what you want to do with the Pocket API and make sure you select the right set of permissions from the choices of Add, Modify or Retrieve.

Once you've completed registration you'll have your consumer key, which you'll need to authenticate with the Pocket API.

Now you'll need to write some code. The example code here uses the Express framework to make handling the OAuth redirection and callbacks easy, but you're not constrained to using this framework.

The aim here is to pass the Pocket API your consumer_key and eventually get back and store an access_token which you'll need to use together with the consumer_key to access the Pocket API's methods in the future.

Get a Request Token

You need to create an instance of the GetPocket class and pass the Pocket API's Consumer Key to the GetPocket.getRequestToken method, passing a callback that will receive the request token or handle any errors.

var GetPocket = require('node-getpocket');

var config = {
    consumer_key: 'YOUR-CONSUMER-KEY',
    redirect_uri: 'http://localhost:8080/redirect'
};

var pocket = new GetPocket(config);
var params = {
    redirect_uri: config.redirect_uri
};
pocket.getRequestToken(params, function(err, resp, body) {
    if (err) {
        console.log('Oops; getTokenRequest failed: ' + err);
    }
    else {
        // your request token is in body.code
        var json = JSON.parse(body);
        var request_token = json.code;
    }
});

Redirect the User to Pocket for Permission

Assuming you've stored your request token somewhere safe, you'll now need to get Pocket's authorization URL and redirect your authenticating user to that URL. If you're using the Express framework, the redirect method is the one you need here.

var config = {
    consumer_key: 'YOUR-CONSUMER-KEY',
    request_token: 'YOUR-REQUEST-TOKEN'
};
var url = pocket.getAuthorizeURL(config);
// work whatever redirect magic you need here

Handle the Pocket API's Callback

Providing you've granted your application permissions to access the Pocket API using your account's credentials, the API will return to your application by opening the URL you specified as the redirect_uri property of your configuration parameters. How you enable this to run depends on how you're handling URLs in your application. If you're using Express then queueing a handler for redirect will work.

Convert the Request Token to an Access Token

Within your redirect callback, you'll finally be able to get your application's access_token, that you'll need to pass, together with your consumer_key to all subsequent calls to the Pocket API by calling GetPocket.getAccessToken.

var params = {
    request_token: 'YOUR-REQUEST-TOKEN'
};
pocket.getAccessToken(params, function(err, resp, body) {
    if (err) {
        console.log('Oops; getTokenRequest failed: ' + err);
    }
    else {
        // your access token is in body.access_token
        var json = JSON.parse(body);
        var access_token = json.access_token;
    }
});

Configuration

Before using the GetPocket class you'll need to have authenticated with the Pocket API as described above. If you want to use subsequent Pocket API calls in the same session as authenticating, then you can call GetPocket.refreshConfig passing a config object containing the consumer_key and access_token.

var config = {
    consumer_key: 'YOUR-CONSUMER-KEY',
    access_token: 'YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN'
};
pocket.refreshConfig(config);

This is the same config object that you'll create a new instance of the GetPocket class, passing in the consumer_key and access_token that you got back during authentication and have stored away for future use somewhere. You did store that access_token didn't you?

var config = {
    consumer_key: 'YOUR-CONSUMER-KEY',
    access_token: 'YOUR-ACCESS-TOKEN'
};
var pocket = new GetPocket(config);

Usage

add - Add an Entry to a Pocket Queue

var params = {
    url: 'url to add', // (required),
    title: 'title', // (optional),
    tags: 'tag,tag,...', // (optional)
    tweet_id: 'id' // (optional)
};
pocket.add(parms, function(err, resp) {
    // check err or handle the response
});

See the Pocket API documentation at http://getpocket.com/developer/docs/v3/add for the latest parameters.

Code Health Warning: your consumer_key must have add permissions.

send - Modify an Existing Entry in a Pocket Queue

var params = {
    actions: [
        // array of actions; too many options to list here
        // see the official Pocket API documentation
    ]
};
pocket.send(params, function(err, resp) {
    // check err or handle the response
});

See the Pocket API documentation at http://getpocket.com/developer/docs/v3/modify for the latest parameters.

Code Hint: the Pocket API call to modify is called send. Which makes sense. Sort of. GetPocket tries to be helpful by providing GetPocket.modify which just calls GetPocket.send.

Code Health Warning: your consumer_key must have modify permissions.

get - Retrieve an Entry in a Pocket Queue

var params = {
    // get/retrieve/search parameters
};
pocket.get(params, function(err, resp) {
    // check err or handle the response
});

See the Pocket API documentation at http://getpocket.com/developer/docs/v3/retrieve for the latest parameters.

Code Hint: the Pocket API call to retrieve or search is called get. Which makes sense. Sort of. GetPocket tries to be helpful by providing GetPocket.retrieve which just calls GetPocket.get.

Code Health Warning: your consumer_key must have retrieve permissions.

archive - Move an Item to the User's Archive

GetPocket.archive is a helper function to call GetPocket.send with the actions neccessary to archive an item. This may or may not be helpful to be honest.

var params = {
    //     item_id: 'item to archive'
    // };
pocket.archive(params, function(err, resp) {
    // check err, resp
});

Changelog

1.0.0

• 2014/12/2 - this is the first version of node-getpocket. Be gentle.