Evernote Install Auth

Evernote Install & Auth

Overview

Set up the Evernote SDK and configure OAuth 1.0a authentication for accessing the Evernote Cloud API. Covers API key provisioning, SDK installation, OAuth flow implementation, and connection verification.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
• Package manager (npm, pnpm, or pip)
• Evernote developer account
• API key from Evernote developer portal (requires approval, allow 5 business days)

Instructions

Step 1: Request an API Key

1. Navigate to the Evernote developer portal 2. Submit the API key request form 3. Wait for manual approval (up to 5 business days) 4. Receive consumerKey and consumerSecret credentials

Step 2: Install the SDK

set -euo pipefail
# Node.js
npm install evernote

# Python
pip install evernote

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

cat << 'EOF' >> .env
EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_KEY=your-consumer-key
EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_SECRET=your-consumer-secret
EVERNOTE_SANDBOX=true
EOF

Step 4: Initialize the OAuth Client

const Evernote = require('evernote');

const client = new Evernote.Client({
  consumerKey: process.env.EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_KEY,
  consumerSecret: process.env.EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_SECRET,
  sandbox: process.env.EVERNOTE_SANDBOX === 'true',
  china: false
});

Step 5: Implement the OAuth Flow

Set up request token acquisition, user authorization redirect, and callback handling. Alternatively, use a developer token for sandbox testing to skip the OAuth flow entirely.

Step 6: Verify the Connection

Create an authenticated client, access getUserStore(), and call getUser() to confirm authentication succeeds.

For the complete OAuth callback implementation, developer token setup, Python client initialization, and token expiration handling, see OAuth flow reference.

Output

• Installed SDK package in node_modules or site-packages
• Environment variables configured for authentication
• Working OAuth flow implementation
• Successful connection verification

Error Handling

Examples

Sandbox quickstart: Obtain a developer token from sandbox.evernote.com/api/DeveloperToken.action. Set EVERNOTE_DEV_TOKEN in .env and initialize the client with sandbox: true to skip the full OAuth flow during development.

Production OAuth: Request an API key from the developer portal, implement the OAuth 1.0a flow with an HTTPS callback URL, store the access token securely alongside its edam_expires timestamp, and schedule token refresh before expiration.

Resources

• Evernote Developer Portal
• OAuth Documentation
• API Key Permissions
• JavaScript SDK
• Python SDK

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to evernote-hello-world for the first note creation.

Evernote OAuth Flow Implementation

Step-by-Step OAuth 1.0a Flow

Get Request Token and Redirect

const callbackUrl = 'http://localhost:3000/oauth/callback';

client.getRequestToken(callbackUrl, (error, oauthToken, oauthTokenSecret) => {
  if (error) {
    console.error('Failed to get request token:', error);
    return;
  }

  // Store tokens in session (required for callback)
  req.session.oauthToken = oauthToken;
  req.session.oauthTokenSecret = oauthTokenSecret;

  // Redirect user to Evernote authorization page
  const authorizeUrl = client.getAuthorizeUrl(oauthToken);
  res.redirect(authorizeUrl);
});

Handle OAuth Callback

app.get('/oauth/callback', (req, res) => {
  const oauthVerifier = req.query.oauth_verifier;

  client.getAccessToken(
    req.session.oauthToken,
    req.session.oauthTokenSecret,
    oauthVerifier,
    (error, oauthAccessToken, oauthAccessTokenSecret, results) => {
      if (error) {
        console.error('Failed to get access token:', error);
        return res.status(500).send('Authentication failed');
      }

      // Store access token securely (valid for 1 year by default)
      req.session.accessToken = oauthAccessToken;

      // Token expiration included in results.edam_expires
      console.log('Token expires:', new Date(parseInt(results.edam_expires)));

      res.redirect('/dashboard');
    }
  );
});

Verify Authenticated Connection

const authenticatedClient = new Evernote.Client({
  token: req.session.accessToken,
  sandbox: true
});

const userStore = authenticatedClient.getUserStore();
const noteStore = authenticatedClient.getNoteStore();

userStore.getUser().then(user => {
  console.log('Authenticated as:', user.username);
  console.log('User ID:', user.id);
}).catch(err => {
  console.error('Authentication verification failed:', err);
});

Development Tokens (Sandbox Only)

For development, use a Developer Token instead of the full OAuth flow:

1. Create a sandbox account at https://sandbox.evernote.com 2. Get a Developer Token from https://sandbox.evernote.com/api/DeveloperToken.action 3. Use directly without OAuth:

const client = new Evernote.Client({
  token: process.env.EVERNOTE_DEV_TOKEN,
  sandbox: true
});

const noteStore = client.getNoteStore();

Note: Developer tokens are currently unavailable for production. Use the full OAuth flow for production applications.

Python OAuth Client

from evernote.api.client import EvernoteClient

client = EvernoteClient(
    consumer_key='your-consumer-key',
    consumer_secret='your-consumer-secret',
    sandbox=True
)

Token Expiration Reference

• Default token validity: 1 year
• Users can reduce to: 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month
• Expiration timestamp in edam_expires parameter
• Implement token refresh before expiration