Leveraging external data sources from authenticated APIs
While accessing public datasets gives a basis for a dataset's enrichment, it is limited to publicly available information. Many more datasets available can be accessed both on a subscription and without payment, but require some form of authentication.
The specific authentication method will change from one API to another, but you will find some common themes across the different data providers:
- API URL parameter
- API call headers
- OAuth authorization framework
The OAuth authorization framework is the most complex of the three examples. The complexity is because each OAuth provider can customize the process for their application. The URL parameter or call header process follows a more consistent approach across different API providers.
Because the OAuth authorization is unique to individual providers, describing a general process to follow is difficult without tying the process to a specific...
