Скачать или смотреть Resolving 401 Unauthorized Error in Java OkHttp with Basic Authentication

Learn how to successfully implement Basic Authentication using Java OkHttp to avoid `401 Unauthorized` errors when making GET requests.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/72358462/ asked by the user 'Ali Kianinejad' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/3563533/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/72358767/ provided by the user 'Mohammad Hossein Shojaeinia' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/5431153/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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Understanding the 401 Unauthorized Error with OkHttp

When trying to access an API or web service, you might find that while tools like cURL, Postman, or a web browser can successfully retrieve the data you need, your Java application using OkHttp may return a frustrating 401 Unauthorized error. This issue is rooted in how authentication details are provided in your request. In this guide, we'll dig into this problem and provide a clear solution to ensure you can easily make authorized GET requests in Java using the OkHttp client.

The Problem

In your scenario, you attempted to access a URL with authentication included directly in the URL:

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This pattern works perfectly in cURL, as well as in your web browser and Postman, returning a proper response:

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However, when you try to replicate this request in Java using OkHttp, you receive a 401, indicating that the server is refusing your request due to missing or invalid authentication.

Why Does This Happen?

The reason for the discrepancy lies in how cURL and the browser handle basic authentication compared to how OkHttp does it. Although including the credentials in the URL is permissible in some tools, it's not a recommended practice and can lead to unexpected authentication failures due to varying implementations of HTTP standards.

The Solution: Implementing Basic Authentication Manually

To resolve the 401 Unauthorized error in your OkHttp request, you need to implement Basic Authentication more explicitly. Here’s how you can do that step by step:

Step 1: Set Up Your OkHttpClient

First, make sure you have an instance of OkHttpClient, which will be used to execute your requests:

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Step 2: Build the Request with Authorization Header

Next, you need to create your request. Instead of passing the username and password in the URL, you will encode these credentials and include them in the request header with the Authorization field:

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Step 3: Execute the Request

Now that you have set up your request with the proper authorization, execute it and handle the response:

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Full Code Example

Here’s how your complete Java code should look:

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Conclusion

By properly implementing Basic Authentication through request headers rather than embedding credentials in the URL, you can avoid the 401 Unauthorized error with OkHttp in Java. This not only resolves your issue but also adheres to best practices for security and maintainability.

If you have any further questions or need assistance with your Java projects, feel free to drop a comment below!