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Getting Bearer Tokens

All OpenSolar API requests require an OpenSolar API bearer token. Send it in the request header:

Authorization: Bearer <your_token>
note

Standard user tokens expire after 7 days. To prevent tokens from expiring, set your user to be a machine user. MFA-enabled users can also be set as machine users.

Option A: Email and password​

Create a new user login either by registering to create a new free account, or by sending an invitation to join an existing account. For MFA enabled accounts, you'll have to add the current 2FA token in the POSTed data.

info

Bearer Tokens cannot be generated using the OpenSolar App. To obtain a bearer token, you must use the API endpoint as shown below.

Request 
curl "https://api.opensolar.com/api-token-auth/"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
--request POST
-d '{"username":"arnie@illbeback.com","password":"gettothechopper", "token": "1234"}'
Response 
{
  "token": "d7e1b00845ae0d9d3fdfc8c0cbf2300766d94002",
  "user": {
    ...
  },
  ...
}

Option B: Nearmap Users (NMOS)​

Users who sign in via Nearmap ("Login with Nearmap") receive the same OpenSolar API bearer token as regular users. However, the method for obtaining the token is different.

warning

Your Nearmap login credentials will not work for API authentication. Nearmap users are initially assigned a temporary password that is not accessible. You must reset your OpenSolar password before you can generate a bearer token.

Setting up API access for Nearmap users​

Step 1 - Generate OpenSolar password

  1. Go to the Forgot Password page
  2. Enter your current OpenSolar email address to trigger a password reset email

Step 2 - Login to OpenSolar

  1. Login to OpenSolar using your OpenSolar email address and newly set password
  2. (Optional) If you need to change your email, visit: https://app.opensolar.com/#/email-change-form and enter the new email address along with the password set in Step 1

Step 3 - Generate bearer token

Once you have set your OpenSolar password, you can generate a bearer token using the standard email/password method (see Option A above).

Request 
curl "https://api.opensolar.com/api-token-auth/"
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
--request POST
-d '{"username":"your-opensolar-email@example.com","password":"your-opensolar-password"}'

Option C: Fetch token (existing session)​

If the user is already logged in (via NMOS or email/password), call the fetch token endpoint to get or refresh the OpenSolar bearer token.

Endpoint: GET /api/fetch_token/?org_id=<org_id>

  • org_id is optional; when provided, the response is scoped to that org.

Headers:

  • Authorization: Bearer <existing_token> — Your current OpenSolar token (or session cookie).

Response: JSON with a new or refreshed token and user/org data. Use the returned token for subsequent API calls.

Nearmap users (NMOS) summary​

  • Nearmap login credentials cannot be used directly for API authentication.
  • Nearmap users must first reset their OpenSolar password via the Forgot Password page.
  • Once the OpenSolar password is set, use the standard email/password method (POST /api-token-auth/) to generate a bearer token.
  • The Nearmap imagery token is separate and is only used when calling Nearmap tile/imagery APIs; it is not used for OpenSolar API requests.