How to send Authentication Header Token when POSTing data to API from WordPress

A guide on how to send data to an API from WordPress using the POST method and pass an Authentication Header Token for security. This article provides detailed instructions on how to configure and send an HTTP request.

In WordPress, sending data to an API from a page or plugin via the POST method may require authentication using an Authentication Header Token. Below is how you can achieve this in WordPress using the wp_remote_post function.

PHP Code:

<?php
// The API URL to POST data to
$api_url = "https://api.example.com/data";

// The authentication token to send
$auth_token = "Bearer your-authentication-token";

// The POST data to send
$data = array(
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'email' => '[email protected]',
);

// Setup HTTP Headers, including the authentication token
$args = array(
    'body' => wp_json_encode($data),
    'headers' => array(
        'Authorization' => $auth_token,
        'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
    ),
    'method' => 'POST',
    'data_format' => 'body',
);

// Send the POST request to the API using wp_remote_post
$response = wp_remote_post($api_url, $args);

// Check the response from the API
if (is_wp_error($response)) {
    $error_message = $response->get_error_message();
    echo "Something went wrong: $error_message";
} else {
    echo 'Response from API: ';
    print_r(wp_remote_retrieve_body($response));
}
?>

Detailed explanation:

1. $api_url: The URL of the API endpoint you want to send data to.
2. $auth_token: The authentication token string, prefixed with Bearer.
3. $data: The data you want to POST to the API, which can be an array of information.
4. $args: The configuration for the HTTP request, including the POST data and headers with the authentication token.
5. wp_remote_post: A WordPress function that sends a POST request to the API.
6. is_wp_error: Checks if there was an error when sending the request to the API.
7. wp_remote_retrieve_body: Retrieves the body of the response from the API to check the result.

System requirements:

• WordPress version 5.x or later.
• A valid API token from the service you are interacting with.
• Server must support CURL or other HTTP methods.

Tips:

• Ensure your Token is secure and not shared publicly.
• You may need to install additional plugins to manage API Tokens for advanced security features.

---