Creating a Xero Oauth2.0 Custom Connector

[365-Assist]

I am new to creating custom connectors and need some help creating a connector for Xero. I was able to connect using Postman but can't seem to get the settings correct on the Power Platform Custom Connector.

Can someone tell me what the parameters should be for the Security tab. No matter what I try will not connect to Xero.

When I try to Test the connection get error 500

[365-Assist · Accepted solution]

Figured it out. I needed to copy the Redirect URL from the Custom Connector to my XERO Redirect URL

[Robinpemberton1]

Did you use the offline scope? How did you get on with token refresh?

[365-Assist]

No I did not use the offline scope. I just added the Token url in the refresh Token and it seems to keep refreshing.

[RobinPemberton]

I could not keep the connection alive without the out the offline access scope. This is using the standard authorization flow. Just not sure what will happen after the 60 days. Think I will post this as another thread incase someone else has had this issue. Thanks for the reply btw.

[s1hl3_ukuvuma]

Can you please show me the set-up of your token URL?

[365-Assist]

@s1hl3_ukuvuma 

[AndrewH]

How did you go with this? I am attempting the same, however it get the same error above that you did, I had entered the correct urls and have it setup exactly as you do. In power automate, when I view/edit the custom connector its missing the refresh URL each time - somethings still not right, and I must say, the docs at developer.xero.com are rather lacking, or hard to search through

[365-Assist]

As per my solution I was able to resolve my issue.

Yes the Refresh URL blanks every time you go back to edit. However I just use the Token URL as Refresh and all works.

[AndrewH]

Thank you - I was concerned there was some bug causing it to not work, and that was it.

I'm still having issues, I get a 401 unauthorized error from Xero and have it setup the same as you do - perhaps something isnt right in Xero 😞 I will keep persisting.

[s1hl3_ukuvuma]

Hi everyone, 

I have used Power Automate and the HTTP action instead of the custom connector, please let me know if you are interested in that solution.

[AndrewH]

Yes please! Does it work with refresh tokens or do you need to login frequently?

[s1hl3_ukuvuma]

No, I use a scheduled flow to refresh the token.

Here is how:

1. Create a SharePoint List (XeroAccessTokens) with the following columns:

• RefreshToken
• AccessToken
• Xero-Tenant-Id

2. Create a new item in the list with the access token:

3. You can use Post Man to retrieve the initial Refresh and Access tokens.

4. Create a schedule flow to run every 20 minutes:

Key Points:
Your Get Item will be the Xero Access token list and you can use 1 as your Id.

Refresh Token variable will be from the SharePoint List as type string see example below:

5. Then you need to PARSE JSON in order to retrieve the new access token:

6. Update the Xero Access token list with the new access and refresh tokens:

7. Example when I post to Xero:

NB: Bearer Access token (Output)

I hope this helps.

Please give me a shout if you get stuck.

[AndrewH]

Thanks heaps. I'm stuck on even getting postman to get me the refresh token - I get a 500 error citing invalid client_id - I copied the details here (three times) Postman - OAuth 2.0 — Xero Developer verbatim, creating a new client_id and secret each time with the same results, in the postman desktop app.

[s1hl3_ukuvuma]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIYI_JIUHfk&t=43s 

[Titiwai]

Could I learn from you please? I tried the the custom connector method and if the base url is /connections the return status is 200 but if set to below it is returning 403, with tenant id as default value for header.

I don't know how to setup the correct header details. But kinda sure it shall not be blank?

der for the test run

[Titiwai]

Manage to replicate this method when had no success with the 365-Assist's custom connector. I have some questions about it. Why is the scheduled frequency 20min, is it to be kept within the 30 min time set for the token.

And while testing with different url calls I think it does not require the setup of the scope is it correct?

What is going to happen if there is say multiple connectors = 10 setup and refresh 3x / hour -> 72 times a day -> 720 flow runs will it reach any limit? How about what if one refresh fails the the refresh token will be invalid and the flow will break? I still couldn't stop think of the method mentioned by 365-Assist.

[profile-dev]

Hello @s1hl3_ukuvuma 

Is generating refresh token every 20 mins the only alternative?
I am trying to update generate new refresh token before every transaction, and update the same in SharePoint list.
Re use the same to generate berear token and perform transactions.

However post 30 mins it says 

AuthenticationUnsuccessful

[Kabilesh]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently working on a similar task where I'm attempting to create a scheduled flow to refresh my token and store it in a SharePoint list. However, I've encountered a hiccup in extracting the access token from an HTTP request in Power Automate for Xero.

Could anyone assist me with this particular scenario?

Thanks in advance!

[danny90]

Hi, i don't suppose you'd be interested in giving me a more in-depth breakdown of how you achieved this? im willing to pay 😄 haha