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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-15T18:42:09+00:00

I am trying to write an app that will interact with Last.fm API and

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I am trying to write an app that will interact with Last.fm API and I got stuck.
My problem is related to authorization. Quote from Last.fm API site:

Your application needs to open an instance of a web browser and send
the user to last.fm/api/auth with your API key and authentication
token as parameters. Use an HTTP GET request.

I know how to send GET request and how to open the browser with specified URL. But how can I implement this feature and catch with my app event when user approves or disapproves authorization in browser? Maybe I should use HTTP GET for 15 seconds and if I don’t receive username I should ask user to perform authorization again. Is this a right way?

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  1. Editorial Team

    That is somewhat mean. The instructions make it seem simple, but this is actually a difficult problem, and it does not even appear that Last.fm’s own liblastfm C++ library for interacting with the service provides a solution.

    Some approaches in order of increasing difficulty include:

    • Open the default web browser to the URL and display a button for the user to click after he or she has authorized the application.

      Pros: Simple

      Cons: Poor user experience. You will need to make sure that there are clear instructions for the user to follow so that he or she is not confused. Also, a user might think that your app is broken because “they already authorized your app!”, not realizing that your app does not know this until he or she presses the button.

    • Open the default web browser to the URL, display an indefinite “Waiting for authorization from Last.fm” message, and poll the auth.getSession method API call every 15 seconds or so to see if the user has authorized your application. Perhaps also provide a “Check now” button.

      Pros: Simple and not as poor of a user experience.

      Cons: The API does not appear to provide an error code signaling that the user denied authorization. You might not know if the user ever authorized your app, and you could be waiting forever for authorization. Additionally, I do not know if there are limits on auth.getSession calls, but you may face rate limit issues.

    • Embed a web browser in your application. You would have full control over it, and setting up event handlers should be straightforward.

      Pros: No need for polling as the application receives notifications when the user submits a form.

      Cons: The user interface may be confusing to some users.

    • Register a custom URI scheme with the operating system and use Last.fm’s instructions for authorizing web applications.

      The idea is to register a URI scheme (also called application protocol; e.g. myApp://) and specify a callback URL using the custom scheme (e.g. myApp://lastFmAuthorizationCallback).

      See:

    • (Platform specific) Automate the web browser. The exact means of doing this depend on the web browser and platform.

      Pros: Can be seamless. Should provide an excellent user experience when done right.

      Cons: Tricky to develop and the automation might break with an upgrade of the browser.

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