I have a main website (which contain all data) and multiple client websites which fetch data from the main website. Each client website has access to different set of data on main website. I want to create a PHP based web API for this. This is my first API so I am not sure what is the best and most secure way to do this.
After some googling I found OAuth to be the most common authentication method for APIs. however in my case I want the client website to be configured once and then the communication should be automatic, i.e. communication should take place in background without any user interference. Is OAuth required for this scenario?
Or is there any other method I can implement here?
After some more googling and research I found answer to my question:
The scenario I explained is an example of 2-legged oauth (one can find many articles about 2-legged and 3-legged oauth)
Also, OAuth is not difficult to implement, infact for a developer with good knowledge of API and Auth system its very easy.
Here’s a link of very good php OAuth library with example code http://code.google.com/p/oauth-php/