OAuth Credentials

Submitting metadata to BioSimDB requires OAuth2 credentials registered with the BioSimDB instance you are targeting. BioSimDB is built on Invenio RDM, which provides a developer applications interface for managing OAuth clients.

Creating a developer application

  1. Log in to the BioSimDB instance (e.g. https://data-collections.psdi.ac.uk).

  2. Click your user avatar in the top-right corner and select Applications from the dropdown.

  3. Under Developer Applications, click New application.

  4. Fill in the form:

    • Name — a descriptive name, e.g. biosimdb-interface.

    • Description — a short description of the app, e.g. App for BioSimDB custom webform for uploading to Invenio via API.

    • Website URL — the website URL your app will be running on, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:5002 for local development.

    • Redirect URIs — the callback URL your app will be running on, e.g. http://127.0.0.1:5002/callback for local development.

    • Client type — select Confidential.

  5. Click Save. The Client ID and Client Secret will be displayed.

Setting the credentials

Add the values to your biosimdb_interface/.env file:

CLIENT_ID=your_client_id
CLIENT_SECRET=your_client_secret
BASE_URL=https://data-collections.psdi.ac.uk
REDIRECT_URI=http://127.0.0.1:5002/callback

Warning

Never commit .env to version control. Ensure it is listed in .gitignore.

For production deployments, set these as environment variables directly rather than using a .env file.

Targeting a different instance

To connect to a different BioSimDB deployment (dev, staging, or production), change BASE_URL and register a separate application on that instance. The AUTH_URL, TOKEN_URL, and API_BASE values are derived automatically from BASE_URL in the .env.