error 403 forbidden on server request via ajax

Question

I'm working on a site that keeps track of a to-do list and pulls it from a server. There are two sample ajax calls below. The tasks GET call works fine, however the add POST does not. For some reason, it gives me a 403 forbidden error and as a result, doesn't execute the code.

I was looking at 403 Forbidden error when making an ajax Post request in Django framework and i read the link posted by @yohn, but I'm not understanding how to implement this solution.

var tasker = (function() {
    return {
        tasks : function( ownerId, cb ) {
            $.ajax({ 
                url: "http://138.49.184.143:3000/tasker/api/"+ownerId+"?key=f725ebbc9c",
                type: 'GET',
                success: function(task) {
                    if(task){
                        var list = []
                        for(var a=0; a<task.length; a++){                   
                            var newTask = {
                                onwerId: task[a].ownderId,
                                desc: task[a].desc,
                                due: new Date(task[a].due),
                                color: task[a].color,
                                complete: task[a].complete,
                                id: task[a].id
                            };
                            list.push(newTask);
                        }
                        cb(list , null);
                    }
                    else{ cb(null, 'error retreiving your tasks');}
                },
                error: function( xhr, status, errorThrown ) {
                    alert( "Sorry, there was a problem! "  + errorThrown );
                },
            });      
        },

        add : function( ownerId, task, cb ) {
            $.ajax({ 
                url: "http://138.49.184.143:3000/tasker/api/"+ownerId+"?key=f725ebbc9c",
                type: 'POST',
                success: function(task) {
                    var d = new Date(task.due);
                    if(task){
                        var newTask = {
                            onwerId: task.ownderId,
                            desc: task.desc,
                            due: d,
                            color: task.color,
                            complete: task.complete,
                            id: task.id
                        };
                        cb(newTask , null);
                    }
                    else{cb(null, 'error adding your task');}
                },
                error: function( xhr, status, errorThrown ) {
                    alert( "Sorry, there was a problem! "  + errorThrown );
                },
            });            
        },
    }       

})();

Answer 1

Django requires a csrf token when making POST requests (unless you are using token based authentication but I am assuming you are not here). It's just like when you need to include {{ csrf_token }} in form submit.

For more information about the why you need it and the purpose of csrf tokens: What is a CSRF token ? What is its importance and how does it work?

So for your problem, change your ajax call under add to this:

$.ajax({ 
        url: "http://138.49.184.143:3000/tasker/api/"+ownerId+"?key=f725ebbc9c",
        type: 'POST',
        data: { csrfmiddlewaretoken: '{{ csrf_token }}'}, // added csrf token.
        success: function(task) {
            var d = new Date(task.due);
            if(task){
                var newTask = {
                    onwerId: task.ownderId,
                    desc: task.desc,
                    due: d,
                    color: task.color,
                    complete: task.complete,
                    id: task.id
                };
                cb(newTask , null);
            }
            else{cb(null, 'error adding your task');}
        },
        error: function( xhr, status, errorThrown ) {
            alert( "Sorry, there was a problem! "  + errorThrown );
        },
    });