Yahoo OAuth: Fantasy Sports API returns 401 error randomly

Question

I've been using the Yahoo Fantasy Sports API with OAuth 1 and PHP without any issues for years now. For the past couple of weeks, user authorization has been failing.

Basically, after getting what is an otherwise valid token from Yahoo, when we go to grab info from the API, we get a 401 error in response. What's very strange is that we randomly get either 401 errors or data in response.

I even tried the sample PHP script provided by Yahoo - same error. Here's a quick snapshot of CLI calls using the script - two calls in quick succession, the first one returning a 401 and the second returning data:

root@dednew:/var/www/fhg# /opt/php-5.6/bin/php tester.php
Got access token information!
 Token: A=GMj2OgnmgiODpfvH9HkbcQr9Phz2qNYOhTLbEfdNMGz7NGJ6c9KDNkxndObLi8vD.USTPkaTvdPrnoIkZo7QYI277fOs1fJjuOCVapOm16qoZUcP7BFkgbC9ay1iLdF7__BHNiVMS75Jtr.p6249F02Z2Ld2dE8KkUNxDtwF8tSi5UBCL1R1xd0tzusw0cITPBJGd5_wMwf5E3BVEr1ZmoQbYgGBwMpcQvIPFbmw7PaByQPvhZ7OhriYVe1sFDk_paGki4ThaC.rua9QoUx25Txpgiksp3PqUfrq4Mnp3fqJvG4ZZbMD4VBRnQaSyibeJR5QiaB1sk088.YW7SdPRLXU_2I78A_jnYro8AMZD_DRAatU9Va6WL1gdBcVccO8WHu4DQwSFESfadl8qFrEEPA2hyfzlPDdp2BFoyFORjOvAqI_O5agLM_4jl1tJPXSHAYjeLHpBgazdP23Qcuj4doG_JYBTCQW_BKSuMKLUd15sLy3J4GcqiPiE7jQ7JGrKxjt417sRcjVL0ziksatzvzeFyXNyrYBE0YohFqYjd_4_hSUMX9SgnVcXEmhPxO6zlISpcj0OVpSqQyZ752SuZEazzBVtqSGFgz0IWd8.fV.g5EmXr.FLh.5fc8ShkHM5Zxk1HfowIZtzuAfco32_SLpe3047gq0lt.nu4kY_L57CnsPVopSsol6F.nNiPAM9jZLrDPZP1RprgaDlbKdOPukLw5SGzEHlOArXcfIFL37n4vVg53u9jK7Nv1krw1kzgwWE6meGVUdc7JRcdTtJf6FB2T7.NqFmYkL
 Secret: 32cbad8c8b5adbb441458615d5db7f30d3128749
 Session Handle: AMW.zllcRE9V.ztlfxWt0TkfIMCDVue0jurjx1FlIEux4l71mkRv

Error: Invalid auth/bad request (got a 401, expected HTTP/1.1 20X or a redirect)
Error Code: 401
Response: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<error xml:lang="en-us" yahoo:uri="http://fantasysports.yahooapis.com/fantasy/v2/users;use_login=1/games;game_keys=nfl/teams?oauth_consumer_key=dj0yJmk9cE0yWnZzRVFEbjhFJmQ9WVdrOWNuY3pOVWczTXpJbWNHbzlNQS0tJnM9Y29uc3VtZXJzZWNyZXQmeD1hYw--&amp;amp;oauth_signature_method=HMAC-SHA1&amp;amp;oauth_nonce=87474055259cedbfd522a68.21090926&amp;amp;oauth_timestamp=1506728957&amp;amp;oauth_version=1.0&amp;amp;oauth_token=A%3DGMj2OgnmgiODpfvH9HkbcQr9Phz2qNYOhTLbEfdNMGz7NGJ6c9KDNkxndObLi8vD.USTPkaTvdPrnoIkZo7QYI277fOs1fJjuOCVapOm16qoZUcP7BFkgbC9ay1iLdF7__BHNiVMS75Jtr.p6249F02Z2Ld2dE8KkUNxDtwF8tSi5UBCL1R1xd0tzusw0cITPBJGd5_wMwf5E3BVEr1ZmoQbYgGBwMpcQvIPFbmw7PaByQPvhZ7OhriYVe1sFDk_paGki4ThaC.rua9QoUx25Txpgiksp3PqUfrq4Mnp3fqJvG4ZZbMD4VBRnQaSyibeJR5QiaB1sk088.YW7SdPRLXU_2I78A_jnYro8AMZD_DRAatU9Va6WL1gdBcVccO8WHu4DQwSFESfadl8qFrEEPA2hyfzlPDdp2BFoyFORjOvAqI_O5agLM_4jl1tJPXSHAYjeLHpBgazdP23Qcuj4doG_JYBTCQW_BKSuMKLUd15sLy3J4GcqiPiE7jQ7JGrKxjt417sRcjVL0ziksatzvzeFyXNyrYBE0YohFqYjd_4_hSUMX9SgnVcXEmhPxO6zlISpcj0OVpSqQyZ752SuZEazzBVtqSGFgz0IWd8.fV.g5EmXr.FLh.5fc8ShkHM5Zxk1HfowIZtzuAfco32_SLpe3047gq0lt.nu4kY_L57CnsPVopSsol6F.nNiPAM9jZLrDPZP1RprgaDlbKdOPukLw5SGzEHlOArXcfIFL37n4vVg53u9jK7Nv1krw1kzgwWE6meGVUdc7JRcdTtJf6FB2T7.NqFmYkL&amp;amp;oauth_signature=3N%2Fv7E94sSz7u1T%2FnZw7LSL%2FqH8%3D" xmlns:yahoo="http://www.yahooapis.com/v1/base.rng" xmlns="http://www.yahooapis.com/v1/base.rng">
 <description>Invalid cookie, please log in again.</description>
 <detail/>
</error>

Array
(
    [oauth_token] => A=UOj1pgHd.AMPSWtSpTpOV7H26tlA5pBx6JFxqZ5t1XDH.Tbat9FvZasADKWuXm9oKKr_vaaWZBRS2RyP4eAmeOEBWFM3HSg1VHrtr8Z9XDhfr_n6b5ujgyFt_Grw8pf5pbfC0x4YelJCH0HDOdmg3tatVsDBLdc79WkQnJ6.4NS2IXBskwpeVGxRpKiH3EYSJ1z_5L6hZQtsegK1jgqsyzezvf6BgJjeOUO84mI175VOX5KY4ht2WE.qzOK21vvxilWlKOT2lTvJdYNH.47B2y.XXqw6WNwfqoIrChVkcr4l_oqE_gzeHlsox6Z1gtl1WgDGeLWqS9iJZqn0AWvbgOk38FVTFkJcYprPthOQBtyLZyom04NVIStnuZ.xc7EEZVKHg88_lHj28uyrbF8ZPD4f3bI0A8nHX6f9Z3ZhgxbSLyG44BiTjAp..Q3qXB45I4gvHqlEferLBwG6T.NHV48XDk3cbf3y7SbtjEaDwr6ityMkp2xMUhqHMJQ4DfxmuRejwadZ0FeK8sqfkZSR2nnQiGN3t61Sla.tf3fFHusbHVEj2Mp2Mk85FL2APWWOtNA6QRSMou38FX5x2YnWYpTkcC9QXxFniWY.eU4lupyVT.KX4hvsc2xBxhbD9zfnGMef1Yg_7w4rlMUbrpAw9JAKtDAHFJS6VvY.FnRV3SiDd3Ck8dEx0BGLSmxE052qeRGjnxTv_0G4.Kj.4vFY4ztBDtlKZTLUvEbPZJKDU0CXSTfOEo1C99e3R19SS8Eh_KVToP3Z81_7QWrLzCSfJqXFQUdQLfgUzCJV
    [oauth_token_secret] => 6fd5d695882ef63b18bf786be3c8463cdea33e7f
    [oauth_expires_in] => 3600
    [oauth_session_handle] => AMW.zllcRE9V.ztlfxWt0TkfIMCDVue0jurjx1FlIEux4l71mkRv
    [oauth_authorization_expires_in] => 640754690
    [xoauth_yahoo_guid] => WI3IFMZVEK4K7CINH6WJSKPU7A
)
Was able to refresh access token:
 Token: A=UOj1pgHd.AMPSWtSpTpOV7H26tlA5pBx6JFxqZ5t1XDH.Tbat9FvZasADKWuXm9oKKr_vaaWZBRS2RyP4eAmeOEBWFM3HSg1VHrtr8Z9XDhfr_n6b5ujgyFt_Grw8pf5pbfC0x4YelJCH0HDOdmg3tatVsDBLdc79WkQnJ6.4NS2IXBskwpeVGxRpKiH3EYSJ1z_5L6hZQtsegK1jgqsyzezvf6BgJjeOUO84mI175VOX5KY4ht2WE.qzOK21vvxilWlKOT2lTvJdYNH.47B2y.XXqw6WNwfqoIrChVkcr4l_oqE_gzeHlsox6Z1gtl1WgDGeLWqS9iJZqn0AWvbgOk38FVTFkJcYprPthOQBtyLZyom04NVIStnuZ.xc7EEZVKHg88_lHj28uyrbF8ZPD4f3bI0A8nHX6f9Z3ZhgxbSLyG44BiTjAp..Q3qXB45I4gvHqlEferLBwG6T.NHV48XDk3cbf3y7SbtjEaDwr6ityMkp2xMUhqHMJQ4DfxmuRejwadZ0FeK8sqfkZSR2nnQiGN3t61Sla.tf3fFHusbHVEj2Mp2Mk85FL2APWWOtNA6QRSMou38FX5x2YnWYpTkcC9QXxFniWY.eU4lupyVT.KX4hvsc2xBxhbD9zfnGMef1Yg_7w4rlMUbrpAw9JAKtDAHFJS6VvY.FnRV3SiDd3Ck8dEx0BGLSmxE052qeRGjnxTv_0G4.Kj.4vFY4ztBDtlKZTLUvEbPZJKDU0CXSTfOEo1C99e3R19SS8Eh_KVToP3Z81_7QWrLzCSfJqXFQUdQLfgUzCJV
 Secret: 6fd5d695882ef63b18bf786be3c8463cdea33e7f
 Session Handle: AMW.zllcRE9V.ztlfxWt0TkfIMCDVue0jurjx1FlIEux4l71mkRv

Error: Invalid auth/bad request (got a 401, expected HTTP/1.1 20X or a redirect)
Error Code: 401
Response: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<error xml:lang="en-us" yahoo:uri="http://fantasysports.yahooapis.com/fantasy/v2/users;use_login=1/games;game_keys=nfl/teams?oauth_consumer_key=dj0yJmk9cE0yWnZzRVFEbjhFJmQ9WVdrOWNuY3pOVWczTXpJbWNHbzlNQS0tJnM9Y29uc3VtZXJzZWNyZXQmeD1hYw--&amp;amp;oauth_signature_method=HMAC-SHA1&amp;amp;oauth_nonce=209070770059cedbfd9fd1d0.76088688&amp;amp;oauth_timestamp=1506728957&amp;amp;oauth_version=1.0&amp;amp;oauth_token=A%3DUOj1pgHd.AMPSWtSpTpOV7H26tlA5pBx6JFxqZ5t1XDH.Tbat9FvZasADKWuXm9oKKr_vaaWZBRS2RyP4eAmeOEBWFM3HSg1VHrtr8Z9XDhfr_n6b5ujgyFt_Grw8pf5pbfC0x4YelJCH0HDOdmg3tatVsDBLdc79WkQnJ6.4NS2IXBskwpeVGxRpKiH3EYSJ1z_5L6hZQtsegK1jgqsyzezvf6BgJjeOUO84mI175VOX5KY4ht2WE.qzOK21vvxilWlKOT2lTvJdYNH.47B2y.XXqw6WNwfqoIrChVkcr4l_oqE_gzeHlsox6Z1gtl1WgDGeLWqS9iJZqn0AWvbgOk38FVTFkJcYprPthOQBtyLZyom04NVIStnuZ.xc7EEZVKHg88_lHj28uyrbF8ZPD4f3bI0A8nHX6f9Z3ZhgxbSLyG44BiTjAp..Q3qXB45I4gvHqlEferLBwG6T.NHV48XDk3cbf3y7SbtjEaDwr6ityMkp2xMUhqHMJQ4DfxmuRejwadZ0FeK8sqfkZSR2nnQiGN3t61Sla.tf3fFHusbHVEj2Mp2Mk85FL2APWWOtNA6QRSMou38FX5x2YnWYpTkcC9QXxFniWY.eU4lupyVT.KX4hvsc2xBxhbD9zfnGMef1Yg_7w4rlMUbrpAw9JAKtDAHFJS6VvY.FnRV3SiDd3Ck8dEx0BGLSmxE052qeRGjnxTv_0G4.Kj.4vFY4ztBDtlKZTLUvEbPZJKDU0CXSTfOEo1C99e3R19SS8Eh_KVToP3Z81_7QWrLzCSfJqXFQUdQLfgUzCJV&amp;amp;oauth_signature=hU0ugY1YZbcLICWBjd99HVlh7CA%3D" xmlns:yahoo="http://www.yahooapis.com/v1/base.rng" xmlns="http://www.yahooapis.com/v1/base.rng">
 <description>Invalid cookie, please log in again.</description>
 <detail/>
</error>

Looks like we need to store access token data! Doing that now.


root@dednew:/var/www/fhg# /opt/php-5.6/bin/php tester.php
Got access token information!
 Token: A=UOj1pgHd.AMPSWtSpTpOV7H26tlA5pBx6JFxqZ5t1XDH.Tbat9FvZasADKWuXm9oKKr_vaaWZBRS2RyP4eAmeOEBWFM3HSg1VHrtr8Z9XDhfr_n6b5ujgyFt_Grw8pf5pbfC0x4YelJCH0HDOdmg3tatVsDBLdc79WkQnJ6.4NS2IXBskwpeVGxRpKiH3EYSJ1z_5L6hZQtsegK1jgqsyzezvf6BgJjeOUO84mI175VOX5KY4ht2WE.qzOK21vvxilWlKOT2lTvJdYNH.47B2y.XXqw6WNwfqoIrChVkcr4l_oqE_gzeHlsox6Z1gtl1WgDGeLWqS9iJZqn0AWvbgOk38FVTFkJcYprPthOQBtyLZyom04NVIStnuZ.xc7EEZVKHg88_lHj28uyrbF8ZPD4f3bI0A8nHX6f9Z3ZhgxbSLyG44BiTjAp..Q3qXB45I4gvHqlEferLBwG6T.NHV48XDk3cbf3y7SbtjEaDwr6ityMkp2xMUhqHMJQ4DfxmuRejwadZ0FeK8sqfkZSR2nnQiGN3t61Sla.tf3fFHusbHVEj2Mp2Mk85FL2APWWOtNA6QRSMou38FX5x2YnWYpTkcC9QXxFniWY.eU4lupyVT.KX4hvsc2xBxhbD9zfnGMef1Yg_7w4rlMUbrpAw9JAKtDAHFJS6VvY.FnRV3SiDd3Ck8dEx0BGLSmxE052qeRGjnxTv_0G4.Kj.4vFY4ztBDtlKZTLUvEbPZJKDU0CXSTfOEo1C99e3R19SS8Eh_KVToP3Z81_7QWrLzCSfJqXFQUdQLfgUzCJV
 Secret: 6fd5d695882ef63b18bf786be3c8463cdea33e7f
 Session Handle: AMW.zllcRE9V.ztlfxWt0TkfIMCDVue0jurjx1FlIEux4l71mkRv

Got data from API:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<fantasy_content xml:lang="en-US" yahoo:uri="http://fantasysports.yahooapis.com/fantasy/v2/users;use_login=1/games;game_keys=nfl/teams" time="39.669990539551ms" copyright="Data provided by Yahoo! and STATS, LLC" refresh_rate="60" xmlns:yahoo="http://www.yahooapis.com/v1/base.rng" xmlns="http://fantasysports.yahooapis.com/fantasy/v2/base.rng">
 <users count="1">
  <user>
   <guid>WI3IFMZVEK4K7CINH6WJSKPU7A</guid>
   <games count="1">
    <game>
     <game_key>371</game_key>
     <game_id>371</game_id>
     <name>Football</name>
     <code>nfl</code>
     <type>full</type>
     <url>https://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1</url>
     <season>2017</season>
     <is_registration_over>0</is_registration_over>
     <is_game_over>0</is_game_over>
     <is_offseason>0</is_offseason>
     <teams/>
    </game>
   </games>
  </user>
 </users>
</fantasy_content>

<!-- fanos916.sports.bf1.yahoo.com Fri Sep 29 23:49:19 UTC 2017 -->


Successful!

I'm at a loss as to what's going on and wondering if this is a Yahoo issue.

Answer 1

I just started with fantasysports.yahooapis.com. I'm struggling with this as well, would love to share thoughts. Maybe we have code that would help one another.