Merchant Authentication Guide

In order to interact securely with the SoyCap.io API, each merchant must authenticate to obtain an access token (auth_token). This token is then used to authorize further API requests to obtain transaction details for creating campaigns, registering conversions, and distributing rewards. Below is a step-by-step guide to authenticate a merchant on your backend.

Step 1. Get Merchant API Key

You need the get merchant API key (api_key) provided by SoyCap.io for your merchant account.

1. Navigate to Merchant Dashboard
2. Go to Dev Tools tab
3. Click on Reveal Merchant API button
4. The merchant api_key will be copied to your clipboard

Step 2. Make Authentication Request

The authentication process involves sending a request to the /api/merchants/authenticate API endpoint using the api_key in the X-API-Key header:

import fetch from 'node-fetch';

const apiUrl = 'https://www.soycap.io/api'; // Replace with the actual API URL
const apiKey = 'api_key'; // Replace with your merchant API key

// Function to authenticate merchant and retrieve an auth token
const authenticateMerchant = async (apiUrl, apiKey) => {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(`${apiUrl}/merchants/authenticate`, {
      method: 'GET',
      headers: {
        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        'X-API-Key': apiKey,  // Custom header for API key
      },
    });

    // Check if the request was successful
    if (!response.ok) {
      const errorResponse = await response.json();
      throw new Error(`Error: ${errorResponse.error} - ${errorResponse.message}`);
    }

    // Extract and return the token from the response
    const data = await response.json();
    return data.token;

  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Failed to authenticate merchant:', err);
    throw err;
  }
};

// Usage Example
(async () => {
  try {
    const auth_token = await authenticateMerchant(apiUrl, apiKey);
    console.log('Authentication successful. Token:', auth_token);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Authentication failed:', error);
  }
})();