Create Access Token

Overview

The CreateAccessToken RPC generates a short-lived authentication token for connector API access. These tokens expire quickly (typically 1 hour) and can be safely used in client applications without exposing your main API credentials.

Business Use Case: When building client-side payment flows (browser checkout, mobile apps), you need to give clients limited access to the payment processor without exposing your full API keys. This RPC generates temporary tokens that clients can use for operations like card tokenization.

Purpose

Why use short-lived access tokens?

Scenario	Risk Without Tokens	Solution
Browser checkout	API keys exposed in JavaScript	Temporary token with limited scope
Mobile apps	API keys in app bundle	Token generated per session
Third-party integrations	Full API access granted	Scoped token with expiration

Key outcomes:

• Temporary access token (1 hour typical)

• Limited scope permissions

• Safe for client-side use

• Automatic expiration

Request Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
merchant_access_token_id	string	Yes	Your unique token reference
connector	Connector	Yes	Target connector (STRIPE, ADYEN, etc.)
metadata	SecretString	No	Additional metadata for the connector
connector_feature_data	SecretString	No	Connector-specific metadata
test_mode	bool	No	Generate test/sandbox token

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
access_token	SecretString	The access token string (e.g., "pk_live_...")
token_type	string	Token type (e.g., "Bearer", "Basic")
expires_in_seconds	int64	Expiration timestamp (Unix epoch)
status	OperationStatus	Status of token creation
error	ErrorInfo	Error details if creation failed
status_code	uint32	HTTP-style status code
merchant_access_token_id	string	Your token reference (echoed back)

Example

Request (grpcurl)

grpcurl -H "x-connector: stripe" \
  -H "x-connector-auth: {\"Stripe\":{\"api_key\":\"$STRIPE_API_KEY\"}}" \
  -d '{
    "merchant_access_token_id": "token_001",
    "connector": "STRIPE",
    "test_mode": true
  }' \
  localhost:8080 \
  types.MerchantAuthenticationService/CreateAccessToken

Response

{
  "access_token": "pk_test_1234567890abcdef",
  "token_type": "Bearer",
  "expires_in_seconds": 1704153600,
  "status": "SUCCESS",
  "status_code": 200
}

Next Steps

• CreateSessionToken - Create session tokens for payment flows

• CreateSdkSessionToken - Initialize wallet payment sessions