Adding An OAuth Scope Page As One Of My API Management Building Blocks

I've had a handful of suggested building blocks when it comes to authentication, as part of my API management research, but after taking a look at the OAuth Scopes page for the Slack API, I'm going to add another building block just for listing out OAuth scopes.

For platforms who provide OAuth, scopes are how access to users content and data is being broken down, and negotiated. When it comes to industry levels, OAuth scopes are how power and influence is being brokered, so I'm going to start tracking on how leading providers are defining their scopes--I am sure there are some healthy patterns that we all can follow here.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in on OAuth negotiations between major utility providers, as part of my work with the White House and Department of Energy in the past. This work has given me a glimpse into the future of how access and sharing of data will be negotiated in the future, with OAuth scopes and APIs playing a central role.

It will take me some time to standardize how I gather, store, and publish the OAuth scopes for each API, but I can get started by bookmarking any provider who shares their OAuth scopes, and encourage other API providers to do, by suggesting a formal OAuth scopes page as one possible building block you should consider when crafting your API strategy.