Keyboard shortcuts

Press ← or → to navigate between chapters

Press S or / to search in the book

Press ? to show this help

Press Esc to hide this help

Strava Oauth CLI Tool

A command-line tool for authenticating with the Strava API using OAuth 2.0. This tool guides you through the OAuth flow and saves your access tokens for future API calls.

Prerequisites

Before you can use this tool, you need to create a Strava application to get your Client ID and Client Secret.

Creating a Strava Application

  1. Go to Strava Developers: Visit https://www.strava.com/settings/api

  2. Create Your Application:

    • Click "Create & Manage Your App"
    • Fill in the application details:
      • Application Name: Choose any name (e.g., "My Strava CLI Tool")
      • Category: Choose the most appropriate category
      • Club: Leave blank unless you're creating for a specific club
      • Website: You can use http://localhost for testing
      • Authorization Callback Domain: Set this to localhost
    • Agree to the API Agreement
    • Click "Create"

  3. Get Your Credentials:

    • After creation, you'll see your application details
    • Note down your Client ID (publicly visible)
    • Click "Show" next to Client Secret and note it down (keep this private!)

Installation

Step 1: Run the Tool

Clone or create the project:

git clone https://github.com/lyledean1/strava-mcp

go run tools/main.go

The tool will display:

🚴 Strava OAuth CLI Tool
========================

Step 2: Enter Your Credentials

When prompted, enter your Strava application credentials:

Enter your Strava Client ID: [YOUR_CLIENT_ID]
Enter your Strava Client Secret: [YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET]

Step 3: Authorize the Application

The tool will generate an authorization URL:

📋 Step 1: Authorization
Click the following URL to authorize the application:
🔗 https://www.strava.com/oauth/authorize?client_id=...
  1. Click the URL or copy-paste it into your browser
  2. Login to Strava if you're not already logged in
  3. Review the permissions the app is requesting:
    • Read your profile information
    • Read all your activities
  4. Click "Authorize" to grant permissions

Step 4: Get the Authorization Code

After clicking "Authorize":

  1. You'll be redirected to http://localhost/exchange_token?code=...
  2. The page will show an error - this is normal! The important part is the URL
  3. Copy the code parameter from the URL

Example URL:

http://localhost/exchange_token?code=abc123def456ghi789

Copy: abc123def456ghi789

Step 5: Complete Authentication

Paste the authorization code when prompted:

📥 Enter the authorization code from the URL: abc123def456ghi789

Step 6: Success!

The tool will exchange your code for tokens and display:

✅ Success! Here are your tokens:
===============================
🔑 Access Token: your_access_token_here
🔄 Refresh Token: your_refresh_token_here
⏰ Expires At: 1234567890
👤 Athlete: John Doe (johndoe)

💾 Save these tokens securely - you'll need them to make API calls!

The tokens are also automatically saved to refresh_token.json in the current directory.

What You Get

After successful authentication, you'll receive:

  • Access Token: Use this to make API calls (expires in ~6 hours)
  • Refresh Token: Use this to get new access tokens when they expire
  • Expires At: Unix timestamp when the access token expires
  • Athlete Info: Basic information about the authenticated user

Permissions (Scopes)

This tool requests the following permissions:

  • read: Access to read your profile information
  • activity:read_all: Access to read all your activities (public and private)

Security Notes

  • Keep your Client Secret private - never share it or commit it to version control
  • Store your tokens securely - they provide access to your Strava data
  • Refresh tokens don't expire - treat them like passwords
  • Access tokens expire in ~6 hours - use refresh tokens to get new ones

API Documentation

For more information about the Strava API: