Accela Authentication

generated: '2026-09-06'
method: searched
source: https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-apiAuth.html
docs:
  - https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-apiAuth.html
  - https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-authenticationTypes.html
  - https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-httpHeaders.html
  - https://developer.accela.com/docs/construct-permissionScopes.html
  - https://developer.accela.com/docs/api_reference/api-auth.html
summary: >-
  Accela Construct authenticates on three levels, and which one applies is declared per operation inside the
  published Swagger documents rather than in a securityDefinitions block. 371 of the 417 published operations
  require an OAuth 2.0 access token, 34 require no authorization (anonymous citizen access), and 1 requires app
  credentials. NOTE FOR FUTURE ROUNDS: none of the fifteen Swagger 2.0 documents declares a securityDefinitions
  object, so derive-authentication.py finds nothing; this profile was read from the provider's own auth
  documentation and from the per-operation "**Authorization Type**" line each operation carries in its
  description.
authorization_server: https://auth.accela.com
endpoints:
  - name: Get Authorization Code
    method: POST
    url: https://auth.accela.com/oauth2/authorize
    operationId: oauth2.authorize
  - name: Get Access Token
    method: POST
    url: https://auth.accela.com/oauth2/token
    operationId: oauth2.token
    note: Requires Content-Type application/x-www-form-urlencoded and an x-accela-appid header.
  - name: Get Token Info
    method: GET
    url: https://auth.accela.com/oauth2/tokeninfo
    operationId: oauth2.tokeninfo
    note: Validates an access token supplied in the Authorization header.
discovery:
  rfc8414_metadata: false
  openid_configuration: false
  note: >-
    auth.accela.com publishes neither /.well-known/oauth-authorization-server nor
    /.well-known/openid-configuration (both 404, empty body, probed 2026-09-06). A client cannot discover
    these endpoints programmatically; they are only documented in prose.
schemes:
  - id: access_token
    type: oauth2
    location: header
    header: Authorization
    description: >-
      An Accela API access token. Applies to every endpoint that reads or writes Civic user data — 371 of 417
      published operations.
    flows:
      - authorization_code
      - implicit
      - password
    scoped: true
    scopes_ref: scopes/accela-scopes.yml
  - id: app_credentials
    type: apiKey
    location: header
    header:
      - x-accela-appid
      - x-accela-appsecret
    description: >-
      Application ID and secret issued when an app is registered on the Accela Developer Portal (My Apps).
      Applies to endpoints that read app settings.
  - id: anonymous
    type: apiKey
    location: header
    header:
      - x-accela-appid
      - x-accela-agency
      - x-accela-environment
    description: >-
      Anonymous public access for citizen apps. The app id, agency name and environment identify the tenant
      instead of a user. Only citizen apps support this type; the surfaced data is whatever the agency has
      granted the Civic Platform anonymous user. 34 published operations use it.
tenancy:
  required_headers:
    - name: x-accela-agency
      description: The government agency (tenant) the request is executed against.
    - name: x-accela-environment
      description: The agency environment (for example a production or test instance) the request targets.
    - name: x-accela-agencies
      description: >-
        "all" or a comma-delimited agency list, for cross-agency GET reads across the accounts linked to a
        logged-in CivicID. Overrides x-accela-agency when both are sent.
  note: >-
    Agency and environment are also embedded inside the access token. When both a token and the headers are
    sent, the values must match or the request is rejected. This is the defining shape of the API: there is no
    single Accela tenant, and every call is executed inside one named government agency.
app_types:
  types:
    - id: agency
      description: An app acting for agency staff. 151 operations are Agency-only.
    - id: citizen
      description: An app acting for a member of the public. 20 operations are Citizen-only.
    - id: all
      description: Available to both agency and citizen apps. 240 operations.
  note: The client id/secret pair issued at registration determines whether a token is an agency or a citizen token.
registration:
  url: https://developer.accela.com/Register/Register
  app_registration: https://developer.accela.com/ApplicationList/Index
  note: >-
    Since the 4.6.5.4 release (August 2026) developer-portal registration is an approval request: the account
    is created disabled and a human enables it in the admin portal before credentials work.
  agency_credentials: >-
    Agency and environment names are not self-serve. Accela-hosted agencies get them from Accela Customer
    Support; on-premise agencies from their own Construct administrator.