Calling external API from Laravel Controller - php

Question

I am trying to call a certain service provider's API and it has public and secret API keys.
However, I am currently using Laravel, but there are only JavaScript, NodeJS, Python implementation on how to send the post request.
My issue is that, How do I send the post request on Laravel/PHP to avoid publicizing the API keys?
They have this specific format that should be followed:
const options = {
method: 'POST',
headers: {
'Content-Type': 'application/json',
Authorization: 'Basic some_base64_encrypted_key'
},
body: JSON.stringify({
data: {
attributes: {
amount: 10000,
redirect: {success: 'https://www.test1.com/', failed: 'https://www.test2.com/'},
type: 'some_paymenth_method',
currency: 'SOME_CURRENCY'
}
}
})
};
fetch('https://api.serviceprovider.com/v1/sources', options)
.then(response => response.json())
.then(response => console.log(response))
.catch(err => console.error(err));

Answer 1

Something like this should help you:
$response = Http::withBasicAuth('keys', 'secret')
->withHeaders([
'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
'Authorization' => 'Basic some_base64_encrypted_key'
])
->post('https://api.serviceprovider.com/v1/sources', [
'amount' => '1000',
'type' => 'some_paymenth_method',
'currency' => 'SOME_CURRENCY'
]);
if( $response->successful() ){
//do some logic
//redirect https://www.test1.com/
}elseif( $response->failed() ){
//do some logic
//redirect https://www.test2.com/
}
You can play around with it, try the documentation.
https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/http-client#authentication

Answer 2

Using HTTPS, your authorization header is ALSO encrypted. So that if anyone intercept the message, they cannot read the actual content of the token. However, the header is still visible to both client and server. In your case, you are the client side to the service provider.
With that said, as previous anwser explained well, you can use Laravel HTTP client. This solution is available on laravel 7+. You need to install Guzzle package like this:
composer require guzzlehttp/guzzle
and make the request like this with Http facade:
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Http;
$response = Http::withToken('place api key')->withHeaders([
'Content-Type' => 'application/json',
])->post('https://api.serviceprovider.com/v1/sources', [
// your data array
]);
// Determine if the status code is >= 200 and < 300...
if ($response->successful()) {
// todo i.e get the response body save the date etc.
} else {
// todo i.e schedule to try again later etc.
}
if your are running older version of laravel, after installing guzzlehttp/guzzle package with composer, you can make the request like this:
$headers = [
'Authorization' => 'place api key',
'Accept' => 'application/json',
];
$body = [
// your data array
];
$client = new \GuzzleHttp\Client();
$url = "https://api.serviceprovider.com/v1/sources";
$response = $client->request('POST', $url, [
'headers'=> $headers,
'body'=> $body
]);
// check response here
// don't forget error handling