403 Forbidden when updating OAuth client scopes via API

Administration
1

Hi all,

Trying to automate our client credential rotations.

The script hits a wall when updating scopes for an existing client.

It’s throwing a 403 Forbidden.

The Client ID is valid.

The account has the right permissions.

I’ve been testing with GET /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId} to verify the config first.

Everything looks CORRECT there.

But the update fails.

Option A:
Use a separate Client Grant for the update.
Pro: Might bypass some permission locks.
Con: Adds more overhead to the rotation script.

Option B:
Delete the client and recreate it via POST /api/v2/oauth/clients.
Pro: Clean slate.
Con: Changes the Client ID which breaks our external integrations.

I’m stuck on why the 403 is happening.

The token used has the admin role.

curl -X PUT "$GENESYS_CLOUD_HOST/api/v2/oauth/clients/12345-abcde" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"name": "Audit-Bot", "scopes": ["audit:all"]}'
2

Permissions for OAuth clients are a pain. Even if the account has the right roles, the client itself can’t always modify its own scopes via the API. It’s a common gotcha.

The fix is to use a different admin token for the PUT request. You can’t use the token from the client you’re trying to update. Hit /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId} with a separate admin credential.

The payload needs to be exact. If you miss a field that’s already there, it might trip up.

PUT /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId}
{
 "name": "Client Rotation Account",
 "scopes": [
 "users:readonly",
 "routing:readonly",
 "conversations:all"
 ]
}

If that still hits a 403, the workaround is just to delete and recreate the client. It’s faster than fighting the scope permissions. Not ideal for rotation scripts, but it works.

2 Likes
3

Thanks and . The 403 happens because of privilege escalation prevention. In most OAuth implementations, a client cannot grant itself higher permissions than it already possesses. If you’re using the clientId’s own token to hit PUT /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId}, the server blocks the request to prevent a compromised client from adding its own scopes to gain full admin access.

To fix this, you need a token from a user with the oauthClientAdd or oauthClientEdit permissions. Use a separate admin account to send the payload. The request body for PUT /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId} must include the full name and the updated scopes array. If you omit other required fields, the API might reject the update even with the correct token.

PUT /api/v2/oauth/clients/12345-abc-6789
{
 "name": "RotationClient",
 "scopes": ["users:read", "users:edit"]
}
4

Yeah, that’s spot on. In CIC we used to just tweak the user’s role in the admin console and it was a done deal, but the API here is way more restrictive. You’ll definitely need that separate admin token for the PUT /api/v2/oauth/clients/{clientId} call to avoid that 403.

2 Likes
5 
import httpx
import asyncio

async def update_client_scopes(client_id, new_scopes, admin_token):
 url = f"https://api.mypurecloud.com/api/v2/oauth/clients/{client_id}"
 headers = {
 "Authorization": f"Bearer {admin_token}",
 "Content-Type": "application/json"
 }
 payload = {"scopes": new_scopes}
 
 async with httpx.AsyncClient() as client:
 response = await client.put(url, json=payload, headers=headers)
 return response.json()

The earlier reply is right about the token. You can’t use the client’s own credentials to change its scopes. Use a separate admin token for the PUT call.

hope this helps someone