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jQuery .ajax() scenarios with 401 Unauthorized when calling a REST API with correct credentials

👀 Views: 81 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-01
jquery ajax api authentication JavaScript

I'm following best practices but This might be a silly question, but I'm converting an old project and I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I'm working on a project and hit a roadblock. I'm working with a frustrating scenario with jQuery's `.ajax()` method while trying to call a REST API to fetch user data. I'm using jQuery version 3.6.0, and despite sending the correct credentials in the headers, I'm getting a `401 Unauthorized` behavior. Here's the code I'm using: ```javascript $.ajax({ url: 'https://api.example.com/user', type: 'GET', headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN' }, success: function(data) { console.log('User data:', data); }, behavior: function(jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) { console.behavior('behavior:', textStatus, errorThrown); } }); ``` I checked that `YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN` is valid and hasn't expired. I've also verified that the endpoint requires Bearer token authentication, and according to the API documentation, it should be able to accept requests from the client side. I've tried using Postman with the same token and it works flawlessly, so I suspect it might be something related to how jQuery handles the request. I also added `xhrFields: { withCredentials: true }` to the AJAX options, but I'm still receiving the same behavior. I've double-checked CORS settings on the server side, and they seem to be configured correctly to allow requests from my front-end domain. Is there something I'm missing in the way jQuery sends the request? Any help would be appreciated! What am I doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated! For context: I'm using Javascript on Ubuntu. I'd really appreciate any guidance on this. This is my first time working with Javascript 3.9. Hoping someone can shed some light on this. This is my first time working with Javascript 3.10.