Evernote Install & Auth

Overview

Set up the Evernote SDK and configure OAuth 1.0a authentication for accessing the Evernote Cloud API. Covers API key provisioning, SDK installation, OAuth flow implementation, and connection verification.

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
Package manager (npm, pnpm, or pip)
Evernote developer account
API key from Evernote developer portal (requires approval, allow 5 business days)

Instructions

Step 1: Request an API Key

Navigate to the Evernote developer portal
Submit the API key request form
Wait for manual approval (up to 5 business days)
Receive consumerKey and consumerSecret credentials

Step 2: Install the SDK

set -euo pipefail
# Node.js
npm install evernote

# Python
pip install evernote

Step 3: Configure Environment Variables

cat << 'EOF' >> .env
EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_KEY=your-consumer-key
EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_SECRET=your-consumer-secret
EVERNOTE_SANDBOX=true
EOF

Step 4: Initialize the OAuth Client

const Evernote = require('evernote');

const client = new Evernote.Client({
  consumerKey: process.env.EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_KEY,
  consumerSecret: process.env.EVERNOTE_CONSUMER_SECRET,
  sandbox: process.env.EVERNOTE_SANDBOX === 'true',
  china: false
});

Step 5: Implement the OAuth Flow

Set up request token acquisition, user authorization redirect, and callback handling. Alternatively, use a developer token for sandbox testing to skip the OAuth flow entirely.

Step 6: Verify the Connection

Create an authenticated client, access getUserStore(), and call getUser() to confirm authentication succeeds.

For the complete OAuth callback implementation, developer token setup, Python client initialization, and token expiration handling, see OAuth flow reference.

Output

Installed SDK package in node_modules or site-packages
Environment variables configured for authentication
Working OAuth flow implementation
Successful connection verification

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Resolution
Invalid consumer key	Wrong or unapproved key	Verify key in the developer portal
OAuth signature mismatch	Incorrect consumer secret	Check secret matches the portal value
Token expired	Access token older than 1 year	Re-authenticate the user via OAuth
Rate limit reached	Too many API calls	Implement exponential backoff
Permission denied	Insufficient API key scope	Request additional permissions

Examples

Sandbox quickstart: Obtain a developer token from sandbox.evernote.com/api/DeveloperToken.action. Set EVERNOTE_DEV_TOKEN in .env and initialize the client with sandbox: true to skip the full OAuth flow during development.

Production OAuth: Request an API key from the developer portal, implement the OAuth 1.0a flow with an HTTPS callback URL, store the access token securely alongside its edam_expires timestamp, and schedule token refresh before expiration.

Resources

Next Steps

After successful auth, proceed to evernote-hello-world for the first note creation.

evernote-install-auth