Hootsuite Security Basics

Credential Inventory

Credential	Scope	Rotation
Client ID	App-level	Never (app identifier)
Client Secret	App-level	Rotate if compromised
Access Token	User session	Auto-expires (~1 hour)
Refresh Token	User session	Rotate on each refresh

Instructions

Step 1: Secure Token Storage

# .env (never commit)
HOOTSUITE_CLIENT_ID=app_client_id
HOOTSUITE_CLIENT_SECRET=app_secret
HOOTSUITE_ACCESS_TOKEN=current_token
HOOTSUITE_REFRESH_TOKEN=refresh_token

Step 2: Token Refresh Security

// Always use HTTPS for token exchange
// Store refresh tokens encrypted at rest
// Rotate refresh tokens on each use (Hootsuite returns new ones)
async function secureRefresh(refreshToken: string) {
  const res = await fetch('https://platform.hootsuite.com/oauth2/token', {
    method: 'POST',
    headers: {
      'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
      'Authorization': `Basic ${Buffer.from(`${process.env.HOOTSUITE_CLIENT_ID}:${process.env.HOOTSUITE_CLIENT_SECRET}`).toString('base64')}`,
    },
    body: new URLSearchParams({ grant_type: 'refresh_token', refresh_token: refreshToken }),
  });
  const tokens = await res.json();
  // Store new refresh_token, discard old one
  return tokens;
}

Step 3: Security Checklist

• Client secret in secrets vault, never in code
• Access tokens never logged or exposed
• Refresh tokens stored encrypted
• HTTPS for all OAuth requests
• Pre-commit hook blocks HOOTSUITE_ credential leaks
• Separate OAuth apps for dev/staging/prod

Overview

Public publishing is a high-impact boundary: credentials, profile scope, audience selection, approval state, copy, and media must all be protected. This guidance keeps draft and publication paths distinct and auditable.

Prerequisites

• A threat model naming credential custodians, account owners, approved profiles/audiences, incident owner, and secret manager.
• Low-privilege sandbox credentials, draft-only fixtures, and tested revoke/disable/cancel procedures.

Output

Return a security receipt with environment, profile scope, reference version, approval/audience validation, revocation state, correlation ID, and rollback action. Never include tokens, copy, media, or account identities.

Error Handling

Stop for unknown profile/audience, absent approval, failed signature/validation, or public-post attempt from an unapproved path. Revoke credentials or disable scheduling when integrity is uncertain.

Examples

env=staging; profile=sandbox-brand; reference_version=version-12; approval=pass; audience=approved; public_posts=0; rollback=scheduler-disabled is an auditable control result.

Resources

• Hootsuite OAuth 2.0

Next Steps

For production, see hootsuite-prod-checklist.