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AMZScratchpad

TokenExpired (UnauthorizedException): Amazon Creators API error

HTTP 401UnauthorizedExceptionAuthentication (401)Documented by Amazon

What it means

Your access token is older than one hour. Fetch a new one and try again.

Message returned by the API: Authentication token has expired.

Typical causes

  • The cached token is older than expires_in (3600 s).
  • The server clock is wrong, so your cache thinks the token is still fresh.

How to fix it

  1. Fetch a new token and retry once.
  2. Store the expiry time with the token and refresh a minute before it runs out.
  3. Do not fetch a token per request. The token endpoint rate-limits that.

Not sure which part fails? Run Test credentials in the Scratchpad. It checks the token, the API access and the partner tag separately.

Example response

{
  "type": "UnauthorizedException",
  "message": "Authentication token has expired.",
  "reason": "TokenExpired"
}

Related errors

  • too_many_requests: You fetched new access tokens too often. A token is valid for an hour, so reuse it instead of fetching one per request.
  • InvalidToken: The access token in the Authorization header is broken, incomplete or in the wrong format.