[GH-ISSUE #733] Refresh user token periodically #442

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opened 2026-02-27 23:22:39 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-02-27 23:22:39 +03:00

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Originally created by @fluffy-cakes on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/spotipy-dev/spotipy/issues/733

Hi, I have searched the FAQ and Issues, but still can't find, or seem to understand, how to implement an automatic token refresh without having to close and re-open the app/script. My current design is a Spotify voting web app that runs in Flask, allowing users to vote up/down the song to keep/skip playing it.

I currently use this as authorisation, as I believe that this method is required to poll the users 'currently playing' tracks.

username = 'asdfqwer'
scope    = 'user-read-currently-playing,user-modify-playback-state'

token    = spotipy.util.prompt_for_user_token(username, scope)
sp       = spotipy.Spotify(auth=token)

Later on I use sp.current_user_playing_track() to get the track and to grab some values from the output. This happens every second, updating the web app with the current track details. Within the hour, obviously, the cached token expires, and I will need to stop my running app and start it again. Not currently ideal, as I'm going to be using this over the space of 2-3 hours in a session.

I did think about running a background task to spin of a subprocess just to log in, hopefully updating the token as it does. But this doesn't seem to work either:

def spotifyBg():
    def subThread():
        while True:
            print("Running subprocess")
            subprocess.Popen(['/root/partify/flask/04/spotify_bg.py'])
            sleep(240)

    thread = threading.Thread(target=subThread)
    thread.start()

I am not new to Python, but I am also not anything great. Can anyone please direct me on how I can achieve the above?

Originally created by @fluffy-cakes on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/spotipy-dev/spotipy/issues/733 Hi, I have searched the FAQ and Issues, but still can't find, or seem to understand, how to implement an automatic token refresh **without** having to close and re-open the app/script. My current design is a Spotify voting web app that runs in Flask, allowing users to vote up/down the song to keep/skip playing it. I currently use this as authorisation, as I believe that this method is required to poll the users 'currently playing' tracks. ```python username = 'asdfqwer' scope = 'user-read-currently-playing,user-modify-playback-state' token = spotipy.util.prompt_for_user_token(username, scope) sp = spotipy.Spotify(auth=token) ``` Later on I use `sp.current_user_playing_track()` to get the track and to grab some values from the output. This happens every second, updating the web app with the current track details. Within the hour, obviously, the cached token expires, and I will need to stop my running app and start it again. Not currently ideal, as I'm going to be using this over the space of 2-3 hours in a session. I did think about running a background task to spin of a subprocess just to log in, hopefully updating the token as it does. But this doesn't seem to work either: ```python def spotifyBg(): def subThread(): while True: print("Running subprocess") subprocess.Popen(['/root/partify/flask/04/spotify_bg.py']) sleep(240) thread = threading.Thread(target=subThread) thread.start() ``` I am not new to Python, but I am also not anything great. Can anyone please direct me on how I can achieve the above?

kerem

2026-02-27 23:22:39 +03:00

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kerem commented

2026-02-27 23:22:40 +03:00

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@stephanebruckert commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021):

prompt_for_user_token is deprecated, please avoid using it as it was only there to quickly help running an app and I'm not sure it refreshes the token for you. The new way to do it is displayed in the README.

Also the FAQ specifically mentions building an API with Flask https://github.com/plamere/spotipy/blob/master/FAQ.md#how-to-use-spotipy-in-an-api, in which the token refresh is handled automatically. Did you have a look at it? Let us know what blocks there.

@stephanebruckert commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021): `prompt_for_user_token` is deprecated, please avoid using it as it was only there to quickly help running an app and I'm not sure it refreshes the token for you. The new way to do it is displayed in the README. Also the FAQ specifically mentions building an API with Flask https://github.com/plamere/spotipy/blob/master/FAQ.md#how-to-use-spotipy-in-an-api, in which the token refresh is handled automatically. Did you have a look at it? Let us know what blocks there.

kerem commented

2026-02-27 23:22:40 +03:00

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@fluffy-cakes commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021):

Cheers for the prompt reply, I am looking into that flask example and then the auth handling. I'll reply back or close once I understand them.

@fluffy-cakes commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021): Cheers for the prompt reply, I am looking into that flask example and then the auth handling. I'll reply back or close once I understand them.

kerem commented

2026-02-27 23:22:40 +03:00

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@fluffy-cakes commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021):

@stephanebruckert ; cheers for that. from those examples i was able to get working what i wanted 👍🏼

@fluffy-cakes commented on GitHub (Oct 7, 2021): @stephanebruckert ; cheers for that. from those examples i was able to get working what i wanted 👍🏼

kerem referenced this issue

2026-02-28 00:02:28 +03:00

[PR #442] [MERGED] Made cache optional in get_access_token #441 #899