Instapaper Simple API : adding links without storing user password?

Question

I'm trying to use Instapaper's Simple API (http://www.instapaper.com/api/simple).

The API terms of use (http://www.instapaper.com/api/terms) says apps should not store user id and password, and I don't want to store them either. However, it seems that the only way to add a link to a user's Instapaper via simple API is to store the username/password (if the user does have a password).

Am I missing something?

Answer 1

The API terms of use state that:

Apps must not store users’ passwords. Passwords may only be collected for the xAuth token acquisition and must be discarded afterward.

Only the full API uses xAuth tokens. The above sentence doesn't apply to the simple API, since it uses Basic HTTP Authentication.

You still "must make reasonable efforts to prevent passwords from being compromised, and must not disclose passwords to any other services or individuals".

Answer 2

If you are using a native Mac application (like Apple’s Mail client or a third-party mail client like Airmail) there isn’t an easy way to save a link to Instapaper without first opening the link in a browser and then using one of Instapaper’s browser extensions to actually save the article.

One workaround that I’ve found to expedite this task is to write a service for OS X which uses Instapaper’s API to save links.

In order to write your own service, first open Apple’s Automator application and create a new Service. Then, drag the Run Shell Script action into the application’s main workflow area.

Make sure the service receives no input, can be used by any application, and that the shell script is set to run python.