The JSON URL has returned: 403 Forbidden

Question

I have a calendar feed that updates from Google Calendar using a JSON URL. I followed the instructions from http://mikeclaffey.com/google-calendar-into-html/. The upcoming events stopped showing up recently.

I tried other Google Calendars but none work. I tested it out at http://victoriasawyer.com/amosTheTransparent with a static JSON file (borrowed from Mike Claffey) and it works fine.

I pasted the URL into a JSON formatter to see if I could create a static file but this is when it returns the error message "The JSON URL has returned: 403 Forbidden."

I have no idea what the problem is (other than that it seems to lie within the URL). Any help with this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Answer 1

http://googleappsupdates.blogspot.com/2014/06/calendar-gdata-api-google-calendar.html

Back in November 2011, we announced the deprecation of the Calendar GData API (v1, v2) when the APIv3 was made available. We’ll now be shutting down these older versions on November 17, 2014.

Use the V.3 API

https://developers.google.com/google-apps/calendar/

Answer 2

403 Forbidden is an error that occurs when your HTTP Request is attempting to access a URL for which you are forbidden to access. Typically this happens when you attempt to access a URL which is no longer public, but most likely still exists. The folder exists on the public URL, but either the file you're attempting to access, or the folder itself has new security restrictions.

Sometimes this occurs when the URL is temporarily inaccessible as well. However, since it's still showing that message, even for me, then the problem is that the URL most likely has been deprecated and is no longer accessible for public consumption.

Find a different calendar link for a calendar you wish to display on your site, since this one appears to now be defunct.