Encrypted APIKey Requirement

The ibm-appconfiguration-js-client-sdk and ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk now requires users to provide an Encrypted Client SDK APIKey instead of the plain text APIKey to enhance security. This helps prevent exposure of the APIKey when inspecting the webpage through browsers.

To provide maximum security, we utilize a random nonce during the encryption process. As a result, each time you encrypt your APIKey, the encrypted value will be different, but the underlying plain text remains the same when it is decrypted during authentication.

Steps to Generate and Use Encrypted Client SDK APIKey

Obtain Your Plain APIKey:
- Navigate to the Service Credentials section of your App Configuration instance on the IBM Cloud dashboard.
- Generate a Client SDK role APIKey and copy the apikey from the service credentials.
Encrypt Your APIKey:
- Use the following API endpoint to encrypt your plain APIKey
```
POST /apprapp/feature/v1/instances/<guid>/encrypt
```
  Example: https://eu-gb.apprapp.cloud.ibm.com/apprapp/feature/v1/instances/720f9034-c990-4305-96d6-4f65ffacef2c/encrypt
- In the body of the request, include your plain APIKey as follows:
```
{
  "client_sdk_apikey": "your_plain_apikey"
}
```
- The response will contain your AES-256 encrypted APIKey.

Updating your code:

Javascript SDK: Update Your Initialization Code:

Replace the use of the plain APIKey in your application with the encrypted APIKey. Below is an updated example of how to initialize the SDK using the encrypted APIKey:

const region = AppConfiguration.REGION_US_SOUTH; // Specify your region
const guid = '<guid>'; // Instance ID from Service Credentials
const apikey = '<encrypted_apikey>'; // Use the encrypted APIKey

const collectionId = 'airlines-webapp'; // Your collection ID
const environmentId = 'dev'; // Your environment ID

const appConfigClient = AppConfiguration.getInstance();

async function initialiseAppConfig() {
    appConfigClient.init(region, guid, apikey); // Initialize with encrypted APIKey
    await appConfigClient.setContext(collectionId, environmentId);
}

try {
    await initialiseAppConfig();
    console.log("App configuration SDK initialized successfully");
} catch (e) {
    console.error("Failed to initialize app configuration SDK", e);
}

React SDK: Update Your AppConfigProvider Code:

Replace the use of the plain APIKey in your application with the encrypted APIKey. Below is an updated example of how to initialize the SDK using the encrypted APIKey:

import { withAppConfigProvider } from 'ibm-appconfiguration-react-client-sdk';

(async () => {
const AppConfigProvider = await withAppConfigProvider({
    region: 'us-south', // Specify your region
    guid: '<guid>', // Instance ID from Service Credentials
    apikey: '<encrypted_apikey>', // Use the encrypted APIKey
    collectionId: 'airlines-webapp', // Your collection ID
    environmentId: 'dev' // Your environment ID
})

ReactDOM.render(
    <AppConfigProvider>
        <YourApp />
    </AppConfigProvider>,
    document.getElementById('root')
);
})();

Existing Users: Update Required

If you are already using a plain APIKey, please update your application to generate and use the encrypted APIKey as per the steps above.