ASP.NET Web API Authorization with AuthorizeAttribute

Question

Using the new ASP.NET Web API beta. I can not seem to get the suggested method of authenticating users, to work. Where the suggested approach seems to be, to add the [Authorize] filter to the API controllers. For example:

[Authorize]  public IEnumerable<Item> Get() {     return itemsService.GetItems(); } 

This does not work as intended though. When requesting the resource, you get redirected to a login form. Which is not very suitable for a RESTful webapi.

How should I proceed with this? Will it work differently in future versions?, or should I fall back to implementing my own action filter?

Answer 1

Double check that you are using the System.Web.Http.AuthorizeAttribute and not the System.Web.Mvc.AuthorizeAttribute. This bit me before. I know the WebAPI team is trying to pull everything together so that it is familiar to MVC users, but I think somethings are needlessly confusing.