Add docs for personal access tokensdocs/personal-access-tokens

1 files changed, 47 insertions, 36 deletions

diff --git a/doc/api/README.md b/doc/api/README.md
index 1241801a81c..4f189c16673 100644
--- a/doc/api/README.md
+++ b/doc/api/README.md
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ following locations:
 - [V3 to V4](v3_to_v4.md)
 - [Version](version.md)
 
+The following documentation is for the [internal CI API](ci/README.md):
+
+- [Builds](ci/builds.md)
+- [Runners](ci/runners.md)
+
 ## Road to GraphQL
 
 Going forward, we will start on moving to
@@ -65,22 +70,20 @@ controller-specific endpoints. GraphQL has a number of benefits:
 2. Callers of the API can request only what they need.
 3. It is versioned by default.
 
-It will co-exist with the current V4 REST API. If we have a V5 API, this should be
-compatability layer on top of GraphQL.
-
-### Internal CI API
+It will co-exist with the current v4 REST API. If we have a v5 API, this should
+be a compatibility layer on top of GraphQL.
 
-The following documentation is for the [internal CI API](ci/README.md):
+## Authentication
 
-- [Builds](ci/builds.md)
-- [Runners](ci/runners.md)
+Most API requests require authentication via a session cookie or token. For
+those cases where it is not required, this will be mentioned in the documentation
+for each individual endpoint. For example, the [`/projects/:id` endpoint](projects.md).
 
-## Authentication
+There are three types of access tokens available:
 
-Most API requests require authentication via a session cookie or token. For those cases where it is not required, this will be mentioned in the documentation 
-for each individual endpoint. For example, the [`/projects/:id` endpoint](projects.md). 
-There are three types of tokens available: private tokens, OAuth 2 tokens, and personal
-access tokens.
+1. [OAuth2 tokens](#oauth2-tokens)
+1. [Private tokens](#private-tokens)
+1. [Personal access tokens](#personal-access-tokens)
 
 If authentication information is invalid or omitted, an error message will be
 returned with status code `401`:
@@ -91,20 +94,13 @@ returned with status code `401`:
 }
 ```
 
-### Session Cookie
+### Session cookie
 
 When signing in to GitLab as an ordinary user, a `_gitlab_session` cookie is
 set. The API will use this cookie for authentication if it is present, but using
 the API to generate a new session cookie is currently not supported.
 
-### Private Tokens
-
-You need to pass a `private_token` parameter via query string or header. If passed as a
-header, the header name must be `PRIVATE-TOKEN` (uppercase and with a dash instead of
-an underscore). You can find or reset your private token in your account page
-(`/profile/account`).
-
-### OAuth 2 Tokens
+### OAuth2 tokens
 
 You can use an OAuth 2 token to authenticate with the API by passing it either in the
 `access_token` parameter or in the `Authorization` header.
@@ -117,30 +113,31 @@ curl --header "Authorization: Bearer OAUTH-TOKEN" https://gitlab.example.com/api
 
 Read more about [GitLab as an OAuth2 client](oauth2.md).
 
-### Personal Access Tokens
+### Private tokens
 
-> [Introduced][ce-3749] in GitLab 8.8.
+Private tokens provide full access to the GitLab API. Anyone with access to
+them can interact with GitLab as if they were you. You can find or reset your
+private token in your account page (`/profile/account`).
 
-You can create as many personal access tokens as you like from your GitLab
-profile (`/profile/personal_access_tokens`); perhaps one for each application
-that needs access to the GitLab API.
+For examples of usage, [read the basic usage section](#basic-usage).
 
-Once you have your token, pass it to the API using either the `private_token`
-parameter or the `PRIVATE-TOKEN` header.
+### Personal access tokens
 
-> [Introduced][ce-5951] in GitLab 8.15.
+Instead of using your private token which grants full access to your account,
+personal access tokens could be a better fit because of their granular
+permissions.
 
-Personal Access Tokens can be created with one or more scopes that allow various actions
-that a given token can perform. Although there are only two scopes available at the
-moment – `read_user` and `api` – the groundwork has been laid to add more scopes easily.
+Once you have your token, pass it to the API using either the `private_token`
+parameter or the `PRIVATE-TOKEN` header. For examples of usage,
+[read the basic usage section](#basic-usage).
 
-At any time you can revoke any personal access token by just clicking **Revoke**.
+[Read more about personal access tokens.][pat]
 
 ### Impersonation tokens
 
 > [Introduced][ce-9099] in GitLab 9.0. Needs admin permissions.
 
-Impersonation tokens are a type of [Personal Access Token](#personal-access-tokens)
+Impersonation tokens are a type of [personal access token][pat]
 that can only be created by an admin for a specific user.
 
 They are a better alternative to using the user's password/private token
@@ -149,9 +146,11 @@ or private token, since the password/token can change over time. Impersonation
 tokens are a great fit if you want to build applications or tools which
 authenticate with the API as a specific user.
 
-For more information about the usage please refer to the
+For more information, refer to the
 [users API](users.md#retrieve-user-impersonation-tokens) docs.
 
+For examples of usage, [read the basic usage section](#basic-usage).
+
 ### Sudo
 
 > Needs admin permissions.
@@ -204,11 +203,16 @@ GET /projects?private_token=9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK&sudo=23
 curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" --header "SUDO: 23" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects"
 ```
 
-## Basic Usage
+## Basic usage
 
 API requests should be prefixed with `api` and the API version. The API version
 is defined in [`lib/api.rb`][lib-api-url].
 
+For endpoints that require [authentication](#authentication), you need to pass
+a `private_token` parameter via query string or header. If passed as a header,
+the header name must be `PRIVATE-TOKEN` (uppercase and with a dash instead of
+an underscore).
+
 Example of a valid API request:
 
 ```
@@ -221,6 +225,12 @@ Example of a valid API request using cURL and authentication via header:
 curl --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: 9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK" "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects"
 ```
 
+Example of a valid API request using cURL and authentication via a query string:
+
+```shell
+curl "https://gitlab.example.com/api/v4/projects?private_token=9koXpg98eAheJpvBs5tK"
+```
+
 The API uses JSON to serialize data. You don't need to specify `.json` at the
 end of an API URL.
 
@@ -436,3 +446,4 @@ programming languages. Visit the [GitLab website] for a complete list.
 [ce-3749]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/3749
 [ce-5951]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/5951
 [ce-9099]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/merge_requests/9099
+[pat]: ../user/profile/personal_access_tokens.md