# Public facing channel bio is no more with Helix? **URL:** \ **Category:** API\ **Created:** [November 3, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889 "2020-11-03T12:24:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeeRockUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/258eb7/32.png) [@DeeRockUK](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/u/DeeRockUK)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 12:24pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889/1 "2020-11-03T12:24:29Z")
Hi all, I’m having a little bit of a concern here and hoping someone can correct me. At present my application utilises Kraken V5 API, I’m looking to move to Helix if I’m honest before the deprecated API is given a death date and I’m forced to run around mad. At present, some of my users have their profile information displayed on the application, simple, public facing information: - Profile Picture - [https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/users#get-user-by-id](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/users#get-user-by-id) (Using ID retrieved by another Kraken API callback [https://api.twitch.tv/kraken/users?login={Username}](https://api.twitch.tv/kraken/users?login=%7BUsername%7D)) - Bio - [https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/users#get-user-by-id](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/users#get-user-by-id) - Most Recent Clips - [https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/clips#get-top-clips](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/v5/reference/clips#get-top-clips) I’ve came across one small issue and I’m hoping it’s just me misreading the documentation somewhere. I’ve actively requested a App Access Token in order to access the public facing information from the Helix API, most of which I can pull again at ease - Profile Picture - [https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#search-channels](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#search-channels) - Clips - [https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-clips](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-clips) - Bio - ??? My concern is I can no longer get the public facing bio of a channel unless they provide OAuth and since then the key of bio has been renamed to _description_ ([https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-users](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-users)) Is this now intended? That we cannot retrieve their public facing channel description without getting them to authorize the application with the ‘user:read:email’ scope ? I feel if that is the case it’s a little overly restrictive when it could be placed into search channels API, perhaps a suggestion? The application doesn’t require any, at present, authenticated actions or access to view _sensitive_ data such as sub counts etc, just simply public facing information that I can proactively seen on their channel intially anyway. Perhaps I’m looking in the wrong place, a little clarification would go a long way Thanks folks! ---
**Author:** ![Dist](https://d3ovvz0v2ajtpu.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/discuss.dev.twitch.com/dist/32/7192_2.png) [@Dist](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/u/Dist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 12:37pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889/2 "2020-11-03T12:37:52Z")
You should use the Get Users endpoint [Reference | Twitch Developers](https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-users) as that will return both the profile image and description. > [@DeeRockUK](#): > > Is this now intended? That we cannot retrieve their public facing channel description without getting them to authorize the application with the ‘user:read:email’ scope ? You don’t need to, that’s an optional scope and is only needed if you wish to know their email address. Any OAuth token will work, be it a user access token (you don’t need any scopes at all) or if you’re making a request on your server then an App Access Token will work. If you use a User token then you don’t need to provide `id` or `login` params as it can just get the user id from the token itself, but if you use an App token then you must provide one of those params. ---
**Author:** ![BarryCarlyon](https://d3ovvz0v2ajtpu.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/discuss.dev.twitch.com/barrycarlyon/32/253_2.png) [@BarryCarlyon](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/u/BarryCarlyon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889/3 "2020-11-03T12:46:20Z")
This also this uservoice requesting a documentation revision > **[Get users doesn't mention that an App Access Token works](https://twitch.uservoice.com/forums/310213-developers/suggestions/40479460-get-users-doesn-t-mention-that-an-app-access-token)** > > https://dev.twitch.tv/docs/api/reference#get-users > > > Mentions User OAuth and the optional scope, but doesn't mention that you can use an app access token for this endpoint to get "public" data. > > > \`\`\` > Authentication > User OAuth Token > Optional scope:... ---
**Author:** ![DeeRockUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/258eb7/32.png) [@DeeRockUK](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/u/DeeRockUK)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889/4 "2020-11-03T13:12:17Z")
@Dist > Any OAuth token will work, be it a user access token (you don’t need any scopes at all) or if you’re making a request on your server then an App Access Token will work. I’ll admit, I didn’t even try testing this as documentation stated > Authentication \* OAuth token required \* Required scope: `user:read:email` I just presumed it was required, I’ve tested using the App Access Token and it works flawlessy! @BarryCarlyon thanks for linking that too! I definitely think a documentation revision is needed on that part. On the basis of everything here, you both have cleared my issue up for me which allows my backend server to continue reaching out now with the App Access Token included on the header too. Thanks guys! Tremendous response time! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://d2opxh93rbxzdn.cloudfront.net/original/2X/0/05909729875cce3b53e59d5561c4d23bb14948fc.png) [@system](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2020, 1:12pm UTC](https://discuss.dev.twitch.com/t/public-facing-channel-bio-is-no-more-with-helix/28889/5 "2020-12-03T13:12:19Z")
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