After successfully logging onto Naviate Cloud Manager using an Autodesk® Connection, the process returns both an Access Token and an internal code called a Refresh Token. This secret key is then stored by Naviate Cloud Manager and is used internally to prevent the need to re-enter the Autodesk® user name and password every time BIM 360® is accessed. Every time a user id and password is required, a valid refresh token can be applied instead. After successful login, the refresh token expires since a refresh token is only good for one-time use. However, as part of the same process that consumes and expires the original refresh token, a new one is acquired which is saved and ready for the next use.

The refresh token is also used with Scheduled Jobs and is, in fact, what allows unattended jobs to run regularly, without the need for the user to somehow manually enter a user name and password. Since refresh tokens expire after a specific period of time, however, they must be renewed before they expire. To perform this service, Naviate Cloud Manager features the Token Refresh Job, which automatically ensures that all scheduled jobs deployed to both local and remote servers have refresh tokens that are current and available for use by their jobs.

A refresh token expires in 15 days or after one use. Once expired, it cannot be used to get a new access token and the system will prompt the user to re-enter their login credentials. If, for whatever reason, a scheduled job refresh token expires, the job will fail and notify the user why it failed. When this happens, the user must then Reactivate the Token Refresh Job and re-execute the job.