def METHOD_NAME():
    try:
        auth_db = sqlite3.connect(auth_db_path)
        secret = str(auth_db.execute("SELECT secret FROM secrets WHERE type='TOKEN'").fetchone()[0])
        auth_db.close()
        return secret
    except TypeError:
        # generate a secret the first time we want one
        secret = binascii.hexlify(os.urandom(24))
        with auth_db as con:
            con.execute("INSERT INTO secrets VALUES ('TOKEN', ?)", (secret,))
        return str(secret)