For an external automation client to access SharePoint Online via the API, same holds as for you as human visitor: it first needs to authenticate itself against the accessed SharePoint Online tenant, and next it must have the needed authorization in the specific accessed SharePoint content entity (site collection, site or list). This can be achieved by registrating an Add-In, and assign it the needed permissions. Then that Add-In can be used as authentication + authorization endpoint for the external client. Post Access SharePoint Online using Postman includes a good reference of the steps that you should automate in the external client. Drawback of the described approach is that it is on scope of individual site collection or even site. The Add-In registration is not utilizable as generic gateway to all sites in the SharePoint Online tenat.
To extend the scope to full tenant, the Add-In Only permissions must be requested on the 'tenant' level'. This can only be done by a tenant administrator; and must be done via the tenant-admin site (How to provide add-in app only tenant administrative permissions in SharePoint Online). But be very careful and considerated before going this approach: the implication is that whoever knows the client id and secret of the registrated Add-In, is now enabled to access via an external client data from whatever site in your tenant. Making site-specific permission management pretty useless / even a laughter. But your information security will certainly not consider it a good + acceptable joke...
With Add-In Only permission on 'tenant' level; external client that knows the Add-In's client id + secret can request an accesstoken; and then use that same single token to access whatever site in the SharePoint tenant:
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