For our new friends:

Every app needs authentication and authorization. Logto is an Auth0 alternative designed for modern apps and SaaS products.

In this article, we will go through the steps to quickly build the OIDC sign-in experience (user authentication) with Express and  Logto.

Prerequisites

• A running Logto instance. Check out the introduction page to get started.
• Basic knowledge of Express.
• A usable OIDC account.

Create an application in Logto

In you browser, open a new tab and enter the link of Logto Admin Console.

Once the page is loaded, in the "Get Started" section click the View all link to open the application framework list page.

Choose your application type

In the opening modal, scroll to the "Traditional web" section or filter all the available " Traditional web" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left.

Click the "Express" framework card to start creating your application.

Enter application name

Enter the application name, e.g., "Bookstore," and click "Create application."

🎉 Ta-da! You just created your first application in Logto. You'll see a congrats page which includes a detailed integration guide. Follow the guide to see what the experience will be in your application.

Integrate Logto SDK

tipp:

• The sample project is available on our SDK repository.

Installation

Install Logto SDK via your favorite package manager:

npm

npm i @logto/express cookie-parser express-session

pnpm

pnpm add @logto/express cookie-parser express-session

yarn

yarn add @logto/express cookie-parser express-session

Integration

Prepare configs and required middlewares

Prepare configuration for the Logto client:

app.ts

import { LogtoExpressConfig } from '@logto/express';

const config: LogtoExpressConfig = {
  appId: '<your-application-id>',
  appSecret: '<your-application-secret>',
  endpoint: '<your-logto-endpoint>', // E.g. http://localhost:3001
  baseUrl: '<your-express-app-base-url>', // E.g. http://localhost:3000
};

The SDK requires express-session to be configured in prior.

app.ts

import cookieParser from 'cookie-parser';
import session from 'express-session';

app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(
  session({
    secret: 'random_session_key', // Replace with your own secret
    cookie: { maxAge: 14 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 }, // In miliseconds
  })
);

Configure redirect URIs

Before we dive into the details, here's a quick overview of the end-user experience. The sign-in process can be simplified as follows:

1. Your app invokes the sign-in method.
2. The user is redirected to the Logto sign-in page. For native apps, the system browser is opened.
3. The user signs in and is redirected back to your app (configured as the redirect URI).

Regarding redirect-based sign-in

1. This authentication process follows the OpenID Connect (OIDC) protocol, and Logto enforces strict security measures to protect user sign-in.
2. If you have multiple apps, you can use the same identity provider (Logto). Once the user signs in to one app, Logto will automatically complete the sign-in process when the user accesses another app.

To learn more about the rationale and benefits of redirect-based sign-in, see Logto sign-in experience explained.

---

hinweis:

In the following code snippets, we assume your app is running on http://localhost:3000/.

Configure redirect URIs

Switch to the application details page of Logto Console. Add a redirect URI http://localhost:3000/callback.

Just like signing in, users should be redirected to Logto for signing out of the shared session. Once finished, it would be great to redirect the user back to your website. For example, add http://localhost:3000/ as the post sign-out redirect URI section.

Then click "Save" to save the changes.

Register routes

The SDK provides a helper function handleAuthRoutes to register 3 routes:

1. /logto/sign-in: Sign in with Logto.
2. /logto/sign-in-callback: Handle sign-in callback.
3. /logto/sign-out: Sign out with Logto.

Add the following code to your app:

app.ts

import { handleAuthRoutes } from '@logto/express';

app.use(handleAuthRoutes(config));

Implement sign-in and sign-out

With the routes registered, now let's implement the sign-in and sign-out buttons in the home page. We need to redirect the user to the sign-in or sign-out route when needed. To help with this, use withLogto to inject authentication status to req.user.

app.ts

import { withLogto } from '@logto/express';

app.get('/', withLogto(config), (req, res) => {
  res.setHeader('content-type', 'text/html');

  if (req.user.isAuthenticated) {
    res.end(`<div>Hello ${req.user.claims?.sub}, <a href="/logto/sign-out">Sign Out</a></div>`);
  } else {
    res.end('<div><a href="/logto/sign-in">Sign In</a></div>');
  }
});

Checkpoint: Test your application

Now, you can test your application:

1. Run your application, you will see the sign-in button.
2. Click the sign-in button, the SDK will init the sign-in process and redirect you to the Logto sign-in page.
3. After you signed in, you will be redirected back to your application and see the sign-out button.
4. Click the sign-out button to clear local storage and sign out.

Add OIDC connector

To add a social connector, go to the "Connector" tab in the Admin Console, then click on "Social connectors". From there, click "Add social connector".

In the openning modal, select "OIDC" and click "Next".

On the next page, you will see a two-column layout with the README content on the left and configuration on the right.

Feel free to follow the README file in place or read the following section to complete the configuration process. If you follow the in-place guide, you can skip the next section.

Set up Standard OIDC app

Create your OIDC app

When you open this page, we believe you already know which social identity provider you want to connect to. The first thing to do is to confirm that the identity provider supports the OIDC protocol, which is a prerequisite for configuring a valid connector. Then, follow the identity provider's instructions to register and create the relevant app for OIDC authorization.

Configure your connector

We ONLY support "Authorization Code" grant type for security consideration and it can perfectly fit Logto's scenario.

clientId and clientSecret can be found at your OIDC apps details page.

clientId: The client ID is a unique identifier that identifies the client application during registration with the authorization server. This ID is used by the authorization server to verify the identity of the client application and to associate any authorized access tokens with that specific client application.

clientSecret: The client secret is a confidential key that is issued to the client application by the authorization server during registration. The client application uses this secret key to authenticate itself with the authorization server when requesting access tokens. The client secret is considered confidential information and should be kept secure at all times.

scope: The scope parameter is used to specify the set of resources and permissions that the client application is requesting access to. The scope parameter is typically defined as a space-separated list of values that represent specific permissions. For example, a scope value of "read write" might indicate that the client application is requesting read and write access to a user's data.

You are expected to find authorizationEndpoint, tokenEndpoint, jwksUri and issuer as OpenID Provider's configuration information. They should be available in social vendor's documentation.

authenticationEndpoint: This endpoint is used to initiate the authentication process. The authentication process typically involves the user logging in and granting authorization for the client application to access their resources.

tokenEndpoint: This endpoint is used by the client application to obtain an id token that can be used to access the requested resources. The client application typically sends a request to the token endpoint with a grant type and authorization code to receive an id token.

jwksUri: This is the URL endpoint where the JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) of the social identity provider (IdP for short) can be obtained. The JWKS is a set of cryptographic keys that the IdP uses to sign and verify JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that are issued during the authentication process. The jwksUri is used by the relying party (RP) to obtain the public keys used by the IdP to sign the JWTs, so the RP can verify the authenticity and integrity of the JWTs received from the IdP.

issuer: This is the unique identifier of the IdP that is used by the RP to verify the JWTs received from the IdP. It is included in the JWTs as the iss claim (Id token is always a JWT). The issuer value should match the URL of the IdP's authorization server, and it should be a URI that the RP trusts. When the RP receives a JWT, it checks the iss claim to ensure that it was issued by a trusted IdP, and that the JWT is intended for use with the RP.

Together, jwksUri and issuer provide a secure mechanism for the RP to verify the identity of the end-user during the authentication process. By using the public keys obtained from the jwksUri, the RP can verify the authenticity and integrity of the JWTs issued by the IdP. The issuer value ensures that the RP only accepts JWTs that were issued by a trusted IdP, and that the JWTs are intended for use with the RP.

Since an authentication request is always required, an authRequestOptionalConfig is provided to wrap all optional configs, you can find details on OIDC Authentication Request. You may also find that nonce is missing in this config. Since nonce should identical for each request, we put the generation of nonce in code implementation. So do not worry about it! Previously mentioned jwksUri and issuer are also included in idTokenVerificationConfig.

You may be curious as to why a standard OIDC protocol supports both the implicit and hybrid flows, yet the Logto connector only supports the authorization flow. It has been determined that the implicit and hybrid flows are less secure than the authorization flow. Due to Logto's focus on security, it only supports the authorization flow for the highest level of security for its users, despite its slightly less convenient nature.

responseType and grantType can ONLY be FIXED values with "Authorization Code" flow, so we make them optional and default values will be automatically filled.

ℹ️ Note

For all flow types, we provided an OPTIONAL customConfig key to put your customize parameters. Each social identity provider could have their own variant on OIDC standard protocol. If your desired social identity provider strictly stick to OIDC standard protocol, the you do not need to care about customConfig.

Config types

Name	Type	Required
scope	string	True
clientId	string	True
clientSecret	string	True
authorizationEndpoint	string	True
tokenEndpoint	string	True
idTokenVerificationConfig	IdTokenVerificationConfig	True
authRequestOptionalConfig	AuthRequestOptionalConfig	False
customConfig	{ [key: string]: string }	False

AuthRequestOptionalConfig properties	Type	Required
responseType	string	False
tokenEndpoint	string	False
responseMode	string	False
display	string	False
prompt	string	False
maxAge	string	False
uiLocales	string	False
idTokenHint	string	False
loginHint	string	False
acrValues	string	False

IdTokenVerificationConfig properties	Type	Required
jwksUri	string	True
issuer	string | string[]	False
audience	string | string[]	False
algorithms	string[]	False
clockTolerance	string | number	False
crit	{ [key: string]: string | boolean }	False
currentDate	Date	False
maxTokenAge	string | number	False
subject	string	False
typ	string	False

See here to find more details about IdTokenVerificationConfig.

Save your configuration

Double check you have filled out necessary values in the Logto connector configuration area. Click "Save and Done" (or "Save changes") and the OIDC connector should be available now.

Enable OIDC connector in Sign-in Experience

Switch to the "Sign-in experience" tab, then click the "Sign-up and sign-in" tab.

hinweis:

If it's the first time you enter the tab, you will see a quick introduction about Sign-in Experience and its basic configuration.

Select "None" for the "Sign-up identifier" to provide minimum sign-up effort for OIDC sign-in, which may increase your conversion rate.

In the "Social sign-in" section, add "Add Social Connector" and choose "OIDC". Then you should be able to see a button with text "Continue with OIDC" in the preview section.

Finally, click "Save changes" on the bottom right corner.

Testing and Validation

Return to your Express app. You should now be able to sign in with OIDC. Enjoy!

Further readings

Protect your API For native and single page apps, you'll need to call one or more API endpoints to retrieve and update data.
Learn more about identifying who's who and keeping your API secure.

User management We know you care about user management and activities, as we also do.
Learn more about how to know your users and see the figures like DAU and MAU graphically.

Localization From one regional business to a global corporate, the willingness to offer the best user experience won't change.
You can change current language phrases or add a new language without friction.

Customer IAM series Our serial blog posts about Customer (or Consumer) Identity and Access Management, from 101 to advanced topics and beyond.