How to build AWS SES Email passwordless sign-in with Next and Logto

December 22, 2024 · 2 min read

The better identity infrastructure for developers

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 AWS SES sign-in experience (user authentication) with Next and Logto.

Prerequisites

A running Logto instance. Check out the introduction page to get started.
Basic knowledge of Next.
A usable AWS SES account.

Create an application in Logto

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

Get Started

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

Framework List

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 "Next.js" 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

tip:

The sample project is available on our SDK repository.
The example is based on Next.js Pages Router.

Installation

Install Logto SDK via your favorite package manager:

npm
pnpm
yarn

npm i @logto/next

pnpm add @logto/next

yarn add @logto/next

Integration

Init LogtoClient

Import and initialize LogtoClient:

libraries/logto.ts
import LogtoClient from '@logto/next';

export const logtoClient = new LogtoClient({
  appId: '<your-application-id>',
  appSecret: '<your-app-secret-copied-from-console>',
  endpoint: '<your-logto-endpoint>', // E.g. http://localhost:3001
  baseUrl: 'http://localhost:3000',
  cookieSecret: 'complex_password_at_least_32_characters_long',
  cookieSecure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production',
});

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:

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

This authentication process follows the OpenID Connect (OIDC) protocol, and Logto enforces strict security measures to protect user sign-in.
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.

note:

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/api/logto/sign-in-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.

Prepare API routes

Prepare API routes to connect with Logto.

Go back to your IDE/editor, use the following code to implement the API routes first:

pages/api/logto/[action].ts
import { logtoClient } from '../../../libraries/logto';

export default logtoClient.handleAuthRoutes();

This will create 4 routes automatically:

/api/logto/sign-in: Sign in with Logto.
/api/logto/sign-in-callback: Handle sign-in callback.
/api/logto/sign-out: Sign out with Logto.
/api/logto/user: Check if user is authenticated with Logto, if yes, return user info.

We have prepared the API routes, now let's implement the sign-in and sign-out buttons in your home page. We need to redirect the user to the sign-in or sign-out route when needed. To help with this, use useSWR to fetch authentication status from /api/logto/user.

Check this guide to learn more about useSWR.

/pages/index.tsx
import { type LogtoContext } from '@logto/next';
import useSWR from 'swr';

const Home = () => {
  const { data } = useSWR<LogtoContext>('/api/logto/user');

  return (
    <nav>
      {data?.isAuthenticated ? (
        <p>
          Hello, {data.claims?.sub},
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              window.location.assign('/api/logto/sign-out');
            }}
          >
            Sign Out
          </button>
        </p>
      ) : (
        <p>
          <button
            onClick={() => {
              window.location.assign('/api/logto/sign-in');
            }}
          >
            Sign In
          </button>
        </p>
      )}
    </nav>
  );
};

export default Home;

Checkpoint: Test your application

Now, you can test your application:

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

Test your integration:

Open your Next app to test if the integration works. When you click the "Sign In" button, the page should be redirected to a Logto sign-in page, and you should be able to create a new account by entering username and password and complete the sign-in process.

Add AWS SES connector

To add or change Email connector, go to the "Connector" tab in the Admin Console, then click on "Email and SMS connectors". From there, click "Set up" or go to detail page and click "Change Email connector".

Connector tab

In the openning modal, select "AWS SES" 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 AWS SES email connector

Configure a mail service in the AWS service console

Amazon SES is a cloud email service provider that can integrate into any application for bulk email sending.

Logto core calls the Amazon Simple Email Service APIs via this connector, with the help of which Logto end-users can register and sign in to their Logto account via email verification code.

💡 Tip

You can skip some sections if you have already finished.

Register AWS account

Go to AWS and register an account.

Create a identity

Go to Amazon Simple Email Service Console
Create an identity, choose one of the following options
- Create a domain
- Create an email address

Configuration of the connector

Click your username in the upper right corner of the Amazon console to enter Security Credentials. If you don't have one, create an AccessKey and save it carefully.
Complete the settings of the Amazon Simple Email Service connector:
- Use the AccessKey ID and AccessKey Secret obtained in step 1 to fill in accessKeyId and accessKeySecret respectively.
- region: Fill in the region field with the region of the identity you use to send mail.
- emailAddress: The email address you use to send mail, in the format of Logto<[email protected]> or <[email protected]>

the following parameters are optional; parameters description can be found in the AWS SES API documentation.

feedbackForwardingEmailAddress
feedbackForwardingEmailAddressIdentityArn
configurationSetName

Test the Amazon SES connector

You can type in an email address and click on "Send" to see whether the settings work before "Save and Done".

That's it. Don't forget to enable connector in sign-in experience.

Configure types

Name	Type
accessKeyId	string
accessKeySecret	string
region	string
emailAddress	string (OPTIONAL)
emailAddressIdentityArn	string (OPTIONAL)
feedbackForwardingEmailAddress	string (OPTIONAL)
feedbackForwardingEmailAddressIdentityArn	string (OPTIONAL)
configurationSetName	string (OPTIONAL)
templates	Template[]

Template Properties	Type	Enum values
subject	string	N/A
content	string	N/A
usageType	enum string	'Register' \| 'SignIn' \| 'ForgotPassword' \| 'Generic'

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 AWS SES connector should be available now.

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

note:

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

Sign-in Experience tab

Select "Email address" or "Email address or phone number" for the "Sign-up identifier" to provide sign-up for Email passwordless sign-in, which may increase your conversion rate.

Save changes

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

Testing and Validation

Return to your Next app. You should now be able to sign in with AWS SES. Enjoy!

Create an application in Logto​

Choose your application type​

Enter application name​

Integrate Logto SDK​

Installation​

Integration​

Init LogtoClient​

Configure Redirect URIs​

Regarding redirect-based sign-in​

Configure redirect URIs​

Prepare API routes​

Implement sign-in and sign-out​

Checkpoint: Test your application​

Add AWS SES connector​

Set up AWS SES email connector​

Configure a mail service in the AWS service console​

Register AWS account​

Create a identity​

Configuration of the connector​

Test the Amazon SES connector​

Configure types​

Save your configuration​

Enable AWS SES connector in Sign-in Experience​

Testing and Validation​

Further readings​