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 Vanilla JS and  Logto.

Prerequisites

• A running Logto instance. Check out the get started page if you don't have one.
• Basic knowledge of Vanilla JS.
• 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.

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 "Single page app" section or filter all the available " Single page app" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left.

Click the "Vanilla 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 vanilla-js SDK is framework-agnostic, you can use it in any frontend framework by writing a wrapper to fit it.
• The sample project is available on our SDK repository.

Installation

Choose your favorite package manager or use the CDN to install the Logto Browser SDK.

npm

npm i @logto/browser

pnpm

pnpm add @logto/browser

yarn

yarn add @logto/browser

CDN

<!-- Special thanks to jsdelivr -->
<script type="module">
  import LogtoClient from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@logto/[email protected]/+esm';
</script>

Init LogtoClient

Import and init a LogtoClient instance by passing config:

index.js

import LogtoClient from '@logto/browser';

const logtoClient = new LogtoClient({
  endpoint: '<your-logto-endpoint>',
  appId: '<your-application-id>',
});

The endpoint and appId can be found in the application details page in Logto Console.

Implement a sign-in and sign-out

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.

---

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/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.

Handle redirect

There are still things to do after the user is redirected back to your application from Logto. Let's handle it properly.

pages/Callback.js

const callbackHandler = async (logtoClient) => {
  await logtoClient.handleSignInCallback(window.location.href);

  if (!logtoClient.isAuthenticated) {
    // Handle failed sign-in
    alert('Failed to sign in');
    return;
  }

  // Handle successful sign-in
  window.location.assign('/');
};

Implement sign-in and sign-out

logtoClient provides signIn and signOut methods to help you easily manage the authentication flow.

note

Before calling .signIn(), make sure you have correctly configured Redirect URI in Admin Console.

pages/Home.js

const isAuthenticated = await logtoClient.isAuthenticated();

const onClickSignIn = () => {
  logtoClient.signIn('http://localhost:3000/callback');
};
const onClickSignOut = () => {
  logtoClient.signOut('http://localhost:3000');
};

const button = document.createElement('button');
button.innerHTML = isAuthenticated ? 'Sign Out' : 'Sign In';
button.addEventListener('click', isAuthenticated ? onClickSignOut : onClickSignIn);

document.body.appendChild(button);

Calling .signOut() will clear all the Logto data in memory and localStorage if they exist.

Handle authentication status

In Logto SDK, generally we can use logtoClient.isAuthenticated to check the authentication status, if the user is signed in, the value will be true, otherwise, the value will be false.

In your vanilla JS app, you can use the isAuthenticated status to programmatically show and hide the sign-in and sign-out buttons. Let's see how to do it.

const redirectUrl = 'http://localhost:3000/callback';
const baseUrl = 'http://localhost:3000';

// Conditional rendering of sign-in and sign-out buttons
const render = async (logtoClient) => {
  const isAuthenticated = await logtoClient.isAuthenticated();
  const container = document.querySelector('#container');

  const onClickSignIn = () => logtoClient.signIn(redirectUrl);
  const onClickSignOut = () => logtoClient.signOut(baseUrl);

  const button = document.createElement('button');
  button.innerHTML = isAuthenticated ? 'Sign Out' : 'Sign In';
  button.addEventListener('click', isAuthenticated ? onClickSignOut : onClickSignIn);

  container.append(button);
};

Test your integration

Open your Vanilla JS 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".

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

1. 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.
2. 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.

Enable AWS SES connector in Sign-in Experience

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.

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.

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

Testing and Validation

Return to your Vanilla JS app. You should now be able to sign in with AWS SES. 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.

🧑‍🚀 Manage users 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.