How to build Discord sign-in with iOS Swift and Logto

November 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 Discord sign-in experience (user authentication) with iOS Swift and Logto.

Prerequisites

A running Logto instance. Check out the get started page if you don't have one.
Basic knowledge of iOS Swift.
A usable Discord 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 "Native app" section or filter all the available " Native app" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left.

Click the "iOS(Swift)" 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

Add Logto SDK as a dependency

Use the following URL to add Logto SDK as a dependency in Swift Package Manager.

https://github.com/logto-io/swift.git

Since Xcode 11, you can directly import a Swift package w/o any additional tool.

We do not support Carthage and CocoaPods at the time due to some technical issues.

Carthage

Carthage needs a xcodeproj file to build, but swift package generate-xcodeproj will report a failure since we are using binary targets for native social plugins. We will try to find a workaround later.

CocoaPods

CocoaPods does not support local dependency and monorepo, thus it's hard to create a .podspec for this repo.

Init LogtoClient

Initialize the client by creating a LogtoClient instance with a LogtoConfig object.

ContentView.swift
import Logto
import LogtoClient

let config = try? LogtoConfig(
  endpoint: "<your-logto-endpoint>", // E.g. http://localhost:3001
  appId: "<your-app-id>"
)
let client = LogtoClient(useConfig: config)

info

By default, we store credentials like ID Token and Refresh Token in the Keychain. Thus the user doesn't need to sign in again when he returns.

To turn off this behavior, set usingPersistStorage to false:

let config = try? LogtoConfig(
  // ...
  usingPersistStorage: false
)

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).

Regarding redirect-based sign-in

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.

Configure redirect URI

Let's switch to the Application details page of Logto Console. Add a Redirect URI io.logto://callback and click "Save changes".

info

The Redirect URI in iOS SDK is only for internal use. There's NO NEED to add a Custom URL Scheme until a connector asks.

note

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

You can use client.signInWithBrowser(redirectUri:) to sign in the user and client.signOut() to sign out the user.

For example, in a SwiftUI app:

ContentView.swift
struct ContentView: View {
  @State var isAuthenticated: Bool

  init() {
    isAuthenticated = client.isAuthenticated
  }

  var body: some View {
    VStack {
      if isAuthenticated {
        Button("Sign Out") {
          Task { [self] in
            await client.signOut()
            isAuthenticated = false
          }
        }
      } else {
        Button("Sign In") {
          Task { [self] in
            do {
              try await client.signInWithBrowser(redirectUri: "${
                props.redirectUris[0] ?? 'io.logto://callback'
              }")
              isAuthenticated = true
            } catch let error as LogtoClientErrors.SignIn {
              // error occured during sign in
            } catch {
              // other errors
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Test your integration

Open your iOS 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 Discord 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 "Discord" 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 Discord OAuth app

Register a developer application

Visit Discord Developer Portal and sign in with your Discord account.
Click the New Application button to create an application, choose a name for it (Ex: LogtoAuth), tick the box and click Create.
Go to OAuth2 page and click Reset Secret
Take note of the CLIENT ID and CLIENT SECRET fields
Add the valid redirects (Ex: http://auth.mycompany.io/callback/${connector_id}). The connector_id can be found on the top bar of the Logto Admin Console connector details page.

Configure Logto

Config types

Name	Type
clientId	string
clientSecret	string

clientId

clientId is the CLIENT ID field we saved earlier. (You can find it in the Oauth2 Page in Discord Developer Portal.)

clientSecret

clientSecret is the CLIENT SECRET we saved earlier. (If you've lost it you need to click Reset Secret)

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

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

Save changes

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

Testing and Validation

Return to your iOS Swift app. You should now be able to sign in with Discord. Enjoy!

Create an application in Logto​

Choose your application type​

Enter application name​

Integrate Logto SDK​

Add Logto SDK as a dependency​

Init LogtoClient​

Sign in​

Configure redirect URI​

Sign-in and sign-out​

Add Discord connector​

Set up Discord OAuth app​

Register a developer application​

Configure Logto​

Config types​

clientId​

clientSecret​

Save your configuration​

Enable Discord connector in Sign-in Experience​

Testing and Validation​

Further readings​