How to build Vonage SMS passwordless sign-in with .NET Core (Blazor Server)

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In this article, we will go through the steps to quickly build the Vonage sign-in experience (user authentication) with .NET Core (Blazor Server) and Logto.

Prerequisites

A running Logto instance. Check out the introduction page to get started.
Basic knowledge of .NET Core (Blazor Server).
A usable Vonage account.

Create an application in Logto

Logto is based on OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication and OAuth 2.0 authorization. It supports federated identity management across multiple applications, commonly called Single Sign-On (SSO).

To create your Traditional web application, simply follow these steps:

Open the Logto Console. In the "Get started" section, click the "View all" link to open the application frameworks list. Alternatively, you can navigate to Logto Console > Applications, and click the "Create application" button.
In the opening modal, click the "Traditional web" section or filter all the available "Traditional web" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left. Click the ".Net Core (Blazor Server)" framework card to start creating your application.
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 .Net Core (Blazor Server) with Logto

tip:

The following demonstration is built on .NET Core 8.0. The SDK is compatible with .NET 6.0 or higher.
The .NET Core sample projects are available in the GitHub repository.

Installation

Add the NuGet package to your project:

dotnet add package Logto.AspNetCore.Authentication

Add Logto authentication

Open Startup.cs (or Program.cs) and add the following code to register Logto authentication services:

Program.cs
using Logto.AspNetCore.Authentication;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddLogtoAuthentication(options =>
{
  options.Endpoint = builder.Configuration["Logto:Endpoint"]!;
  options.AppId = builder.Configuration["Logto:AppId"]!;
  options.AppSecret = builder.Configuration["Logto:AppSecret"];
});

The AddLogtoAuthentication method will do the following things:

Set the default authentication scheme to LogtoDefaults.CookieScheme.
Set the default challenge scheme to LogtoDefaults.AuthenticationScheme.
Set the default sign-out scheme to LogtoDefaults.AuthenticationScheme.
Add cookie and OpenID Connect authentication handlers to the authentication scheme.

Before we proceed, there are two confusing terms in the .NET Core authentication middleware that we need to clarify:

CallbackPath: The URI that Logto will redirect the user back to after the user has signed in (the "redirect URI" in Logto)
RedirectUri: The URI that will be redirected to after necessary actions have been taken in the Logto authentication middleware.

The sign-in process can be illustrated as follows:

Similarly, .NET Core also has SignedOutCallbackPath and RedirectUri for the sign-out flow.

For the sake of clarity, we'll refer them as follows:

Term we use	.NET Core term
Logto redirect URI	CallbackPath
Logto post sign-out redirect URI	SignedOutCallbackPath
Application redirect URI	RedirectUri

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 URIs

note:

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

First, let's configure the Logto redirect URI. Add the following URI to the "Redirect URIs" list in the Logto application details page:

http://localhost:3000/Callback

To configure the Logto post sign-out redirect URI, add the following URI to the "Post sign-out redirect URIs" list in the Logto application details page:

http://localhost:3000/SignedOutCallback

Change the default paths

The Logto redirect URI has a default path of /Callback, and the Logto post sign-out redirect URI has a default path of /SignedOutCallback.

You can leave them as are if there's no special requirement. If you want to change it, you can set the CallbackPath and SignedOutCallbackPath property for LogtoOptions:

Program.cs
builder.Services.AddLogtoAuthentication(options =>
{
  // Other configurations...
  options.CallbackPath = "/Foo";
  options.SignedOutCallbackPath = "/Bar";
});

Remember to update the value in the Logto application details page accordingly.

Add routes

Since Blazor Server uses SignalR to communicate between the server and the client, this means methods that directly manipulate the HTTP context (like issuing challenges or redirects) don't work as expected when called from a Blazor component.

To make it right, we need to explicitly add two endpoints for sign-in and sign-out redirects:

Program.cs
app.MapGet("/SignIn", async context =>
{
    if (!(context.User?.Identity?.IsAuthenticated ?? false))
    {
        await context.ChallengeAsync(new AuthenticationProperties { RedirectUri = "/" });
    } else {
        context.Response.Redirect("/");
    }
});

app.MapGet("/SignOut", async context =>
{
    if (context.User?.Identity?.IsAuthenticated ?? false)
    {
        await context.SignOutAsync(new AuthenticationProperties { RedirectUri = "/" });
    } else {
        context.Response.Redirect("/");
    }
});

Now we can redirect to these endpoints to trigger sign-in and sign-out.

Implement sign-in/sign-out buttons

In the Razor component, add the following code:

Components/Pages/Index.razor
@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization
@using System.Security.Claims
@inject AuthenticationStateProvider AuthenticationStateProvider
@inject NavigationManager NavigationManager

@* ... *@

<p>Is authenticated: @User.Identity?.IsAuthenticated</p>
@if (User.Identity?.IsAuthenticated == true)
{
    <button @onclick="SignOut">Sign out</button>
}
else
{
    <button @onclick="SignIn">Sign in</button>
}

@* ... *@

@code {
    private ClaimsPrincipal? User { get; set; }

    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
    {
        var authState = await AuthenticationStateProvider.GetAuthenticationStateAsync();
        User = authState.User;
    }

    private void SignIn()
    {
        NavigationManager.NavigateTo("/SignIn", forceLoad: true);
    }

    private void SignOut()
    {
        NavigationManager.NavigateTo("/SignOut", forceLoad: true);
    }
}

Explanation:

The injected AuthenticationStateProvider is used to get the current user's authentication state, and populate the User property.
The SignIn and SignOut methods are used to redirect the user to the sign-in and sign-out endpoints respectively. Since the nature of Blazor Server, we need to use NavigationManager with force load to trigger the redirection.

The page will show the "Sign in" button if the user is not authenticated, and show the "Sign out" button if the user is authenticated.

The `<AuthorizeView />` component

Alternatively, you can use the AuthorizeView component to conditionally render content based on the user's authentication state. This component is useful when you want to show different content to authenticated and unauthenticated users.

In your Razor component, add the following code:

Components/Pages/Index.razor
@using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components.Authorization

@* ... *@

<AuthorizeView>
    <Authorized>
        <p>Name: @User?.Identity?.Name</p>
        @* Content for authenticated users *@
    </Authorized>
    <NotAuthorized>
        @* Content for unauthenticated users *@
    </NotAuthorized>
</AuthorizeView>

@* ... *@

The AuthorizeView component requires a cascading parameter of type Task<AuthenticationState>. A direct way to get this parameter is to add the <CascadingAuthenticationState> component. However, due to the nature of Blazor Server, we cannot simply add the component to the layout or the root component (it may not work as expected). Instead, we can add the following code to the builder (Program.cs or Startup.cs) to provide the cascading parameter:

Program.cs
builder.Services.AddCascadingAuthenticationState();

Then you can use the AuthorizeView component in every component that needs it.

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 token storage and sign out.

Add Vonage connector

SMS connector is a method used to send one-time passwords (OTPs) for authentication. It enables Phone number verification to support passwordless authentication, including SMS-based registration, sign-in, two-factor authentication (2FA), and account recovery. You can easily connect Vonage as your SMS provider. With the Logto SMS connector, you can set this up in just a few minutes.

To add a SMS connector, simply follow these steps:

Navigate to Console > Connector > Email and SMS connectors.
To add a new SMS connector, click the "Set up" button and select "Vonage".
Review the README documentation for your selected provider.
Complete the configuration fields in the "Parameter Configuration" section.
Customize the SMS template using the JSON editor.
Test your configuration by sending a verification code to your Phone number.

note:

If you are following the in-place Connector guide, you can skip the next section.

Set up Vonage SMS connector

Set up in Vonage

tip:

You can skip this step if you have already completed them.

To work with this connector, you will need to sign up for an account in Vonage. This will give you an API key and secret that you can use to access the APIs through this connector.

Once you have an account, you can find your API key and API secret at the top of the Vonage API Dashboard.

And you may need to rant a virtual number to send SMS messages.

See the Vonage SMS API for more information.

Set up in Logto

API Key: Your Vonage API key.
API Secret: Your Vonage API secret.
Brand Name: The brand name you want to use to send the SMS, this is also called the from field, see the Sender Identity for more information.
Templates: The templates you want to use to send the SMS, you can use the default templates or modify them as needed.

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 Vonage connector should be available now.

Once you create a connector successfully, you can enable phone number-based passwordless login and registration.

Navigate to Console > Sign-in experience > Sign-up and sign-in.
Set up sign-up methods (Optional):
1. Select "Phone number" or "Email or phone number" as the sign-up identifier.
2. "Verify at sign-up" is forced to be enabled. You can also enable "Create a password" on registration.
Set up sign-in methods:
1. Select Phone number as one of sign-in identifiers. You can provide multiple available identifiers (email, phone number, and username).
2. Select "Verification code" and / or "Password" as the authentication factor.
Click "Save changes" and test it in "Live preview".

In addition to registration and login via OTPs, you can also have password recovery and -based security verification enabled, as well as linking Phone number to profile. See End-user flows for more details.

Testing and Validation

Return to your .NET Core (Blazor Server) app. You should now be able to sign in with Vonage. Enjoy!

Create an application in Logto​

Integrate .Net Core (Blazor Server) with Logto​

Installation​

Add Logto authentication​

Sign-in and sign-out flows​

Regarding redirect-based sign-in​

Configure redirect URIs​

Change the default paths​

Add routes​

Implement sign-in/sign-out buttons​

The <AuthorizeView /> component​

Checkpoint: Test your application​

Add Vonage connector​

Set up Vonage SMS connector​

Set up in Vonage​

Set up in Logto​

Save your configuration​

Enable Vonage connector in Sign-in Experience​

Testing and Validation​

Further readings​