Devise::Passkeys
This Devise extension allows you to use passkeys instead of passwords for user authentication.
Devise::Passkeys
is lightweight and non-configurable. It does what it has to do and leaves some manual implementation to you.
Installation
Add this line to your application's Gemfile:
gem 'devise-passkeys'
And then execute:
$ bundle
Usage
Add :passkey_authenticatable
class User < ApplicationRecord
devise :passkey_authenticatable, ...
has_many :passkeys
def self.passkeys_class
Passkey
end
def self.find_for_passkey(passkey)
self.find_by(id: passkey.user.id)
end
def after_passkey_authentication(passkey:)
end
end
The Devise-enabled model must have a webauthn_id
field in the model; which is:
- A string
- Has a unique index
This will allow you to explictly establish the relationship between a user & its passkeys (to help both your app & the user's authenticator with credential management)
Generate the Model That Will Store Passkeys. Should Have:
- A
has_many :passkeys
association - A
passkey_class
class method that returns the passkey class - A
find_for_passkey(passkey)
class method that finds the user for a given passkey
rails g model Passkey user:references label:string external_id:string:index:uniq public_key:string:index sign_count:integer last_used_at:datetime
The following fields are required:
-
label:string
(required, cannot be blank you'll want to scope it to the Devise-enabled model) external_id:string
public_key:string
sign_count:integer
last_used_at:datetime
It's recommended to add unique indexes on external_id
and public_key
Generate Custom Devise Controllers & Views
Since Devise does not have built-in passkeys support yet, you'll need to customize both the controllers & the views
rails generate devise:controllers users
rails generate devise:views users
If you're trying to keep your codebase small, these instructions only concern the Users::SessionsController
& Users::RegistrationsController
, so you can delete any other generated custom controllers if needed. You will likely need to modify the views/users/shared/*
partials though, because they assume passwords are being used.
Include the Passkeys Concerns in Your Controllers
Rather than having base classes, Devise::Passkeys
has a series of concerns that can be mixed into your controllers. This allows you to change behavior, and does not keep you stuck down a path that could be incompatible with your existing authentication setup.
Here are examples of common controllers
class Users::RegistrationsController < Devise::RegistrationsController
include Devise::Passkeys::Controllers::RegistrationsControllerConcern
end
class Users::SessionsController < Devise::SessionsController
include Devise::Passkeys::Controllers::SessionsControllerConcern
# ... any custom code you need
def relying_party
WebAuthn::RelyingParty.new(...)
end
end
# frozen_string_literal: true
class Users::ReauthenticationController < DeviseController
include Devise::Passkeys::Controllers::ReauthenticationControllerConcern
# ... any custom code you need
def relying_party
WebAuthn::RelyingParty.new(...)
end
end
# frozen_string_literal: true
class Users::PasskeysController < DeviseController
include Devise::Passkeys::Controllers::PasskeysControllerConcern
# ... any custom code you need
def relying_party
WebAuthn::RelyingParty.new(...)
end
end
Add Routes
Given the customization routes usually require, you'll need to hook up the routes yourself. Here's an example:
devise_for :users, controllers: {
registrations: 'users/registrations',
sessions: 'users/sessions'
}
devise_scope :user do
post 'sign_up/new_challenge', to: 'users/registrations#new_challenge', as: :new_user_registration_challenge
post 'sign_in/new_challenge', to: 'users/sessions#new_challenge', as: :new_user_session_challenge
post 'reauthenticate/new_challenge', to: 'users/reauthentication#new_challenge', as: :new_user_reauthentication_challenge
post 'reauthenticate', to: 'users/reauthentication#reauthenticate', as: :user_reauthentication
namespace :users do
resources :passkeys, only: [:index, :create, :destroy] do
collection do
post :new_create_challenge
end
member do
post :new_destroy_challenge
end
end
end
end
Reimplement the :passkey_authenticatable
Module
Important: You will need to reimplement the :passkey_authenticatable
Devise module. This will override the module definition with your implementation specific definitions; pointing to the specific route, controller, etc.
Here's an example from devise-passkeys-template:
Devise.add_module :passkey_authenticatable,
model: 'devise/passkeys/model',
route: {session: [nil, :new, :create, :destroy] },
controller: 'controller/sessions',
strategy: true
FAQs
What about the Webauthn javascript? Mailers? Error handling?
You will have to implement these, since Devise::Passkeys
is focused on the authentication handshakes, and each app is different (with different javascript setups, mailer needs, etc.)
I need to see it in action
Here's a template repo! https://github.com/ruby-passkeys/devise-passkeys-template
Development
Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidance on how to help out!
Contributing
Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/ruby-passkeys/devise-passkeys. This project is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for collaboration, and contributors are expected to adhere to the code of conduct.
License
The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.
Code of Conduct
Everyone interacting in the Devise::Passkeys project's codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.
Acknowledgements
This work is based on Petr Hlavicka's webauthn-with-devise.
The ethos of the library is inspired from Tiddle's straightforward, minimally-scoped approach.