How to Authenticate a Nuxt.js App with GitHub and Appwrite
Tags: appwrite, nuxt, javascript, github
Published: 2022-09-01 13:43:05

Authentication is the process of confirming the identity of the users of an application, i.e., ensuring if they are who they indeed are.

Appwrite’s documentation described Appwrite as a self-hosted backend-as-a-service platform that provides developers with all the core APIs required to build any application. Appwrite delivers solutions that help in building backend servers for applications. 

This article will discuss how to authenticate a Nuxt.js application using Appwrite’s Github OAuth provider.

## GitHub

Check out the complete source code [here](https://github.com/MoeRayo/nuxtjs-github-authentication).

## Prerequisites

Understanding this article requires the following:

- Installation of Node.js
- Basic knowledge of JavaScript
- Docker [installation](https://www.docker.com/get-started/)
- An Appwrite instance; check out this [article](https://dev.to/hackmamba/create-a-local-appwrite-instance-in-3-steps-19n9?utm_source=hackmamba&utm_medium=hackmamba) on how to set up an instance
- A GitHub account (Create an account [here](https://github.com/developer/register))

## Creating a Nuxt.js Project

Use `npx create-nuxt-app <project-name>` to create a new Nuxt.js project. 
The process of scaffolding the project would provide a list of options, which should look like this:

![Nuxt create a new app commands](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5eknuwmmcjfi9j72dsc1.png)

## Installing Appwrite

To use Appwrite, we will install it in our project, like so:

```javascript
npm install nuxt-appwrite
```

### Configuring `nuxt.config` for Appwrite
We need to configure our Nuxt.js application in the `nuxt.config` file before we can use Appwrite.

To do this, we will register the Appwrite for global use in the `nuxt.config.js` file by adding `nuxt-appwrite` in the `modules` section:

```javascript
modules: [ 'nuxt-appwrite' ],
```

**Appwrite also has a one-click to install digital ocean [droplet](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/appwrite).**

## Creating a New Appwrite Project

To create a new project, start up the Appwrite instance on your machine and navigate to the specified hostname and port `http://localhost:80`. Next, we need to log in to our account or create an [account](https://appwrite.io/) if we don’t have one. 
![Appwrite sign up page](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/162iivbxz8cjewpcjr36.png)

You can learn more about setting up Appwrite [here](https://dev.to/hackmamba/create-a-local-appwrite-instance-in-3-steps-19n9?utm_source=hackmamba&utm_medium=hackmamba). On the console, click on the **Create Project** button.

![Create project on Appwrite](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/59tyysmhbnpshjdhudev.png)

Clicking on the **Create Project** will take us to an inner page where we can add our project name. We will add `appwrite_github` as the name and click **Create**.

![inner create project page for appwrite](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/azldo6fe2zqazpn5oq5b.png)

The project dashboard becomes visible on the console after project creation. We can access the inner page from the Settings tab at the top of the page. 

![Appwrite project dashboard](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/7z1ht7bmicc28m4ip3f6.png)

The inner page allows us to copy the **Project ID** and **API Endpoint** for use in our Nuxt.js application.

![Appwrite settings page](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kxe6mxy4r07vw392bjxg.png)

We will then proceed to create an `init.js` file in our Nuxt.js application’s root directory to initialize the Appwrite Web SDK by adding the code block below:

```javascript
import { Appwrite } from 'appwrite';
export const sdk = new Appwrite();
sdk
  .setEndpoint('http://localhost/v1') // Replace this with your endpoint
  .setProject('***'); // Replace this with your ProjectID
```

### Activating GitHub OAuth2 provider on Appwrite

We will navigate to the **Users** section on the main menu, where we can access the **Settings** tab and select from the list of auth providers.

![Activating GitHub Oauth2 on Apprwite](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/76jougcmw3949hq2blbq.png)

From the OAuth2 providers, we will look out for the GitHub provider to update its settings. 

![GitHub OAuth on Appwrite](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/fmgttd64lw2tu3nt0rf7.png)

Toggling the GitHub provider will bring to view the **App ID** and **App Secret** fields to be filled. We will fill these fields shortly, but we need to take note of the “GitHub redirect URL” provided as we need it for authentication on the GitHub dashboard.

![GitHub OAuth on Appwrite settings](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qak7z9ugxlymnqixwrja.png)

## Creating an App on GitHub

Appwrite's GitHub OAuth provider requires us to create an application on GitHub from the developer's dashboard. Check out this [comprehensive documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/developers/overview/github-developer-program) on creating a GitHub developer's account.

We can create a GitHub application by navigating to the **Settings >** **Developer settings > OAuth Apps** from our profile or simply by clicking [here](https://github.com/settings/applications/new), thus leading us automatically to where we can create the application. From there, we will add the **GitHub redirect URL** from the Appwrite application to the **Authorization callback URL** in the application.

![Creating app on GitHub](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1qaphxn5w352noaud65g.png)

We will finish this setup by copying the **Client ID** and **Client Secrets** from the application page on GitHub. We will add these keys to the empty fields shown in our Appwrite GitHub Oauth2 settings.

![Getting credentials from GitHub app](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/5ardulfkq8ig7j0xb4ll.png)

## Building Authentication in Nuxt.js

Our application will have two pages - the login page where authentication happens using the Appwrite GitHub provider and another where we display the user details.

### Creating the login page
The login page is the application’s entry point where users get authenticated. To build this, we will update the `pages/index.vue` with the code below:

```javascript
<template>
  <div class="bg-moon-gray vh-100 pa3 tc">
    <h2 class="black">Github authentication with Appwrite</h2>
    <div class="br3 bg-black ba near-white b--black-10 shadow-3 w-100 w-60-m w-30-l mw6 center mt5 ph4 pv4">
      <p class="f4">Click on this button to login</p>
        <button class="f6 link dim br3 pv2 ph2 mb2 dib white bg-green ba b--navy pointer mt3 mt0-l inline-flex items-center" @click="loginWithGithub">
          <span class="f6 ml2 pr2">Login with Github</span>
        </button>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>
<script>
import {sdk} from '~/init.js'
export default {
  methods: {
    loginWithGithub: async function(){
      try {
        await sdk.account.createOAuth2Session('github', 'http://localhost:3000/dashboard')
      } catch (error) {
        console.log(error)
      }
    }
  }
}
</script>
```

In the code block, we achieved the following:

- The `<template>` tag contains the markup for displaying the login UI
- Imported the Apprwite SDK initialized in the `init.js` file
- We created a `loginwithGithub` asynchronous function that uses the imported Appwrite SDK; within this function, we added the Appwrite `createOAuth2Session` method that received the following:
    - `github`: this is the OAuth2 provider we would like users to use to sign in
    - A redirect URL where users are directed after successful authentication
    

### Creating the dashboard page
Next, we will create a page to which users get directed to after a successful login. This page shows the user's name and email with an additional button that allows them to log out. To implement this, we will create a `pages/dashboard.vue` file and add the code below:

```javascript
<template>
  <div class="bg-light-gray vh-100 pa3 tc">
    <h2 class="tc">Github authentication with Appwrite</h2>
    <div class="br3 bg-black ba near-white b--black-10 shadow-3 w-100 w-60-m w-30-l center mt5 ph4 pv4 mw6">
      <div class="f4 tl">
        <p class="green fw7">Name:</p>
        <p>{{name}}</p>
        <p class="mt4 green fw7">Email:</p>
        <p>{{email}}</p>
      </div>
      <button class="f5 link dim br3 pv2 ph3 mb2 dib white bg-dark-green ba b--black pointer mt4 mt0-l inline-flex items-center" @click="logOutWithGithub">
        Log out
        </button>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>
<script>
import {sdk} from '~/init';
  export default {
    data(){
      return{
        name: '',
        email: '',
        response: ''
      }
    },
    mounted: function(){
        this.getUserSession()
    },
    methods: {
      getUserSession: async function(){
        try {
          this.response = await sdk.account.get()
          if (this.response) {
            this.name = this.response.name,
            this.email = this.response.email 
          }
          
        } catch (error) {
          console.log(error)
        }
      },
      logOutWithGithub: async function(){
        try {
          await sdk.account.deleteSession('current')
          this.$router.push('/') 
        } catch (error) {
          console.log(error)
        }
      }
    }
  };
</script>
```

We achieved the following with the snippet above:

- Added the `<template>` tag for displaying the user information
- Imported the Appwrite SDK initialized in the `init.js` file
- Updated the data property with `name`, `email`, and `response` to hold the user’s information
- Created a `getSession` function which gets executed when the application is mounted. This function fetched the logged-in user information for the current and updated the variables declared in the `data` property with the information
- Added the `logOutWithGithub` function, which is connected to Appwrite’s `deleteSession` method (the `logOutWithGithub` function logs the user out of the application and immediately routes the user to the home page)

At this stage, the application should look like the below:

![Final project overview](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/enkcguph3p3jkue0awzn.gif)

## Conclusion

This article explained how to add authentication to an application using Appwrite’s OAuth2 GitHub provider.


## Resources

Here are some resources that might be helpful:

- [Create a local Appwrite instance in 3 steps](https://dev.to/hackmamba/create-a-local-appwrite-instance-in-3-steps-19n9?utm_source=hackmamba&utm_medium=hackmamba) 
- [Appwrite account API documentation](https://appwrite.io/docs/client/account?sdk=web-default#accountCreateOAuth2Session?utm_source=hackmamba&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=auth0_auth0-authentication-vue)