Netlify Identity

Netlify Identity

Netlify Identity is a user management service for signups, logins, password recovery, user metadata, and role-based access control. It is built on GoTrue and issues JSON Web Tokens (JWTs).

Always use @netlify/identity. Never use netlify-identity-widget or gotrue-js — they are deprecated. @netlify/identity provides a unified, headless TypeScript API that works in both browser and server contexts (Netlify Functions, Edge Functions, SSR frameworks).

Setup

npm install @netlify/identity

Identity is automatically enabled when a deploy created by a Netlify Agent Runner session includes Identity code. Otherwise, it must be manually enabled in Project configuration > Identity in the Netlify dashboard (https://app.netlify.com/projects/<project-slug>/configuration/identity). It is not under Integrations, and not a top-level sidebar item — it lives in the project's configuration pages. These are the default settings:

• Registration — Open (anyone can sign up). This is the default — no configuration needed to allow public signups or OAuth logins. Only change to Invite only in Project configuration > Identity if you explicitly want to restrict registration.
• Autoconfirm — Off (new signups require email confirmation). Enable in Project configuration > Identity to skip confirmation during development.

Local Development

Identity does not currently work with netlify dev. You must deploy to Netlify to test Identity features. Use npx netlify deploy for preview deploys during development. This limitation may be resolved in a future release.

Quick Start

Log in from the browser:

import { login, getUser } from '@netlify/identity'

const user = await login('user@example.com', '<password>')
console.log(`Hello, ${user.name}`)

// Later, check auth state
const currentUser = await getUser()

Protect a Netlify Function:

// netlify/functions/protected.mts
import { getUser } from '@netlify/identity'
import type { Context } from '@netlify/functions'

export default async (req: Request, context: Context) => {
  const user = await getUser()
  if (!user) return new Response('Unauthorized', { status: 401 })
  return Response.json({ id: user.id, email: user.email })
}

Core API

Import and use headless functions directly:

import {
  getUser,
  handleAuthCallback,
  login,
  logout,
  signup,
  oauthLogin,
  onAuthChange,
  getSettings,
} from '@netlify/identity'

Login

import { login, AuthError } from '@netlify/identity'

async function handleLogin(email: string, password: string) {
  try {
    const user = await login(email, password)
    showSuccess(`Welcome back, ${user.name ?? user.email}`)
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof AuthError) {
      showError(error.status === 401 ? 'Invalid email or password.' : error.message)
    }
  }
}

Signup

After signup, check user.emailVerified to determine if the user was auto-confirmed or needs to confirm their email.

import { signup, AuthError } from '@netlify/identity'

async function handleSignup(email: string, password: string, name: string) {
  try {
    const user = await signup(email, password, { full_name: name })
    if (user.emailVerified) {
      // Autoconfirm ON — user is logged in immediately
      showSuccess('Account created. You are now logged in.')
    } else {
      // Autoconfirm OFF — confirmation email sent
      showSuccess('Check your email to confirm your account.')
    }
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof AuthError) {
      showError(error.status === 403 ? 'Signups are not allowed.' : error.message)
    }
  }
}

Logout

import { logout } from '@netlify/identity'

await logout()

OAuth

OAuth is a two-step flow: oauthLogin(provider) redirects away from the site, then handleAuthCallback() processes the redirect when the user returns.

import { oauthLogin } from '@netlify/identity'

// Step 1: Redirect to provider (navigates away — never returns)
function handleOAuthClick(provider: 'google' | 'github' | 'gitlab' | 'bitbucket') {
  oauthLogin(provider)
}

Enable providers in Project configuration > Identity > External providers before using OAuth. Registration is open by default, so no additional signup-related configuration is needed for OAuth users to create accounts — only the provider itself must be enabled.

Email/password is always available as a login method — there is no "Email provider" toggle in Identity settings, only External providers for OAuth. To restrict users to OAuth-only, simply omit the email/password form from your UI; the front-end is the gate.

Handling Callbacks

Always call handleAuthCallback() on page load in any app that uses OAuth, password recovery, invites, or email confirmation. It processes all callback types via the URL hash.

import { handleAuthCallback, AuthError } from '@netlify/identity'

async function processCallback() {
  try {
    const result = await handleAuthCallback()
    if (!result) return // No callback hash — normal page load

    switch (result.type) {
      case 'oauth':
        showSuccess(`Logged in as ${result.user?.email}`)
        break
      case 'confirmation':
        showSuccess('Email confirmed. You are now logged in.')
        break
      case 'recovery':
        // User is authenticated but must set a new password
        showPasswordResetForm(result.user)
        break
      case 'invite':
        // User must set a password to accept the invite
        showInviteAcceptForm(result.token)
        break
      case 'email_change':
        showSuccess('Email address updated.')
        break
    }
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof AuthError) showError(error.message)
  }
}

Auth State

import { getUser, onAuthChange, AUTH_EVENTS } from '@netlify/identity'

// Check current user (never throws — returns null if not authenticated)
const user = await getUser()

// Subscribe to auth state changes (returns unsubscribe function)
const unsubscribe = onAuthChange((event, user) => {
  switch (event) {
    case AUTH_EVENTS.LOGIN:
      console.log('Logged in:', user?.email)
      break
    case AUTH_EVENTS.LOGOUT:
      console.log('Logged out')
      break
    case AUTH_EVENTS.TOKEN_REFRESH:
      break
    case AUTH_EVENTS.USER_UPDATED:
      console.log('Profile updated:', user?.email)
      break
    case AUTH_EVENTS.RECOVERY:
      console.log('Password recovery initiated')
      break
  }
})

Settings-Driven UI

Fetch the project's Identity settings to conditionally render signup forms and OAuth buttons.

import { getSettings } from '@netlify/identity'

const settings = await getSettings()
// settings.autoconfirm — boolean
// settings.disableSignup — boolean
// settings.providers — Record<AuthProvider, boolean>

if (!settings.disableSignup) showSignupForm()

for (const [provider, enabled] of Object.entries(settings.providers)) {
  if (enabled) showOAuthButton(provider)
}

Minimal React Example

import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
import {
  getUser,
  handleAuthCallback,
  login,
  logout,
  oauthLogin,
  onAuthChange,
} from '@netlify/identity'

function App() {
  const [user, setUser] = useState(null)
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true)

  useEffect(() => {
    ;(async () => {
      await handleAuthCallback()
      setUser(await getUser())
      setLoading(false)
    })()
    return onAuthChange((_event, currentUser) => setUser(currentUser))
  }, [])

  const handleLogin = async (email, password) => {
    const currentUser = await login(email, password)
    setUser(currentUser)
  }

  const handleGoogleLogin = () => oauthLogin('google')

  const handleSignOut = async () => {
    await logout()
    setUser(null)
  }

  if (loading) return <p>Loading...</p>
  // Render login form or user details based on `user` state
}

Error Handling

@netlify/identity throws two error classes:

• AuthError — Thrown by auth operations. Has message, optional status (HTTP status code), and optional cause.
• MissingIdentityError — Thrown when Identity is not configured in the current environment.

getUser() and isAuthenticated() never throw — they return null and false respectively on failure.

Identity Event Functions

Special serverless functions that trigger on Identity lifecycle events. These use the legacy named handler export (not the modern default export).

Event names: identity-validate, identity-signup, identity-login

// netlify/functions/identity-signup.mts
import type { Handler, HandlerEvent, HandlerContext } from '@netlify/functions'

const handler: Handler = async (event: HandlerEvent, context: HandlerContext) => {
  const { user } = JSON.parse(event.body || '{}')

  return {
    statusCode: 200,
    body: JSON.stringify({
      app_metadata: {
        ...user.app_metadata,
        roles: ['member'],
      },
    }),
  }
}

export { handler }

The response body replaces app_metadata and/or user_metadata on the user record — include all fields you want to keep.

Roles and Authorization

First Admin User

The first admin user cannot be created through code alone. You must direct the user to set it up through the Netlify UI:

1. Go to Project configuration > Identity in the Netlify dashboard (https://app.netlify.com/projects/<project-slug>/configuration/identity)
2. Click Invite users and enter the admin user's email address
3. After the user accepts the invite, click the user in the Identity list to open their detail page
4. In the Roles field, add the admin role and save

Once the first admin exists, subsequent users can be managed programmatically using Identity event functions (e.g., assigning roles in identity-signup) or role-based redirects.

• app_metadata.roles — Server-controlled. Only settable via the Netlify UI, admin API, or Identity event functions. Never let users set their own roles.
• user_metadata — User-controlled. Users can update via updateUser({ data: { ... } }).

Role-Based Redirects

# netlify.toml
[[redirects]]
  from = "/admin/*"
  to = "/admin/:splat"
  status = 200
  conditions = { Role = ["admin"] }

[[redirects]]
  from = "/admin/*"
  to = "/"
  status = 302

Rules are evaluated top-to-bottom. The nf_jwt cookie is read by the CDN to evaluate role conditions.

References

• Advanced patterns — password recovery, invite acceptance, email change, session hydration, SSR integration