Authy Two-factor Authentication Node.js Quickstart
As of November 2022, Twilio no longer provides support for Authy SMS/Voice-only customers. Customers who were also using Authy TOTP or Push prior to March 1, 2023 are still supported. The Authy API is now closed to new customers and will be fully deprecated in the future.
For new development, we encourage you to use the Verify v2 API.
Existing customers will not be impacted at this time until Authy API has reached End of Life. For more information about migration, see Migrating from Authy to Verify for SMS.
Adding two-factor authentication to your application is the easiest way to increase security and trust in your product without unnecessarily burdening your users. This quickstart guides you through building a Node.js, AngularJS, and MongoDB application that restricts access to a URL. Four Authy API channels are demoed: SMS, Voice, Soft Tokens and Push Notifications.
Ready to protect your toy app's users from nefarious balaclava wearing hackers? Dive in!
Sign Into - or Sign Up For - a Twilio Account
Create a new Twilio account (you can sign up for a free Twilio trial), or sign into an existing Twilio account.
Create a New Authy Application
Once logged in, visit the Authy Console. Click on the red 'Create New Aplication' (or big red plus ('+') if you already created one) to create a new Authy application then name it something memorable.
You'll automatically be transported to the Settings page next. Click the eyeball icon to reveal your Production API Key.
Copy your Production API Key to a safe place, you will use it during application setup.
Install and Launch MongoDB
When a user registers with your application, a request is made to Twilio to add that user to your App, and a user_id
is returned. In this demo, we'll store the returned user_id
in a MongoDB database.
Instructions for installing MongoDB vary by platform. Follow the instructions you need to install locally.
After installing, launch MongoDB. For *NIX and OSX, this may be as easy as:
mongod
Setup Authy on Your Device
This two-factor authentication demos two channels which require an installed Authy app to test: Soft tokens and push authentications. While SMS and voice channels will work without the client, to try out all four authentication channels download and install the Authy app for Desktop or Mobile:
Clone and Setup the Application
Clone our Node.js repository locally, then enter the directory. Install all of the necessary node modules:
npm install
Next, open the file .env.example
. There, edit the ACCOUNT_SECURITY_API_KEY
, pasting in the API Key from the above step (in the console), and save the file as .env
.
Depending on your system, you need to set the environmental variables before you continue. On *NIX, you can run:
source .env
On Windows, depending on your shell, you will have to use SET
.
Alternatively, you could use a package such as autoenv to load it at startup.
Once you have added your API Key, you are ready to run! Launch Node with:
node .
If MongoDB is running and your API Key is correct, you should get a message your new app is running!
Try the Node.js Two-Factor Demo
With your phone (optionally with the Authy client installed) nearby, open a new browser tab and navigate to http://localhost:1337/register/
Enter your information and invent a password, then hit 'Register'. Your information is passed to Twilio (you will be able to see your user immediately in the console), and the application is returned a user_id
.
Now visit http://localhost:1337/login/ and login. You'll be presented with a happy screen:
If your phone has the Authy app installed, you can immediately enter a soft token from the client to Verify. Additionally, you can try a push authentication simply by pushing the labeled button.
If you do not have the Authy app installed, the SMS and voice channels will also work in providing a token. To try different channels, you can logout to start the process again.
And there you go, two-factor authentication is on and your Node.js app is protected!
What's Next?
Now that you are keeping the hackers out of this demo app using two-factor authentication, you can find all of the detailed descriptions for options and API calls in our Authy API Reference. If you're also building a registration flow, also check out our Twilio Verify product and the Verification Quickstart which uses this codebase.
For additional guides and tutorials on account security and other products, in Node.js and in our other languages, take a look at the Docs.
Need some help?
We all do sometimes; code is hard. Get help now from our support team, or lean on the wisdom of the crowd by visiting Twilio's Stack Overflow Collective or browsing the Twilio tag on Stack Overflow.