Ruby on Rails Quickstart for Twilio Authy Two-factor Authentication

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Warning

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 Ruby and Ruby on Rails application that restricts access to a URL. Four Authy API channels are demoed: SMS, Voice, Soft Tokens and Push Notifications.

Ready to protect a tiny app from malicious hackers?

Create a New Authy Application

Once logged in, visit the Authy Console. Click on the red 'Create New Application' (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.

Setup the Authy Client on Your Device

This Two-factor Authentication demos two channels which require an installed Authy Client to test: Soft Tokens and Push Notifications. While SMS and Voice channels will work without the client, to try out all four authentication channels download and install Authy Client for Desktop or Mobile:

Download Authy Client

Clone and Setup the Application

Clone our repository locally, then enter the directory. Install all of the necessary ruby modules:

bundle install

Next, open the file config/application.example.yml. There, edit the ACCOUNT_SECURITY_API_KEY, pasting in the API Key from the above step (in the console), and save the file as config/application.yml.

It will be loaded when the application begins.

Add Your Application API Key

Enter the API Key from the Authy console.

1ACCOUNT_SECURITY_API_KEY: YOUR APP_KEY
2

Once you have added your API Key, you are ready to run! Launch Rails with:

./bin/rails server

If your API Key is correct, you should get a message your new app is running!

Try the Ruby on Rails Authy Two-Factor Demo

With your phone (optionally with the Authy client installed) nearby, open a new browser tab and go to http://localhost:3000/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.

Go to http://localhost:3000/login and login. A happy screen displays:

If your phone has the Authy Client installed, you can immediately enter a Soft Token from the client to Verify. Additionally, you can try a Push Authentication by pushing the labeled button.

If you do not have the Authy Client 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.

Two-Factor Authentication Channels

1class Api::TwofaController < ApplicationController
2  def sms()
3    user = User.find_by(username: session[:username])
4
5    if ! user
6      render json: { err: 'Username Not Found' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
7    end
8
9    response = Authy::API.request_sms(id: user.authy_id)
10
11    if ! response.ok?
12      render json: { err: 'Error requesting SMS token' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
13    end
14
15    render json: response, status: :ok
16  end
17
18  def voice()
19    user = User.find_by(username: session[:username])
20
21    if ! user
22      render json: { err: 'Username Not Found' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
23    end
24
25    response = Authy::API.request_phone_call(id: user.authy_id)
26
27    if ! response.ok?
28      render json: { err: 'Error requesting Phone call token' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
29    end
30
31    render json: response, status: :ok
32  end
33
34  def verify()
35    user = User.find_by(username: session[:username])
36
37    if ! user
38      render json: { err: 'Username Not Found' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
39    end
40
41    response = Authy::API.verify(:id => user.authy_id, :token => params[:token])
42
43    if ! response.ok?
44      render json: { err: 'Verify Token Error' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
45    end
46
47    session[:authy] = true
48    render json: response, status: :ok
49  end
50
51  def onetouchstatus()
52    user = User.find_by(username: session[:username])
53
54    if ! user
55      render json: { err: 'Username Not Found' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
56    end
57
58    status = Authy::OneTouch.approval_request_status({uuid: session[:uuid]})
59
60    if ! status.ok?
61      render json: { err: 'One Touch Status Error' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
62    end
63
64    if status['approval_request']['approval_request'] == 'approved'
65      session.delete(:uuid) || session.delete('uuid')
66      session[:authy] = true
67    end
68
69    render json: {body: status}, status: :ok
70  end
71
72  def onetouch()
73    user = User.find_by(username: session[:username])
74
75    if ! user
76      render json: { err: 'Username Not Found' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
77    end
78
79    one_touch = Authy::OneTouch.send_approval_request(
80      id: user.authy_id,
81      message: 'Login requested for Account Security account.',
82      details: {
83        AuthyID: user.authy_id,
84        Username: user.username,
85        Location: 'San Francisco, CA',
86        Reason: 'Demo by Account Security'
87      },
88      hidden_details: { test: "This is a" }
89    )
90
91    if ! one_touch.ok?
92      render json: { err: 'Create Push Error' }, status: :internal_server_error and return
93    end
94
95    session[:uuid] = one_touch.approval_request['uuid']
96
97    render json: one_touch, status: :ok
98  end
99end
100

And there you go, Authy two-factor authentication is on and your Rails app is protected!

What's Next?

Now that you are keeping the hackers out of this demo app using Twilio Authy two-factor authentication, you can find all of the detailed descriptions of options and API calls in our Authy API Reference. If you're also building a registration flow, also check out our Verify product and the Ruby Phone Verification quickstart which uses this codebase.

For additional guides and tutorials on account security and other products, in Ruby and in our other languages, take a look at the Docs.