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Streamlining User Authentication in React with Appwrite
When it comes to building web applications, user authentication is a crucial aspect that can be daunting for many developers. Fortunately, Appwrite simplifies this process, making it easier to set up and manage user authentication in React applications. In this tutorial, we’ll explore how to leverage Appwrite’s GraphQL API to implement user authentication in a React app.
Getting Started with Appwrite
Before diving into the details, let’s briefly discuss what Appwrite is. Appwrite is an open-source, self-hosted backend-as-a-service platform that provides core APIs for managing various services, including user authentication, database management, and file storage. By using Appwrite, developers can focus on building their application logic while leaving the backend infrastructure to Appwrite.
To set up Appwrite, you’ll need to install it using Docker. Once installed, you can access the Appwrite console by navigating to http://localhost. From there, you can create a new project and add a web platform to interact with Appwrite’s APIs.
Cloning the Starter Code
To get started quickly, I’ve created a starter code repository that contains all the necessary code. Clone the repository and navigate to the appwrite-graphql-authentication directory. Inside, you’ll find all the components, including the Navbar, Home, Login, Signup, and Profile components.
Setting up the Appwrite Web SDK
To interact with Appwrite’s services, you’ll need to install the appwrite package and set up the Appwrite Web SDK. Create an appwrite folder inside the src folder, and inside it, create a config.js file. This file will be used to import and initialize the Appwrite SDK.
Implementing Signup Functionality
To implement signup functionality, we’ll create a custom Hook that contains functions for login, signup, and logout actions. This Hook will also have one state variable to keep track of the logged-in user. By creating a custom Hook, we can easily manage the state and functionality related to user authentication in one place.
Let’s create a useAuth Hook and add a signup function that takes in three parameters: email, password, and username. Inside the function, we’ll use the graphql.mutation method to create a new account with the provided credentials.
Implementing Login Functionality
To implement login functionality, we’ll follow a similar approach as we did for the signup functionality. Create a login function inside the useAuth Hook that takes in two parameters: email and password. Inside the function, we’ll use the graphql.mutation method to create a new session for the user.
Fetching Logged-in User Data
To fetch the logged-in user’s data, we’ll create a getCurrentUser function inside the useAuth Hook. This function will use the accountGet query provided by the Appwrite GraphQL API to fetch the currently logged-in user’s data.
Implementing Logout Functionality
To implement logout functionality, we’ll create a logout function inside the useAuth Hook that takes in no parameters. Inside the function, we’ll use the accountDeleteSession mutation to log out the currently logged-in user from the current device session.
Adding Email Verification Functionality
To implement email verification functionality, we’ll need to set up a third-party SMTP provider such as SendGrid or MailGun. Once set up, we can create a sendVerificationEmail function inside the useAuth Hook that sends a verification link to the user’s email address.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we’ve covered setting up user authentication in React using Appwrite and the GraphQL API. We’ve implemented signup and login functionality, fetched the logged-in user’s information, and set up email verification functionality. With Appwrite, you can simplify the user authentication process and focus on building your application logic.