# GitHub OAuth

How to add GitHub OAuth to your Instant app.



Instant supports logging users in with their GitHub account. GitHub uses OAuth 2.0 for authentication, which provides a secure way for users to sign in without sharing their passwords.

Choose the option that sounds best to you, and the rest of the document will show you how to add Sign in with GitHub to your app.




**Building for Web?**

- **Web Redirect**: Standard OAuth flow with redirect-based authentication.



**Building for React Native?**

- **Expo Web Auth**: Use Expo's auth session for browser-based sign-in in mobile apps.





## Overview

There are three main steps:

1. **GitHub Developer Settings**: Create an OAuth App.
2. **Instant Dashboard**: Connect your OAuth App to Instant.
3. **Your app**: Add code to log in with GitHub!

Let's dive deeper into each step:

## 1. Create an OAuth App

1. Go to your GitHub account [Developer settings](https://github.com/settings/developers).
2. Click on "OAuth Apps" in the sidebar.
3. Click "New OAuth App" (or "Register a new application" if it's your first).
4. Fill in the application details:
   - **Application name**: Your app's name (users will see this)
   - **Homepage URL**: Your app's website
   - **Authorization callback URL**: `https://api.instantdb.com/runtime/oauth/callback`
5. Click "Register application".
6. After creation, you'll see your **Client ID**.
7. Click "Generate a new client secret" to get your **Client Secret**.

## 2. Connect your OAuth App to Instant

**Add your OAuth App on Instant**



**From the dashboard**


From the [Auth](/dash?s=main&t=auth) tab on the Instant dashboard:

- Click "Set up GitHub"
- Enter a unique name for your client (e.g., "github-web")
- Enter your "Client ID" from GitHub
- Enter your "Client Secret" from GitHub
- Click "Add Client"



**From the terminal**


```shell
npx instant-cli@latest auth client add \
  --type github --name github-web \
  --client-id <id> --client-secret <secret>
```







**Register your website with Instant**

If you're testing from localhost, add `http://localhost:3000` (replacing `3000` with the port you use). For production, add your website's domain.



**From the dashboard**


From the [Auth](/dash?s=main&t=auth) tab on the Instant dashboard, add your URL to the **Redirect Origins** list.



**From the terminal**


```shell
npx instant-cli@latest auth origin add --type website --url <your-domain>
```







And voila, you are connected!

## 3. Add some code!



**Method: Web Redirect**

Create an authorization URL via `db.auth.createAuthorizationURL` and then use the url to create a link. Here's a full example:

```jsx 
'use client';

import React from 'react';
import { init } from '@instantdb/react';

const APP_ID = '__APP_ID__';

const db = init({ appId: APP_ID });

export default function App() {
  const url = db.auth.createAuthorizationURL({
    // Use the GitHub client name from the Instant dashboard auth tab
    clientName: 'github-web',
    redirectURL: window.location.href,
  });

  return (
    <>
      <db.SignedIn>
        <UserInfo />
      </db.SignedIn>
      <db.SignedOut>
        <Login url={url} />
      </db.SignedOut>
    </>
  );
}

function UserInfo() {
  const user = db.useUser();
  return <h1>Hello {user.email}!</h1>;
}

function Login({ url }) {
  return <a href={url}>Log in with GitHub</a>;
}
```

When your users click on the link, they'll be redirected to GitHub to authorize your app, then back to your site.

Instant will automatically log them in to your app when they are redirected!





**Method: Expo Web Auth**

Instant comes with support for Expo's AuthSession library. To use it, you need to:

1. Set up AuthSession
2. Register your app with Instant
3. Use AuthSession to log in with GitHub!

Let's do that.

**Set up AuthSession**

If you haven't already, follow the AuthSession [installation instructions](https://docs.expo.dev/versions/latest/sdk/auth-session/) from the Expo docs.

Next, add the following dependencies:

```shell 
npx expo install expo-auth-session expo-crypto
```

Update your app.json with your scheme:

```json 
{
  "expo": {
    "scheme": "mycoolredirect"
  }
}
```

**Register your app with Instant**

Now that you have your App Scheme, it's time to tell Instant about it. For development with expo, add `exp://` and your scheme (e.g. `mycoolredirect://`) as redirect origins.



**From the dashboard**


From the [Auth](/dash?s=main&t=auth) tab on the Instant dashboard, add a redirect origin of type "App scheme".





**From the terminal**


```shell
npx instant-cli@latest auth origin add --type custom-scheme --scheme exp://
npx instant-cli@latest auth origin add --type custom-scheme --scheme mycoolredirect://
```





**Use AuthSession to log in with GitHub!**

And from here you're ready to add a login button to your expo app! Here's a full example:

```jsx 
import { View, Text, Button } from 'react-native';
import { init } from '@instantdb/react-native';
import {
  makeRedirectUri,
  useAuthRequest,
  useAutoDiscovery,
} from 'expo-auth-session';

const APP_ID = '__APP_ID__';
const db = init({ appId: APP_ID });

function App() {
  return (
    <>
      <db.SignedIn>
        <UserInfo />
      </db.SignedIn>
      <db.SignedOut>
        <Login />
      </db.SignedOut>
    </>
  );
}

function UserInfo() {
  const user = db.useUser();
  return (
    <View>
      <Text>Hello {user.email}!</Text>
      <Button title="Log out" onPress={() => db.auth.signOut()}></Button>
    </View>
  );
}

function Login() {
  const discovery = useAutoDiscovery(db.auth.issuerURI());

  const [request, _response, promptAsync] = useAuthRequest(
    {
      // The unique name you gave the OAuth client when you
      // registered it on the Instant dashboard
      clientId: 'github-web',
      redirectUri: makeRedirectUri(),
    },
    discovery,
  );

  return (
    <Button
      title="Log in with GitHub"
      disabled={!request}
      onPress={async () => {
        try {
          const res = await promptAsync();
          if (res.type === 'success') {
            await db.auth.exchangeOAuthCode({
              code: res.params.code,
              codeVerifier: request?.codeVerifier,
            });
          }
        } catch (e) {
          console.error(e);
        }
      }}
    />
  );
}

export default App;
```



## Scopes

GitHub uses OAuth scopes to control access. The basic scopes Instant requests are:

- `read:user` - Read access to profile information
- `user:email` - Read access to email addresses