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Consumer Authentication

/

API reference

/

Passkeys & WebAuthn

/

Authenticate

/

Start

Start WebAuthn authentication

POST
https://test.stytch.com/v1/webauthn/authenticate/start

Initiate the authentication of a Passkey or WebAuthn registration.

To optimize for Passkeys, set the return_passkey_credential_options field to true.

After calling this endpoint, the browser will need to call navigator.credentials.get() with the data from public_key_credential_request_options passed to the navigator.credentials.get() request via the public key argument.

When using built-in browser methods like navigator.credentials.get(), set the use_base64_url_encoding option to true.

See our WebAuthn setup guide for additional usage instructions and example code.

Body parameters

return_passkey_credential_options boolean

If true, the public_key_credential_creation_options returned will be optimized for Passkeys with userVerification set to "preferred".

user_id string

The user_id of an active user the Passkey or WebAuthn registration should be tied to. You may use an external_id here if one is set for the user.

domain* string

The domain for Passkeys or WebAuthn. Defaults to window.location.hostname.

use_base64_url_encoding boolean

If true, values in the public_key_credential_creation_options will be base64 URL encoded. Set this option to true when using built-in browser methods like navigator.credentials.create and navigator.credentials.get.

Response fields

status_code int

The HTTP status code of the response. Stytch follows standard HTTP response status code patterns, e.g. 2XX values equate to success, 3XX values are redirects, 4XX are client errors, and 5XX are server errors.

request_id string

Globally unique UUID that is returned with every API call. This value is important to log for debugging purposes; we may ask for this value to help identify a specific API call when helping you debug an issue.

user_id string

The unique ID of the affected User.

public_key_credential_request_options string

Options used for Passkey or WebAuthn authentication.

const stytch = require('stytch');

const client = new stytch.Client({
  project_id: 'PROJECT_ID',
  secret: 'SECRET',
});

const params = {
  domain: "example.com",
  user_id: "user-test-16d9ba61-97a1-4ba4-9720-b03761dc50c6",
};

client.webauthn.authenticateStart(params)
  .then(resp => { console.log(resp) })
  .catch(err => { console.log(err) });
RESPONSE 200
200
​
{
  "status_code": 200,
  "request_id": "request-id-test-b05c992f-ebdc-489d-a754-c7e70ba13141",
  "user_id": "user-test-16d9ba61-97a1-4ba4-9720-b03761dc50c6",
  "public_key_credential_request_options": "{\"allowCredentials\":[{\"id\":\"AUnfDtA+myCDdumkKnVp2Sk0MIWCPXQVL2mG3h+xQBvLEF+MmNqvj2ZwNIY8id5UHz7ogZKmGgc0mM9yYVhdJNU1n6nIwPBGUuZpr3N18trqXMKxejYYKwCO4BmSHA==\",\"type\":\"public-key\"},],\"challenge\":\"hYZtLNT9SIgZqPnKfbnQX3nCJ7NavTT_S6oC9XREYv0F\",\"rpId\":\"example.com\",\"timeout\":300000,\"userVerification\":\"discouraged\"}"
}
RESPONSE 400
200
​
{
  "status_code": 400,
  "request_id": "request-id-test-b05c992f-ebdc-489d-a754-c7e70ba13141",
  "error_type": "invalid_user_id",
  "error_message": "user_id format is invalid.",
  "error_url": "https://stytch.com/docs/api/errors/400"
}
RESPONSE 404
200
​
{
  "status_code": 404,
  "request_id": "request-id-test-b05c992f-ebdc-489d-a754-c7e70ba13141",
  "error_type": "user_not_found",
  "error_message": "User could not be found.",
  "error_url": "https://stytch.com/docs/api/errors/404"
}
RESPONSE 429
200
​
{
  "status_code": 429,
  "request_id": "request-id-test-b05c992f-ebdc-489d-a754-c7e70ba13141",
  "error_type": "too_many_requests",
  "error_message": "Too many requests have been made.",
  "error_url": "https://stytch.com/docs/api/errors/429"
}
RESPONSE 500
200
​
{
  "status_code": 500,
  "request_id": "request-id-test-b05c992f-ebdc-489d-a754-c7e70ba13141",
  "error_type": "internal_server_error",
  "error_message": "Oops, something seems to have gone wrong, please reach out to support@stytch.com to let us know what went wrong.",
  "error_url": "https://stytch.com/docs/api/errors/500"
}

Common Error Types

  • cannot_use_webauthn_with_pending_user
  • no_active_webauthn_registrations