Desktop SSO Integration

To integrate the Skillmine Auth login page into a desktop application, you can use either of the following authentication flows:

Browser-Based Authorization Flow
Device Authorization Flow

Each flow requires setting up your client in the Skillmine Auth admin portal first.

🛠️ Prerequisites

Before starting integration:

Go to the Skillmine Auth Admin Portal.
Create the Client Settings and Blueprint Configuration using the below documentation:
- 📄 Blueprint Settings
- 📄 Client Settings
Note down the generated client_id, client_secret (if applicable), and the baseurl of your auth instance.

🌐 Option 1: Browser-Based Authorization Flow

In this method, your desktop app opens the Skillmine Auth login page in the user's default browser and handles the authentication callback.

🔗 Step 1: Generate Authorization URL

Build an authorization URL using the following structure:

  {{baseurl}}/authz-srv/authz?
  client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
  &response_type=token
  &scope=openid%20profile%20user_info_all
  &redirect_uri=YOUR_DESKTOP_REDIRECT_URL
  &groups_info=0
  &response_mode=query

🔁 Replace placeholders:

client_id: From Skillmine Auth admin portal
redirect_uri: URL your app listens to for the redirect (can be a custom scheme like myapp://callback for native apps)

🖥️ Step 2: Open in Browser

When your desktop app launches and no session is active:

Open the authorization URL in the user's browser.
After successful login, the user will be redirected to your app’s redirect URI with either an access_token or an authorization code.

🔐 Step 3: Token Handling

If you use response_type=code, exchange the code for a token by calling the Token API.
If you use response_type=token, the token will be returned directly in the redirect URL.

🔄 Step 4: Session Maintenance

Periodically call the Introspection API to check token validity.
On logout, call the Logout API to properly terminate the session.

📘 Well-Known Endpoint

Fetch available endpoints (token URL, logout URL, etc.):

bashCopyEdit{{api_base_url}}/.well-known/openid-configuration

This JSON provides all the necessary URLs for token exchange, introspection, and logout.

🖥️ Option 2: Device Authorization Flow

This flow is ideal for native desktop apps without embedded browsers or with limited input capabilities.

📲 Step 1: Request Device Code

Call the Device Authorization Endpoint with your client_id and required scope. The response will look like:

{
  "device_code": "2fa60989-a880-40b0-a7d1-42c973ff6b51",
  "user_code": "30CATn",
  "verification_uri": "{{api_base_url}}/device/verify",
  "verification_uri_complete": "{{api_base_url}}/device/verify?user_code=30CATn",
  "expires_in": 8600,
  "interval": 5
}

💻 Step 2: Display Info to User

Show the following to the user:

A link to open (verification_uri_complete)
A user_code they may need to enter

The user will open the link in a browser, log in via Skillmine Auth, and enter the code if required.

🔁 Step 3: Poll for Status

In the background, your app must poll the Verification Status Endpoint:

POST {{baseurl}}/device/code/verification Body:

{
  "device_code": "2fa60989-a880-40b0-a7d1-42c973ff6b51"
}

Poll at intervals specified in the response (interval: 5 seconds).

Possible Responses

While Waiting:

{
  "success": false,
  "code": 400,
  "error": {
    "error": "authorization_pending",
    "error_description": "The provided authorization grant is invalid : authorization_pending"
  }
}

On Success:

{
  "success": true,
  "code": 200,
  "data": {
    "is_validated": true,
    "validated_time": "2025-06-10T08:06:43.284Z"
  }
}

✅ Step 4: Proceed to Dashboard

Once authentication is successful, your app can redirect the user to the main dashboard or start using the token.

Sample : Desktop SSO Integration with Electron using Skillmine Auth

This guide explains how to implement Single Sign-On (SSO) in an Electron-based desktop application using Skillmine Auth, with token-based authentication and user info retrieval.

🧱 Prerequisites

Access to Skillmine Auth Admin Portal
Valid client_id and redirect_uri
Node.js v14+ and Electron installed
Install dependencies

npm install electron open express axios

⚙️ Step 1: Configure Skillmine Auth

➔ Client Settings

Create a new client in the Skillmine Auth admin panel:

Allowed Grant Types: authorization_code, implicit
Redirect URI: http://localhost:3000/callback
Scopes: openid profile user_info_all
Response Types: token (or code)

📎 Docs: Client Settings

📂 Step 2: Sample Electron Code

1. main.js (Electron main process)

const { app, BrowserWindow } = require('electron');
const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const url = require('url');
const axios = require('axios');
const path = require('path');
const open = require('open').default;

const CLIENT_ID = 'your-client-id';
const REDIRECT_URI = 'http://localhost:3000/callback';
const AUTH_BASE_URL = 'https://your-skillmine-auth.com';
const SCOPE = 'openid profile user_info_all';

let mainWindow;

function createMainWindow(userName) {
  mainWindow = new BrowserWindow({
    width: 800,
    height: 600,
    webPreferences: {
      preload: path.join(__dirname, 'preload.js'),
    }
  });

  mainWindow.loadFile('index.html');
  mainWindow.webContents.on('did-finish-load', () => {
    mainWindow.webContents.send('user-welcome', userName);
  });
}

function startSSOFlow() {
  const expressApp = express();
  const server = http.createServer(expressApp);

  expressApp.get('/callback', async (req, res) => {
    const parsedUrl = url.parse(req.url, true);
    const accessToken = parsedUrl.query.access_token;

    try {
      const userinfoUrl = `${AUTH_BASE_URL}/authz-srv/userinfo`;
      const response = await axios.get(userinfoUrl, {
        headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}` }
      });

      const userName = response.data.name || response.data.preferred_username || 'User';
      res.send('<h2>Login successful. You may now close this window.</h2>');
      server.close();

      createMainWindow(userName);
    } catch (error) {
      res.status(500).send('Error fetching user info.');
      server.close();
    }
  });

  server.listen(3000, async () => {
    const authUrl = `${AUTH_BASE_URL}/authz-srv/authz` +
      `?client_id=${CLIENT_ID}` +
      `&response_type=token` +
      `&scope=${encodeURIComponent(SCOPE)}` +
      `&redirect_uri=${encodeURIComponent(REDIRECT_URI)}`;

    await open(authUrl);
  });
}

app.whenReady().then(() => {
  startSSOFlow();
});

2. preload.js (Exposes IPC)

const { contextBridge, ipcRenderer } = require('electron');

contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
  onUserWelcome: (callback) => ipcRenderer.on('user-welcome', (event, name) => callback(name))
});

3. index.html (Renderer process UI)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Skillmine Auth SSO</title>
</head>
<body>
  <h1 id="welcome">Authenticating...</h1>
  <script>
    window.electronAPI.onUserWelcome((name) => {
      document.getElementById('welcome').textContent = `👋 Welcome ${name}`;
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>

Step 3 : Execution

npx electron .

✅ Summary Flow

Electron App Start → Check Session → Open Browser Login → Skillmine Auth → Redirect with Token → Fetch User Info → Show Welcome Message

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