Reasonable Programmer

Create Auth0 Action

To create an Auth0 Action directly in the Auth0 Dashboard, follow these step-by-step instructions:

1. Log in to the Auth0 Dashboard

1. Go to Auth0 Dashboard and log in using your account credentials.

2. Navigate to Actions

1. Once logged in, look at the left-hand sidebar, and find Actions. Click on it.
2. In the Actions page, you’ll see two main sections: Flows and Library.

3. Create a New Action

1. In the Actions menu, click on the Library tab.
2. In the top-right corner of the page, click + Create Action.

4. Define Basic Action Settings

1. Name: In the popup window, enter a descriptive name for your Action. For example: Get API Token and Store Patient ID.
2. Trigger: Select the appropriate trigger for when you want this Action to execute. Common triggers include:

• Post-Login: Executes after a user logs in (often used for updating user data, calling APIs, etc.).
• Post-Registration: Executes after a new user registers. In most cases, if you’re working with access tokens and APIs after login, select Post-Login.

1. Click Create to proceed.

5. Add Code to the Action

1. Once your Action is created, you’ll see a code editor window where you can write JavaScript code for your Action. Here’s how to structure it:

Example Code to Get API Access Token and Call API:

exports.onExecutePostLogin = async (event, api) => {
const fetch = require('node-fetch');
// Define variables for your API access token request
const client_id = "your-client-id";
const client_secret = "your-client-secret";
const audience = "https://your-api-identifier";
const token_url = `https://${event.secrets.AUTH0_DOMAIN}/oauth/token`;
// 1. Request an access token from Auth0
const tokenResponse = await fetch(token_url, {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({
client_id,
client_secret,
audience,
grant_type: 'client_credentials'
})
});
const tokenData = await tokenResponse.json();
const access_token = tokenData.access_token;
if (!access_token) {
api.access.deny("Could not retrieve access token.");
return;
}
// 2. Use the access token to call the protected .NET API
const apiResponse = await fetch('https://your-dotnet-api-endpoint', {
method: 'GET',
headers: {
'Authorization': `Bearer ${access_token}`,
'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}
});
const apiData = await apiResponse.json();
if (!apiData || !apiData.patient_id) {
api.access.deny("Could not retrieve patient ID.");
return;
}
const patientID = apiData.patient_id;
// 3. Update the user’s app_metadata with the patient ID
api.user.setAppMetadata("patient_id", patientID);
};

Explanation of Code:

1. Getting the Access Token: The code makes a POST request to the /oauth/token endpoint, requesting an access token using the client_id, client_secret, and audience.
2. Calling the API: After obtaining the token, the Action calls the .NET API by passing the token in the Authorization header.
3. Updating User Metadata: The response from the API (e.g., a patient_id) is stored in the user’s app_metadata using the api.user.setAppMetadata() function.

6. Save the Action

1. Once you’ve written the code, click Save Draft to ensure your work is stored.
2. Then click Deploy to make the Action live and ready for use.

7. Integrate the Action into a Flow

1. After deploying the Action, go to the Flows tab in the Actions section of the Auth0 Dashboard.
2. Select the appropriate flow where the Action should be executed. For example, if you selected the Post-Login trigger earlier, click on the Post-Login flow.
3. Add Your Action to the Flow:

• In the flow editor, you’ll see a visual representation of the login process.
• On the right side of the screen, you’ll see the Actions you’ve created. Drag the Action you created earlier (e.g., Get API Token and Store Patient ID) into the flow.

1. Place the Action in the desired spot within the flow (typically right after the user is authenticated).
2. Click Apply Changes to save the updated flow.

8. Testing the Action

Once the Action is added to the flow, you can test it by logging in with a test user. Check the following:

• Verify that the Action successfully retrieves the access token.
• Check that the Action successfully calls the protected .NET API.
• Ensure that the patient_id (or other data) is correctly updated in the user’s app_metadata in Auth0.

9. Monitor and Debugging

1. Go to the Logs section of the Auth0 dashboard to see the logs for the Actions you’ve deployed.
2. This will help you debug if something goes wrong (e.g., if the Action didn’t retrieve the token or didn’t call the API correctly).

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ve created and deployed an Action in the Auth0 dashboard. This Action is now part of a flow that retrieves an access token, calls your API, and updates user metadata. You can monitor, test, and update the Action as needed.