Authenticate Using OpenID Connect on Android

If you've upgraded to Firebase Authentication with Identity Platform, you can authenticate your users with Firebase using the OpenID Connect (OIDC) compliant provider of your choice. This makes it possible to use identity providers not natively supported by Firebase.

Before you begin

To sign in users using an OIDC provider, you must first collect some information from the provider:

  • Client ID: A string unique to the provider that identifies your app. Your provider might assign you a different client ID for each platform you support. This is one of the values of the aud claim in ID tokens issued by your provider.

  • Client secret: A secret string that the provider uses to confirm ownership of a client ID. For every client ID, you will need a matching client secret. (This value is required only if you're using the auth code flow, which is strongly recommended.)

  • Issuer: A string that identifies your provider. This value must be a URL that, when appended with /.well-known/openid-configuration, is the location of the provider's OIDC discovery document. For example, if the issuer is https://auth.example.com, the discovery document must be available at https://auth.example.com/.well-known/openid-configuration.

After you have the above information, enable OpenID Connect as a sign-in provider for your Firebase project:

  1. Add Firebase to your Android project.

  2. If you haven't upgraded to Firebase Authentication with Identity Platform, do so. OpenID Connect authentication is only available in upgraded projects.

  3. On the Sign-in providers page of the Firebase console, click Add new provider, and then click OpenID Connect.

  4. Select whether you will be using the authorization code flow or the implicit grant flow.

    You should use always the code flow if your provider supports it. The implicit flow is less secure and using it is strongly discouraged.

  5. Give a name to this provider. Note the provider ID that's generated: something like oidc.example-provider. You'll need this ID when you add sign-in code to your app.

  6. Specify your client ID and client secret, and your provider's issuer string. These values must exactly match the values your provider assigned to you.

  7. Save your changes.

Handle the sign-in flow with the Firebase SDK

If you are building an Android app, the easiest way to authenticate your users with Firebase using your OIDC provider is to handle the entire sign-in flow with the Firebase Android SDK.

To handle the sign-in flow with the Firebase Android SDK, follow these steps:

  1. Construct an instance of an OAuthProvider using its Builder with the provider's ID

    Kotlin 

    val providerBuilder = OAuthProvider.newBuilder("oidc.example-provider")
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    OAuthProvider.Builder providerBuilder = OAuthProvider.newBuilder("oidc.example-provider");
    GenericIdpActivity.java

  2. Optional: Specify additional custom OAuth parameters that you want to send with the OAuth request.

    Kotlin 

    // Target specific email with login hint.
providerBuilder.addCustomParameter("login_hint", "[email protected]")
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    // Target specific email with login hint.
providerBuilder.addCustomParameter("login_hint", "[email protected]");
    GenericIdpActivity.java

    Check with your OIDC provider for the parameters they support. Note that you can't pass Firebase-required parameters with setCustomParameters(). These parameters are client_id, response_type, redirect_uri, state, scope and response_mode.

  3. Optional: Specify additional OAuth 2.0 scopes beyond basic profile that you want to request from the authentication provider.

    Kotlin 

    // Request read access to a user's email addresses.
// This must be preconfigured in the app's API permissions.
providerBuilder.scopes = listOf("mail.read", "calendars.read")
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    // Request read access to a user's email addresses.
// This must be preconfigured in the app's API permissions.
List<String> scopes =
        new ArrayList<String>() {
            {
                add("mail.read");
                add("calendars.read");
            }
        };
providerBuilder.setScopes(scopes);
    GenericIdpActivity.java

    Check with your OIDC provider for the scopes they use.

  4. Authenticate with Firebase using the OAuth provider object. Note that unlike other FirebaseAuth operations, this will take control of your UI by popping up a Custom Chrome Tab. As a result, do not reference your Activity in the OnSuccessListener and OnFailureListener that you attach as they will immediately detach when the operation starts the UI.

    You should first check if you've already received a response. Signing in with this method puts your Activity in the background, which means that it can be reclaimed by the system during the sign in flow. In order to make sure that you don't make the user try again if this happens, you should check if a result is already present.

    To check if there is a pending result, call getPendingAuthResult:

    Kotlin 

    val pendingResultTask = firebaseAuth.pendingAuthResult
if (pendingResultTask != null) {
    // There's something already here! Finish the sign-in for your user.
    pendingResultTask
        .addOnSuccessListener {
            // User is signed in.
            // IdP data available in
            // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
            // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
            // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getAccessToken().
            // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
            // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getSecret().
        }
        .addOnFailureListener {
            // Handle failure.
        }
} else {
    // There's no pending result so you need to start the sign-in flow.
    // See below.
}
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    Task<AuthResult> pendingResultTask = firebaseAuth.getPendingAuthResult();
if (pendingResultTask != null) {
    // There's something already here! Finish the sign-in for your user.
    pendingResultTask
            .addOnSuccessListener(
                    new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
                        @Override
                        public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                            // User is signed in.
                            // IdP data available in
                            // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
                            // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
                            // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getAccessToken().
                            // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
                            // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getSecret().
                        }
                    })
            .addOnFailureListener(
                    new OnFailureListener() {
                        @Override
                        public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                            // Handle failure.
                        }
                    });
} else {
    // There's no pending result so you need to start the sign-in flow.
    // See below.
}
    GenericIdpActivity.java

    To start the sign in flow, call startActivityForSignInWithProvider:

    Kotlin 

    firebaseAuth
    .startActivityForSignInWithProvider(activity, provider.build())
    .addOnSuccessListener {
        // User is signed in.
        // IdP data available in
        // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
        // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
        // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getAccessToken().
        // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
        // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getSecret().
    }
    .addOnFailureListener {
        // Handle failure.
    }
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    firebaseAuth
        .startActivityForSignInWithProvider(/* activity= */ this, provider.build())
        .addOnSuccessListener(
                new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                        // User is signed in.
                        // IdP data available in
                        // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
                        // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
                        // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getAccessToken().
                        // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
                        // ((OAuthCredential)authResult.getCredential()).getSecret().
                    }
                })
        .addOnFailureListener(
                new OnFailureListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                        // Handle failure.
                    }
                });
    GenericIdpActivity.java

  5. While the above examples focus on sign-in flows, you also have the ability to link an OIDC provider to an existing user using startActivityForLinkWithProvider. For example, you can link multiple providers to the same user allowing them to sign in with either.

    Kotlin 

    // The user is already signed-in.
val firebaseUser = firebaseAuth.currentUser!!
firebaseUser
    .startActivityForLinkWithProvider(activity, provider.build())
    .addOnSuccessListener {
        // Provider credential is linked to the current user.
        // IdP data available in
        // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
        // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
        // authResult.getCredential().getAccessToken().
        // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
        // authResult.getCredential().getSecret().
    }
    .addOnFailureListener {
        // Handle failure.
    }
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    // The user is already signed-in.
FirebaseUser firebaseUser = firebaseAuth.getCurrentUser();

firebaseUser
        .startActivityForLinkWithProvider(/* activity= */ this, provider.build())
        .addOnSuccessListener(
                new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                        // Provider credential is linked to the current user.
                        // IdP data available in
                        // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile().
                        // The OAuth access token can also be retrieved:
                        // authResult.getCredential().getAccessToken().
                        // The OAuth secret can be retrieved by calling:
                        // authResult.getCredential().getSecret().
                    }
                })
        .addOnFailureListener(
                new OnFailureListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                        // Handle failure.
                    }
                });
    GenericIdpActivity.java

  6. The same pattern can be used with startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider which can be used to retrieve fresh credentials for sensitive operations that require recent login.

    Kotlin 

    // The user is already signed-in.
val firebaseUser = firebaseAuth.currentUser!!
firebaseUser
    .startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider(activity, provider.build())
    .addOnSuccessListener {
        // User is re-authenticated with fresh tokens and
        // should be able to perform sensitive operations
        // like account deletion and email or password
        // update.
    }
    .addOnFailureListener {
        // Handle failure.
    }
    GenericIdpActivity.kt

    Java 

    // The user is already signed-in.
FirebaseUser firebaseUser = firebaseAuth.getCurrentUser();

firebaseUser
        .startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider(/* activity= */ this, provider.build())
        .addOnSuccessListener(
                new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                        // User is re-authenticated with fresh tokens and
                        // should be able to perform sensitive operations
                        // like account deletion and email or password
                        // update.
                    }
                })
        .addOnFailureListener(
                new OnFailureListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                        // Handle failure.
                    }
                });
    GenericIdpActivity.java

Handle the sign-in flow manually

If you've already implemented the OpenID Connect sign-in flow in your app, you can use the ID token directly to authenticate with Firebase:

Kotlin 

val providerId = "oidc.example-provider" // As registered in Firebase console.
val credential = oAuthCredential(providerId) {
    setIdToken(idToken) // ID token from OpenID Connect flow.
}
Firebase.auth
    .signInWithCredential(credential)
    .addOnSuccessListener { authResult ->
        // User is signed in.

        // IdP data available in:
        //    authResult.additionalUserInfo.profile
    }
    .addOnFailureListener { e ->
        // Handle failure.
    }
GenericIdpActivity.kt

Java 

AuthCredential credential = OAuthProvider
        .newCredentialBuilder("oidc.example-provider")  // As registered in Firebase console.
        .setIdToken(idToken)  // ID token from OpenID Connect flow.
        .build();
FirebaseAuth.getInstance()
        .signInWithCredential(credential)
        .addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
            @Override
            public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                // User is signed in.

                // IdP data available in:
                //    authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo().getProfile()
            }
        })
        .addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
            @Override
            public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                // Handle failure.
            }
        });
GenericIdpActivity.java

Next steps

After a user signs in for the first time, a new user account is created and linked to the credentials—that is, the user name and password, phone number, or auth provider information—the user signed in with. This new account is stored as part of your Firebase project, and can be used to identify a user across every app in your project, regardless of how the user signs in.

  • In your apps, you can get the user's basic profile information from the FirebaseUser object. See Manage Users.

  • In your Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Storage Security Rules, you can get the signed-in user's unique user ID from the auth variable, and use it to control what data a user can access.

You can allow users to sign in to your app using multiple authentication providers by linking auth provider credentials to an existing user account.

To sign out a user, call signOut:

Kotlin

Firebase.auth.signOut()
MainActivity.kt

Java

FirebaseAuth.getInstance().signOut();
MainActivity.java