Authentication¶

PrairieLearn currently uses Google OAuth 2 as its only supported method of user authentication for self-hosted PrairieLearn instances. While LTI 1.1 is also available, it is currently deprecated and should be avoided for new deployments. LTI 1.3 is supported for interoperability with learning management systems, but not as an authentication method.

SAML and Azure authentication

Authentication using SAML or Azure are available only as enterprise features, and are not supported in self-hosted PrairieLearn instances. If you are interested in these features, please visit https://www.prairielearn.com for information about paid hosting and enterprise support.

Google OAuth 2¶

To start, create a Google Cloud account and then:

Click console to log in to your console.
Create a project then go to APIs & Services.
- Go to OAuth consent screen and complete the consent form.
- Proceed to Credentials and create a new OAuth client ID.
- Select Web application.
- Under Authorized JavaScript origins, click ADD URI and add your domain.
- Under Authorized redirect URIs, click ADD URI and add https://yourdomain.com/pl/oauth2callback which is the route to the Google OAuth callback.
- Click Create which will give you a Client ID and a Client Secret. Keep these values secret.

Now add the keys to config.json:

config.json

{
  "googleClientId": "Your Client ID key",
  "googleClientSecret": "Your Client Secret key",
  "googleRedirectUrl": "https://yourdomain.com/pl/oauth2callback",
  "hasOauth": true
}

You should now be able to use Google to log in to your PrairieLearn instance.