For our new friends:

Logto is an Auth0 alternative designed for modern apps and SaaS products. It offers both Cloud and Open-source services to help you quickly launch your identity and management (IAM) system. Enjoy authentication, authorization, and multi-tenant management all in one.

We recommend starting with a free development tenant on Logto Cloud. This allows you to explore all the features easily.

In this article, we will go through the steps to quickly build the GitHub (GitHub App) sign-in experience (user authentication) with WordPress plugin and Logto.

Prerequisites

• A running Logto instance. Check out the introduction page to get started.
• Basic knowledge of WordPress plugin.
• A usable GitHub (GitHub App) account.

Create an application in Logto

Logto is based on OpenID Connect (OIDC) authentication and OAuth 2.0 authorization. It supports federated identity management across multiple applications, commonly called Single Sign-On (SSO).

To create your Traditional web application, simply follow these steps:

1. Open the Logto Console. In the "Get started" section, click the "View all" link to open the application frameworks list. Alternatively, you can navigate to Logto Console > Applications, and click the "Create application" button.
2. In the opening modal, click the "Traditional web" section or filter all the available "Traditional web" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left. Click the "WordPress" framework card to start creating your application.
3. Enter the application name, e.g., "Bookstore," and click "Create application".

🎉 Ta-da! You just created your first application in Logto. You'll see a congrats page which includes a detailed integration guide. Follow the guide to see what the experience will be in your application.

Integrate WordPress with Logto

Install the plugin

From WordPress admin panel

1. Go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for "Logto", or enter https://wordpress.org/plugins/logto/ in the search box.
3. Click Install Now.
4. Click Activate.

From upload

1. Download the Logto WordPress plugin from one of the following links:
   • Latest release: Download the file which name in the format of logto-plugin-<version>.zip.
   • WordPress plugin directory: Download the file by clicking the Download button.
2. Download the plugin ZIP file.
3. Go to Plugins > Add New in your WordPress admin panel.
4. Click Upload Plugin.
5. Select the downloaded ZIP file and click Install Now.
6. Click Activate.

Configure the plugin

Now you should be able to see the Logto menu in your WordPress admin panel sidebar. Click Logto > Settings to configure the plugin.

注記:

You should have a traditional web application created in Logto Console before configuring the plugin. If you haven't created one, please refer to Integrate Logto into your application for more information.

The minimum configuration to get started for the plugin is:

• Logto endpoint: The endpoint of your Logto tenant.
• App ID: The app ID of your Logto application.
• App secret: One of the valid app secrets of your Logto application.

All values can be found on the application details page in Logto Console.

After filling in the values, click Save Changes (scroll down to the bottom of the page if you can't find the button).

Configure redirect URI

The redirect URI is the URL to which Logto will redirect users after they have authenticated; and the post sign-out redirect URI is the URL to which Logto will redirect users after they have logged out.

Here's a non-normative sequence diagram to illustrate the sign-in flow:

Here's how the sign-out flow looks like in a non-normative sequence diagram:

To learn more about why redirect is needed, see Sign-in experience explained.

In our case, we need to configure both redirect URIs in your Logto Console. To find the redirect URI, go to the Logto > Settings page in your WordPress admin panel. You'll see the Redirect URI and Post sign-out redirect URI fields.

1. Copy the Redirect URI and Post sign-out redirect URI values and paste them into the Redirect URIs and Post sign-out redirect URIs fields in your Logto Console.
2. Click Save changes in Logto Console.

Checkpoint: Test your WordPress website

Now you can test your Logto integration in your WordPress website:

1. Open an incognito browser window if needed.
2. Visit your WordPress website and click the Log in link if applicable; or directly visit the login page (e.g., https://example.com/wp-login.php).
3. The page should redirect you to the Logto sign-in page.
4. Complete the sign-in or sign-up process.
5. After successful authentication, you should be redirected back to your WordPress website and logged in automatically.
6. Click the Log out link to log out of your WordPress website.
7. You should be redirected to the Logto sign-out page, then back to your WordPress website.
8. You should be logged out of your WordPress website.

To learn more about the WordPress plugin settings, see WordPress quick start.

Add GitHub (GitHub App) connector

To enable quick sign-in and improve user conversion, connect with WordPress as an identity provider. The Logto social connector helps you establish this connection in minutes by allowing several parameter inputs.

To add a social connector, simply follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Console > Connectors > Social Connectors.
2. Click "Add social connector" and select "GitHub (GitHub App)".
3. Follow the README guide and complete required fields and customize settings.

注記:

If you are following the in-place Connector guide, you can skip the next section.

Set up GitHub (GitHub App)

Step 1: Create a GitHub App

Before you can use GitHub as an authentication provider, you must create a GitHub App on GitHub to obtain OAuth 2.0 credentials.

1. Go to GitHub and sign in with your account, or create a new account if needed.
2. Navigate to Settings > Developer settings > GitHub Apps.
3. Click New GitHub App to register a new application:
   • GitHub App name: Enter a unique name for your app. The name cannot be longer than 34 characters and must be unique across GitHub.
   • Homepage URL: Enter your application's homepage URL.
   • Callback URL: Copy the Callback URI from your Logto GitHub connector and paste it here. You can add multiple callback URLs if needed. After users sign in with GitHub, they'll be redirected here with an authorization code that Logto uses to complete authentication.
   • Expire user authorization tokens: Keep this checked (recommended). This enables token expiration and refresh tokens for enhanced security.
   • Request user authorization (OAuth) during installation: Optionally check this to prompt users to authorize your app during installation.
   • Webhook: Uncheck Active if you don't need webhook events. For authentication-only use cases, webhooks are typically not required.
4. Under Permissions, configure the permissions your app needs (see Step 2 below for details).
5. Under Where can this GitHub App be installed?, select Any account if you want users from any GitHub account to use your app for authentication.
6. Click Create GitHub App to create the GitHub App.

注記:

Unlike OAuth Apps, GitHub Apps use fine-grained permissions instead of broad scopes. You configure permissions in the GitHub dashboard during app creation, and users grant access to specific repositories during authorization.

For more details on setting up GitHub Apps, see Registering a GitHub App.

Step 2: Configure permissions in GitHub

GitHub Apps use fine-grained permissions instead of OAuth scopes. You must configure permissions in the GitHub dashboard when creating or editing your GitHub App. These permissions determine what data your app can access.

Understanding GitHub App permissions

Permissions are categorized into three types:

• Repository permissions: Access to repository-level resources (code, issues, pull requests, etc.)
• Organization permissions: Access to organization-level resources (members, teams, projects, etc.)
• Account permissions: Access to user account data (email, profile, followers, etc.)

For each permission, you can select:

• No access: The app cannot access this resource
• Read-only: The app can read but not modify this resource
• Read & write: The app can read and modify this resource

Recommended permissions for authentication

For basic "Sign in with GitHub" functionality, configure these minimum Account permissions:

Permission	Access level	Purpose
Email addresses	Read-only	Get user's email address for account creation

ヒント:

GitHub Apps have implicit access to read public profile information when acting on behalf of a user. You don't need to explicitly request permission for basic profile data like username, avatar, and public profile URL.

Additional permissions for API access

If your application needs to access GitHub APIs beyond authentication, add the corresponding permissions in the GitHub dashboard. Here are some common examples:

Permission type	Permission	Access level	Use case
Repository	Contents	Read-only / Read & write	Access repository files and code
Repository	Issues	Read & write	Create and manage issues
Repository	Pull requests	Read & write	Create and manage pull requests
Repository	Metadata	Read-only	Access repository metadata (required for many operations)
Organization	Members	Read-only	List organization members
Account	Followers	Read-only	Access user's followers and following

This is not an exhaustive list — GitHub Apps support many more fine-grained permissions. See Permissions required for GitHub Apps for the complete list.

Key difference from OAuth Apps:

Unlike OAuth Apps where you configure scopes in the Logto connector, GitHub App permissions are managed entirely in the GitHub dashboard. You can leave the Scope field empty in your Logto GitHub connector — it's not needed because GitHub Apps don't use traditional OAuth scopes.

Simply configure the permissions you need in GitHub, and users will be prompted to grant access during authorization.

Step 3: Configure your Logto connector

After creating the GitHub App, you'll be redirected to its settings page where you can obtain the credentials.

1. On your GitHub App's settings page, copy the Client ID and paste it into the clientId field in Logto.
2. Under Client secrets, click Generate a new client secret. Copy the generated secret and paste it into the clientSecret field in Logto.
3. Click Save and Done in Logto to connect your identity system with GitHub.

警告:

Keep your Client secret secure and never expose it in client-side code. GitHub client secrets cannot be recovered if lost - you'll need to generate a new one.

注記:

The Client ID for a GitHub App is different from the App ID. Make sure to use the Client ID (shown as "Client ID" on the settings page), not the App ID.

Step 4: General settings

Here are some general settings that won't block the connection to GitHub but may affect the end-user authentication experience.

Sync profile information

In the GitHub connector, you can configure how profile information is synced from GitHub user info to the Logto user profile, including name, avatar, and email. Choose from the following options:

• Only sync at sign-up: Profile info is fetched once when the user first signs in.
• Always sync at sign-in: Profile info is updated every time the user signs in.

Store tokens to access GitHub APIs (Optional)

If you want to access GitHub APIs and perform actions with user authorization (whether via social sign-in or account linking), enable token storage in Logto:

1. Configure the required permissions in your GitHub App settings (Step 2).
2. Enable Store tokens for persistent API access in the Logto GitHub connector. Logto will securely store both the access token and refresh token in the Secret Vault.

注記:

Since GitHub Apps always issue refresh tokens, Logto stores both tokens automatically. The access token expires after 8 hours, but Logto can use the refresh token to obtain new access tokens, ensuring uninterrupted API access for up to 6 months.

Step 5: Test your integration (Optional)

Before going live, test your GitHub App integration:

1. Use the connector in a Logto development tenant.
2. Verify that users can sign in with GitHub.
3. Check that users are prompted for the correct permissions during authorization.
4. If you enabled token storage, verify that access tokens (and refresh tokens) are stored correctly.
5. Test API calls using the stored tokens to ensure permissions are working as expected.

GitHub Apps work with any GitHub user account immediately - there's no need for test users or app approval like some other platforms. However, if your app is installed on an organization, organization owners may need to approve the installation.

Save your configuration

Double check you have filled out necessary values in the Logto connector configuration area. Click "Save and Done" (or "Save changes") and the GitHub (GitHub App) connector should be available now.

Enable GitHub (GitHub App) connector in Sign-in Experience

Once you create a social connector successfully, you can enable it as a "Continue with GitHub (GitHub App)" button in Sign-in Experience.

1. Navigate to Console > Sign-in experience > Sign-up and sign-in.
2. (Optional) Choose "Not applicable" for sign-up identifier if you need social login only.
3. Add configured GitHub (GitHub App) connector to the "Social sign-in" section.

Testing and Validation

Return to your WordPress plugin app. You should now be able to sign in with GitHub (GitHub App). Enjoy!

Further readings

End-user flows: Logto provides a out-of-the-box authentication flows including MFA and enterprise SSO, along with powerful APIs for flexible implementation of account settings, security verification, and multi-tenant experience.

Authorization: Authorization defines the actions a user can do or resources they can access after being authenticated. Explore how to protect your API for native and single-page applications and implement Role-based Access Control (RBAC).

Organizations: Particularly effective in multi-tenant SaaS and B2B apps, the organization feature enable tenant creation, member management, organization-level RBAC, and just-in-time-provisioning.

Customer IAM series Our serial blog posts about Customer (or Consumer) Identity and Access Management, from 101 to advanced topics and beyond.