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Important: The SDK Handles EverythingThe Civic Auth Python SDK abstracts away all token validation complexity. You do NOT need to:
  • Implement custom middleware for token validation
  • Parse or validate JWT tokens manually
  • Handle token refresh logic yourself
Simply use the provided decorators and user access functions - the SDK handles all authentication logic for you.

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1. Install dependencies

pip install "civic-auth[flask]"
Or, if you’re using the uv package manager: 
uv add "civic-auth[flask]"

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2. Configure your App

Your app will need the following configuration: 
config = {
    "client_id": "...",  # Client ID from auth.civic.com
    "redirect_url": "http://localhost:5000/auth/callback",  # change to your domain when deploying
    "post_logout_redirect_url": "http://localhost:5000/"  # The postLogoutRedirectUrl is the URL where the user will be redirected after successfully logging out from Civic's auth server.
}
Note: redirect_url and post_logout_redirect_url must be absolute URLs.

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3. Initialize Civic Auth

Set up Civic Auth with your Flask app: 
from flask import Flask
from civic_auth.integrations.flask import init_civic_auth, create_auth_blueprint

app = Flask(__name__)
app.secret_key = "your-secret-key"  # Required for session handling

# Initialize Civic Auth
init_civic_auth(app, config)

# Register the auth blueprint (provides /auth/* routes)
app.register_blueprint(create_auth_blueprint(config))

​
4. Login and Logout Routes

The auth blueprint automatically creates these routes:
  • /auth/login - Initiates the login flow
  • /auth/callback - Handles the OAuth callback
  • /auth/logout - Logs the user out
You can redirect users to start the login process: 
from flask import redirect, url_for

@app.route("/")
def index():
    return redirect(url_for("civic_auth.login"))

​
5. Protect Routes

Use the civic_auth_required decorator to protect routes: 
from civic_auth.integrations.flask import civic_auth_required

@app.route("/admin/hello")
@civic_auth_required
async def hello():
    return "Hello, authenticated user!"

​
6. Access User Information

Use get_civic_user() to access the logged-in user as a dictionary: 
from civic_auth.integrations.flask import get_civic_user

@app.route("/admin/profile")
@civic_auth_required
async def profile():
    user = await get_civic_user()
    return {
        "message": f"Hello, {user.get('name', 'User')}!",
        "user_info": {
            "id": user.get("id"),
            "email": user.get("email"),
            "name": user.get("name"),
            "picture": user.get("picture")
        }
    }

@app.route("/admin/dashboard")
@civic_auth_required
async def dashboard():
    user = await get_civic_user()
    return f"""
        <h1>Dashboard</h1>
        <p>Welcome, {user.get('name', 'User')}!</p>
        <img src="{user.get('picture', '')}" alt="Profile picture" style="width: 50px; height: 50px; border-radius: 50%;">
        <p>Email: {user.get('email', 'No email')}</p>
        <p><a href="/auth/logout">Logout</a></p>
    """

​
Working with User Data

The get_civic_user() function returns a dictionary with user information. Always use .get() for safe access: 
@app.route("/user-info")
@civic_auth_required
async def user_info():
    user = await get_civic_user()
    return {
        "id": user.get("id"),
        "email": user.get("email", "No email"),
        "name": user.get("name", "Anonymous"),
        "picture": user.get("picture")
    }

​
Complete Example

Here’s a complete working Flask application: 
from flask import Flask, redirect, url_for
from civic_auth.integrations.flask import (
    init_civic_auth, 
    create_auth_blueprint, 
    civic_auth_required, 
    get_civic_user
)

app = Flask(__name__)
app.secret_key = "your-secret-key"  # Required for session handling

# Configuration
config = {
    "client_id": "YOUR_CLIENT_ID",  # Replace with your actual client ID
    "redirect_url": "http://localhost:5000/auth/callback",
    "post_logout_redirect_url": "http://localhost:5000/"
}

# Initialize Civic Auth
init_civic_auth(app, config)
app.register_blueprint(create_auth_blueprint(config))

@app.route("/")
def home():
    return """
        <h1>Welcome to My Flask App!</h1>
        <p><a href="/auth/login">Login with Civic Auth</a></p>
        <p><a href="/profile">View Profile</a> (requires authentication)</p>
        <p><a href="/dashboard">Dashboard</a> (requires authentication)</p>
        <p><a href="/public">Public Page</a> (no authentication required)</p>
    """

@app.route("/profile")
@civic_auth_required
async def profile():
    user = await get_civic_user()
    return {
        "authenticated": True,
        "user": {
            "id": user.get("id"),
            "name": user.get("name"),
            "email": user.get("email"),
            "picture": user.get("picture")
        },
        "logout_url": "/auth/logout"
    }

@app.route("/dashboard")
@civic_auth_required
async def dashboard():
    user = await get_civic_user()
    return f"""
        <h1>Dashboard</h1>
        <p>Welcome, {user.get('name', 'User')}!</p>
        <p>Email: {user.get('email', 'No email')}</p>
        <p><a href="/auth/logout">Logout</a></p>
    """

@app.route("/public")
def public():
    return "<h1>Public Page</h1><p>No authentication required</p>"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)

​
Configuration Options

FieldRequiredDescription
client_idYesYour Civic Auth Client ID from auth.civic.com
redirect_urlYesWhere Civic redirects after authentication (must be absolute URL)
post_logout_redirect_urlYesWhere users go after logout (must be absolute URL)
Note: redirect_url and post_logout_redirect_url must be absolute URLs.

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Next Steps

  1. Get your Client ID: Sign up at auth.civic.com
  2. Replace YOUR_CLIENT_ID with your actual client ID
  3. Update URLs when deploying to production
  4. Add more protected routes as needed
  5. Handle user data safely using .get() method for dictionary access

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Authentication Flows

Civic Auth supports multiple OAuth 2.0 authentication methods to provide maximum security for different application architectures.
Need client secret authentication? Civic Auth supports PKCE-only, client secrets, and hybrid PKCE + client secret approaches. See our Authentication Flows guide for detailed comparison.
The examples above use PKCE authentication, which is handled entirely by the Civic Auth SDK and suitable for most applications.