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Passkeys offer a secure and passwordless replacement for traditional passwords. They provide enhanced security while delivering a seamless user experience through biometric authentication, device PINs, or security keys.

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How to Enable Passkeys

To enable passkeys for your app:
  1. Navigate to your Civic Auth Dashboard
  2. Go to Application Options in the sidebar
  3. Find the Enable passkeys section
  4. Toggle the passkey setting to ON
  5. Configure when users should be prompted to create passkeys
Enable passkeys in dashboard

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Prompt Frequency Options

You can also decide how often you’d like your users to be prompted to create a passkey, based either on the number of logins or the time since their last login.

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What are Passkeys?

Instead of typing a password, users authenticate through simple, secure actions such as:
  • A biometric scan (fingerprint, Face ID) or device PIN
  • Tapping a physical security key (e.g., YubiKey)
  • Authenticating via a password manager (e.g., Bitwarden)

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Authentication Flow

Passkeys provide inherent multi-factor authentication (MFA) by combining multiple authentication factors in a single step:
  • Something you have: The device storing the passkey
  • Something you are/know: Biometric verification (fingerprint/face) or device PIN
Users can:
  • Use passkeys to bypass email/social login steps for faster access
  • Always fall back to traditional login methods
  • Continue using their preferred primary authentication method if they don’t have their passkey
This flexibility ensures users never get locked out while providing enhanced security through built-in MFA.

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Key Benefits

  • Enhanced Security: Built on the WebAuthn standard, passkeys are strongly resistant to phishing and server-side data breaches
  • Effortless Experience: No need to create, remember, or type complex passwords
  • Cross-Device Syncing: Passkeys sync across devices through platform accounts (Apple ID, Google Account)
  • Faster Logins: Quick authentication without typing credentials
  • Built-in MFA: Inherent multi-factor authentication without additional steps

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User Experience

When passkeys are enabled, here’s what your users will experience:
  1. First-time setup: After logging in with email or social login, users will be prompted to create a passkey for faster future access
  2. Subsequent logins: Users can choose to authenticate with their passkey for instant access
  3. Fallback options: Users can always skip passkey authentication and use traditional login methods instead
Passkey login interface
Due to browser iframe security restrictions, passkey authentication requires users to go through the full-page authentication flow rather than authenticating within an iframe.

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Browser Compatibility

For current browser support and compatibility matrices:

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Key Compatibility Resources

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Important Implementation Notes

Cross-platform syncing:
  • Apple passkeys sync via iCloud Keychain (Apple ecosystem only)
  • Google passkeys sync via Google Password Manager (Chrome/Android)
  • Windows Hello passkeys are typically device-bound
No additional code changes are required in your application - Civic Auth handles all the passkey implementation automatically, including:
  • WebAuthn credential creation and verification
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Fallback handling
  • Error management
Your application continues to receive the same user authentication tokens regardless of whether the user logged in with a passkey or traditional method.
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