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Custom Authenticators

CodeIgniter Shield allows you to extend authentication by creating Custom Authenticators.
This is done by implementing the CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\AuthenticatorInterface contract, which ensures full compatibility with Shield’s authentication lifecycle, including login and logout events.

Custom Authenticators enable project-specific authentication strategies such as:

  • External identity providers (OAuth, SAML, OpenID Connect)
  • Hardware or device challenges (USB Security Key, FIDO2, TPM, device fingerprinting)
  • Hybrid authentication mechanisms

Why Custom Authenticators

While Shield provides built-in authenticators such as Session, AccessTokens, HmacSha256, and JWT, custom authenticators allow you to:

  • Enforce project-specific login logic
  • Integrate new or external authentication mechanisms
  • Keep full compatibility with Shield events and lifecycle

Implementing a Custom Authenticator

  1. Create a PHP class in your App\Auth\Authentication namespace.
  2. Implement the CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\AuthenticatorInterface.
  3. Implement the required methods:
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Auth\Authentication;

use CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\AuthenticatorInterface;
use CodeIgniter\Shield\Result;
use CodeIgniter\Shield\Entities\User;

class MyCustomAuthenticator implements AuthenticatorInterface
{
    public function attempt(array $credentials): Result
    {
        // Your login logic
    }

    public function check(array $credentials): Result
    {
        // Credential verification
    }

    public function loggedIn(): bool
    {
        // Return login state
    }

    public function login(User $user): void
    {
        // Store user session or token
    }

    public function loginById($userId): void
    {
        // Optional: login using user ID
    }

    public function logout(): void
    {
        // Remove session or token
    }

    public function getUser(): ?User
    {
        // Return the currently logged-in user
    }

    public function recordActiveDate(): void
    {
        // Optional: track user activity
    }
}

Registering the Authenticator

In CodeIgniter Shield, all authenticators-built-in or custom—are registered through the app/Config/Auth.php file. This ensures that Shield recognizes your authenticator and allows you to reference it using its alias in the auth helper.

Open app/Config/Auth.php and add your custom authenticator to the $authenticators array:

public array $authenticators = [
    'session' => \CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\Session::class,
    'tokens'  => \CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\AccessTokens::class,
    'hmac'    => \CodeIgniter\Shield\Authentication\HmacSha256::class,
    //  Register your custom authenticator
    'custom'  => \App\Auth\Authentication\MyCustomAuthenticator::class,
];

The array key custom is the alias you will use in the auth('custom') helper.

Using the Authenticator

You can now use your authenticator anywhere in your application via the auth('custom') helper:

$credentials = [
    'email'    => $this->request->getPost('email'),
    'password' => $this->request->getPost('password')
];

$result = auth('custom')->attempt($credentials );

if ($result->isOK()) {
    $user = $result->extraInfo();
    echo "Login successful for: " . $user->email;
} else {
    echo "Login failed: " . $result->reason();
}

Now all standard authentication methods—such as attempt(), check(), loggedIn(), login(), loginById(), logout(), getUser(), and recordActiveDate()—are fully available.