Use a 3rd party to authenticate Xano API endpoints

Hey there! In this guide, I'll walk you through the steps to integrate your existing authentication system with Xano. Xano provides a flexible authentication system that allows you to define your own authentication methods, making it easy to incorporate your existing authentication logic.

Step 1: Explore the Authentication Endpoints

Xano comes with built-in authentication using email and password out of the box. However, the real power lies in the `createAuthenticationToken` endpoint. This endpoint allows you to create an authentication token based on your own custom authentication logic.

Step 2: Define Your Authentication Method

Let's say you want to authenticate users using an API key instead of email and password. Here's how you can set it up:

1. In Xano, create a new data model called "User" (or any other name you prefer).
2. Add a field called "APIKey" to store the API key for each user.
3. Navigate to the "Authentication" section and create a new authentication method.
4. For this example, we'll use the "API Key" authentication type.

Step 3: Implement Your Authentication Logic

Now it's time to implement your custom authentication logic. In this case, we'll authenticate users based on their API key.

1. In the "API Key" authentication method, delete the default email and password fields.
2. Add a new field called "APIKey" to accept the API key from the client.
3. Modify the authentication logic to fetch the user based on the provided API key instead of email.

Here's an example of how the authentication logic might look:

In this example, we're fetching the user by querying the `UserModel` with the provided API key. If a user is found, we create an authentication token using the `createAuthenticationToken` function provided by Xano.

Step 4: Test Your Authentication

To test your custom authentication, you can use the built-in API Explorer in Xano. Here's an example of how to authenticate using the API key:

1. In the API Explorer, navigate to the "Authentication" section.
2. Select the "API Key" authentication method you created earlier.
3. Enter the correct API key value in the "APIKey" field.
4. Execute the request.

If the authentication is successful, you should receive a response containing the authentication token.

And that's it! You've successfully integrated your existing authentication system with Xano. Remember, Xano provides a flexible authentication framework, allowing you to define your own authentication methods based on your specific requirements.

If you have any further questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to the Xano support team or check out the documentation for more advanced use cases.