Internet Identity Authentication

What This Is

Internet Identity (II) is the Internet Computer's native authentication system. Users authenticate into II-powered apps either with passkeys stored in their devices or thorugh OpenID accounts (e.g., Google, Apple, Microsoft) -- no login or passwords required. Each user gets a unique principal per app, preventing cross-app tracking.

Prerequisites

• @icp-sdk/auth (>= 5.0.0), @icp-sdk/core (>= 5.0.0)

Canister IDs

Canister	ID	URL	Purpose
Internet Identity (backend)	rdmx6-jaaaa-aaaaa-aaadq-cai		Manages user keys and authentication logic
Internet Identity (frontend)	uqzsh-gqaaa-aaaaq-qaada-cai	https://id.ai	Serves the II web app; identity provider URL points here

Mistakes That Break Your Build

1. Using the wrong II URL for the environment. The identity provider URL must point to the frontend canister (uqzsh-gqaaa-aaaaq-qaada-cai), not the backend. Local development should use http://id.ai.localhost:8000. Mainnet must use https://id.ai (which resolves to the frontend canister). Both canister IDs are well-known and identical on mainnet and local replicas -- hardcode them rather than doing a dynamic lookup.

2. Setting delegation expiry too long. Maximum delegation expiry is 30 days (2_592_000_000_000_000 nanoseconds). Longer values are silently clamped, which causes confusing session behavior. Use 8 hours for normal apps, 30 days maximum for "remember me" flows.

3. Not handling auth callbacks. The authClient.login() call requires onSuccess and onError callbacks. Without them, login failures are silently swallowed.

4. Using shouldFetchRootKey or fetchRootKey() instead of the ic_env cookie. The ic_env cookie (set by the asset canister or the Vite dev server) already contains the root key as IC_ROOT_KEY. Pass it via the rootKey option to HttpAgent.create() — this works in both local and production environments without environment branching. See the icp-cli skill's references/binding-generation.md for the pattern. Never call fetchRootKey() — it fetches the root key from the replica at runtime, which lets a man-in-the-middle substitute a fake key on mainnet.

5. Getting 2vxsx-fae as the principal after login. That is the anonymous principal -- it means authentication silently failed. Common causes: wrong identityProvider URL, missing onSuccess callback, or not extracting the identity from authClient.getIdentity() after login.

6. Passing principal as string to backend. The AuthClient gives you an Identity object. Backend canister methods receive the caller principal automatically via the IC protocol -- you do not pass it as a function argument. The caller principal is available on the backend via shared(msg) { msg.caller } in Motoko or ic_cdk::api::msg_caller() in Rust. For backend access control patterns, see the canister-security skill.

7. Adding derivationOrigin or ii-alternative-origins to handle icp0.io vs ic0.app. Internet Identity automatically rewrites icp0.io to ic0.app during delegation, so both domains produce the same principal. Do not add derivationOrigin or ii-alternative-origins configuration to handle this — it will break authentication. If a user reports getting a different principal, the cause is almost certainly a different passkey or device, not the domain.

Using II during local development

You have two choices for local development:

• Starting with icp-cli >= 0.2.4 the local network can validate signatures from https://id.ai, so you can use mainnet identities with the local network.
• You can configure your local network to deploy internet identity to the local network which makes it accessible at http://id.ai.localhost:8000 by default.

icp.yaml Configuration

Add ii: true to the local network in your icp.yaml to enable Internet Identity locally:

networks:
  - name: local
    mode: managed
    ii: true

This deploys the II canisters automatically when the local network is started. By default, the II frontend will be available at http://id.ai.localhost:8000 No canister entry needed — II is not part of your project's canisters. For the full icp.yaml canister configuration, see the icp-cli and asset-canister skills.

Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript/TypeScript Login Flow

This is framework-agnostic. Adapt the DOM manipulation to your framework.

import { AuthClient } from "@icp-sdk/auth/client";
import { HttpAgent, Actor } from "@icp-sdk/core/agent";
import { safeGetCanisterEnv } from "@icp-sdk/core/agent/canister-env";

// Module-scoped so login/logout/createAuthenticatedActor can access it.
let authClient;

// Read the ic_env cookie (set by the asset canister or Vite dev server).
// Contains the root key and canister IDs — works in both local and production.
const canisterEnv = safeGetCanisterEnv();

// Determine II URL based on environment.
// The identity provider URL points to the frontend canister which gets mapped to http://id.ai.localhost,
// not the backend (rdmx6-jaaaa-aaaaa-aaadq-cai). Both are well-known IDs, identical on
// mainnet and local replicas.
function getIdentityProviderUrl() {
  const host = window.location.hostname;
  const isLocal = host === "localhost" || host === "127.0.0.1" || host.endsWith(".localhost");
  if (isLocal) {
    return "http://id.ai.localhost:8000";
  }
  return "https://id.ai";
}

// Login
async function login() {
  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
    authClient.login({
      identityProvider: getIdentityProviderUrl(),
      maxTimeToLive: BigInt(8) * BigInt(3_600_000_000_000), // 8 hours in nanoseconds
      onSuccess: () => {
        const identity = authClient.getIdentity();
        const principal = identity.getPrincipal().toText();
        console.log("Logged in as:", principal);
        resolve(identity);
      },
      onError: (error) => {
        console.error("Login failed:", error);
        reject(error);
      },
    });
  });
}

// Logout
async function logout() {
  await authClient.logout();
  // Optionally reload or reset UI state
}

// Create an authenticated agent and actor.
// Uses rootKey from the ic_env cookie — no shouldFetchRootKey or environment branching needed.
async function createAuthenticatedActor(identity, canisterId, idlFactory) {
  const agent = await HttpAgent.create({
    identity,
    host: window.location.origin,
    rootKey: canisterEnv?.IC_ROOT_KEY,
  });

  return Actor.createActor(idlFactory, { agent, canisterId });
}

// Initialization — wraps async setup in a function so this code works with
// any bundler target (Vite defaults to es2020 which lacks top-level await).
async function init() {
  authClient = await AuthClient.create();

  // Check if already authenticated (on page load)
  const isAuthenticated = await authClient.isAuthenticated();
  if (isAuthenticated) {
    const identity = authClient.getIdentity();
    const actor = await createAuthenticatedActor(identity, canisterId, idlFactory);
    // Use actor to call backend methods
  }
}

init();

Backend: Access Control

Backend access control (anonymous principal rejection, role guards, caller binding in async functions) is not II-specific — the same patterns apply regardless of authentication method. See the canister-security skill for complete Motoko and Rust examples.