Introduction

This guide shows you how to build a custom login page using the Hanko Flow API and the hanko-frontend-sdk. You’ll create a complete authentication interface that supports multiple login methods including email/passcode authentication, passwords, and passkeys with autofill capabilities. The page will include full session management with login redirects and logout functionality. By the end, you’ll have a working login page that:

Initializes the login flow via the /login endpoint.
Dynamically renders the UI based on the current flow state.
Handles user inputs, errors, and session events.
Runs locally at http://localhost:3000 and authenticates a test user.

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you have:

Node.js installed for running a local server and installing dependencies.
A modern browser (e.g., Chrome, Firefox) for testing passkey autofill.
A Hanko Cloud project set up with a test user (see Step 1).
Basic knowledge of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.

Step 1: Set up the development environment

Create a Hanko Cloud project

Go to cloud.hanko.io and log in.
In the sidebar, select All Projects.
Click Create Project to open the setup wizard.
Choose Hanko (“Authentication and user management”) as the project type and click Create Project.
Enter a project name (e.g., “Custom Login Page”).
Set the App URL to http://localhost:3000 (where the login page will run locally).
Click Create Project to complete the wizard.

Configure the project

To reduce the complexity of this example, we disable certain login features:

In the sidebar, go to Settings > 2FA.
- Uncheck the entire 2FA section.
- Click Save.
Under Device trust (further down on the same page):
- Select Never as the “Device trust policy” from the dropdown.
- Click Save.

Create a test user

In the sidebar, select Users.
Click Create new to open the user creation wizard.
Enter your real email address (in order to receive passcodes).
Click Create new User to finish.
From the list of users, click on the newly created entry.
Under “Passwords”, click on Set password.
Enter a password and click Create password

Obtain your API URL

In the sidebar, select Dashboard.
Find your project’s API URL (e.g., https://<project-id>.hanko.io).

Set up the project structure

Create a project folder (e.g., hanko-login-page) and set up the following files:

hanko-login-page/
├ index.html
├ script.js
├ style.css
├ success.html
└ package.json

Update 'package.json'

{
  "name": "hanko-login-page",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "start": "parcel index.html --port 3000",
    "build": "parcel build index.html success.html"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@teamhanko/hanko-frontend-sdk": "^2.0.0",
    "parcel": "^2.14.4"
  }
}

Install dependencies

Run in the project folder:

npm install

Update 'index.html' (the login page)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Hanko Login</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
  <div id="app">
    <div class="loading"></div>
  </div>
  <script type="module" src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Update 'success.html' (shown after login)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
  <title>Login Success</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">
</head>
<body>
  <div id="app">
    <h1>Login Successful</h1>
    <p>Welcome! You are now logged in.</p>
    <button id="logout">Log Out</button>
  </div>
  <script type="module" src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Update 'style.css'

body {
  font-family: Arial, sans-serif;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  height: 100vh;
  margin: 0;
  background-color: #f4f4f4;
}

#app {
  background: white;
  padding: 20px;
  border-radius: 8px;
  box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 400px;
  text-align: center;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 24px;
  margin-bottom: 20px;
}

.form-group {
  margin-bottom: 15px;
  text-align: left;
}

label {
  display: block;
  margin-bottom: 5px;
}

input {
  width: -webkit-fill-available;
  padding: 8px;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

button {
  padding: 10px 20px;
  background-color: #007bff;
  color: white;
  border: none;
  border-radius: 4px;
  cursor: pointer;
  margin: 5px;
}

button:hover:not(:disabled) {
  background-color: #0056b3;
}

button:disabled {
  background-color: #90bdff;
}

button.loading {
  position: relative;
  padding-left: 35px;
}

button.loading::before {
  content: '';
  position: absolute;
  left: 10px;
  top: 50%;
  transform: translateY(-50%);
  width: 12px;
  height: 12px;
  border: 2px solid white;
  border-top: 2px solid transparent;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: spin 0.6s linear infinite;
}

div.loading {
  position: relative;
}

div.loading::before {
  content: '';
  position: absolute;
  left: 50%;
  top: 50%;
  transform: translateY(-50%);
  width: 16px;
  height: 16px;
  border: 2px solid #007bff;
  border-top: 2px solid transparent;
  border-radius: 50%;
  animation: spin 0.8s linear infinite;
}

@keyframes spin {
  0% { transform: translateY(-50%) rotate(0deg); }
  100% { transform: translateY(-50%) rotate(360deg); }
}

#actions {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  flex-wrap: wrap;
  padding: 15px;
  margin-top: 15px;
  background-color: #f8f9fa;
  border: 1px solid #e0e7ff;
  border-radius: 8px;
}

.error {
  color: red;
  font-size: 14px;
  margin-top: 5px;
}

Start the local server

Run the following to start the server at http://localhost:3000:

npm start

Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to verify the page loads (it will be empty until we add JavaScript).

In script.js, initialize the Hanko instance and start the login flow. If the user is on success.html, set up logout functionality instead.

import { Hanko } from "@teamhanko/hanko-frontend-sdk";

// Replace with your Hanko Cloud project's API endpoint
const API_URL = "https://<your-project-id>.hanko.io";

// Initialize Hanko instance
const hanko = new Hanko(API_URL);

// Check if we're on the success page
const isSuccessPage = window.location.pathname.includes("success.html");

if (isSuccessPage) {
  // Handle logout on success page
  const logoutButton = document.getElementById("logout");
  if (logoutButton) {
    logoutButton.addEventListener("click", async () => {
      try {
        await hanko.logout();
      } catch (error) {
        console.error("Logout failed:", error);
        alert("Failed to log out. Please try again.");
      }
    });
  }
  // Redirect to login page on logout
  hanko.onUserLoggedOut(() => {
    window.location.href = "/index.html";
  });
} else {
  // Listen for state changes
  hanko.onBeforeStateChange(({ state }) => {
    const app = document.getElementById("app");

    app.querySelectorAll("button").forEach(button => {
      const actionName = button.dataset.action;

      // Disable all buttons while loading
      button.disabled = true;

      // Display the loading spinner
      if (state.invokedAction.name == actionName) {
        button.classList.add("loading");
      }
    });
  });

  // Listen for state changes
  hanko.onAfterStateChange(({ state }) => {
    handleState(state); // To be implemented in the next step of this guide
  });

  // Listen for successful login
  hanko.onSessionCreated(() => {
    window.location.href = "/success.html";
  });

  // Initialize login flow on index.html
  hanko.createState("login");
}

Replace https://<your-project-id>.hanko.io with your project’s API endpoint from the Hanko Cloud dashboard.

Step 3: Handle flow states and render UI

Implement handler functions to process each state and render the appropriate UI. The hanko.onAfterStateChange event is used to update the UI after state transitions. We’ll also create a generateInput function to dynamically generate input elements with validation attributes (e.g., minlength, maxlength, required) based on the FlowAPI’s input metadata. Add the following code to the script.js file:

function generateInput(input, options = {}) {
  const { name, type, min_length, max_length, required, error } = input;
  const { autocomplete } = options;

  // Build attributes
  const attributes = [
    `type="${type}"`,
    `id="${name}"`,
    `name="${name}"`,
    required ? "required" : "",
    min_length ? `minlength="${min_length}"` : "",
    max_length ? `maxlength="${max_length}"` : "",
    autocomplete ? `autocomplete="${autocomplete}"` : ""
  ].join(" ");

  // Generate HTML for the input group
  return `
    <div class="form-group">
      <label for="${name}">${name.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + name.slice(1)}</label>
      <input ${attributes}>${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    </div>`;
}

function handleState(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  app.innerHTML = ""; // Clear previous content

  switch (state.name) {
    case "login_init":
      renderLoginInit(state);
      state.passkeyAutofillActivation(); // Enable passkey autofill
      break;
    case "login_method_chooser":
      renderLoginMethodChooser(state);
      break;
    case "onboarding_create_passkey":
      renderOnboardingCreatePasskey(state);
      break;
    case "passcode_confirmation":
      renderPasscodeConfirmation(state);
      break;
    case "login_password":
      renderLoginPassword(state);
      break;
    case "login_password_recovery":
      renderLoginPasswordRecovery(state);
      break;
    case "error":
      renderError(state);
      break;
    default:
      app.innerHTML = `<div class="loading"></div>`;
  }
}

function renderLoginInit(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;
  const action = state.actions.continue_with_login_identifier;
  const emailInput = action.inputs.email || action.inputs.identifier;
  const inputHtml = generateInput(emailInput, { autocomplete: "username webauthn" });

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Log in</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <form id="login-form">
      ${inputHtml}
      <button data-action="continue_with_login_identifier" type="submit">Continue</button>
    </form>`;

  const form = document.getElementById("login-form");

  form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const email = form.querySelector(`#${emailInput.name}`).value;
    await action.run({[emailInput.name]: email });
  });
}

function renderLoginMethodChooser(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Choose login method</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <div id="actions"></div>`;

  const actionsDiv = document.getElementById("actions");
  const actions = state.actions;

  if (actions.continue_to_password_login.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="continue_to_password_login">Use password</button>`;
  }

  if (actions.continue_to_passcode_confirmation.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="continue_to_passcode_confirmation">Use passcode</button>`;
  }

  if (actions.webauthn_generate_request_options.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="webauthn_generate_request_options">Use passkey</button>`;
  }

  if (actions.back.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="back">Back</button>`;
  }

  actionsDiv.querySelectorAll("button").forEach((button) => {
    button.addEventListener("click", async (e) => {
      e.preventDefault();
      const actionName = button.dataset.action;
      await actions[actionName].run();
    });
  });
}

function renderOnboardingCreatePasskey(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Create a passkey</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <p>Add a passkey for faster login (optional).</p>
    <div id="actions"></div>`;

  const actionsDiv = document.getElementById("actions");
  const actions = state.actions;

  if (actions.webauthn_generate_creation_options.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="webauthn_generate_creation_options">Create passkey</button>`;
  }

  if (actions.skip.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="skip">Skip</button>`;
  }

  if (actions.back.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="back">Back</button>`;
  }

  actionsDiv.querySelectorAll("button").forEach(button => {
    button.addEventListener("click", async () => {
      const actionName = button.dataset.action;
      await actions[actionName].run();
    });
  });
}

function renderPasscodeConfirmation(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;
  const verifyAction = state.actions.verify_passcode;
  const codeInput = verifyAction.inputs.code;
  const inputHtml = generateInput(codeInput);

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Enter passcode</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <p>Check your email for the passcode.</p>
    <form id="passcode-form">
      ${inputHtml}
      <button data-action="verify_passcode" type="submit">Verify</button>
    </form>
    <div id="actions"></div>`;

  const form = document.getElementById("passcode-form");

  form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const code = form.querySelector(`#${codeInput.name}`).value;
    await verifyAction.run({ code });
  });

  const actionsDiv = document.getElementById("actions");

  if (state.actions.resend_passcode.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="resend_passcode">Resend passcode</button>`;
  }

  if (state.actions.back.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="back">Back</button>`;
  }

  actionsDiv.querySelectorAll("button").forEach(button => {
    button.addEventListener("click", async () => {
      const actionName = button.dataset.action;
      await state.actions[actionName].run();
    });
  });
}

function renderLoginPassword(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;
  const loginAction = state.actions.password_login;
  const passwordInput = loginAction.inputs.password;
  const inputHtml = generateInput(passwordInput);

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Enter Password</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <form id="password-form">
      ${inputHtml}
      <button data-action="password_login" type="submit">Continue</button>
    </form>
    <div id="actions"></div>`;

  const form = document.getElementById("password-form");

  form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const password = form.querySelector(`#${passwordInput.name}`).value;
    await loginAction.run({ password });
  });

  const actionsDiv = document.getElementById("actions");

  if (state.actions.continue_to_passcode_confirmation_recovery.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="continue_to_passcode_confirmation_recovery">Forgot your password?</button>`;
  }

  if (state.actions.continue_to_login_method_chooser.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="continue_to_login_method_chooser">Choose another method</button>`;
  }

  if (state.actions.back.enabled) {
    actionsDiv.innerHTML += `<button data-action="back">Back</button>`;
  }

  actionsDiv.querySelectorAll("button").forEach(button => {
    button.addEventListener("click", async () => {
      const actionName = button.dataset.action;
      await state.actions[actionName].run();
    });
  });
}

function renderLoginPasswordRecovery(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;
  const recoveryAction = state.actions.password_recovery;
  const passwordInput = recoveryAction.inputs.new_password;
  const inputHtml = generateInput(passwordInput);

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Enter a new password</h1>
    ${error ? `<p class="error">${error.message}</p>` : ""}
    <form id="password-recovery-form">
      ${inputHtml}
      <button data-action="password_recovery" type="submit">Save</button>
    </form>
    <div id="actions"></div>`;

  const form = document.getElementById("password-recovery-form");

  form.addEventListener("submit", async (e) => {
    e.preventDefault();
    const new_password = form.querySelector(`#${passwordInput.name}`).value;
    await recoveryAction.run({ new_password });
  });
}

function renderError(state) {
  const app = document.getElementById("app");
  const error = state.error;

  app.innerHTML = `
    <h1>Error</h1>
    <p class="error">${error.message}</p>
    <button id="retry">Try again</button>`;

  document.getElementById("retry").addEventListener("click", () => {
    initializeLoginFlow();
  });
}

The action execution logic is embedded in each state’s form or button handlers.
The hanko.onAfterStateChange event ensures the UI updates after each action, and hanko.onSessionCreated redirects to success.html on successful login.
On success.html, the logout button calls hanko.logout(), and hanko.onUserLoggedOut redirects back to the index.html.
Validation Errors: Each state renderer checks for state.actions.<action>.inputs.<input>.error and displays the message (e.g., invalid passcode).
Technical Errors: The error state handler displays state.error.message.

Always use your own email address in the following steps. The Hanko API sends real emails, so proceed with caution!

Run the application

Ensure the Hanko Cloud project is configured as described (App URL: http://localhost:3000, no 2FA, device trust “Never”).
Update API_URL in script.js with your Hanko Cloud project’s API endpoint.
Rebuild the App:
npm run build
Run the local server:
npm start
Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser.

Test the login flow

Enter the test user’s email.
Check your email for the passcode, enter the code, and click submit.
If prompted, register a passkey.
On success, you’ll be redirected to success.html.
Click Log Out to return to the login page.

Troubleshooting

CORS Errors: Ensure the App URL in the Hanko Cloud dashboard matches http://localhost:3000.
Invalid API URL: Verify the API_URL in script.js.
No Passcode Received: Confirm the test user’s email is correct and check your spam folder.
Passkey Autofill Not Working: Use a passkey-compatible browser (e.g., Chrome) and ensure the input has autocomplete="username webauthn".

Conclusion

You’ve built a working login page that:

Uses the FlowAPI and hanko-frontend-sdk to handle email/passcode login.
Supports passwords, passkeys and passkey autofill in the login_init state.
Manages sessions with redirect after login and logout functionality.
Handles errors gracefully across all specified states.

Explore next steps like enhancing the UI with advanced CSS or a framework like Bootstrap, adding support for additional states or actions (e.g., password login), or integrating the login page into a larger application. Additionally, the FlowAPI supports registration and user profile management flows.

Getting started

Guides

Using the Hanko API

Integrations

Resources

FAQ & support

Build a custom login page

Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set up the development environment

Step 3: Handle flow states and render UI

Conclusion

References

API reference

Frontend SDK

​Introduction

​Prerequisites

​Step 1: Set up the development environment

​Step 2: Initialize the login flow

​Step 3: Handle flow states and render UI

​Step 4: Run and test the login page

​Conclusion

​References

API reference

Frontend SDK

Introduction

Prerequisites

Step 1: Set up the development environment

Step 2: Initialize the login flow

Step 3: Handle flow states and render UI

Step 4: Run and test the login page

Conclusion

References