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Account Verification with Authy, Node.js and Express

(warning)

Warning

As of November 2022, Twilio no longer provides support for Authy SMS/Voice-only customers. Customers who were also using Authy TOTP or Push prior to March 1, 2023 are still supported. The Authy API is now closed to new customers and will be fully deprecated in the future.

For new development, we encourage you to use the Verify v2 API.

Existing customers will not be impacted at this time until Authy API has reached End of Life. For more information about migration, see Migrating from Authy to Verify for SMS.

Ready to implement user account verification in your application? Here's how it works at a high level:

The user begins the registration process by entering their data, including a phone number, into a signup form.
The authentication system sends a one-time password to the user's mobile phone to verify the phone number.
The user enters the one-time password into a form to complete registration.
The user sees a success page and receives an SMS indicating that their account has been created.

Building Blocks

To get this done, you'll be working with the following Twilio-powered APIs:

Authy REST API

Users Resource: You will need to create Authy users to send and verify one-time passwords.
SMS Resource: We will ask Authy to send one-time passwords to our user via SMS.
Verify Resource: Used to verify tokens entered by the user in our web form during registration.

Twilio REST API

Messages Resource: We will use Twilio directly to send our user a confirmation message after they create an account.

Let's get started!

The User Model

Our first order of business is to create a model object for a user of our application. We will borrow a lot of the code from the User model in the 2FA tutorial that uses Authy as well. This application uses MongoDB for persistence, but in our code we will primarily interface with Mongoose, a higher-level object modeling tool which is backed by MongoDB.

You'll notice an authyId property on the model - this is required to support integration with the Authy API. We won't use this property right away but we'll need it later for the Authy integration.

One of the properties on the User model is the password. It is not in scope for this tutorial, but take note: you'll probably want it later for logging in a returning user.

User Model definitions for use with Twilio and Authy

models/User.js

1const mongoose = require('mongoose');
2const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
3const config = require('../config');
4
5// Create authenticated Authy and Twilio API clients
6const authy = require('authy')(config.authyKey);
7const twilioClient = require('twilio')(config.accountSid, config.authToken);
8
9// Used to generate password hash
10const SALT_WORK_FACTOR = 10;
11
12// Define user model schema
13const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
14    fullName: {
15        type: String,
16        required: true,
17    },
18    countryCode: {
19        type: String,
20        required: true,
21    },
22    phone: {
23        type: String,
24        required: true,
25    },
26    verified: {
27        type: Boolean,
28        default: false,
29    },
30    authyId: String,
31    email: {
32        type: String,
33        required: true,
34        unique: true,
35    },
36    password: {
37        type: String,
38        required: true,
39    },
40});
41
42// Middleware executed before save - hash the user's password
43UserSchema.pre('save', function(next) {
44    const self = this;
45
46    // only hash the password if it has been modified (or is new)
47    if (!self.isModified('password')) return next();
48
49    // generate a salt
50    bcrypt.genSalt(SALT_WORK_FACTOR, function(err, salt) {
51        if (err) return next(err);
52
53        // hash the password using our new salt
54        bcrypt.hash(self.password, salt, function(err, hash) {
55            if (err) return next(err);
56
57            // override the cleartext password with the hashed one
58            self.password = hash;
59            next();
60        });
61    });
62});
63
64// Test candidate password
65UserSchema.methods.comparePassword = function(candidatePassword, cb) {
66    const self = this;
67    bcrypt.compare(candidatePassword, self.password, function(err, isMatch) {
68        if (err) return cb(err);
69        cb(null, isMatch);
70    });
71};
72
73// Send a verification token to this user
74UserSchema.methods.sendAuthyToken = function(cb) {
75    var self = this;
76
77    if (!self.authyId) {
78        // Register this user if it's a new user
79        authy.register_user(self.email, self.phone, self.countryCode,
80            function(err, response) {
81            if (err || !response.user) return cb.call(self, err);
82            self.authyId = response.user.id;
83            self.save(function(err, doc) {
84                if (err || !doc) return cb.call(self, err);
85                self = doc;
86                sendToken();
87            });
88        });
89    } else {
90        // Otherwise send token to a known user
91        sendToken();
92    }
93
94    // With a valid Authy ID, send the 2FA token for this user
95    function sendToken() {
96        authy.request_sms(self.authyId, true, function(err, response) {
97            cb.call(self, err);
98        });
99    }
100};
101
102// Test a 2FA token
103UserSchema.methods.verifyAuthyToken = function(otp, cb) {
104    const self = this;
105    authy.verify(self.authyId, otp, function(err, response) {
106        cb.call(self, err, response);
107    });
108};
109
110// Send a text message via twilio to this user
111UserSchema.methods.sendMessage =
112  function(message, successCallback, errorCallback) {
113      const self = this;
114      const toNumber = `+${self.countryCode}${self.phone}`;
115
116      twilioClient.messages.create({
117          to: toNumber,
118          from: config.twilioNumber,
119          body: message,
120      }).then(function() {
121        successCallback();
122      }).catch(function(err) {
123        errorCallback(err);
124      });
125  };
126
127// Export user model
128module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);
129

Now that you've created your user model, let's check out the form template for creating a user.

The New User Form Template

When we create a new user, we ask for a name, email address, password and mobile number including country code. In order to validate the user account we use Authy to send a one-time password via SMS to this phone number.

Form template for user creation

views/users/create.jade

1extends ../layout
2
3block styles
4  link(rel='stylesheet', media='screen'
5    href='//www.authy.com/form.authy.min.css')
6
7block content
8  h1 We're Going To Be *BEST* Friends
9  p.
10    Thank you for your interest in signing up! Can you tell us a bit about
11    yourself?
12
13  form(action='/users', method='POST')
14    .form-group
15      label(for='fullName') Your Full Name:
16      input.form-control(type='text', name='fullName',
17        placeholder='Peggy Carter')
18
19    .form-group
20      label(for='email') Your email Address:
21      input.form-control(type='email', name='email',
22        placeholder='pcarter@ssr.gov')
23
24    .form-group
25      label(for='password') Your Password:
26      input.form-control(type='password', name='password')
27
28    .form-group
29      label(for='countryCode') Country Code:
30      select(id='authy-countries', name='countryCode')
31
32    .form-group
33      label(for='phone') Mobile Phone:
34      input.form-control(type='text', name='phone', placeholder='651-867-5309')
35
36    button.btn.btn-primary(type='submit') Create Account
37
38block scripts
39  // Include Authy form helpers and additional helper script
40  script(src='//www.authy.com/form.authy.min.js')
41  script(src='/js/create_form.js')

Now the user is logged in but not verified. In the next steps we'll learn how to verify the user using Authy.

Configuring Authy

In config.js, we list configuration parameters for the application. Most are pulled in from system environment variables, which is a helpful way to access sensitive values (like API keys). This prevents us from accidentally checking them in to source control.

Now, we need our Authy production key (sign up for Authy here). Once you create an Authy application, the production key is found on the dashboard:

Configure your application to work with Authy

config.js

1const dotenvSafe = require('dotenv-safe');
2
3const nodeEnv = process.env.NODE_ENV;
4if(nodeEnv && nodeEnv === 'production') {
5  // If it's running in Heroku, we set MONGO_URL to an arbitrary value so that
6  // dotenv-safe doesn't throw an error. MONGO_URL is not read in Heroku as
7  // MONGODB_URI will be set
8  process.env.MONGO_URL = 'placeholder';
9}
10dotenvSafe.load();
11
12const cfg = {};
13
14// HTTP Port to run our web application
15cfg.port = process.env.PORT || 3000;
16
17// A random string that will help generate secure one-time passwords and
18// HTTP sessions
19cfg.secret = process.env.APP_SECRET || 'keyboard cat';
20
21// Your Twilio account SID and auth token, both found at:
22// https://www.twilio.com/user/account
23//
24// A good practice is to store these string values as system environment
25// variables, and load them from there as we are doing below. Alternately,
26// you could hard code these values here as strings.
27cfg.accountSid = process.env.TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID;
28cfg.authToken = process.env.TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN;
29
30// A Twilio number you control - choose one from:
31// https://www.twilio.com/user/account/phone-numbers/incoming
32// Specify in E.164 format, e.g. "+16519998877"
33cfg.twilioNumber = process.env.TWILIO_NUMBER;
34
35// Your Authy production key - this can be found on the dashboard for your
36// Authy application
37cfg.authyKey = process.env.AUTHY_API_KEY;
38
39// MongoDB connection string - MONGO_URL is for local dev,
40// MONGODB_URI is for the MongoLab add-on for Heroku deployment
41// when using docker-compose
42cfg.mongoUrl = process.env.MONGODB_URI || process.env.MONGO_URL;
43
44// Export configuration object
45module.exports = cfg;
46

Next, we need to jump over to the User model to configure the Authy client and create an instance method to send a one-time password.

Sending a Verification Token

When it comes time to actually send the user a verification code, we do that in a User model function.

Before sending the code, an Authy user needs to exist and correlate to our User model in the database. If the authyId for our user instance hasn't been set, we use the Authy API client to create an associated Authy user and store that ID.

Once the user has an authyId, we can send a verification code to that user's mobile phone using the Authy API client.

Check the user's authyId, register a new user, and send a one-time token

models/User.js

1const mongoose = require('mongoose');
2const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
3const config = require('../config');
4
5// Create authenticated Authy and Twilio API clients
6const authy = require('authy')(config.authyKey);
7const twilioClient = require('twilio')(config.accountSid, config.authToken);
8
9// Used to generate password hash
10const SALT_WORK_FACTOR = 10;
11
12// Define user model schema
13const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
14    fullName: {
15        type: String,
16        required: true,
17    },
18    countryCode: {
19        type: String,
20        required: true,
21    },
22    phone: {
23        type: String,
24        required: true,
25    },
26    verified: {
27        type: Boolean,
28        default: false,
29    },
30    authyId: String,
31    email: {
32        type: String,
33        required: true,
34        unique: true,
35    },
36    password: {
37        type: String,
38        required: true,
39    },
40});
41
42// Middleware executed before save - hash the user's password
43UserSchema.pre('save', function(next) {
44    const self = this;
45
46    // only hash the password if it has been modified (or is new)
47    if (!self.isModified('password')) return next();
48
49    // generate a salt
50    bcrypt.genSalt(SALT_WORK_FACTOR, function(err, salt) {
51        if (err) return next(err);
52
53        // hash the password using our new salt
54        bcrypt.hash(self.password, salt, function(err, hash) {
55            if (err) return next(err);
56
57            // override the cleartext password with the hashed one
58            self.password = hash;
59            next();
60        });
61    });
62});
63
64// Test candidate password
65UserSchema.methods.comparePassword = function(candidatePassword, cb) {
66    const self = this;
67    bcrypt.compare(candidatePassword, self.password, function(err, isMatch) {
68        if (err) return cb(err);
69        cb(null, isMatch);
70    });
71};
72
73// Send a verification token to this user
74UserSchema.methods.sendAuthyToken = function(cb) {
75    var self = this;
76
77    if (!self.authyId) {
78        // Register this user if it's a new user
79        authy.register_user(self.email, self.phone, self.countryCode,
80            function(err, response) {
81            if (err || !response.user) return cb.call(self, err);
82            self.authyId = response.user.id;
83            self.save(function(err, doc) {
84                if (err || !doc) return cb.call(self, err);
85                self = doc;
86                sendToken();
87            });
88        });
89    } else {
90        // Otherwise send token to a known user
91        sendToken();
92    }
93
94    // With a valid Authy ID, send the 2FA token for this user
95    function sendToken() {
96        authy.request_sms(self.authyId, true, function(err, response) {
97            cb.call(self, err);
98        });
99    }
100};
101
102// Test a 2FA token
103UserSchema.methods.verifyAuthyToken = function(otp, cb) {
104    const self = this;
105    authy.verify(self.authyId, otp, function(err, response) {
106        cb.call(self, err, response);
107    });
108};
109
110// Send a text message via twilio to this user
111UserSchema.methods.sendMessage =
112  function(message, successCallback, errorCallback) {
113      const self = this;
114      const toNumber = `+${self.countryCode}${self.phone}`;
115
116      twilioClient.messages.create({
117          to: toNumber,
118          from: config.twilioNumber,
119          body: message,
120      }).then(function() {
121        successCallback();
122      }).catch(function(err) {
123        errorCallback(err);
124      });
125  };
126
127// Export user model
128module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);
129

After the user receives the verification code, they will pass it to the application using this form.

Let's check out the controller that handles the form.

Verifying the Code: Controller

This controller function handles the form's submission. It's a little longer than the others, but it has a lot to do. It needs to:

Load a User model for the current verification request.
Use an instance function on the model object to verify the code that was entered by the user.
If the code entered was valid, it will flip a Boolean flag on the user model to indicate the account was verified.

Take a look at the User model to see the instance method that handles verifying the code with Authy.

Handle submission of a verification token

controllers/users.js

1const User = require('../models/User');
2
3// Display a form that allows users to sign up for a new account
4exports.showCreate = function(request, response) {
5    response.render('users/create', {
6        title: 'Create User Account',
7        // include any errors (success messages not possible for view)
8        errors: request.flash('errors'),
9    });
10};
11
12// create a new user based on the form submission
13exports.create = function(request, response) {
14    const params = request.body;
15
16    // Create a new user based on form parameters
17    const user = new User({
18        fullName: params.fullName,
19        email: params.email,
20        phone: params.phone,
21        countryCode: params.countryCode,
22        password: params.password,
23    });
24
25    user.save(function(err, doc) {
26        if (err) {
27            // To improve on this example, you should include a better
28            // error message, especially around form field validation. But
29            // for now, just indicate that the save operation failed
30            request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem creating your'
31                + ' account - note that all fields are required. Please'
32                + ' double-check your input and try again.');
33
34            response.redirect('/users/new');
35        } else {
36            // If the user is created successfully, send them an account
37            // verification token
38            user.sendAuthyToken(function(err) {
39                if (err) {
40                    request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem sending '
41                        + 'your token - sorry :(');
42                }
43
44                // Send to token verification page
45                response.redirect('/users/'+doc._id+'/verify');
46            });
47        }
48    });
49};
50
51// Display a form that allows users to enter a verification token
52exports.showVerify = function(request, response) {
53    response.render('users/verify', {
54        title: 'Verify Phone Number',
55        // include any errors
56        errors: request.flash('errors'),
57        // success messsages
58        successes: request.flash('successes'),
59        // Include database ID to include in form POST action
60        id: request.params.id,
61    });
62};
63
64// Resend a code if it was not received
65exports.resend = function(request, response) {
66    // Load user model
67    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
68        if (err || !user) {
69            return die('User not found for this ID.');
70        }
71
72        // If we find the user, let's send them a new code
73        user.sendAuthyToken(postSend);
74    });
75
76    // Handle send code response
77    function postSend(err) {
78        if (err) {
79            return die('There was a problem sending you the code - please '
80                + 'retry.');
81        }
82
83        request.flash('successes', 'Code re-sent!');
84        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
85    }
86
87    // respond with an error
88    function die(message) {
89        request.flash('errors', message);
90        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
91    }
92};
93
94// Handle submission of verification token
95exports.verify = function(request, response) {
96    let user = {};
97
98    // Load user model
99    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, doc) {
100        if (err || !doc) {
101            return die('User not found for this ID.');
102        }
103
104        // If we find the user, let's validate the token they entered
105        user = doc;
106        user.verifyAuthyToken(request.body.code, postVerify);
107    });
108
109    // Handle verification response
110    function postVerify(err) {
111        if (err) {
112            return die('The token you entered was invalid - please retry.');
113        }
114
115        // If the token was valid, flip the bit to validate the user account
116        user.verified = true;
117        user.save(postSave);
118    }
119
120    // after we save the user, handle sending a confirmation
121    function postSave(err) {
122        if (err) {
123            return die('There was a problem validating your account '
124                + '- please enter your token again.');
125        }
126
127        // Send confirmation text message
128        const message = 'You did it! Signup complete :)';
129        user.sendMessage(message, function() {
130          // show success page
131          request.flash('successes', message);
132          response.redirect(`/users/${user._id}`);
133        }, function(err) {
134          request.flash('errors', 'You are signed up, but '
135              + 'we could not send you a message. Our bad :(');
136        });
137    }
138
139    // respond with an error
140    function die(message) {
141        request.flash('errors', message);
142        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
143    }
144};
145
146// Show details about the user
147exports.showUser = function(request, response, next) {
148    // Load user model
149    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
150        if (err || !user) {
151            // 404
152            return next();
153        }
154
155        response.render('users/show', {
156            title: 'Hi there ' + user.fullName + '!',
157            user: user,
158            // any errors
159            errors: request.flash('errors'),
160            // any success messages
161            successes: request.flash('successes'),
162        });
163    });
164};
165

Now let's see how we can use Authy to actually verify the code.

Verifying the Code: Model

This instance function is a thin wrapper around the Authy client function that sends a candidate password to be verified. We call Authy's built-in verify function, and then immediately call a passed callback function with the result.

Verify the user's Authy token

models/User.js

1const mongoose = require('mongoose');
2const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
3const config = require('../config');
4
5// Create authenticated Authy and Twilio API clients
6const authy = require('authy')(config.authyKey);
7const twilioClient = require('twilio')(config.accountSid, config.authToken);
8
9// Used to generate password hash
10const SALT_WORK_FACTOR = 10;
11
12// Define user model schema
13const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
14    fullName: {
15        type: String,
16        required: true,
17    },
18    countryCode: {
19        type: String,
20        required: true,
21    },
22    phone: {
23        type: String,
24        required: true,
25    },
26    verified: {
27        type: Boolean,
28        default: false,
29    },
30    authyId: String,
31    email: {
32        type: String,
33        required: true,
34        unique: true,
35    },
36    password: {
37        type: String,
38        required: true,
39    },
40});
41
42// Middleware executed before save - hash the user's password
43UserSchema.pre('save', function(next) {
44    const self = this;
45
46    // only hash the password if it has been modified (or is new)
47    if (!self.isModified('password')) return next();
48
49    // generate a salt
50    bcrypt.genSalt(SALT_WORK_FACTOR, function(err, salt) {
51        if (err) return next(err);
52
53        // hash the password using our new salt
54        bcrypt.hash(self.password, salt, function(err, hash) {
55            if (err) return next(err);
56
57            // override the cleartext password with the hashed one
58            self.password = hash;
59            next();
60        });
61    });
62});
63
64// Test candidate password
65UserSchema.methods.comparePassword = function(candidatePassword, cb) {
66    const self = this;
67    bcrypt.compare(candidatePassword, self.password, function(err, isMatch) {
68        if (err) return cb(err);
69        cb(null, isMatch);
70    });
71};
72
73// Send a verification token to this user
74UserSchema.methods.sendAuthyToken = function(cb) {
75    var self = this;
76
77    if (!self.authyId) {
78        // Register this user if it's a new user
79        authy.register_user(self.email, self.phone, self.countryCode,
80            function(err, response) {
81            if (err || !response.user) return cb.call(self, err);
82            self.authyId = response.user.id;
83            self.save(function(err, doc) {
84                if (err || !doc) return cb.call(self, err);
85                self = doc;
86                sendToken();
87            });
88        });
89    } else {
90        // Otherwise send token to a known user
91        sendToken();
92    }
93
94    // With a valid Authy ID, send the 2FA token for this user
95    function sendToken() {
96        authy.request_sms(self.authyId, true, function(err, response) {
97            cb.call(self, err);
98        });
99    }
100};
101
102// Test a 2FA token
103UserSchema.methods.verifyAuthyToken = function(otp, cb) {
104    const self = this;
105    authy.verify(self.authyId, otp, function(err, response) {
106        cb.call(self, err, response);
107    });
108};
109
110// Send a text message via twilio to this user
111UserSchema.methods.sendMessage =
112  function(message, successCallback, errorCallback) {
113      const self = this;
114      const toNumber = `+${self.countryCode}${self.phone}`;
115
116      twilioClient.messages.create({
117          to: toNumber,
118          from: config.twilioNumber,
119          body: message,
120      }).then(function() {
121        successCallback();
122      }).catch(function(err) {
123        errorCallback(err);
124      });
125  };
126
127// Export user model
128module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);
129

This is a great start, but what if your code never reaches the end user's handset? Authy can help us to re-send a missing code.

Re-sending the Code

This controller function loads the User model associated with the request and then uses the same instance function we defined earlier to resend the code.

Resend a user's code

controllers/users.js

1const User = require('../models/User');
2
3// Display a form that allows users to sign up for a new account
4exports.showCreate = function(request, response) {
5    response.render('users/create', {
6        title: 'Create User Account',
7        // include any errors (success messages not possible for view)
8        errors: request.flash('errors'),
9    });
10};
11
12// create a new user based on the form submission
13exports.create = function(request, response) {
14    const params = request.body;
15
16    // Create a new user based on form parameters
17    const user = new User({
18        fullName: params.fullName,
19        email: params.email,
20        phone: params.phone,
21        countryCode: params.countryCode,
22        password: params.password,
23    });
24
25    user.save(function(err, doc) {
26        if (err) {
27            // To improve on this example, you should include a better
28            // error message, especially around form field validation. But
29            // for now, just indicate that the save operation failed
30            request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem creating your'
31                + ' account - note that all fields are required. Please'
32                + ' double-check your input and try again.');
33
34            response.redirect('/users/new');
35        } else {
36            // If the user is created successfully, send them an account
37            // verification token
38            user.sendAuthyToken(function(err) {
39                if (err) {
40                    request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem sending '
41                        + 'your token - sorry :(');
42                }
43
44                // Send to token verification page
45                response.redirect('/users/'+doc._id+'/verify');
46            });
47        }
48    });
49};
50
51// Display a form that allows users to enter a verification token
52exports.showVerify = function(request, response) {
53    response.render('users/verify', {
54        title: 'Verify Phone Number',
55        // include any errors
56        errors: request.flash('errors'),
57        // success messsages
58        successes: request.flash('successes'),
59        // Include database ID to include in form POST action
60        id: request.params.id,
61    });
62};
63
64// Resend a code if it was not received
65exports.resend = function(request, response) {
66    // Load user model
67    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
68        if (err || !user) {
69            return die('User not found for this ID.');
70        }
71
72        // If we find the user, let's send them a new code
73        user.sendAuthyToken(postSend);
74    });
75
76    // Handle send code response
77    function postSend(err) {
78        if (err) {
79            return die('There was a problem sending you the code - please '
80                + 'retry.');
81        }
82
83        request.flash('successes', 'Code re-sent!');
84        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
85    }
86
87    // respond with an error
88    function die(message) {
89        request.flash('errors', message);
90        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
91    }
92};
93
94// Handle submission of verification token
95exports.verify = function(request, response) {
96    let user = {};
97
98    // Load user model
99    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, doc) {
100        if (err || !doc) {
101            return die('User not found for this ID.');
102        }
103
104        // If we find the user, let's validate the token they entered
105        user = doc;
106        user.verifyAuthyToken(request.body.code, postVerify);
107    });
108
109    // Handle verification response
110    function postVerify(err) {
111        if (err) {
112            return die('The token you entered was invalid - please retry.');
113        }
114
115        // If the token was valid, flip the bit to validate the user account
116        user.verified = true;
117        user.save(postSave);
118    }
119
120    // after we save the user, handle sending a confirmation
121    function postSave(err) {
122        if (err) {
123            return die('There was a problem validating your account '
124                + '- please enter your token again.');
125        }
126
127        // Send confirmation text message
128        const message = 'You did it! Signup complete :)';
129        user.sendMessage(message, function() {
130          // show success page
131          request.flash('successes', message);
132          response.redirect(`/users/${user._id}`);
133        }, function(err) {
134          request.flash('errors', 'You are signed up, but '
135              + 'we could not send you a message. Our bad :(');
136        });
137    }
138
139    // respond with an error
140    function die(message) {
141        request.flash('errors', message);
142        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
143    }
144};
145
146// Show details about the user
147exports.showUser = function(request, response, next) {
148    // Load user model
149    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
150        if (err || !user) {
151            // 404
152            return next();
153        }
154
155        response.render('users/show', {
156            title: 'Hi there ' + user.fullName + '!',
157            user: user,
158            // any errors
159            errors: request.flash('errors'),
160            // any success messages
161            successes: request.flash('successes'),
162        });
163    });
164};
165

To wrap things up, let's let the user know that their account has been verified via a success page and an SMS to their device.

Show User Details Page

This controller function renders a Jade template that contains the user's full name, and indicates whether or not they are verified by checking the user's verified property.

Show details about a user

controllers/users.js

1const User = require('../models/User');
2
3// Display a form that allows users to sign up for a new account
4exports.showCreate = function(request, response) {
5    response.render('users/create', {
6        title: 'Create User Account',
7        // include any errors (success messages not possible for view)
8        errors: request.flash('errors'),
9    });
10};
11
12// create a new user based on the form submission
13exports.create = function(request, response) {
14    const params = request.body;
15
16    // Create a new user based on form parameters
17    const user = new User({
18        fullName: params.fullName,
19        email: params.email,
20        phone: params.phone,
21        countryCode: params.countryCode,
22        password: params.password,
23    });
24
25    user.save(function(err, doc) {
26        if (err) {
27            // To improve on this example, you should include a better
28            // error message, especially around form field validation. But
29            // for now, just indicate that the save operation failed
30            request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem creating your'
31                + ' account - note that all fields are required. Please'
32                + ' double-check your input and try again.');
33
34            response.redirect('/users/new');
35        } else {
36            // If the user is created successfully, send them an account
37            // verification token
38            user.sendAuthyToken(function(err) {
39                if (err) {
40                    request.flash('errors', 'There was a problem sending '
41                        + 'your token - sorry :(');
42                }
43
44                // Send to token verification page
45                response.redirect('/users/'+doc._id+'/verify');
46            });
47        }
48    });
49};
50
51// Display a form that allows users to enter a verification token
52exports.showVerify = function(request, response) {
53    response.render('users/verify', {
54        title: 'Verify Phone Number',
55        // include any errors
56        errors: request.flash('errors'),
57        // success messsages
58        successes: request.flash('successes'),
59        // Include database ID to include in form POST action
60        id: request.params.id,
61    });
62};
63
64// Resend a code if it was not received
65exports.resend = function(request, response) {
66    // Load user model
67    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
68        if (err || !user) {
69            return die('User not found for this ID.');
70        }
71
72        // If we find the user, let's send them a new code
73        user.sendAuthyToken(postSend);
74    });
75
76    // Handle send code response
77    function postSend(err) {
78        if (err) {
79            return die('There was a problem sending you the code - please '
80                + 'retry.');
81        }
82
83        request.flash('successes', 'Code re-sent!');
84        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
85    }
86
87    // respond with an error
88    function die(message) {
89        request.flash('errors', message);
90        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
91    }
92};
93
94// Handle submission of verification token
95exports.verify = function(request, response) {
96    let user = {};
97
98    // Load user model
99    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, doc) {
100        if (err || !doc) {
101            return die('User not found for this ID.');
102        }
103
104        // If we find the user, let's validate the token they entered
105        user = doc;
106        user.verifyAuthyToken(request.body.code, postVerify);
107    });
108
109    // Handle verification response
110    function postVerify(err) {
111        if (err) {
112            return die('The token you entered was invalid - please retry.');
113        }
114
115        // If the token was valid, flip the bit to validate the user account
116        user.verified = true;
117        user.save(postSave);
118    }
119
120    // after we save the user, handle sending a confirmation
121    function postSave(err) {
122        if (err) {
123            return die('There was a problem validating your account '
124                + '- please enter your token again.');
125        }
126
127        // Send confirmation text message
128        const message = 'You did it! Signup complete :)';
129        user.sendMessage(message, function() {
130          // show success page
131          request.flash('successes', message);
132          response.redirect(`/users/${user._id}`);
133        }, function(err) {
134          request.flash('errors', 'You are signed up, but '
135              + 'we could not send you a message. Our bad :(');
136        });
137    }
138
139    // respond with an error
140    function die(message) {
141        request.flash('errors', message);
142        response.redirect('/users/'+request.params.id+'/verify');
143    }
144};
145
146// Show details about the user
147exports.showUser = function(request, response, next) {
148    // Load user model
149    User.findById(request.params.id, function(err, user) {
150        if (err || !user) {
151            // 404
152            return next();
153        }
154
155        response.render('users/show', {
156            title: 'Hi there ' + user.fullName + '!',
157            user: user,
158            // any errors
159            errors: request.flash('errors'),
160            // any success messages
161            successes: request.flash('successes'),
162        });
163    });
164};

This should suffice for confirmation in the browser that the user has been verified. Let's see how we might send a confirmation via text message.

Sending a Message

Here, we add another instance function to the model that will send a text message to the user's configured phone number. Rather than just being a one-time password, this can be anything we wish.

Send a text message via Twilio to a user

models/User.js

1const mongoose = require('mongoose');
2const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
3const config = require('../config');
4
5// Create authenticated Authy and Twilio API clients
6const authy = require('authy')(config.authyKey);
7const twilioClient = require('twilio')(config.accountSid, config.authToken);
8
9// Used to generate password hash
10const SALT_WORK_FACTOR = 10;
11
12// Define user model schema
13const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
14    fullName: {
15        type: String,
16        required: true,
17    },
18    countryCode: {
19        type: String,
20        required: true,
21    },
22    phone: {
23        type: String,
24        required: true,
25    },
26    verified: {
27        type: Boolean,
28        default: false,
29    },
30    authyId: String,
31    email: {
32        type: String,
33        required: true,
34        unique: true,
35    },
36    password: {
37        type: String,
38        required: true,
39    },
40});
41
42// Middleware executed before save - hash the user's password
43UserSchema.pre('save', function(next) {
44    const self = this;
45
46    // only hash the password if it has been modified (or is new)
47    if (!self.isModified('password')) return next();
48
49    // generate a salt
50    bcrypt.genSalt(SALT_WORK_FACTOR, function(err, salt) {
51        if (err) return next(err);
52
53        // hash the password using our new salt
54        bcrypt.hash(self.password, salt, function(err, hash) {
55            if (err) return next(err);
56
57            // override the cleartext password with the hashed one
58            self.password = hash;
59            next();
60        });
61    });
62});
63
64// Test candidate password
65UserSchema.methods.comparePassword = function(candidatePassword, cb) {
66    const self = this;
67    bcrypt.compare(candidatePassword, self.password, function(err, isMatch) {
68        if (err) return cb(err);
69        cb(null, isMatch);
70    });
71};
72
73// Send a verification token to this user
74UserSchema.methods.sendAuthyToken = function(cb) {
75    var self = this;
76
77    if (!self.authyId) {
78        // Register this user if it's a new user
79        authy.register_user(self.email, self.phone, self.countryCode,
80            function(err, response) {
81            if (err || !response.user) return cb.call(self, err);
82            self.authyId = response.user.id;
83            self.save(function(err, doc) {
84                if (err || !doc) return cb.call(self, err);
85                self = doc;
86                sendToken();
87            });
88        });
89    } else {
90        // Otherwise send token to a known user
91        sendToken();
92    }
93
94    // With a valid Authy ID, send the 2FA token for this user
95    function sendToken() {
96        authy.request_sms(self.authyId, true, function(err, response) {
97            cb.call(self, err);
98        });
99    }
100};
101
102// Test a 2FA token
103UserSchema.methods.verifyAuthyToken = function(otp, cb) {
104    const self = this;
105    authy.verify(self.authyId, otp, function(err, response) {
106        cb.call(self, err, response);
107    });
108};
109
110// Send a text message via twilio to this user
111UserSchema.methods.sendMessage =
112  function(message, successCallback, errorCallback) {
113      const self = this;
114      const toNumber = `+${self.countryCode}${self.phone}`;
115
116      twilioClient.messages.create({
117          to: toNumber,
118          from: config.twilioNumber,
119          body: message,
120      }).then(function() {
121        successCallback();
122      }).catch(function(err) {
123        errorCallback(err);
124      });
125  };
126
127// Export user model
128module.exports = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);

Congratulations! You now have the power to register and verify users with Authy and Twilio SMS. Where can we take it from here?

Where to Next?

If you're a Node developer working with Twilio, you might want to check out these other tutorials:

Click-To-Call

Put a button on your web page that connects visitors to live support or salespeople via telephone.

Automated Survey

Instantly collect structured data from your users with a survey conducted over a call or SMS text messages.