81 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
81 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
---
|
|
title: Overview
|
|
---
|
|
|
|
Flows are a method of describing a sequence of stages. A stage represents a single verification or logic step. They are used to authenticate users, enroll them, and more.
|
|
|
|
For example, a standard login flow would consist of the following stages:
|
|
|
|
- Identification, user identifies themselves via a username or email address
|
|
- Password, the user's password is checked against the hash in the database
|
|
- Log the user in
|
|
|
|
Upon flow execution, a plan containing all stages is generated. This means that all attached policies are evaluated upon execution. This behaviour can be altered by enabling the **Evaluate when stage is run** option on the binding.
|
|
|
|
To determine which flow should be used, authentik will first check which default authentication flow is configured in the active [**Brand**](../core/brands.md). If no default is configured there, the policies in all flows with the matching designation are checked, and the first flow with matching policies sorted by `slug` will be used.
|
|
|
|
## Permissions
|
|
|
|
Flows can have policies assigned to them. These policies determine if the current user is allowed to see and use this flow.
|
|
|
|
Keep in mind that in certain circumstances, policies cannot match against users and groups as there is no authenticated user yet.
|
|
|
|
### Denied action
|
|
|
|
Configure what happens when access to a flow is denied by a policy. By default, authentik will redirect to a `?next` parameter if set, and otherwise show an error message.
|
|
|
|
- `MESSAGE_CONTINUE`: Show a message if no `?next` parameter is set, otherwise redirect.
|
|
- `MESSAGE`: Always show error message.
|
|
- `CONTINUE`: Always redirect, either to `?next` if set, otherwise to the default interface.
|
|
|
|
## Designation
|
|
|
|
Flows are designated for a single purpose. This designation changes when a flow is used. The following designations are available:
|
|
|
|
#### Authentication
|
|
|
|
This is designates a flow to be used for authentication.
|
|
|
|
The authentication flow should always contain a [**User Login**](stages/user_login/index.md) stage, which attaches the staged user to the current session.
|
|
|
|
#### Invalidation
|
|
|
|
This designates a flow to be used to invalidate a session.
|
|
|
|
This flow should always contain a [**User Logout**](stages/user_logout.md) stage, which resets the current session.
|
|
|
|
#### Enrollment
|
|
|
|
This designates a flow for enrollment. This flow can contain any amount of verification stages, such as [**email**](stages/email/) or [**captcha**](stages/captcha/). At the end, to create the user, you can use the [**user_write**](stages/user_write.md) stage, which either updates the currently staged user, or if none exists, creates a new one.
|
|
|
|
#### Unenrollment
|
|
|
|
This designates a flow for unenrollment. This flow can contain any amount of verification stages, such as [**email**](stages/email/) or [**captcha**](stages/captcha/). As a final stage, to delete the account, use the [**user_delete**](stages/user_delete.md) stage.
|
|
|
|
#### Recovery
|
|
|
|
This designates a flow for recovery. This flow normally contains an [**identification**](stages/identification/) stage to find the user. It can also contain any amount of verification stages, such as [**email**](stages/email/) or [**captcha**](stages/captcha/).
|
|
Afterwards, use the [**prompt**](stages/prompt/) stage to ask the user for a new password and the [**user_write**](stages/user_write.md) stage to update the password.
|
|
|
|
#### Stage configuration
|
|
|
|
This designates a flow for general setup. This designation doesn't have any constraints in what you can do. For example, by default this designation is used to configure Factors, like change a password and setup TOTP.
|
|
|
|
## Import & Export
|
|
|
|
Flows can be imported and exported to share with other people, the community and for troubleshooting. Flows can be imported to apply new functionality and apply existing workflows.
|
|
|
|
Download our [Example flows](./examples/flows.md) and then import them into your authentik instance.
|
|
|
|
Starting with authentik 2022.8, flows will be exported as YAML, but JSON-based flows can still be imported.
|
|
|
|
## Behavior settings
|
|
|
|
### Compatibility mode
|
|
|
|
The compatibility mode increases compatibility with password managers. Password managers like [1Password](https://1password.com/) for example don't need this setting to be enabled, when accessing the flow from a desktop browser. However accessing the flow from a mobile device might necessitate this setting to be enabled.
|
|
|
|
The technical reasons for this settings' existence is due to the JavaScript libraries we're using for the default flow interface. These interfaces are implemented using [Lit](https://lit.dev/), which is a modern web development library. It uses a web standard called ["Shadow DOMs"](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_components/Using_shadow_DOM), which makes encapsulating styles simpler. Due to differences in Browser APIs, many password managers are not compatible with this technology.
|
|
|
|
When the compatibility mode is enabled, authentik uses a polyfill which emulates the Shadow DOM APIs without actually using the feature, and instead a traditional DOM is rendered. This increases support for password managers, especially on mobile devices.
|