This gem is shamelessly based on Google SignIn by Basecamp.

Linkedin Sign-In for Rails

This gem allows you to add Linkedin sign-in to your Rails app. You can let users sign up for and sign in to your service with their Linkedin accounts.

Installation

Add linkedin_sign_in to your Rails app’s Gemfile and run bundle install:

gem 'linkedin_sign_in'

Linkedin Sign-In for Rails requires Rails 5.2 or newer.

Configuration

First, set up an OAuth 2.0 Client ID in the Linkedin API Console:

1. Go to the Developer Portal.

2. Create an application.

3. Submit your application information.

4. You are presented with a client ID and client secret. Save these.

5. This gem adds a single OAuth callback to your app at /linkedin_sign_in/callback. Under Authorized Redirect URLs, add that callback for your application’s domain: for example, https://example.com/linkedin_sign_in/callback.

To use Linkedin sign-in in development, you’ll need to add another redirect URI for your local environment, like http://localhost:3000/linkedin_sign_in/callback. For security reasons, we recommend using a separate client ID for local development. Repeat these instructions to set up a new client ID for development.

1. Click the button labeled Update.

With your client ID set up, configure your Rails application to use it. Run bin/rails credentials:edit to edit your app’s encrypted credentials and add the following:

linkedin_sign_in:
  client_id: [Your client ID here]
  client_secret: [Your client secret here]

You’re all set to use Linkedin sign-in now. The gem automatically uses the client ID and client secret in your credentials.

Alternatively, you can provide the client ID and client secret using ENV variables. Add a new initializer that sets config.linkedin_sign_in.client_id and config.linkedin_sign_in.client_secret:

# config/initializers/linkedin_sign_in.rb
Rails.application.configure do
  config.linkedin_sign_in.client_id     = ENV['linkedin_sign_in_client_id']
  config.linkedin_sign_in.client_secret = ENV['linkedin_sign_in_client_secret']
end

⚠️ Important: Take care to protect your client secret from disclosure to third parties.

1. (Optional) The callback route can be configured using:

 # config/initializers/linkedin_sign_in.rb
 Rails.application.configure do
   config.linkedin_sign_in.root = "my_own/linkedin_sign_in_route"
 end

Which would make the callback /my_own/linkedin_sign_in_route/callback.

Usage

This gem provides a linkedin_sign_in_button helper. It generates a button which initiates Linkedin sign-in:

<%= linkedin_sign_in_button 'Sign in with my Linkedin account', proceed_to: create_login_url %>

<%= linkedin_sign_in_button image_tag('linkedin_logo.png', alt: 'Linkedin'), proceed_to: create_login_url %>

<%= linkedin_sign_in_button proceed_to: create_login_url do %>
  Sign in with my <%= image_tag('linkedin_logo.png', alt: 'Linkedin') %> account
<% end %>

The proceed_to argument is required. After authenticating with Linkedin, the gem redirects to proceed_to, providing a LinkedIn ID token in flash[:linkedin_sign_in][:token] or an OAuth authorizaton code grant error in flash[:linkedin_sign_in][:error]. Your application decides what to do with it:

# config/routes.rb
Rails.application.routes.draw do
  # ...
  get 'login', to: 'logins#new'
  get 'login/create', to: 'logins#create', as: :create_login
end

# app/controllers/logins_controller.rb
class LoginsController < ApplicationController
  def new
  end

  def create
    if user = authenticate_with_linkedin
      cookies.signed[:user_id] = user.id
      redirect_to user
    else
      redirect_to new_session_url, alert: 'authentication_failed'
    end
  end

  private
    def authenticate_with_linkedin
      if id_token = flash[:linkedin_sign_in][:token]
        User.find_by linkedin_id: LinkedIn::Identity.new(id_token).user_id
      elsif error = flash[:linkedin_sign_in][:error]
        logger.error "LinkedIn authentication error: #{error}"
        nil
        end
    end
end

(The above example assumes the user has already signed up for your service and that you’re storing their Linkedin user ID in the User#linkedin_id attribute.)

For security reasons, the proceed_to URL you provide to linkedin_sign_in_button is required to reside on the same origin as your application. This means it must have the same protocol, host, and port as the page where linkedin_sign_in_button is used. We enforce this before redirecting to the proceed_to URL to guard against open redirects.

LinkedinSignIn::Identity

The LinkedinSignIn::Identity class decodes and verifies the integrity of a Linkedin ID token. It exposes the profile information contained in the token via the following instance methods:

• first_name

• last_name

• email_address

• user_id: A string that uniquely identifies a single Linkedin user. Use this, not email_address, to associate a Linkedin user with an application user. A Linkedin user’s email address may change, but their user_id will remain constant.

• avatar_url

• current_company_name: name of the current company the user is working at

Security

For information on our security response procedure, see SECURITY.md.

License

Linkedin Sign-In for Rails is released under the MIT License.

Linkedin is a registered trademark of Linkedin LLC. This project is not operated by or in any way affiliated with Linkedin LLC.