Google Sign-in with FedCM APIs

This guide discusses the adoption of FedCM APIs by the Google Sign-in platform library. Topics include the Timeline and Next Steps for a backward compatible update to the library, how to Conduct an impact assessment and verify user sign-in continues to function as expected, and if needed, instructions for updating your web app. Options to Manage the transition period along with how to Get help are also covered.

Status of the library

Any new web apps are blocked from using the deprecated Google Sign-in platform library, while apps using the library can continue until further notice. A final sunset date (shutdown) for the library has not been established. See Deprecation of support and sunset for more.

A backward compatible update adds FedCM APIs to the Google Sign-In library. While most changes are seamless, the update introduces differences to user prompts, iframe permissions-policy, and Content Security Policy (CSP). These changes may affect your web app and require changes to application code and site configuration.

During the transition period a configuration option controls whether or not FedCM APIs are used during user sign-in.

After the transition period, FedCM APIs are mandatory for all web apps using the Google Sign-In library.

Timeline

Last updated September 2024

These are the dates and changes that affect user sign-in behavior:

  • March 2023 Deprecation of support for the Google Sign-in platform library.
  • July 2024 Transition period begins, and Google Sign-in platform library support for FedCM APIs is added. By default, Google controls the percentage of user sign-in requests using FedCM during this time. Web apps may explicitly override this behavior with the use_fedcm parameter.
  • March 2025 Mandatory adoption of FedCM APIs by the Google Sign-in platform library, after which the use_fedcm parameter is ignored, and all user sign-in requests make use of FedCM.

Next steps

There are three options you may choose to follow:

  1. Conduct an impact assessment, and if needed, update your web app. This approach evaluates if features that require changes to your web app are in use. Instructions are provided in the next section of this guide.
  2. Move to Google Identity Services (GIS) library. Moving to the latest and supported sign-in library is strongly recommended. Do this by following these instructions.
  3. Do nothing. Your web app will automatically be updated when the Google Sign-in library moves to FedCM APIs for user sign-in. This is the least work, but there is some risk of users being unable to sign-in to your web app.

Conduct an impact assessment

Follow these instructions to determine if your web app can be seamlessly updated through a backward compatible update or if changes are necessary to avoid users being unable to sign-in when the Google Sign-in platform library fully adopts FedCM APIs.

Setup

Browser APIs and the latest version of the Google Sign-in platform library are necessary to use FedCM during user sign-in.

Before going further:

  • Update to the latest version of Chrome for Desktop. Chrome for Android requires release M128 or later and cannot be tested using earlier versions.
  • Set use_fedcm to true when initializing the Google Sign-in platform library in your web app. Typically, initialization looks like:
    • gapi.client.init({use_fedcm: true}), or
    • gapi.auth2.init({use_fedcm: true}), or
    • gapi.auth2.authorize({use_fedcm: true}).
  • Invalidate cached versions of the Google Sign-in platform library. Usually this step is unnecessary as the latest version of the library is directly downloaded to the browser by including api.js, client.js, or platform.js in a <script src> tag (the request may use any of these bundle names for the library).

  • Confirm OAuth settings for your OAuth client ID:

    1. Open the Credentials page of the Google API Console

    2. Verify the URI of your website is included in Authorized JavaScript origins. The URI includes the scheme and fully qualified hostname only. For example, https://www.example.com.

    3. Optionally, credentials may be returned using a redirect to an endpoint you host rather than through a JavaScript callback. If this is the case, verify your redirect URIs are included in Authorized redirect URIs. Redirect URIs include the scheme, fully qualified hostname, and path and must comply with Redirect URI validation rules. For example, https://www.example.com/auth-receiver.

Testing

After following the instructions in Setup:

Locate the Google Sign-in library request

Check if permissions-policy and Content Security Policy changes are necessary by inspecting the request for the Google Sign-in platform library. To do this, locate the request using the name and origin of the library:

  • In Chrome, Open the DevTools Network panel and reload the page.
  • Use the values in the Domain and Name columns to locate the library request:
    • Domain is apis.google.com and
    • Name is either api.js, client.js, or platform.js. The specific value of Name depends upon the library bundle requested by the document.

For example, filter on apis.google.com in the Domain column and platform.js in the Name column.

Check iframe permissions-policy

Your site might use the Google Sign-in platform library inside a cross-origin iframe. If so, an update is needed.

After following the Locate the Google Sign-in library request instructions, select the Google Sign-in library request in the DevTools Network panel and locate the Sec-Fetch-Site header in the Request Headers section in the Headers tab. If the value of the header is:

  • same-siteor same-origin then cross-origin policies don't apply and no changes are needed.
  • cross-origin changes may be necessary if an iframe is being used.

To confirm if an iframe is present:

  • Select the Elements panel in Chrome DevTools, and
  • Use Ctrl-F to find an iframe in the document.

If an iframe is found, inspect the document to check for calls to gapi.auth2 functions or script src directives which load the Google Sign-in library within the iframe. If this is the case:

Repeat this process for every iframe in the document. iframes can be nested, so be sure to add the allow directive to all surrounding parent iframes.

Check Content Security Policy

If your site uses a Content Security Policy, you may need to update your CSP to allow use of the Google Sign-in library.

After following the Locate the Google Sign-in library request instructions, select the Google Sign-in library request in the DevTools Network panel and locate the Content-Security-Policy header in the Response Headers section of the Headers tab.

If the header is not found, no changes are necessary. Otherwise, check if any of these CSP directives are defined in the CSP header and update them by:

  • Adding https://apis.google.com/js/, https://accounts.google.com/gsi/, and https://acounts.google.com/o/fedcm/ to any connect-src, default-src, or frame-src directives.

  • Adding to https://apis.google.com/js/bundle-name.js to the script-src directive. Replace bundle-name.js with either api.js, client.js, or platform.jsbased upon the library bundle the document requests.

Check for user prompt changes

There are some differences to user prompt behavior, FedCM adds a modal dialog displayed by the browser and updates user activation requirements.

Image of FedCM modal dialog

Inspect the layout of your site to confirm that underlying content can be safely overlaid and temporarily obscured by the browser's modal dialog. If this is not the case you may need to adjust the layout or position of some elements of your website.

User activation

FedCM includes updated user activation requirements. Pressing a button or clicking on a link are examples of user gestures that allow third-party origins to make network requests or to store data. With FedCM, the browser prompts for user consent when:

  • a user first signs-in to a web app using a new browser instance, or
  • GoogleAuth.signIn is called.

Today, if the user has signed in to your website before, you are able to obtain the user's sign in information when initializing the Google Sign-In library using gapi.auth2.init, without further user interactions. This is no longer possible unless the user has first gone through the FedCM sign in flow at least once.

By opting in to FedCM and calling GoogleAuth.signIn, the next time the same user visits your website, gapi.auth2.init can obtain the user's sign in information during initialization without user interaction.

Common use cases

Developer documentation for the Google Sign-In library includes guides and code samples for common use cases. This section discusses how FedCM affects their behavior.

  • Integrating Google Sign-In into your web app

    In this demo, a <div> element and a class render the button, and for already signed-in users, the page onload event returns user credentials. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done by the g-signin2 class which calls gapi.load and gapi.auth2.init.

    A user gesture, a <div> element onclick event, calls auth2.signIn during sign-in or auth2.signOut on sign-out.

  • Building a custom Google Sign-In button

    In demo one, custom attributes are used to control the appearance of the sign-in button and for already signed-in users, the page onload event returns user credentials. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done through an onload event for the platform.js library and the button is displayed by gapi.signin2.render.

    A user gesture, pressing the sign-in button, calls auth2.signIn.

    In demo two, a <div> element, CSS styles, and a custom graphic are used to control the appearance of the sign-in button. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done on document load using a start function which calls gapi.load, gapi.auth2.init, and gapi.auth2.attachClickHandler.

    A user gesture, a <div> element onclick event, calls auth2.signIn using the auth2.attachClickHandler during sign-in or auth2.signOut on sign-out.

  • Monitoring the user's session state

    In this demo, a button press is used for user sign-in and sign-out. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done by directly calling gapi.load, gapi.auth2.init, and gapi.auth2.attachClickHandler() after platform.js is loaded using script src.

    A user gesture, a <div> element onclick event, calls auth2.signIn using the auth2.attachClickHandler during sign-in or auth2.signOut on sign-out.

  • Requesting additional permissions

    In this demo, a button press is used to request additional OAuth 2.0 scopes, obtain a new access token, and for already signed-in users, the page onload event returns user credentials. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done by the onload event for the platform.js library through a call to gapi.signin2.render.

    A user gesture, clicking on a <button> element, triggers a request for additional OAuth 2.0 scopes using googleUser.grant or auth2.signOut on sign-out.

  • Integrating Google Sign-In using listeners

    In this demo, for already signed-in users, the page onload event returns user credentials. User interaction is required to sign-in and establish a new session.

    Library initialization is done on document load using a start function which calls gapi.load, gapi.auth2.init, and gapi.auth2.attachClickHandler. Next, auth2.isSignedIn.listen and auth2.currentUser.listen are used to setup notification of changes to session state. Lastly, auth2.SignIn is called to return credentials for signed-in users.

    A user gesture, a <div> element onclick event, calls auth2.signIn using the auth2.attachClickHandler during sign-in or auth2.signOut on sign-out.

  • Google Sign-In for server-side apps

    In this demo, a user gesture is used to request an OAuth 2.0 auth code and a JS callback makes an AJAX call to send the response to the backend server for verification.

    Library initialization is done using an onload event for the platform.js library, which uses a start function to call gapi.load and gapi.auth2.init.

    A user gesture, clicking on a <button> element, triggers a request for an authorization code by calling auth2.grantOfflineAccess.

  • Cross platform SSO

    FedCM requires consent for every browser instance, even if Android users have already signed in, a one time consent is necessary.

Manage the transition period

During the transition period a percentage of user sign-ins may use FedCM, the exact percentage can vary and may change over time. By default, Google controls how many sign-in requests use FedCM, but you may choose to opt-in or opt-out of using FedCM during the transition period. At the end of the transition period FedCM becomes mandatory and is used for all sign-in requests.

Choosing to opt-in sends the user through the FedCM sign-in flow, while choosing to opt-out sends the users through the existing sign-in flow. This behavior is controlled using the use_fedcm parameter.

Opt-in

It may be helpful to control whether all, or some, sign-in attempts to your site use FedCM APIs. To do this, set use_fedcm to true when initializing the platform library. The user sign-in request uses FedCM APIs in this case.

Opt-out

During the transition period, a percentage of user sign-in attempts to your site will use FedCM APIs by default. If more time is needed to make changes to your app, you may temporarily opt-out of using FedCM APIs. To do this, set use_fedcm to false when initializing the platform library. The user sign-in request won't use FedCM APIs in this case.

After mandatory adoption occurs, any use_fedcm settings are ignored by the Google Sign-in platform library.

Get help

Search or ask questions on StackOverflow using the google-signin tag.