How to Add Social Login (Google/Facebook) to Your Site?
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Adding social login to your website can boost sign-up rates and streamline the user experience. Instead of forcing visitors to create new credentials, you let them authenticate with familiar accounts like Google or Facebook. Integrating these OAuth providers may seem technical, but platforms like Hostinger Horizons let you configure secure social logins through simple AI chat commands. You’ll avoid manual SDK installs, environment variable edits, and redirect URI setups by letting the AI provision everything—from OAuth credentials to JSON Web Token (JWT) session handling—in a single conversation. If you’d like to compare other no-code options, explore the AI-powered website builders directory or browse tools in the Vibe Coding marketplace to see how social login is handled across different platforms.
Before diving in, register as a developer on the Google Cloud Console and the Facebook for Developers portal. These accounts provide the OAuth client IDs and secrets you’ll need. Once you have your credentials, you can instruct Hostinger Horizons’ AI to “configure Google social login with my client ID and secret” and “set up Facebook OAuth with app ID and secret.” The AI chat will automatically set up redirect URIs, scaffold service endpoints, and integrate JWT-based session management, leaving you free to focus on building features that delight users.
How Social Login Streamlines User Authentication
Social login replaces traditional email/password forms with OAuth-based authentication flows. Users click a “Continue with Google” or “Continue with Facebook” button, grant permissions, and are redirected back to your site as authenticated users. This approach reduces friction, cuts password-related support requests, and taps into familiar account security measures provided by Google and Facebook.
OAuth 2.0 Flow Explained
OAuth 2.0 is the underlying protocol that makes social login possible. Your site (the “client”) redirects users to the provider’s authorization endpoint, specifying scopes and redirect URIs. After the user consents, the provider returns an authorization code to your callback URL. Your server exchanges this code for an access token, which you use to fetch user information from the provider’s API. Finally, you create or update a local user record and issue your own session token (often a JWT) to the browser.
JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for Sessions
JWTs are compact, URL-safe tokens that contain claims about the user—like user ID, email, and expiration time. After you verify the OAuth access token and fetch user details, you generate a signed JWT. The browser stores this JWT in a secure, HTTP-only cookie or local storage, and sends it with each request to authenticate the user. JWTs eliminate the need for server-side session stores and simplify stateless authentication.
Why No-Code Social Login Matters for Startups
Traditional OAuth integration can take days or weeks of developer time, involving SDK configuration, secure storage of secrets, PKCE setup for SPAs, and testing. No-code platforms simplify this by packaging the complexity into visual interfaces or AI-driven workflows.
Quick Time to Market
With Hostinger Horizons, you launch social login in under an hour. You avoid manual setup of redirect URIs in Google and Facebook consoles—just paste the sandbox or production URL when prompted. The AI automatically configures environment variables and endpoint routes, so you can test in the live sandbox before going public.
Secure by Default
No-code solutions enforce best practices out of the box. Horizon’s AI handles PKCE for single-page apps, enforces HTTPS for OAuth callbacks, and rotates JWT signing keys automatically. You don’t need to worry about common security pitfalls like token leakage or redirect URI mismatches.
Easy Maintenance and Scaling
As your app grows, managing OAuth credentials and JWT settings manually becomes cumbersome. Horizon provides a central dashboard where you can rotate client secrets, update redirect URIs, and adjust token lifetimes via chat commands. When you need to add another provider—say, LinkedIn—you follow the same AI-driven process, maintaining consistency across all integrations.
Preparing Your Application for Social Login
Before integrating social login, audit your app’s authentication flow and data model. Decide how you’ll map OAuth user data—name, email, profile picture—to your local user records. Outline any custom fields you need, such as “account_type” or “signup_source.” This planning ensures your no-code platform scaffolds the correct database schema alongside the OAuth endpoints.
Setting Up OAuth Credentials
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Google: In the Google Cloud Console, create an OAuth 2.0 client under “APIs & Services > Credentials.” Choose “Web Application” and list your authorized JavaScript origins and redirect URIs (e.g.,
https://yourapp.com/auth/google/callback). Copy the client ID and secret. -
Facebook: In Facebook Developers, create an app of type “Consumer” and enable “Facebook Login.” Under “Valid OAuth Redirect URIs,” enter your callback URL (e.g.,
https://yourapp.com/auth/facebook/callback). Copy the app ID and secret.
Store these credentials securely. With Hostinger Horizons, you simply say “store Google credentials CLIENT_ID and CLIENT_SECRET” and the AI places them in encrypted environment variables.
Defining Redirect URIs and Scopes
Redirect URIs tell the provider where to forward users after they consent. Scopes define what user data you request, such as email and profile. Plan which scopes you need—requesting fewer scopes reduces friction. Common scopes include:
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Google:
openid,profile,email -
Facebook:
public_profile,email
Hostinger Horizons prompts you to enter scopes when setting up OAuth. For example:
Configuring Google Social Login in Hostinger Horizons
With credentials ready, instruct Horizon’s AI chat to set up Google login:
The AI assistant generates:
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OAuth endpoints under
/auth/google -
Service worker or backend route to exchange code for tokens
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User model updates with name, email, and picture fields
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JWT issuance logic with secure signing keys
Within moments, you have a working Google login flow in the sandbox environment. Test it by clicking “Login with Google” and verifying that your site receives user data and issues a JWT.
Adding Facebook Login via AI Commands
Similarly, set up Facebook login:
The AI chat injects the Facebook SDK, handles the login dialog, and creates the backend exchange route. You now have two OAuth providers integrated without writing a single line of code.
Handling Multiple Providers Seamlessly
In your authentication UI, present both options:
Horizon wires these buttons to the appropriate routes automatically. The AI ensures that JWT token generation is unified—whether users sign in with Google or Facebook, they receive the same type of JWT for session management.
Testing and Debugging Your Social Login Flow
Testing is crucial to surface misconfigurations or edge cases. Use Horizon’s real-time sandbox to test login flows:
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Test valid and invalid login attempts.
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Inspect network requests to
/auth/google/callbackand/auth/facebook/callback. -
Verify JWT contents in the browser’s cookie or local storage.
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Check user record creation and updates in the Horizon dashboard.
If you encounter errors—like redirect_uri_mismatch—instruct the AI to “update Google redirect URI to https://yourapp.com/auth/google/callback” and Horizon corrects the console settings and redeploys instantly.
Securing Your Social Login Implementation
Security is paramount when dealing with authentication.
Protecting Secrets
Horizon stores client secrets in encrypted environment variables. You can rotate these periodically by asking “rotate Google client secret” and pasting the new secret. No need to redeploy code manually.
Enforcing HTTPS and CORS
OAuth requires secure origins. Horizon provides free SSL certificates and configures CORS headers automatically. AI commands like “ensure /auth/* routes only accept HTTPS requests” enforce strict transport security.
Implementing PKCE for SPAs
Single-page applications require PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange) to securely authenticate without exposing client secrets. Horizon’s AI scaffold handles PKCE automatically when you specify “enable PKCE for OAuth flows,” generating code verifiers and dynamically injecting them into the OAuth requests.
Extending Social Login with User Experience Enhancements
Once the core login works, refine the user journey.
Conditional Onboarding Steps
Ask the AI to “add onboarding form after first login” to collect extra data—like company name or subscription preferences—before granting full access. The form integrates smoothly with the JWT session so you can update the user record on the fly.
Social Profile Sync
To keep user profiles up to date, schedule background syncs. In Horizon, type “refresh Google profile data daily” and the AI sets up a cron job that re-fetches data and updates your database.
Social Sharing and Invites
Leverage social login for sharing. After login, prompt users “share on Facebook” or “tweet this” with pre-filled invitations. Horizon injects the appropriate share dialogs and handles OAuth permissions.
Best Practices for Production Deployment
Before going live, ensure your social login integration is production-ready.
Environment Separation
Use separate Google/Facebook apps for development and production. Horizon manages multiple environments—sandbox and live—so you can test safely without impacting real users.
Monitoring and Analytics
Track login events in your analytics platform—Google Analytics or Horizon’s built-in dashboard. Command:
This integration helps you monitor adoption rates of Google vs. Facebook login and troubleshoot drop-offs.
Handling Token Expiration and Revocation
JWTs expire; plan refresh strategies. Ask “set JWT expiration to 1 hour and implement refresh token flow” and Horizon scaffolds the necessary endpoints. For revocation—when users unlink social accounts—use “invalidate tokens on user-requested logout.”
Delivering a Seamless Authentication Experience
By offloading OAuth complexity to Hostinger Horizons, you deliver a polished authentication experience without backend headaches. Users enjoy one-click login with familiar providers, while you maintain control over data privacy and session security. Horizon’s AI-driven setup, sandbox testing, and expert support ensure your social login flows are robust and secure from day one.
Empowering Your Site with AI-Driven Social Login
Hostinger Horizons transforms social login integration into a simple, conversational process. You describe your goals—connect Google and Facebook, map user fields, issue JWTs—and the AI configures OAuth providers, scaffolds secure routes, and deploys to a global CDN ready for production. With built-in SSL, PKCE, HTTPS enforcement, and environment management, you avoid common pitfalls and speed up your launch. For solopreneurs and small teams, this means cutting OAuth setup time by up to 90% and focusing on user experience rather than infrastructure.
By combining AI chat workflows, real-time sandbox previews, and 24/7 expert support, Hostinger Horizons ensures social login becomes a seamless part of your no-code app’s identity system—so you can spend more time innovating and less time debugging authentication flows.
