This documentation explains how to create links on a DiscourseConnect provider site that log users into Discourse and redirect them to a specific Discourse URL.
Required user level: Administrator
Sites using DiscourseConnect can add links on their DiscourseConnect provider site that will log users into Discourse and redirect them to a specific Discourse URL. This is done by creating links that point to the /session/sso route that have a return_path parameter set to the path of the Discourse page you want users to end up on.
The link’s href property should be in the form below, with the path you want users to end up on substituted for <relative_path>:
https://forum.example.com/session/sso?return_path=<relative_path>
An example anchor tag that will log in a user and redirect them to a Discourse site’s homepage:
<a href="https://forum.example.com/session/sso?return_path=/">Community</a>
An example anchor tag that will log in a user and redirect them to the Top Topics page:
<a href="https://forum.example.com/session/sso?return_path=/top">Top Topics</a>
How the return_path is stored on Discourse
Discourse stores the value of the return_path parameter on the session object that is created when a user visits the /session/sso route. At the end of the DiscourseConnect authentication process, Discourse redirects users to the return_path.
Making the process seamless for authenticated users
When a user visits the Discourse /session/sso route, they are redirected to the URL set by the discourse connect url site setting. The DiscourseConnect provider will then handle the authentication process in the same way as it would if the user had clicked the Discourse Login button.
For the authentication process to be seamless for users who are already logged in on the authentication provider site, the authentication provider’s DiscourseConnect code needs to check to see if the user is logged in or not. If the user isn’t logged in, take them through the auth providers login process. If the user is already logged in, skip the login process on the auth provider site.
Here’s a commented example, using code from the WP Discourse plugin. It demonstrates how authenticated users can be handled differently than unauthenticated users:
public function sso_parse_request( $wp ) {
// Check if Single Sign-On (SSO) is enabled in the plugin options
if ( empty( $this->options['enable-sso'] ) ) {
return null;
}
// Handle any logout requests before proceeding with SSO
$this->handle_logout_request();
// Check if the 'sso' and 'sig' parameters exist in the query variables
if ( array_key_exists( 'sso', $wp->query_vars ) && array_key_exists( 'sig', $wp->query_vars ) ) {
// Sanitize the 'sso' payload and signature to ensure they are safe for use
$payload = sanitize_text_field( $wp->query_vars['sso'] );
$sig = sanitize_text_field( $wp->query_vars['sig'] );
// If the user is not logged in to WordPress, redirect to the login page
// This ensures that users without an active session are prompted to log in to WordPress first
if ( ! is_user_logged_in() ) {
// Construct a URL to redirect back to after logging in
$redirect = add_query_arg( $payload, $sig );
// Generate the WordPress login URL with the redirect parameter
$login = wp_login_url( esc_url_raw( $redirect ) );
// Trigger an action before the login redirection (optional for logging or custom actions)
do_action( 'wpdc_sso_before_login_redirect', $redirect, $login );
// Redirect to the WordPress login page
return $this->redirect_to( $login );
} else {
// If the user is already authenticated in WordPress, bypass the login process
// and proceed with validating the SSO payload and signature.
$sso_secret = $this->options['sso-secret'];
$sso = new SSO( $sso_secret );
// Validate the payload and signature using the SSO secret
if ( ! ( $sso->validate( $payload, $sig ) ) ) {
// Handle invalid SSO requests
return $this->handle_error( 'parse_request.invalid_sso' );
}
// Get the current logged-in WordPress user
$current_user = wp_get_current_user();
// Prepare SSO parameters using the logged-in user's data
$params = $this->get_sso_params( $current_user );
try {
// Generate a nonce from the payload and build the SSO login string
$params['nonce'] = $sso->get_nonce( $payload );
$q = $sso->build_login_string( $params );
} catch ( \Exception $e ) {
// Handle exceptions if there is an issue with SSO parameter generation
return $this->handle_error( 'parse_request.invalid_sso_params', array( 'message' => esc_html( $e->getMessage() ) ) );
}
// Trigger an action before redirecting the user for SSO login (useful for logging)
do_action( 'wpdc_sso_provider_before_sso_redirect', $current_user->ID, $current_user );
// Log the SSO success if verbose logging is enabled
if ( ! empty( $this->options['verbose-sso-logs'] ) ) {
$this->logger->info( 'parse_request.success', array( 'user_id' => $current_user->ID ) );
}
// Redirect the authenticated user to the DiscourseConnect login URL with the SSO login string
return $this->redirect_to( $this->options['url'] . '/session/sso_login?' . $q );
}
}
// Return null if no SSO parameters are found in the request
return null;
}
Setting the return path to non-Discourse URLs
Discourse allows you to login a user and redirect them to a non-Discourse URL. Note that for this to work you need to add the URL to the discourse connect allowed redirect domains site setting. By default this setting is blank - preventing redirects to non-Discourse URLs. If you enable it, be sure to use the absolute URL in the return_path parameter for any non-Discourse URLs that you want to direct users to.
Last edited by @simon 2024-09-25T07:22:09Z
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