maglink

maglink is an email magic-link authentication library with device-flow confirmation. It provides a framework-independent authentication core and an optional Flask adapter.

Unlike a traditional magic link, opening the email does not immediately log in a browser. The user must also enter the short code shown on the device that started the login. This protects the flow from mail scanners, link prefetchers, forwarded messages, and accidental link opening.

Features

• Framework-independent AuthCore
• Optional Flask blueprint and authentication decorators
• Short device-code confirmation
• Dynamic identity and authorization providers
• In-memory and SQLite token stores
• Console, SMTP, and HTTP mail delivery adapters
• MailDispatch integration with priority and idempotency support
• CAPTCHA and request/confirmation rate limits
• Single-use authentication requests
• No required runtime dependencies for the core package

Installation

Install the core library:

pip install maglink

Install the Flask adapter:

pip install "maglink[flask]"

Authentication flow

1. The waiting device calls start_login() or POST /api/auth/request.
2. maglink creates:
   • a private request_id, stored in the waiting browser session;
   • a short user_code, displayed on the waiting device;
   • a private verify_token, sent only by email.
3. The email link opens a side-effect-free confirmation page.
4. The user enters the device code on that page.
5. The waiting device polls the status endpoint.
6. The approved request is consumed once and the user session is established.

The email token proves access to the mailbox. The device code proves that the person confirming the email can also see the device that started the login. Both are required.

Quick start with Flask

import os

from flask import Flask, jsonify
from maglink import AuthCore, SqliteStore, ConsoleMailer
from maglink.flask import EmailAuth

app = Flask(__name__)
app.secret_key = os.environ["SECRET_KEY"]
app.config.update(
    SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY=True,
    SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE="Lax",
    SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=True,
)

core = AuthCore(
    store=SqliteStore("data/auth.db"),
    mailer=ConsoleMailer(),  # Development only
    verify_url_base="https://app.example.com/api/auth/verify",
    allowed_emails=["alice@example.com"],
    admin_emails=["alice@example.com"],
)
auth = EmailAuth(core, require_captcha=True)
app.register_blueprint(auth.blueprint(url_prefix="/api/auth"))


@app.get("/api/me")
@auth.login_required
def me():
    return jsonify(auth.current_user())


@app.get("/api/admin")
@auth.admin_required
def admin():
    return jsonify({"ok": True, "message": "admin access granted"})

ConsoleMailer prints the login email and must only be used for local development. See examples/flask_app.py for a runnable waiting-page example.

Send login email through MailDispatch

Create a MailDispatch API key with both scopes:

mail:send
mail:authentication

Then configure HttpMailer:

import os

from maglink import AuthCore, HttpMailer, SqliteStore

mailer = HttpMailer(
    endpoint="https://mail.example.com/api/v1/messages",
    api_key=os.environ["MAILDISPATCH_API_KEY"],
    sender_id="system",
    timeout=10,
)

core = AuthCore(
    store=SqliteStore("data/auth.db"),
    mailer=mailer,
    verify_url_base="https://app.example.com/api/auth/verify",
    allowed_emails=["alice@example.com"],
    admin_emails=["alice@example.com"],
    login_sender_id="system",
)

Authentication messages are submitted with:

• purpose="authentication"
• authentication priority
• a stable idempotency key for the login request
• the maglink request ID in message metadata

MailDispatch must permit the recipient. If its recipient policy is service_users, every application user must also exist as an enabled MailDispatch user. For independent application user databases, use a suitable MailDispatch allowlist or any recipient policy and enforce login eligibility inside the application's IdentityProvider.

A complete integration is available in examples/maildispatch_login.py.

Dynamic identities

Authentication proves control of an email address. Authorization should come from the host application's database.

Implement IdentityProvider:

from maglink import Identity


class DatabaseIdentityProvider:
    def __init__(self, session_factory):
        self.session_factory = session_factory

    def get_identity(self, email: str):
        with self.session_factory() as session:
            user = session.find_user_by_email(email.strip().lower())
            if user is None or not user.enabled or not user.can_login:
                return None
            return Identity(
                id=str(user.id),
                email=user.email,
                roles=(user.role,),
                claims={"display_name": user.display_name},
            )

    def can_login(self, email: str) -> bool:
        return self.get_identity(email) is not None

Pass it to AuthCore:

core = AuthCore(
    store=store,
    mailer=mailer,
    verify_url_base="https://app.example.com/api/auth/verify",
    identity_provider=DatabaseIdentityProvider(Session),
)

EmailAuth.current_user() refreshes the identity from the provider on every request. Disabling or demoting a user therefore takes effect without waiting for the browser session to expire.

For small static deployments, use allowed_emails, admin_emails, and allow_anyone. An email in admin_emails is automatically allowed to log in.

Core API

AuthCore

Important constructor options:

Option	Purpose
store	MemoryStore, SqliteStore, or a custom TokenStore
mailer	Object implementing send(MailMessage)
verify_url_base	Public HTTPS confirmation URL
identity_provider	Dynamic user lookup and authorization
allowed_emails	Static login allowlist
admin_emails	Static administrator list
allow_anyone	Permit every syntactically valid email
code_ttl	Login request lifetime in seconds
rate_max	Maximum requests per rate window
rate_window	Login request rate window in seconds
confirm_max_attempts	Maximum code attempts per email token
login_sender_id	Sender identifier passed to the mail service
login_mail_priority	Priority passed to the mail service

Core methods:

login = core.start_login(
    "alice@example.com",
    captcha_given="AB12",
    captcha_expected="AB12",
    client_ip="203.0.113.10",
)
print(login.user_code)

context = core.confirm_context(token)       # no state change
core.confirm(token, login.user_code)        # approves request
result = core.poll_status(login.request_id) # consumes approval once

Flask adapter

Register the blueprint:

auth = EmailAuth(
    core,
    require_captcha=True,
    trust_proxy_headers=False,
)
app.register_blueprint(auth.blueprint(url_prefix="/api/auth"))

Host-facing methods and decorators:

auth.is_authenticated()
auth.current_user()
auth.is_admin()
auth.logout()

@auth.login_required
@auth.admin_required

Blueprint endpoints:

Method	Path	Purpose
GET	/captcha	Return CAPTCHA image and bind answer to session
POST	/request	Start login and return the device code
GET	/verify?token=...	Render side-effect-free confirmation page
POST	/verify/confirm	Confirm with email token and device code
GET	/status	Poll and establish the waiting-device session
GET/POST	/logout	Clear authentication state
GET	/state	Return login state for a frontend

Mail delivery

ConsoleMailer

Prints messages and stores the last message. Development and tests only.

SmtpMailer

Sends synchronously through SMTP and raises MailDeliveryError on failure:

from maglink import SmtpMailer

mailer = SmtpMailer(
    host="smtp.example.com",
    port=465,
    username="mailer@example.com",
    password=os.environ["SMTP_PASSWORD"],
    sender="mailer@example.com",
)

Implicit TLS is selected by default for port 465 and STARTTLS for port 587. Plain SMTP is rejected unless explicitly enabled.

HttpMailer

Submits structured JSON messages to a durable HTTP mail service such as MailDispatch. It sends the API key as a Bearer token and forwards the Idempotency-Key header.

Token stores

MemoryStore

Use for tests and single-process development. State is lost on restart and is not shared between workers.

SqliteStore

Use for small deployments that need persistence and multiple web processes:

store = SqliteStore("data/maglink.db")

For larger deployments, implement the TokenStore protocol with a shared transactional database or Redis. set_status() must be an atomic compare-and-set operation, and incr_rate() must be atomic.

Frontend request example

const request = await fetch("/api/auth/request", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {"Content-Type": "application/json"},
  body: JSON.stringify({email, captcha}),
});
const {user_code} = await request.json();
showDeviceCode(user_code);

const timer = setInterval(async () => {
  const response = await fetch("/api/auth/status");
  const result = await response.json();
  if (result.status === "approved") {
    clearInterval(timer);
    location.href = "/";
  }
}, 1500);

Production checklist

• Use HTTPS for the application and verify_url_base.
• Use a strong random Flask secret from the environment.
• Set SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE, SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY, and an appropriate SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE policy.
• Never use ConsoleMailer in production.
• Use a persistent/shared token store for multi-process deployments.
• Keep login eligibility in a server-side identity provider.
• Do not put the device code in the email.
• Do not make the confirmation GET endpoint change state.
• Trust proxy headers only behind correctly configured trusted proxies.
• Protect MailDispatch API keys and grant only the required scopes.
• Apply recipient policy and sender restrictions in MailDispatch.
• Monitor maglink.audit and mail delivery failures.

Agent skill

This repository includes an Agent Skills-compatible guide at:

.agents/skills/maglink-email-login/SKILL.md

It tells coding agents how to implement maglink email login using a MailDispatch API key without weakening the device-confirmation flow.

License

MIT. See the LICENSE file.