Laravel Turbo + Auth0 SDK: Build Fast, Secure, and Seamless Laravel Apps

Modern web apps demand two things:
✅ Lightning-fast user experience
✅ Rock-solid authentication

Laravel Turbo delivers the speed. Auth0 delivers the security. Together, they let you build apps that feel like SPAs but behave like traditional Laravel — with enterprise-grade identity baked in.

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to:

  • Set up Laravel Turbo for SPA-like UX
  • Integrate Auth0 using their PHP SDK
  • Handle login, callback, and user sessions
  • Use Turbo Streams for dynamic UI updates
  • Protect routes with middleware

Let’s get started.


🧠 What Is Laravel Turbo?

Laravel Turbo is a wrapper around Hotwired Turbo, originally built for Rails. It gives Laravel apps:

  • Turbo Drive: SPA-like navigation without full reloads
  • Turbo Streams: Real-time DOM updates via Blade
  • Turbo Frames: Partial page rendering

It’s perfect for apps that want speed without the complexity of Vue or React.


🔐 What Is Auth0?

Auth0 is a flexible identity platform that handles:

  • Authentication (email/password, social, enterprise)
  • Authorization (roles, scopes)
  • MFA, SSO, and OAuth2
  • Secure token management

The Auth0 PHP SDK lets you integrate these features into Laravel with minimal setup.


🧱 Step 1: Install Laravel Turbo

Install the package:

composer require hotwired/turbo-laravel

Publish assets:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=turbo-assets

Include Turbo in your layout:

<!-- resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php -->
<script src="{{ asset('vendor/turbo/turbo.js') }}"></script>

Now your app supports Turbo Drive and Turbo Streams.


🔧 Step 2: Install Auth0 PHP SDK

Install the SDK:

composer require auth0/auth0-php

Add your credentials to .env:

AUTH0_DOMAIN=your-domain.auth0.com
AUTH0_CLIENT_ID=your-client-id
AUTH0_CLIENT_SECRET=your-client-secret
AUTH0_REDIRECT_URI=https://your-app.com/callback

Create a singleton binding:

use Auth0\SDK\Auth0;

app()->singleton(Auth0::class, function () {
    return new Auth0([
        'domain' => env('AUTH0_DOMAIN'),
        'clientId' => env('AUTH0_CLIENT_ID'),
        'clientSecret' => env('AUTH0_CLIENT_SECRET'),
        'redirectUri' => env('AUTH0_REDIRECT_URI'),
        'cookieSecret' => env('APP_KEY'),
    ]);
});

This makes Auth0 available via dependency injection.


🔁 Step 3: Create Login & Callback Flow

Create an AuthController:

use Auth0\SDK\Auth0;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;

class AuthController extends Controller
{
    public function login(Auth0 $auth0)
    {
        return redirect()->away($auth0->login());
    }

    public function callback(Auth0 $auth0)
    {
        $auth0->exchange(); // Handles token exchange
        $user = $auth0->getUser();

        // Create or retrieve Laravel user
        $laravelUser = User::firstOrCreate([
            'email' => $user['email'],
        ], [
            'name' => $user['name'] ?? 'Guest',
        ]);

        Auth::login($laravelUser);

        return redirect()->intended('/');
    }
}

Add routes:

Route::get('/login', [AuthController::class, 'login']);
Route::get('/callback', [AuthController::class, 'callback']);

⚡ Step 4: Turbo + Auth0 UX Flow

Turbo Drive makes navigation seamless. You can wrap login links like this:

<a href="/login" data-turbo-action="replace">Login with Auth0</a>

After login, use Turbo Streams to update the UI:

@turboStream(['target' => 'user-panel', 'action' => 'replace'])
    <div id="user-panel">
        Welcome, {{ Auth::user()->name }}
    </div>
@endTurboStream

This replaces the #user-panel div without a full page reload.


🧩 Step 5: Protect Routes with Middleware

Create a middleware to ensure users are authenticated:

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    if (!Auth::check()) {
        return redirect('/login');
    }

    return $next($request);
}

Register it in Kernel.php and apply it to protected routes:

Route::middleware('auth.custom')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', fn () => view('dashboard'));
});

🛡️ Security Best Practices

  • Always validate tokens server-side
  • Use HTTPS for all redirects and callbacks
  • Enable MFA in Auth0 dashboard
  • Rotate secrets regularly
  • Log out users securely using $auth0->logout()

🧭 Final Thoughts

Laravel Turbo gives you speed. Auth0 gives you security. Together, they let you build apps that:

  • Feel like SPAs
  • Are easy to maintain
  • Scale securely across users and roles

Whether you’re building a SaaS dashboard, internal tool, or public-facing app — this combo is a powerful foundation.

Fast UX. Secure Auth. Laravel just leveled up.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *