Firebase Authentication with WhatsApp Chatbot using React Native

Integrating Firebase Authentication with WhatsApp Chatbot: A Guide to Passwordless Sign-In and React Native

If you want to add an authentication feature to a WhatsApp chatbot using Firebase, you are in the right place. In this blog post, we will go through the step-by-step process of integrating Firebase Authentication with a WhatsApp Chatbot using React Native.

Firebase is a powerful backend as a service (BaaS) platform offering various mobile and web application development tools. Firebase Authentication is a simple, easy-to-use authentication service that enables developers to add authentication to their apps quickly and securely.

To get started, let’s assume that you have already set up a React Native project and have installed the necessary dependencies. If you have not, please refer to the official documentation on how to set up a React Native project.

Step 1: Set up the Firebase project

First, you need to create a Firebase project and enable Firebase Authentication. Follow the steps below:

  1. Sign in to the Firebase console and create a new project.
  2. Click on the “Authentication” tab on the left side of the screen.
  3. Click on the “Get Started” button and choose the authentication method you want to use (e.g., email and password).
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the authentication method.
  5. Once you have set up the authentication method, go to the “Project settings” page and click on the “Service accounts” tab.
  6. Click the “Generate new private key” button and download the JSON file.
  7. Save the JSON file in your React Native project’s root directory.
Step 2: Configure Firebase in React Native

Next, you need to install the Firebase SDK and configure it in your React Native project. Follow the steps below:

  1. Install the Firebase SDK using npm:
npm install firebase

2. Import the Firebase SDK into your React Native project:

import firebase from 'firebase/app';
import 'firebase/auth';
import 'firebase/firestore';
import 'firebase/database';
3. Initialize Firebase in your React Native project:
const firebaseConfig = {
apiKey: '<your-api-key>',
authDomain: '<your-auth-domain>',
databaseURL: '<your-database-url>',
projectId: '<your-project-id>',
storageBucket: '<your-storage-bucket>',
messagingSenderId: '<your-messaging-sender-id>',
appId: '<your-app-id>',
};

if (!firebase.apps.length) {
firebase.initializeApp(firebaseConfig);
}
Step 3: Set up WhatsApp Chatbot

Now that Firebase is configured, let’s set up a WhatsApp Chatbot. Follow the steps below:

  1. Sign up for Twilio and create a new WhatsApp Sandbox.
  2. Install the Twilio package using npm:
npm install twilio

3. Create a new Twilio client and send a message to a user:

const accountSid = '<your-account-sid>';
const authToken = '<your-auth-token>';
const client = require('twilio')(accountSid, authToken);

client.messages.create({
from: 'whatsapp:+14155238886',
to: 'whatsapp:<user-phone-number>',
body: 'Hello from Twilio!'
}).then(message => console.log(message.sid));
Step 4: Implement Firebase Authentication in WhatsApp Chatbot

Finally, let’s implement Firebase Authentication in the WhatsApp Chatbot. Follow the steps below:

  1. Create a Firebase Authentication function that generates an email sign-in link:
firebase.auth().sendSignInLinkToEmail(email, actionCodeSettings)
.then(() => {
window.localStorage.setItem('emailForSignIn', email);
})
.catch((error) => {
console.error(error);
});

2. Create a WhatsApp chatbot

Now that we have created a Firebase function to generate the email sign-in link, we can integrate it with a WhatsApp chatbot. The chatbot will interact with the user and collect their email address, then call the Firebase function to generate the link and send it to the user’s email.

We can use Twilio’s API to create a WhatsApp chatbot. Here are the steps to set it up:

  • Create a Twilio account if you don’t have one already
  • Create a new Twilio project
  • Buy a WhatsApp-enabled Twilio phone number
  • Install the Twilio Node.js helper library

Once we have set up the Twilio API, we can create a Node.js server that listens for incoming WhatsApp messages and responds with the authentication link.

Here’s an example code snippet to get you started:

const express = require('express');
const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const twilio = require('twilio');

const app = express();
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));

app.post('/whatsapp', (req, res) => {
const twiml = new twilio.twiml.MessagingResponse();
const userMessage = req.body.Body;

// Prompt user for their email address
twiml.message('Please enter your email address');

// Send the TwiML response
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': 'text/xml' });
res.end(twiml.toString());
});

app.listen(3000, () => {
console.log('Listening on port 3000');
});

This code creates an Express.js server that listens for incoming messages on the /whatsapp route. When a message is received, it responds with a prompt for the user to enter their email address.

3. Integrate the Firebase function with the WhatsApp chatbot Now that we have a working WhatsApp chatbot, we can integrate it with the Firebase function to generate the email sign-in link.

Here’s an updated version of the code snippet that prompts the user for their email address and generates the sign-in link:

app.post('/whatsapp', (req, res) => {
const twiml = new twilio.twiml.MessagingResponse();
const userMessage = req.body.Body;

if (!userMessage.includes('@')) {
// Prompt user for their email address
twiml.message('Please enter your email address');
} else {
// Generate Firebase email sign-in link
const actionCodeSettings = {
url: 'https://your-app.firebaseapp.com/completeSignUp?cartId=1234',
handleCodeInApp: true,
};
admin
.auth()
.generateSignInWithEmailLink(userMessage, actionCodeSettings)
.then((link) => {
// Send the sign-in link to the user's email
const mailOptions = {
from: 'your-email@example.com',
to: userMessage,
subject: 'Your sign-in link',
text: `Use this link to sign in: ${link}`,
};
transporter.sendMail(mailOptions, (error, info) => {
if (error) {
console.log(error);
twiml.message('There was an error sending the email');
} else {
console.log('Email sent: ' + info.response);
twiml.message('Please check your email for the sign-in link');
}
});
})
.catch((error) => {
console.log(error);
twiml.message('There was an error generating the sign-in link');
});
}

// Send the TwiML response
res.writeHead(200, { 'Content

Once you have created the Firebase Authentication function, the next step is to integrate it with your WhatsApp chatbot using React Native. Here are the steps to follow:

Install the necessary dependencies: You will need to install the Firebase SDK and the React Native Firebase package using npm or yarn. You can do this by running the following command in your project directory:

npm install --save firebase react-native-firebase

Import Firebase: In your React Native component, import the Firebase library by adding the following code at the top of the file:

import firebase from 'react-native-firebase';

Collect user information: In your WhatsApp chatbot, collect the user’s email or phone number and pass it to the Firebase Authentication function to create a corresponding user account.

const auth = firebase.auth();

// Collect user information
const email = 'user@example.com';

// Create email sign-in link
auth.sendSignInLinkToEmail(email, actionCodeSettings)
.then(() => {
// Email sent.
console.log('Email sent to user');
})
.catch((error) => {
console.log('Error sending email:', error);
});

Handle the sign-in link: Once the email sign-in link is generated, it needs to be delivered to the user’s email inbox. Once the user clicks on the link, it should redirect them to your chatbot, where you can handle the sign-in process.

// Handle sign-in link
auth.onAuthStateChanged((user) => {
if (user && user.emailVerified) {
// User is signed in.
console.log('User signed in successfully');
} else {
// No user is signed in.
console.log('No user is signed in');
}
});

Test the chatbot: Finally, test your chatbot to ensure that the authentication process is working correctly. You should be able to authenticate new users and create corresponding user accounts in Firebase.

In conclusion, integrating Firebase Authentication with a WhatsApp chatbot using React Native is a powerful way to secure your chatbot and protect user data. By following the steps outlined in this blog, you can create a secure and reliable authentication system for your chatbot users.