How to implement Google login in Laravel

A detailed guide on how to integrate Google login functionality in Laravel using the Laravel Socialite package. This article will guide you through setting up Google API and configuring it in Laravel.

In this article, we will explore how to integrate Google login functionality in a Laravel application. We will use Laravel Socialite to handle OAuth authentication and fetch user information from Google. This process includes installing Socialite, setting up the Google API, and configuring routes and controllers to handle the authentication process.

Steps to implement:

1. Install Laravel Socialite Laravel Socialite is a package that supports OAuth login with providers such as Google, Facebook, GitHub, etc.

   Use Composer to install Socialite:

   composer require laravel/socialite
   

2. Configure Google API To use Google's OAuth, you need to create a project on the Google Developer Console. The steps include:

   • Create a new project
   • Set up the OAuth consent screen
   • Create OAuth credentials
   • Get the Client ID and Client Secret

3. Configure .env After obtaining the Client ID and Client Secret from Google Developer Console, add them to your Laravel project’s .env file:

   GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id
   GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret
   GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URL=http://your-domain.com/auth/google/callback
   

4. Configure services.php Next, open the config/services.php file and add the Google configuration:

   'google' => [
       'client_id' => env('GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID'),
       'client_secret' => env('GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET'),
       'redirect' => env('GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URL'),
   ],
   

5. Create routes In the routes/web.php file, add routes to allow users to redirect to Google for login:

   use Laravel\Socialite\Facades\Socialite;
   
   Route::get('auth/google', function () {
       return Socialite::driver('google')->redirect();
   });
   
   Route::get('auth/google/callback', function () {
       $user = Socialite::driver('google')->user();
   
       // Handle login or user creation
       $existingUser = User::where('email', $user->getEmail())->first();
   
       if ($existingUser) {
           // Log in the user if they exist
           Auth::login($existingUser);
       } else {
           // Create a new user
           $newUser = User::create([
               'name' => $user->getName(),
               'email' => $user->getEmail(),
               'google_id' => $user->getId(),
               // Optionally, add other fields if needed
           ]);
   
           Auth::login($newUser);
       }
   
       return redirect('/home');
   });
   

6. Add google_id column to the users table To store the user's Google ID, you need to add a google_id column to the users table. Create a migration:

   php artisan make:migration add_google_id_to_users_table --table=users
   

   Then, in the migration file, add the following:

   public function up()
   {
       Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
           $table->string('google_id')->nullable();
       });
   }
   
   public function down()
   {
       Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
           $table->dropColumn('google_id');
       });
   }
   

   Run the migration:

   php artisan migrate
   

System requirements:

• Laravel version 8.x or later
• Composer to manage packages
• Google Developer Console account to create OAuth credentials

How to install the libraries:

• Install Laravel Socialite: composer require laravel/socialite
• Set up a Google API account from Google Developer Console

Tips:

• When deploying in a production environment, ensure that the GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URL points to a valid domain (use HTTPS).
• Use a library like Laravel Debugbar to easily debug any issues during development.