Build a User Management App with Ionic Vue

This tutorial demonstrates how to build a basic user management app. The app authenticates and identifies the user, stores their profile information in the database, and allows the user to log in, update their profile details, and upload a profile photo. The app uses:

Supabase Database - a Postgres database for storing your user data and Row Level Security so data is protected and users can only access their own information.
Supabase Auth - allow users to sign up and log in.
Supabase Storage - allow users to upload a profile photo.

Supabase User Management example

If you get stuck while working through this guide, refer to the full example on GitHub.

Project setup#

Before you start building you need to set up the Database and API. You can do this by starting a new Project in Supabase and then creating a "schema" inside the database.

Create a project#

Create a new project in the Supabase Dashboard.
Enter your project details.
Wait for the new database to launch.

Set up the database schema#

Now set up the database schema. You can use the "User Management Starter" quickstart in the SQL Editor, or you can copy/paste the SQL from below and run it.

Go to the SQL Editor page in the Dashboard.
Click User Management Starter under the Community > Quickstarts tab.
Click Run.

You can pull the database schema down to your local project by running the db pull command. Read the local development docs for detailed instructions.

1
supabase link --project-ref <project-id>
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# You can get <project-id> from your project's dashboard URL: https://supabase.com/dashboard/project/<project-id>
3
supabase db pull

Get API details#

Now that you've created some database tables, you are ready to insert data using the auto-generated API.

To do this, you need to get the Project URL and key from the project Connect dialog.

Read the API keys docs for a full explanation of all key types and their uses.

Changes to API keys

Supabase has changed the way keys work to improve project security and developer experience. You can read the full announcement on GitHub.

They will be deprecated by the end of 2026, and you should now use the publishable (sb_publishable_xxx) and secret (sb_secret_xxx) keys instead.

In most cases, you can get keys from the Project's Connect dialog, but if you want a specific key, you can find them in the Settings > API Keys section of the Dashboard.

For new keys, open the API Keys tab, if you don't have a publishable key already, click Create new API Keys, and copy the value from the Publishable key section for client-side operations. For server-side operations, copy the value from the Secret keys section.
For legacy keys, copy the anon key for client-side operations and the service_role key for server-side operations from the Legacy API Keys tab.

Building the app#

Start by building the Vue app from scratch.

Initialize an Ionic Vue app#

Use the Ionic CLI to initialize an app called supabase-ionic-vue:

1
npm install -g @ionic/cli
2
ionic start supabase-ionic-vue blank --type vue
3
cd supabase-ionic-vue

Install the only additional dependency: supabase-js

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npm install @supabase/supabase-js

Save the environment variables in a .env file, including the API URL and key that you copied earlier.

1
VUE_APP_SUPABASE_URL=YOUR_SUPABASE_URL
2
VUE_APP_SUPABASE_KEY=YOUR_SUPABASE_KEY

With the API credentials in place, create a helper file to initialize the Supabase client. These variables will be exposed on the browser, and that's fine since Supabase enables Row Level Security on Databases by default.

src/supabase.ts

1
import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
2
3
const supabaseUrl = process.env.VUE_APP_SUPABASE_URL
4
const supabaseKey = process.env.VUE_APP_SUPABASE_KEY
5
6
if (!supabaseUrl) {
7
  throw new Error(
8
    'Environment variable VUE_APP_SUPABASE_URL is not set. Please define it before starting the application.'
9
  )
10
}
11
12
if (!supabaseKey) {
13
  throw new Error(
14
    'Environment variable VUE_APP_SUPABASE_KEY is not set. Please define it before starting the application.'
15
  )
16
}
17
18
export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseKey)

View source

Create a Vue component to manage logins and sign ups that uses Magic Links, so users can sign in with their email without using passwords.

src/views/Login.vue

1
<template>
2
  <ion-page>
3
    <ion-header>
4
      <ion-toolbar>
5
        <ion-title>Login</ion-title>
6
      </ion-toolbar>
7
    </ion-header>
8
9
    <ion-content>
10
      <div class="ion-padding">
11
        <h1>Supabase + Ionic Vue</h1>
12
        <p>Sign in via magic link with your email below</p>
13
      </div>
14
      <ion-list inset="true">
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        <form @submit.prevent="handleLogin">
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          <ion-item>
17
            <ion-input
18
              v-model="email"
19
              label="Email"
20
              label-placement="stacked"
21
              name="email"
22
              autocomplete="email"
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              type="email"
24
            ></ion-input>
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          </ion-item>
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          <div class="ion-text-center">
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            <ion-button type="submit" fill="clear">Login</ion-button>
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          </div>
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        </form>
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      </ion-list>
31
    </ion-content>
32
  </ion-page>
33
</template>
34
35
<script setup lang="ts">
36
import { supabase } from '../supabase';
37
import {
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  IonContent,
39
  IonHeader,
40
  IonPage,
41
  IonTitle,
42
  IonToolbar,
43
  IonList,
44
  IonItem,
45
  IonInput,
46
  IonButton,
47
  toastController,
48
  loadingController,
49
} from '@ionic/vue';
50
import { ref } from 'vue';
51
52
const email = ref('');
53
54
const handleLogin = async () => {
55
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
56
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
57
58
  try {
59
    await loader.present();
60
    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signInWithOtp({ email: email.value });
61
62
    if (error) throw error;
63
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    toast.message = 'Check your email for the login link!';
65
    await toast.present();
66
  } catch (error: any) {
67
    toast.message = error.error_description || error.message;
68
    await toast.present();
69
  } finally {
70
    await loader.dismiss();
71
  }
72
};
73
</script>

View source

Account page#

After a user has signed in, let them edit their profile details and manage their account with a new component called Account.vue.

src/views/Account.vue

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<template>
2
  <ion-page>
3
    <ion-header>
4
      <ion-toolbar>
5
        <ion-title>Account</ion-title>
6
      </ion-toolbar>
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    </ion-header>
8
9
    <ion-content>
10
11
      // ...
12
13
      <form @submit.prevent="updateProfile">
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        <ion-item>
15
          <ion-label>
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            <p>Email</p>
17
            <p>{{ email }}</p>
18
          </ion-label>
19
        </ion-item>
20
21
        <ion-item>
22
          <ion-input
23
            type="text"
24
            name="username"
25
            label="Name"
26
            label-placement="stacked"
27
            v-model="profile.username"
28
          ></ion-input>
29
        </ion-item>
30
31
        <ion-item>
32
          <ion-input
33
            type="text"
34
            name="website"
35
            label="Website"
36
            label-placement="stacked"
37
            v-model="profile.website"
38
          ></ion-input>
39
        </ion-item>
40
        <div class="ion-text-center">
41
          <ion-button fill="clear" type="submit">Update Profile</ion-button>
42
        </div>
43
      </form>
44
45
      <div class="ion-text-center">
46
        <ion-button fill="clear" @click="signOut">Log Out</ion-button>
47
      </div>
48
    </ion-content>
49
  </ion-page>
50
</template>
51
52
<script setup lang="ts">
53
import { supabase } from '@/supabase';
54
import {
55
  IonContent,
56
  IonHeader,
57
  IonPage,
58
  IonTitle,
59
  IonToolbar,
60
  toastController,
61
  loadingController,
62
  IonInput,
63
  IonItem,
64
  IonButton,
65
  IonLabel,
66
  useIonRouter,
67
} from '@ionic/vue';
68
import { onMounted, ref } from 'vue';
69
import Avatar from '../components/Avatar.vue';
70
71
// ...
72
73
const router = useIonRouter();
74
const email = ref('');
75
76
const profile = ref({
77
  username: '',
78
  website: '',
79
  avatar_url: '',
80
});
81
82
async function getProfile() {
83
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
84
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
85
  await loader.present();
86
  try {
87
    const { data: { claims } } = await supabase.auth.getClaims();
88
    if (!claims) throw new Error('No user logged in');
89
90
    email.value = (claims.email as string) ?? '';
91
92
    const { data, error, status } = await supabase
93
      .from('profiles')
94
      .select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
95
      .eq('id', claims.sub)
96
      .single();
97
98
    if (error && status !== 406) throw error;
99
100
    if (data) {
101
      profile.value = {
102
        username: data.username,
103
        website: data.website,
104
        avatar_url: data.avatar_url,
105
      };
106
    }
107
  } catch (error: any) {
108
    toast.message = error.message;
109
    await toast.present();
110
  } finally {
111
    await loader.dismiss();
112
  }
113
}
114
115
const updateProfile = async () => {
116
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
117
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
118
  try {
119
    await loader.present();
120
    const { data: { claims } } = await supabase.auth.getClaims();
121
    if (!claims) throw new Error('No user logged in');
122
123
    const updates = {
124
      id: claims.sub,
125
      ...profile.value,
126
      updated_at: new Date(),
127
    };
128
129
    const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates);
130
131
    if (error) throw error;
132
  } catch (error: any) {
133
    toast.message = error.message;
134
    await toast.present();
135
  } finally {
136
    await loader.dismiss();
137
  }
138
};
139
140
async function signOut() {
141
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
142
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
143
  await loader.present();
144
  try {
145
    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signOut();
146
    if (error) throw error;
147
    router.push('/', 'forward', 'replace');
148
  } catch (error: any) {
149
    toast.message = error.message;
150
    await toast.present();
151
  } finally {
152
    await loader.dismiss();
153
  }
154
}
155
156
onMounted(() => {
157
  getProfile();
158
});
159
</script>

View source

Launch!#

With all the components in place, update App.vue and the app routes:

The Supabase Auth SDK contains three different functions for authenticating user access to applications:

Summary of the methods#

Use getClaims to protect pages and user data. It reads the access token from storage and verifies it. Locally via the WebCrypto API and a cached JWKS endpoint when the project uses asymmetric signing keys (the default for new projects), or by calling getUser solely to validate when symmetric keys are in use. The returned claims always come from decoding the JWT, not from a user lookup.
getUser makes a network call to the project's Auth instance to get the user record, which includes the most up-to-date information about the user at the cost of a network call.
getSession when you need the raw session (the access token, refresh token, and expiry). For example to forward the access token to another service. The session is loaded directly from local storage and isn't re-validated against the Auth server, so the embedded user object shouldn't be trusted on its own when storage is shared with the client (cookies, request headers). To verify identity, validate the access token with getClaims, or call getUser for a fresh, server-confirmed user record.

In summary: use getClaims to verify identity (typically for protecting pages and data), getUser when you need an up-to-date user record from the Auth server, and getSession when you need the access or refresh token directly, but don't rely on the user object it returns for authorization decisions.

src/router/index.ts

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import { createRouter, createWebHistory } from '@ionic/vue-router'
2
import { RouteRecordRaw } from 'vue-router'
3
import LoginPage from '../views/Login.vue'
4
import AccountPage from '../views/Account.vue'
5
import { supabase } from '../supabase'
6
7
const routes: Array<RouteRecordRaw> = [
8
  {
9
    path: '/',
10
    name: 'Login',
11
    component: LoginPage,
12
  },
13
  {
14
    path: '/account',
15
    name: 'Account',
16
    component: AccountPage,
17
  },
18
]
19
20
const router = createRouter({
21
  history: createWebHistory(process.env.BASE_URL),
22
  routes,
23
})
24
25
router.beforeEach(async (to, _from, next) => {
26
  const { data } = await supabase.auth.getClaims()
27
  const claims = data?.claims
28
29
  if (to.path === '/account' && !claims) {
30
    next('/')
31
    return
32
  }
33
34
  if (to.path === '/' && claims) {
35
    next('/account')
36
    return
37
  }
38
39
  next()
40
})
41
42
export default router

View source

src/App.vue

1
<template>
2
  <ion-app>
3
    <ion-router-outlet />
4
  </ion-app>
5
</template>
6
7
<script setup lang="ts">
8
import { IonApp, IonRouterOutlet } from '@ionic/vue';
9
import { onUnmounted } from 'vue';
10
import router from './router';
11
import { supabase } from './supabase';
12
13
async function syncAuthRedirect() {
14
  const { data } = await supabase.auth.getClaims();
15
  const claims = data?.claims;
16
  const path = router.currentRoute.value.path;
17
18
  if (claims && path === '/') {
19
    router.replace('/account');
20
  } else if (!claims && path === '/account') {
21
    router.replace('/');
22
  }
23
}
24
25
const {
26
  data: { subscription },
27
} = supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange(() => {
28
  syncAuthRedirect();
29
});
30
31
onUnmounted(() => {
32
  subscription.unsubscribe();
33
});
34
</script>

View source

Once that's done, run this in a terminal window:

1
ionic serve

And then open the browser to localhost:8100 and you should see the completed app.

Supabase Ionic Vue

Bonus: Profile photos#

Every Supabase project is configured with Storage for managing large files like photos and videos.

First install two packages to interact with the user's camera.

1
npm install @ionic/pwa-elements @capacitor/camera

Capacitor is a cross-platform native runtime from Ionic that enables you to deploy web apps to app stores and provides access to native device API.

Ionic PWA elements is a companion package that polyfills certain browser APIs that provide no user interface with custom Ionic UI.

With those packages installed, update main.ts to include an additional bootstrapping call for the Ionic PWA Elements.

src/main.ts

1
import { createApp } from 'vue'
2
import App from './App.vue'
3
import router from './router'
4
5
import { IonicVue } from '@ionic/vue'
6
/* Core CSS required for Ionic components to work properly */
7
import '@ionic/vue/css/ionic.bundle.css'
8
9
/* Theme variables */
10
import './theme/variables.css'
11
12
import { defineCustomElements } from '@ionic/pwa-elements/loader'
13
defineCustomElements(window)
14
const app = createApp(App).use(IonicVue).use(router)
15
16
router.isReady().then(() => {
17
  app.mount('#app')
18
})

View source

Then create an AvatarComponent.

src/components/Avatar.vue

1
<template>
2
  <div class="avatar">
3
    <div class="avatar_wrapper" @click="uploadAvatar">
4
      <img v-if="avatarUrl" :src="avatarUrl" />
5
      <ion-icon v-else :icon="person" class="no-avatar"></ion-icon>
6
    </div>
7
  </div>
8
</template>
9
10
<script setup lang="ts">
11
import { ref, toRef, watch } from 'vue';
12
import { supabase } from '../supabase';
13
import { Camera, CameraResultType } from '@capacitor/camera';
14
import { IonIcon } from '@ionic/vue';
15
import { person } from 'ionicons/icons';
16
17
const props = defineProps<{ path?: string }>();
18
const emit = defineEmits<{
19
  upload: [];
20
  'update:path': [value: string];
21
}>();
22
23
const path = toRef(props, 'path');
24
const avatarUrl = ref('');
25
26
const downloadImage = async () => {
27
  try {
28
    const { data, error } = await supabase.storage
29
      .from('avatars')
30
      .download(path.value!);
31
    if (error) throw error;
32
    avatarUrl.value = URL.createObjectURL(data!);
33
  } catch (error: any) {
34
    console.error('Error downloading image: ', error.message);
35
  }
36
};
37
38
const uploadAvatar = async () => {
39
  try {
40
    const photo = await Camera.getPhoto({
41
      resultType: CameraResultType.DataUrl,
42
    });
43
44
    if (photo.dataUrl) {
45
      const file = await fetch(photo.dataUrl)
46
        .then((res) => res.blob())
47
        .then(
48
          (blob) =>
49
            new File([blob], 'my-file', { type: `image/${photo.format}` })
50
        );
51
52
      const fileName = `${Math.random()}-${new Date().getTime()}.${
53
        photo.format
54
      }`;
55
      const { error: uploadError } = await supabase.storage
56
        .from('avatars')
57
        .upload(fileName, file);
58
      if (uploadError) {
59
        throw uploadError;
60
      }
61
      emit('update:path', fileName);
62
      emit('upload');
63
    }
64
  } catch (error) {
65
    console.log(error);
66
  }
67
};
68
69
watch(path, () => {
70
  if (path.value) downloadImage();
71
});
72
</script>
73
74
<style>
75
.avatar {
76
  display: block;
77
  margin: auto;
78
  min-height: 150px;
79
}
80
.avatar .avatar_wrapper {
81
  margin: 16px auto 16px;
82
  border-radius: 50%;
83
  overflow: hidden;
84
  height: 150px;
85
  aspect-ratio: 1;
86
  background: var(--ion-color-step-50);
87
  border: thick solid var(--ion-color-step-200);
88
}
89
.avatar .avatar_wrapper:hover {
90
  cursor: pointer;
91
}
92
.avatar .avatar_wrapper ion-icon.no-avatar {
93
  width: 100%;
94
  height: 115%;
95
}
96
.avatar img {
97
  display: block;
98
  object-fit: cover;
99
  width: 100%;
100
  height: 100%;
101
}
102
</style>

View source

And then add the widget to the Account page:

src/views/Account.vue

1
<template>
2
  <ion-page>
3
    <ion-header>
4
      <ion-toolbar>
5
        <ion-title>Account</ion-title>
6
      </ion-toolbar>
7
    </ion-header>
8
9
    <ion-content>
10
      <avatar v-model:path="profile.avatar_url" @upload="updateProfile"></avatar>
11
      <form @submit.prevent="updateProfile">
12
        <ion-item>
13
          <ion-label>
14
            <p>Email</p>
15
            <p>{{ email }}</p>
16
          </ion-label>
17
        </ion-item>
18
19
        <ion-item>
20
          <ion-input
21
            type="text"
22
            name="username"
23
            label="Name"
24
            label-placement="stacked"
25
            v-model="profile.username"
26
          ></ion-input>
27
        </ion-item>
28
29
        <ion-item>
30
          <ion-input
31
            type="text"
32
            name="website"
33
            label="Website"
34
            label-placement="stacked"
35
            v-model="profile.website"
36
          ></ion-input>
37
        </ion-item>
38
        <div class="ion-text-center">
39
          <ion-button fill="clear" type="submit">Update Profile</ion-button>
40
        </div>
41
      </form>
42
43
      <div class="ion-text-center">
44
        <ion-button fill="clear" @click="signOut">Log Out</ion-button>
45
      </div>
46
    </ion-content>
47
  </ion-page>
48
</template>
49
50
<script setup lang="ts">
51
import { supabase } from '@/supabase';
52
import {
53
  IonContent,
54
  IonHeader,
55
  IonPage,
56
  IonTitle,
57
  IonToolbar,
58
  toastController,
59
  loadingController,
60
  IonInput,
61
  IonItem,
62
  IonButton,
63
  IonLabel,
64
  useIonRouter,
65
} from '@ionic/vue';
66
import { onMounted, ref } from 'vue';
67
import Avatar from '../components/Avatar.vue';
68
69
const router = useIonRouter();
70
const email = ref('');
71
72
const profile = ref({
73
  username: '',
74
  website: '',
75
  avatar_url: '',
76
});
77
78
async function getProfile() {
79
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
80
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
81
  await loader.present();
82
  try {
83
    const { data: { claims } } = await supabase.auth.getClaims();
84
    if (!claims) throw new Error('No user logged in');
85
86
    email.value = (claims.email as string) ?? '';
87
88
    const { data, error, status } = await supabase
89
      .from('profiles')
90
      .select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
91
      .eq('id', claims.sub)
92
      .single();
93
94
    if (error && status !== 406) throw error;
95
96
    if (data) {
97
      profile.value = {
98
        username: data.username,
99
        website: data.website,
100
        avatar_url: data.avatar_url,
101
      };
102
    }
103
  } catch (error: any) {
104
    toast.message = error.message;
105
    await toast.present();
106
  } finally {
107
    await loader.dismiss();
108
  }
109
}
110
111
const updateProfile = async () => {
112
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
113
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
114
  try {
115
    await loader.present();
116
    const { data: { claims } } = await supabase.auth.getClaims();
117
    if (!claims) throw new Error('No user logged in');
118
119
    const updates = {
120
      id: claims.sub,
121
      ...profile.value,
122
      updated_at: new Date(),
123
    };
124
125
    const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates);
126
127
    if (error) throw error;
128
  } catch (error: any) {
129
    toast.message = error.message;
130
    await toast.present();
131
  } finally {
132
    await loader.dismiss();
133
  }
134
};
135
136
async function signOut() {
137
  const loader = await loadingController.create({});
138
  const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 });
139
  await loader.present();
140
  try {
141
    const { error } = await supabase.auth.signOut();
142
    if (error) throw error;
143
    router.push('/', 'forward', 'replace');
144
  } catch (error: any) {
145
    toast.message = error.message;
146
    await toast.present();
147
  } finally {
148
    await loader.dismiss();
149
  }
150
}
151
152
onMounted(() => {
153
  getProfile();
154
});
155
</script>

View source

At this stage you have a fully functional application!

Build a User Management App with Ionic Vue

Project setup#

Create a project#

Set up the database schema#

Get API details#

Changes to API keys

Building the app#

Initialize an Ionic Vue app#

src/supabase.ts

src/views/Login.vue

Account page#

src/views/Account.vue

Launch!#

Summary of the methods#

src/router/index.ts

src/App.vue

Bonus: Profile photos#

Create an upload widget#

src/main.ts

src/components/Avatar.vue

Add the new widget#

src/views/Account.vue

Is this helpful?

AI Tools

Build a User Management App with Ionic Vue

Project setup#

Create a project#

Set up the database schema#

Get API details#

Changes to API keys

Building the app#

Initialize an Ionic Vue app#

src/supabase.ts

Set up a login route#

src/views/Login.vue

Account page#

src/views/Account.vue

Launch!#

Summary of the methods#

src/router/index.ts

src/App.vue

Bonus: Profile photos#

Create an upload widget#

src/main.ts

src/components/Avatar.vue

Add the new widget#

src/views/Account.vue

Is this helpful?

AI Tools