To force AAL2 (Authenticator Assurance Level 2) for a user with a custom login using Ory Actions webhooks, you need to implement a step-up authentication flow. Here's how you can do it: ## Using Webhooks to Enforce AAL2 You can use Ory Actions webhooks to enforce AAL2 during the login process. This approach allows you to implement custom logic that determines when a user should be required to complete a second authentication factor. ### 1. Configure a Web Hook Action First, you need to set up a webhook action for the login flow:

yaml selfservice:   flows:     login:       after:         hooks:         - hook: web_hook           config:             url: <https://your-webhook-endpoint.com>             auth:               type: api_key               config:                 name: Authorization                 value: your-api-key                 in: header

### 2. Implement the Webhook Logic In your webhook implementation, you can check conditions to determine if the user should be required to complete a second factor authentication. If AAL2 is required, you can redirect the user to a login flow with the

aal=aal2

parameter. ### 3. Trigger a Step-up Authentication Flow To force AAL2, you can redirect the user to a new login flow with the

aal

parameter set to `aal2`:

/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2

This will initiate a login flow that requires the user to complete a second authentication factor [Step-up authentication](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/mfa/step-up-authentication). ### 4. Handle the AAL2 Flow When a user is redirected to the AAL2 flow, they will need to complete their configured second factor authentication method (TOTP, WebAuthn, etc.). You can detect this requirement in your UI by checking the

requested_aal

property in the login flow:

javascript if (flow.requested_aal === 'aal2') {   // Show second factor authentication UI }

## Alternative: Using Built-in Actions Instead of using a custom webhook, you can also use Ory's built-in actions to enforce certain behaviors: 1. You can require verified email addresses for login using the

require_verified_address

action:

yaml selfservice:   flows:     login:       after:         hooks:         - hook: require_verified_address

This will only allow users with verified email addresses to sign in [Allow login only with verified email](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/self-service/flows/verify-email-account-activation#allow-login-only-with-verified-email). ## Checking AAL Level in Your Application In your application, you can check if a user has completed AAL2 authentication by examining the session:

javascript sdk   .toSession()   .then(({ data: session }) => {     if (session.authenticator_assurance_level === 'aal2') {       // User has completed second factor authentication     } else {       // Redirect to AAL2 login flow       navigate("/login?aal=aal2", { replace: true })     }   })   .catch((err) => {     // Handle error     if (err.response?.data.error?.id === "session_aal2_required") {       navigate("/login?aal=aal2", { replace: true })     }   })

This approach allows you to dynamically enforce AAL2 for specific operations in your application [Two-factor authentication](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/bring-your-own-ui/custom-ui-advanced-integration#two-factor-authentication). Remember that to use AAL2, you need to have configured at least one second factor authentication method (TOTP, WebAuthn, or SMS/Email codes) in your Ory project.

I'll help you implement the webhook logic for enforcing AAL2 using Go. This webhook would be triggered after a login attempt and could determine whether a user needs to complete a second authentication factor. Here's a basic implementation of a webhook in Go that checks certain conditions and enforces AAL2 when needed:

go package main  import (  "encoding/json"  "log"  "net/http" )  // LoginHookRequest represents the data sent by Ory Kratos to the webhook type LoginHookRequest struct {  Flow struct {   ID string `json:"id"`  } `json:"flow"`  Identity struct {   ID     string `json:"id"`   Traits struct {    Email string `json:"email"`    // Add other traits you need to check   } `json:"traits"`  } `json:"identity"`  Session struct {   AuthenticatorAssuranceLevel string `json:"authenticator_assurance_level"`  } `json:"session"` }  // HookResponse is the response sent back to Ory Kratos type HookResponse struct {  Error *ErrorResponse `json:"error,omitempty"`  // For redirects  ContinueWith []ContinueWith `json:"continue_with,omitempty"` }  type ErrorResponse struct {  Message string `json:"message"` }  type ContinueWith struct {  Action            string `json:"action"`  RedirectBrowserTo string `json:"redirect_browser_to"` }  func main() {  http.HandleFunc("/login-hook", handleLoginHook)  log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)) }  func handleLoginHook(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {  // Parse the request  var hookReq LoginHookRequest  if err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&hookReq); err != nil {   http.Error(w, err.Error(), http.StatusBadRequest)   return  }   // Check if the user needs AAL2 based on your criteria  needsAAL2 := shouldRequireAAL2(hookReq)   // If AAL2 is needed and the current session doesn't have it  if needsAAL2 && hookReq.Session.AuthenticatorAssuranceLevel != "aal2" {   // Create a response that redirects to the AAL2 login flow   response := HookResponse{    ContinueWith: []ContinueWith{     {      Action:            "redirect_browser_to",      RedirectBrowserTo: "<https://your-domain.com/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2>",     },    },   }      w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")   json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(response)   return  }   // If no AAL2 is needed or the user already has AAL2, return an empty response  // to allow the flow to continue normally  w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")  json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(HookResponse{}) }  // shouldRequireAAL2 determines if a user should be required to use 2FA // based on your business logic func shouldRequireAAL2(req LoginHookRequest) bool {  // Example conditions - customize based on your requirements:    // 1. Check if the user's email domain requires higher security  if isHighSecurityDomain(req.Identity.Traits.Email) {   return true  }    // 2. Check if the user is an admin or has special privileges  // This would require additional data in your identity schema    // 3. Check if the user is accessing from a new location or device  // This would require additional context from the request    // Default to not requiring AAL2  return false }  // Example function to check if an email domain requires higher security func isHighSecurityDomain(email string) bool {  // Check for domains that require higher security  // For example, admin domains or internal company domains  highSecurityDomains := []string{"<http://admin.example.com|admin.example.com>", "<http://internal.company.com|internal.company.com>"}    for _, domain := range highSecurityDomains {   if email[len(email)-len(domain):] == domain {    return true   }  }    return false }

This webhook implementation: 1. Listens for POST requests from Ory Kratos after a login attempt 2. Parses the request to extract information about the user and session 3. Determines if AAL2 should be required based on custom business logic 4. If AAL2 is required but not present, redirects the user to a login flow with

aal=aal2

5. Otherwise, allows the flow to continue normally You can customize the

shouldRequireAAL2

function with your specific business logic to determine when a user should be required to complete a second authentication factor. This could be based on: - User roles or permissions - Email domains (as shown in the example) - IP address or location - Time of day or access patterns - Specific actions the user is trying to perform Remember to secure your webhook endpoint with proper authentication to ensure only Ory Kratos can call it. The example includes a placeholder for API key authentication in the configuration, but you should implement this in your actual code as well. To deploy this webhook, you would: 1. Host it on a server accessible to your Ory instance 2. Configure Ory to call this webhook after login as shown in the previous response 3. Ensure your UI can handle the AAL2 flow when users are redirected to it This implementation provides a starting point that you can adapt to your specific requirements.

I'll explain how to redirect a user to a login flow with

aal=aal2

when AAL2 is required but not present in their session. ## Redirecting to AAL2 Login Flow When you detect that a user needs to complete a second factor authentication (AAL2), you need to redirect them to the appropriate login flow. Here's how to implement this in your Go webhook:

go // If AAL2 is needed and the current session doesn't have it if needsAAL2 && hookReq.Session.AuthenticatorAssuranceLevel != "aal2" {     // Create a response that redirects to the AAL2 login flow     response := HookResponse{         ContinueWith: []ContinueWith{             {                 Action:            "redirect_browser_to",                 RedirectBrowserTo: "<https://your-domain.com/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2>",             },         },     }          w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")     json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(response)     return }

The key parts of this implementation are: 1. Using the

ContinueWith

field in the response to tell Ory what to do next 2. Setting the

Action

to

"redirect_browser_to"

3. Providing the URL with the

aal=aal2

parameter in the

RedirectBrowserTo

field You can also include a

return_to

parameter to redirect the user back to a specific page after they complete the second factor authentication:

go RedirectBrowserTo: "<https://your-domain.com/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2&return_to=>" + url.QueryEscape("<https://your-app.com/protected-page>"),

This approach works with the Ory API, which supports the

return_to

parameter to specify where the user should be redirected after completing the flow [Ory API Reference](https://www.ory.sh/docs/reference/api). Remember that for this to work, the user must have already set up a second factor authentication method (TOTP, WebAuthn, or SMS/Email codes). If they haven't, you might want to redirect them to the settings page to set up 2FA first. If you're implementing this in a frontend application rather than a webhook, you would use similar logic but with a browser redirect:

javascript if (needsAAL2 && session.authenticator_assurance_level !== "aal2") {     window.location.href = "<https://your-domain.com/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2&return_to=>" +          encodeURIComponent(window.location.href); }

This approach ensures that users are properly redirected to complete the second factor authentication when required by your application's security policies.

Yes, Ory provides a Go SDK that you can use to implement AAL2 authentication flows. The official Go SDK is called

<http://github.com/ory/client-go|github.com/ory/client-go>

and it provides all the necessary methods to interact with Ory services. Here's how you can use the Ory Go SDK to handle AAL2 authentication:

go package main  import (  "context"  "errors"  "net/http"    ory "<http://github.com/ory/client-go|github.com/ory/client-go>" )  func main() {  // Initialize the Ory client  cfg := ory.NewConfiguration()  cfg.Servers = []ory.ServerConfiguration{   {    URL: "<https://your-project-slug.projects.oryapis.com>", // Your Ory Network Project URL   },  }  client := ory.NewAPIClient(cfg)    // Example handler that checks if AAL2 is required and redirects if needed  http.HandleFunc("/protected", func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {   session, err := validateSession(r, client)   if err != nil {    http.Redirect(w, r, "<https://your-project-slug.projects.oryapis.com/ui/login>", http.StatusFound)    return   }      // Check if AAL2 is required but not present   if requiresAAL2(session) && session.AuthenticatorAssuranceLevel != "aal2" {    // Redirect to login with aal=aal2 parameter    http.Redirect(w, r, "<https://your-project-slug.projects.oryapis.com/self-service/login/browser?aal=aal2>", http.StatusFound)    return   }      // User has appropriate authentication level, proceed with protected content   w.Write([]byte("Protected content"))  })    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil) }  func validateSession(r *http.Request, client *ory.APIClient) (*ory.Session, error) {  cookie, err := r.Cookie("ory_session_your_project")  if err != nil {   return nil, err  }  if cookie == nil {   return nil, errors.New("no session found in cookie")  }    // Call the Ory API to validate the session  resp, _, err := client.FrontendApi.ToSession(context.Background()).Cookie(cookie.String()).Execute()  if err != nil {   return nil, err  }    return resp, nil }  // Custom logic to determine if a user requires AAL2 func requiresAAL2(session *ory.Session) bool {  // Implement your business logic here  // For example, check user roles, access patterns, etc.  return true // Always require AAL2 for this example }

This example shows how to: 1. Initialize the Ory client 2. Check if a user has a valid session 3. Determine if AAL2 is required based on your business logic 4. Redirect to the login flow with

aal=aal2

if needed You can find more examples of using the Go SDK with different frameworks in the Ory documentation: 1. [Echo middleware example](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/sdk/go#echo-middleware) 2. [Gin middleware example](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/sdk/go#gin-middleware) These examples show how to integrate Ory authentication with popular Go web frameworks and can be adapted to include AAL2 checks as shown in the code above. For step-up authentication specifically, you can use the SDK to create login flows with the AAL2 parameter as shown in the [Step-up authentication documentation](https://www.ory.sh/docs/kratos/mfa/step-up-authentication).