Getting Started

Build a User Management App with Ionic React


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 - users log in through magic links sent to their email (without having to set up passwords).
  • Supabase Storage - users can upload a profile photo.

Supabase User Management example

Project setup

Before we start building we're going to set up our Database and API. This is as simple as starting a new Project in Supabase and then creating a "schema" inside the database.

Create a project

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

Set up the database schema

Now we are going to set up the database schema. We can use the "User Management Starter" quickstart in the SQL Editor, or you can just copy/paste the SQL from below and run it yourself.

  1. Go to the SQL Editor page in the Dashboard.
  2. Click User Management Starter.
  3. Click Run.

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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>
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supabase db pull

Get the API Keys

Now that you've created some database tables, you are ready to insert data using the auto-generated API. We just need to get the Project URL and anon key from the API settings.

  1. Go to the API Settings page in the Dashboard.
  2. Find your Project URL, anon, and service_role keys on this page.

Building the app

Let's start building the React app from scratch.

Initialize an Ionic React app

We can use the Ionic CLI to initialize an app called supabase-ionic-react:


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npm install -g @ionic/cli
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ionic start supabase-ionic-react blank --type react
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cd supabase-ionic-react

Then let's install the only additional dependency: supabase-js


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npm install @supabase/supabase-js

And finally we want to save the environment variables in a .env. All we need are the API URL and the anon key that you copied earlier.

.env

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REACT_APP_SUPABASE_URL=YOUR_SUPABASE_URL
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REACT_APP_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=YOUR_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY

Now that we have the API credentials in place, let's create a helper file to initialize the Supabase client. These variables will be exposed on the browser, and that's completely fine since we have Row Level Security enabled on our Database.

src/supabaseClient.js

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import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
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const supabaseUrl = process.env.REACT_APP_SUPABASE_URL
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const supabaseAnonKey = process.env.REACT_APP_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY
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export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseAnonKey)

Set up a login route

Let's set up a React component to manage logins and sign ups. We'll use Magic Links, so users can sign in with their email without using passwords.

/src/pages/Login.tsx

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import { useState } from 'react';
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import {
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IonButton,
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonInput,
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IonItem,
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IonLabel,
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IonList,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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useIonToast,
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useIonLoading,
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} from '@ionic/react';
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import { supabase } from '../supabaseClient';
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export function LoginPage() {
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const [email, setEmail] = useState('');
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const [showLoading, hideLoading] = useIonLoading();
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const [showToast ] = useIonToast();
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const handleLogin = async (e: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => {
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console.log()
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e.preventDefault();
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await showLoading();
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try {
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await supabase.auth.signIn({ email });
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await showToast({ message: 'Check your email for the login link!' });
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} catch (e: any) {
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await showToast({ message: e.error_description || e.message , duration: 5000});
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} finally {
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await hideLoading();
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}
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};
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return (
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<IonPage>
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<IonHeader>
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<IonToolbar>
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<IonTitle>Login</IonTitle>
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</IonToolbar>
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</IonHeader>
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<IonContent>
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<div className="ion-padding">
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<h1>Supabase + Ionic React</h1>
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<p>Sign in via magic link with your email below</p>
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</div>
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<IonList inset={true}>
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<form onSubmit={handleLogin}>
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<IonItem>
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<IonLabel position="stacked">Email</IonLabel>
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<IonInput
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value={email}
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name="email"
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onIonChange={(e) => setEmail(e.detail.value ?? '')}
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type="email"
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></IonInput>
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</IonItem>
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<div className="ion-text-center">
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<IonButton type="submit" fill="clear">
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Login
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</IonButton>
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</div>
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</form>
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</IonList>
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</IonContent>
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</IonPage>
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);
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}

Account page

After a user is signed in we can allow them to edit their profile details and manage their account.

Let's create a new component for that called Account.tsx.

src/pages/Account.tsx

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import {
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IonButton,
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonInput,
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IonItem,
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IonLabel,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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useIonLoading,
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useIonToast,
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useIonRouter
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} from '@ionic/react';
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import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
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import { supabase } from '../supabaseClient';
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export function AccountPage() {
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const [showLoading, hideLoading] = useIonLoading();
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const [showToast] = useIonToast();
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const [session] = useState(() => supabase.auth.session());
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const router = useIonRouter();
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const [profile, setProfile] = useState({
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username: '',
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website: '',
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avatar_url: '',
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});
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useEffect(() => {
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getProfile();
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}, [session]);
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const getProfile = async () => {
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console.log('get');
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await showLoading();
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try {
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const user = supabase.auth.user();
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const { data, error, status } = await supabase
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.from('profiles')
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.select(`username, website, avatar_url`)
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.eq('id', user!.id)
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.single();
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if (error && status !== 406) {
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throw error;
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}
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if (data) {
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setProfile({
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username: data.username,
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website: data.website,
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avatar_url: data.avatar_url,
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});
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}
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} catch (error: any) {
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showToast({ message: error.message, duration: 5000 });
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} finally {
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await hideLoading();
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}
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};
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const signOut = async () => {
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await supabase.auth.signOut();
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router.push('/', 'forward', 'replace');
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}
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const updateProfile = async (e?: any, avatar_url: string = '') => {
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e?.preventDefault();
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console.log('update ');
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await showLoading();
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try {
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const user = supabase.auth.user();
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const updates = {
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id: user!.id,
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...profile,
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avatar_url: avatar_url,
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updated_at: new Date(),
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};
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const { error } = await supabase.from('profiles').upsert(updates, {
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returning: 'minimal', // Don't return the value after inserting
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});
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if (error) {
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throw error;
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}
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} catch (error: any) {
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showToast({ message: error.message, duration: 5000 });
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} finally {
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await hideLoading();
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}
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};
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return (
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<IonPage>
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<IonHeader>
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<IonToolbar>
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<IonTitle>Account</IonTitle>
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</IonToolbar>
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</IonHeader>
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<IonContent>
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<form onSubmit={updateProfile}>
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<IonItem>
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<IonLabel>
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<p>Email</p>
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<p>{session?.user?.email}</p>
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</IonLabel>
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</IonItem>
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<IonItem>
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<IonLabel position="stacked">Name</IonLabel>
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<IonInput
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type="text"
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name="username"
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value={profile.username}
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onIonChange={(e) =>
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setProfile({ ...profile, username: e.detail.value ?? '' })
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}
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></IonInput>
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</IonItem>
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<IonItem>
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<IonLabel position="stacked">Website</IonLabel>
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<IonInput
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type="url"
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name="website"
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value={profile.website}
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onIonChange={(e) =>
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setProfile({ ...profile, website: e.detail.value ?? '' })
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}
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></IonInput>
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</IonItem>
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<div className="ion-text-center">
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<IonButton fill="clear" type="submit">
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Update Profile
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</IonButton>
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</div>
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</form>
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<div className="ion-text-center">
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<IonButton fill="clear" onClick={signOut}>
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Log Out
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</IonButton>
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</div>
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</IonContent>
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</IonPage>
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);
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}

Launch!

Now that we have all the components in place, let's update App.tsx:

src/App.tsx

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import { Redirect, Route } from 'react-router-dom'
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import { IonApp, IonRouterOutlet, setupIonicReact } from '@ionic/react'
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import { IonReactRouter } from '@ionic/react-router'
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import { supabase } from './supabaseClient'
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import '@ionic/react/css/ionic.bundle.css'
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/* Theme variables */
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import './theme/variables.css'
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import { LoginPage } from './pages/Login'
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import { AccountPage } from './pages/Account'
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import { useEffect, useState } from 'react'
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import { Session } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
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setupIonicReact()
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const App: React.FC = () => {
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const [session, setSession] = useState < Session > null
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useEffect(() => {
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setSession(supabase.auth.session())
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supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((_event, session) => {
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setSession(session)
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})
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}, [])
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return (
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<IonApp>
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<IonReactRouter>
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<IonRouterOutlet>
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<Route
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exact
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path="/"
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render={() => {
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return session ? <Redirect to="/account" /> : <LoginPage />
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}}
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/>
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<Route exact path="/account">
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<AccountPage />
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</Route>
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</IonRouterOutlet>
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</IonReactRouter>
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</IonApp>
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)
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}
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export default App

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


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ionic serve

And then open the browser to localhost:3000 and you should see the completed app.

Supabase Ionic React

Bonus: Profile photos

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

Create an upload widget

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


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

CapacitorJS is a cross platform native runtime from Ionic that enables web apps to be deployed through the app store and provides access to native device API.

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

With those packages installed we can update our index.tsx to include an additional bootstrapping call for the Ionic PWA Elements.

src/index.tsx

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import React from 'react'
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import ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
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import App from './App'
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import * as serviceWorkerRegistration from './serviceWorkerRegistration'
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import reportWebVitals from './reportWebVitals'
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import { defineCustomElements } from '@ionic/pwa-elements/loader'
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defineCustomElements(window)
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ReactDOM.render(
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<React.StrictMode>
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<App />
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</React.StrictMode>,
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document.getElementById('root')
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)
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serviceWorkerRegistration.unregister()
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reportWebVitals()

Then create an AvatarComponent.

src/components/Avatar.tsx

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import { IonIcon } from '@ionic/react';
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import { person } from 'ionicons/icons';
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import { Camera, CameraResultType } from '@capacitor/camera';
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import { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
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import { supabase } from '../supabaseClient';
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import './Avatar.css'
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export function Avatar({
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url,
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onUpload,
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}: {
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url: string;
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onUpload: (e: any, file: string) => Promise<void>;
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}) {
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const [avatarUrl, setAvatarUrl] = useState<string | undefined>();
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useEffect(() => {
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if (url) {
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downloadImage(url);
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}
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}, [url]);
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const uploadAvatar = async () => {
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try {
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const photo = await Camera.getPhoto({
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resultType: CameraResultType.DataUrl,
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});
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const file = await fetch(photo.dataUrl!)
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.then((res) => res.blob())
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.then(
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(blob) =>
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new File([blob], 'my-file', { type: `image/${photo.format}` })
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);
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const fileName = `${Math.random()}-${new Date().getTime()}.${
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photo.format
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}`;
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const { error: uploadError } = await supabase.storage
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.from('avatars')
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.upload(fileName, file);
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if (uploadError) {
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throw uploadError;
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}
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onUpload(null, fileName);
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} catch (error) {
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console.log(error);
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}
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};
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const downloadImage = async (path: string) => {
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try {
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const { data, error } = await supabase.storage
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.from('avatars')
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.download(path);
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if (error) {
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throw error;
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}
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const url = URL.createObjectURL(data!);
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setAvatarUrl(url);
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} catch (error: any) {
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console.log('Error downloading image: ', error.message);
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}
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};
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return (
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<div className="avatar">
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<div className="avatar_wrapper" onClick={uploadAvatar}>
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{avatarUrl ? (
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<img src={avatarUrl} />
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) : (
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<IonIcon icon={person} className="no-avatar" />
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)}
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</div>
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</div>
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);
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}

Add the new widget

And then we can add the widget to the Account page:

src/pages/Account.tsx

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// Import the new component
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import { Avatar } from '../components/Avatar';
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// ...
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return (
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<IonPage>
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<IonHeader>
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<IonToolbar>
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<IonTitle>Account</IonTitle>
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</IonToolbar>
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</IonHeader>
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<IonContent>
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<Avatar url={profile.avatar_url} onUpload={updateProfile}></Avatar>

At this stage you have a fully functional application!