Getting Started

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 - 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 Vue app from scratch.

Initialize an Ionic Vue app

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


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

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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VUE_APP_SUPABASE_URL=YOUR_SUPABASE_URL
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VUE_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/supabase.ts"

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import { createClient } from '@supabase/supabase-js';
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const supabaseUrl = process.env.VUE_APP_SUPABASE_URL as string;
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const supabaseAnonKey = process.env.VUE_APP_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY as string;
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export const supabase = createClient(supabaseUrl, supabaseAnonKey);

Set up a login route

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

/src/views/Login.vue

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<template>
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<ion-page>
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<ion-header>
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<ion-toolbar>
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<ion-title>Login</ion-title>
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</ion-toolbar>
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</ion-header>
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<ion-content>
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<div class="ion-padding">
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<h1>Supabase + Ionic Vue</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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<ion-list inset="true">
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<form @submit.prevent="handleLogin">
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<ion-item>
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<ion-label position="stacked">Email</ion-label>
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<ion-input v-model="email" name="email" autocomplete type="email"></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>
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<p>{{email}}</p>
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</ion-content>
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</ion-page>
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</template>
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<script lang="ts">
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import { supabase } from '../supabase'
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import {
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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IonList,
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IonItem,
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IonLabel,
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IonInput,
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IonButton,
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toastController,
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loadingController,
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} from '@ionic/vue'
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import { defineComponent, ref } from 'vue'
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export default defineComponent({
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name: 'LoginPage',
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components: {
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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IonList,
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IonItem,
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IonLabel,
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IonInput,
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IonButton,
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},
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setup() {
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const email = ref('')
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const handleLogin = async () => {
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const loader = await loadingController.create({})
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const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 })
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try {
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await loader.present()
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const { error } = await supabase.auth.signIn({ email: email.value })
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if (error) throw error
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toast.message = 'Check your email for the login link!'
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await toast.present()
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} catch (error: any) {
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toast.message = error.error_description || error.message
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await toast.present()
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} finally {
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await loader.dismiss()
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}
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}
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return { handleLogin, email }
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},
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})
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</script>

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.vue.

src/views/Account.vue

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<template>
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<ion-page>
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<ion-header>
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<ion-toolbar>
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<ion-title>Account</ion-title>
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</ion-toolbar>
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</ion-header>
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<ion-content>
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<form @submit.prevent="updateProfile">
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<ion-item>
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<ion-label>
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<p>Email</p>
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<p>{{ session?.user?.email }}</p>
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</ion-label>
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</ion-item>
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<ion-item>
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<ion-label position="stacked">Name</ion-label>
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<ion-input type="text" name="username" v-model="profile.username"></ion-input>
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</ion-item>
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<ion-item>
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<ion-label position="stacked">Website</ion-label>
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<ion-input type="url" name="website" v-model="profile.website"></ion-input>
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</ion-item>
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<div class="ion-text-center">
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<ion-button fill="clear" type="submit">Update Profile</ion-button>
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</div>
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</form>
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<div class="ion-text-center">
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<ion-button fill="clear" @click="signOut">Log Out</ion-button>
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</div>
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</ion-content>
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</ion-page>
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</template>
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<script lang="ts">
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import { store } from '@/store'
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import { supabase } from '@/supabase'
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import {
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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toastController,
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loadingController,
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IonInput,
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IonItem,
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IonButton,
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IonLabel,
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} from '@ionic/vue'
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import { User } from '@supabase/supabase-js'
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import { defineComponent, onMounted, ref } from 'vue'
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export default defineComponent({
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name: 'AccountPage',
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components: {
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IonContent,
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IonHeader,
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IonPage,
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IonTitle,
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IonToolbar,
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IonInput,
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IonItem,
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IonButton,
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IonLabel,
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},
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setup() {
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const session = ref(supabase.auth.session())
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const profile = ref({
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username: '',
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website: '',
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avatar_url: '',
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})
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const user = store.user as User
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async function getProfile() {
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const loader = await loadingController.create({})
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const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 })
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await loader.present()
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try {
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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) throw error
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if (data) {
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console.log(data)
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profile.value = {
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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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toast.message = error.message
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await toast.present()
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} finally {
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await loader.dismiss()
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}
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}
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const updateProfile = async () => {
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const loader = await loadingController.create({})
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const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 })
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try {
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await loader.present()
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const updates = {
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id: user.id,
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...profile.value,
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updated_at: new Date(),
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}
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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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//
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if (error) throw error
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} catch (error: any) {
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toast.message = error.message
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await toast.present()
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} finally {
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await loader.dismiss()
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}
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}
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async function signOut() {
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const loader = await loadingController.create({})
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const toast = await toastController.create({ duration: 5000 })
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await loader.present()
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try {
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const { error } = await supabase.auth.signOut()
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if (error) throw error
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} catch (error: any) {
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toast.message = error.message
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await toast.present()
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} finally {
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await loader.dismiss()
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}
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}
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onMounted(() => {
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getProfile()
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})
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return { signOut, profile, session, updateProfile }
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},
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})
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</script>

Launch!

Now that we have all the components in place, let's update App.vue and our routes:

src/router.index.ts

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import { createRouter, createWebHistory } from '@ionic/vue-router'
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import { RouteRecordRaw } from 'vue-router'
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import LoginPage from '../views/Login.vue'
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import AccountPage from '../views/Account.vue'
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const routes: Array<RouteRecordRaw> = [
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{
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path: '/',
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name: 'Login',
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component: LoginPage,
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},
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{
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path: '/account',
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name: 'Account',
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component: AccountPage,
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},
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]
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const router = createRouter({
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history: createWebHistory(process.env.BASE_URL),
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routes,
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})
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export default router

src/App.vue

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<template>
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<ion-app>
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<ion-router-outlet />
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</ion-app>
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</template>
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<script lang="ts">
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import { IonApp, IonRouterOutlet, useIonRouter } from '@ionic/vue'
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import { defineComponent } from 'vue'
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import { store } from './store'
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import { supabase } from './supabase'
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export default defineComponent({
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name: 'App',
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components: {
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IonApp,
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IonRouterOutlet,
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},
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setup() {
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const router = useIonRouter()
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store.user = supabase.auth.user() ?? {}
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supabase.auth.onAuthStateChange((_, session) => {
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store.user = session?.user ?? {}
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if (session?.user) {
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router.replace('/account')
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}
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})
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},
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})
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</script>

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 Vue

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 main.ts to include an additional bootstrapping call for the Ionic PWA Elements.

src/main.tsx"

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import { createApp } from 'vue'
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import App from './App.vue'
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import router from './router'
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import { IonicVue } from '@ionic/vue'
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/* Core CSS required for Ionic components to work properly */
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import '@ionic/vue/css/ionic.bundle.css'
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/* Theme variables */
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import './theme/variables.css'
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import { defineCustomElements } from '@ionic/pwa-elements/loader'
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defineCustomElements(window)
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const app = createApp(App).use(IonicVue).use(router)
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router.isReady().then(() => {
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app.mount('#app')
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})

Then create an AvatarComponent.

src/components/Avatar.vue

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<template>
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<div class="avatar">
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<div class="avatar_wrapper" @click="uploadAvatar">
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<img v-if="avatarUrl" :src="avatarUrl" />
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<ion-icon v-else name="person" class="no-avatar"></ion-icon>
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</div>
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</div>
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</template>
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<script lang="ts">
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import { ref, toRefs, watch, defineComponent } from 'vue'
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import { supabase } from '../supabase'
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import { Camera, CameraResultType } from '@capacitor/camera'
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import { IonIcon } from '@ionic/vue'
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import { person } from 'ionicons/icons'
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export default defineComponent({
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name: 'AppAvatar',
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props: { path: String },
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emits: ['upload', 'update:path'],
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components: { IonIcon },
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setup(prop, { emit }) {
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const { path } = toRefs(prop)
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const avatarUrl = ref('')
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const downloadImage = async () => {
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try {
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const { data, error } = await supabase.storage.from('avatars').download(path.value)
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if (error) throw error
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avatarUrl.value = URL.createObjectURL(data!)
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} catch (error: any) {
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console.error('Error downloading image: ', error.message)
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}
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}
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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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if (photo.dataUrl) {
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const file = await fetch(photo.dataUrl)
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.then((res) => res.blob())
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.then((blob) => new File([blob], 'my-file', { type: `image/${photo.format}` }))
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const fileName = `${Math.random()}-${new Date().getTime()}.${photo.format}`
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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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emit('update:path', fileName)
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emit('upload')
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}
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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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watch(path, () => {
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if (path.value) downloadImage()
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})
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return { avatarUrl, uploadAvatar, person }
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},
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})
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</script>
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<style>
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.avatar {
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display: block;
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margin: auto;
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min-height: 150px;
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}
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.avatar .avatar_wrapper {
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margin: 16px auto 16px;
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border-radius: 50%;
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overflow: hidden;
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height: 150px;
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aspect-ratio: 1;
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background: var(--ion-color-step-50);
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border: thick solid var(--ion-color-step-200);
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}
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.avatar .avatar_wrapper:hover {
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cursor: pointer;
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}
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.avatar .avatar_wrapper ion-icon.no-avatar {
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width: 100%;
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height: 115%;
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}
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.avatar img {
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display: block;
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object-fit: cover;
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width: 100%;
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height: 100%;
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}
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</style>

Add the new widget

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

src/views/Account.vue

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<template>
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<ion-page>
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<ion-header>
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<ion-toolbar>
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<ion-title>Account</ion-title>
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</ion-toolbar>
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</ion-header>
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<ion-content>
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<avatar v-model:path="profile.avatar_url" @upload="updateProfile"></avatar>
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...
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</template>
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<script lang="ts">
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import Avatar from '../components/Avatar.vue';
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export default defineComponent({
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name: 'AccountPage',
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components: {
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Avatar,
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....
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}
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</script>

At this stage you have a fully functional application!