What are the technical requirements to support passkeys?

Technical Requirements to Support Passkeys#

Implementing passkeys requires compliance with FIDO2 and WebAuthn standards to enable secure, passwordless authentication. Below are the key technical prerequisites for supporting passkeys in web and mobile applications.

1. WebAuthn and FIDO2 Support#

• Passkeys are built on WebAuthn (Web Authentication API) and require browsers, servers, and authenticators that comply with the FIDO2 standard.
• Ensure your authentication system can generate, store, and validate public key credentials.

2. Browser & OS Compatibility#

• Major browsers support WebAuthn, including:
  • Google Chrome (desktop & mobile)
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Apple Safari (macOS & iOS)
  • Mozilla Firefox
• Operating systems must allow biometric authentication (Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello) or hardware security keys (e.g., YubiKeys).

3. Backend Infrastructure#

• Passkey Registration & Storage:
  • Store public keys securely in your database while the private key remains on the user’s device.
• Authentication Flow:
  • Implement WebAuthn authentication requests that verify user identity through the stored public key.
• Relying Party Configuration:
  • Set up a Relying Party ID (RP ID) that matches your website’s domain to prevent phishing attacks.

4. Authentication Devices & Credential Storage#

• Devices should support device-bound or synced passkeys:
  • Device-bound passkeys (stored locally on hardware security keys or biometric-enabled devices).
  • Synced passkeys (cloud-synced across devices via Apple iCloud Keychain, Google Password Manager, etc.).

5. User Experience & UI Components#

• Implement a user-friendly passkey enrollment and authentication flow.
• Provide clear instructions on how users can register, use, and recover passkeys.

Final Verdict#

To support passkeys, ensure your authentication system integrates WebAuthn, supports FIDO2-compliant authenticators, and provides a smooth user experience across devices and browsers. Passkeys enhance security, eliminate phishing risks, and offer seamless authentication—making them essential for modern web and mobile applications.

Read the full article#

About Corbado

Corbado is the Authentication Intelligence Platform for CIAM teams running consumer authentication at scale. We help you see what IDP logs and generic analytics tools can't: where passkeys, passwords, OTP, social login and fallback journeys succeed, stall or fail, which devices and browsers create friction, and when an OS update silently breaks login. Two products: Corbado Observe layers process mining and observability across authentication journeys. Corbado Connect adds managed passkeys with analytics built in alongside your IDP. VicRoads runs passkeys for 5M+ users with Corbado (+80% passkey activation). Talk to a Passkey Expert →