Integration Approaches
There are three common ways to integrate the Descope service into your application. The quick start guide covers the most common and recommended integration approach. Below is a comparison of the different integration approaches and when to use them.
| Approach 1 (Recommended): App Client to Descope with Flows | Approach 2: App Client to Descope (Client SDK, No Flows) | Approach 3: App Server to Descope (Backend SDK) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Details | Create authentication flows and screens using Descope’s drag-and-drop visual editor. We strongly recommend using this approach to integrate Descope into your application. | Integrate your application client to individual authentication methods supported by Descope. | Integrate your application server with the Descope service. |
| Signup/Login Screens | Descope visual screen editor | Build on your own | Build on your own |
| Authentication flow | Descope visual workflow | Build on your own | Build on your own |
| Session Management | Handled by Descope Client SDK | Handled by Descope Client SDK | Build on your own |
| Device Fingerprinting & User Risk | Descope risk-based workflows | Not available | Not available |
| When to use? | Choose this approach to go live with Descope in the fastest and easiest manner. Design authentication flows and screens directly in the Descope console. Deploy your app with a few lines of code. | Choose this approach if you want to build authentication flows and screens on your own, but want to use the Descope SDK for session management. Descope Flows will not work with this approach. | Choose this approach if you want to handle all frontend flows and logic – including session management – on your own. Descope Flows will not work with this approach. |