Sign in with Sherman Studio (for site owners)
Let visitors sign in to your site with a Studio ID: they use Google, Microsoft or Apple, approve what your site gets once, and come back signed in. You register nothing with Google or Microsoft and keep no client secrets.
1. Turn it on
Ask the assistant (“turn on Sign in with Studio for my site”) or use the site's Sign in with Studio section. Only an owner can turn it on, and the first time always asks for confirmation. With your own AI client the tool is set_studio_signin:
{ "channel_id": "grace", "enabled": true, "share_email": true, "share_name": true }| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
share_email, share_name | What your site asks for (both on by default). Visitors always see this before they agree. Asking for more later asks everyone again at their next sign-in. |
require_email | Refuse sign-in when the visitor shares no email address. |
allowed_email_domains, allowed_emails | Only these people may sign in, e.g. ["gracechurch.org"] (up to 50 domains and 500 addresses). Empty means anyone. |
session_days | How long a visitor stays signed in: 0.01 to 30 days, default 7. |
after_signout | The page visitors land on after signing out (default /). |
privacy_url | Your privacy policy (https). Linked on the consent screen. |
2. Add the button
Put this in any page template (three braces):
{{{studio.signin_button}}}It shows a dark Sign in with Sherman Studio button that brings the visitor back to the same page. To use your own link or style, link to {{studio.signin_url}}. For a sign-out button use {{{studio.signout_button}}}, or a form that POSTs to /api/auth/logout.
3. Members-only pages
Mark a page as members-only and send signed-out visitors straight to sign-in (and back afterwards):
upsert_route { "path": "/members", "template": "members",
"requires_session": "session", "login_path": "/api/auth/studio/start" }On such a page, and in flows after a session read step, you can use:
| Value | What it is |
|---|---|
{{session.studio.sub}} | A stable ID for this person on your site only. Every site gets a different ID for the same person, so sites can't track visitors across each other. Use it as the key for their records. |
{{session.studio.email}} | The address the visitor chose to share with your site. It stays the same even if they change their main address elsewhere. |
{{session.studio.email_verified}} | true when an address is shared (all shared addresses are verified). |
{{session.studio.email_released}} | true when the visitor removed that address from their account. Don't email it any more; they choose a new one at their next sign-in. |
{{session.studio.name}} | Their name, when you ask for it. |
{{session.studio.previous_subs}} | After a visitor merged two Studio IDs: their earlier IDs on your site (comma-separated), so you can move their records to the new one. |
What visitors see
- A consent screen on studio.shermanwebdesign.com with your site's address first and largest, then your site's name, what it will receive, and your privacy link.
- If they have several confirmed addresses, they pick the one your site sees (their main address is preselected; a real address is preferred over an Apple relay address).
- A confirmation that they are 13 or older, an unchecked box for news from Sherman Web Design, and a quiet link to build their own site. Nobody is contacted unless they tick the box.
- The next time, they go straight back to your site without the screen, unless your site asks for more or their shared address was removed.
- Visitors who only use Studio ID to sign in to sites get no credits and no studio until they open the studio themselves.
- They can see and remove the sites they sign in to on their Account page at any time; removing access signs them out of your site at once.
People who signed in
Admins see who has signed in (with the address each person shared) in the site's Sign in with Studio section, or with list_site_end_users. Sign out (revoke_site_end_user) ends that person's sessions and forgets their consent; they can sign in again. To keep someone out for good, use allowed_emails or allowed_email_domains.
Emailing visitors
Visitors who chose an Apple “Hide My Email” address can only receive mail from senders registered with Apple. Mail from your own mail server to such an address may bounce.
Price
Turning it on is free. Each sign-in creates a normal site session, billed like any other visitor sign-in on your site: 21 credits per 1,000 sign-ins, 0.2 credits per 1,000 members-only page checks and 3.75 credits per 1,000 active sessions at the month's peak (see Billing). There is no other charge.
Good to know
- A site sign-in also signs the visitor in to the studio in that browser (one sign-in for both). “Not you?” on the consent screen switches accounts.
- Your site never receives a Studio password, token or the visitor's other addresses, and it can't use a site sign-in to reach the studio or your other sites.
- Turning the feature off stops new sign-ins; people already signed in stay signed in until their session ends. Sherman Web Design may block the feature on a site that misuses it.