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#ATproto login discourse bsky link dump

This dump of bluesky link embeds chronologically organizes the messy #ATproto login discourse. Made for my own reference, but possibly useful for you too. Presented without Commentary.

December 21, 2025

There was a discussion on Bluesky on #ATproto login UX norms+strategy that was hard to follow.

At the same time, added a killer Bluesky thread viewer feature to Leaflet!

Bluesky thread viewer - Leaflet Lab Notes
Lab Notes 019: a new thread viewer for Bluesky posts, both as embeds within posts, and in the quotes / mentions section!
https://lab.leaflet.pub/3mabsropbo22q

So I'm dumping links to threads here so I can read them somewhat coherently and extract some notes for other things. They're in chronological order based (mostly) on the parent post for each thread. A few mid-thread highlights may have been pulled out. All this presented without annotation or commentary.

Leaflet is becoming quite the swiss army knife for making sense of things. If this curation without commentary is helpful, I'd love to hear it!


Boris's avatar
Boris
3mo

This is the sign up options for the Atuin Desktop "hub" accounts signup, with Github and Google as the two external login options. And a dev centric product @atuin.sh might even be up for it! Getting "Sign up with ATproto" on there with consistent branding and flows is somewhere we CAN get to.

Screenshot of the Sign In page on the Atuin Hub https://hub.atuin.sh/login

Username

Password

(big sign in button)

Or sign in with a third-party provider: and then buttons for Sign in with Github, and Sign in with Google.
Brookie's avatar
Brookie
2mo

Demo: atproto login flow for @pckt.blog using an account with an external PDS and syncing a blog post to that PDS. Thanks to @rude1.blacksky.team @blackskyweb.xyz for making it so easy to set up an atproto account hosted outside of bluesky so I could test this.

Thumbnail from embedded video. Go to Bluesky to see the full post.
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See the full post on Bluesky!
Kipclip 🐔's avatar
Kipclip 🐔
2mo

Inspired by the work from @nickthesick.com for @bookhive.buzz who was in turn inspired by @jakelazaroff.com Kipclip now also has the cool handle autocomplete feature on the login page that all the cool atproto kids have! Happy url collecting ❤️

a screenshot of the kipclip login page showing the autocomplete when you start typing your handle.
Christian's avatar
Christian
2mo

Thinking along the same lines. Seems like there's a related opportunity for people like Identity.com and/or OpenID.net to step in and host a "Log in with" button and atproto compatible auth layer in between identity registries and personal data server providers.

dan's avatar
dan
2mo

one annoying thing about "log in with atproto" is that it's not a single button press because you have to enter the handle. whereas with google account it's just a button press and then another button press to choose the account i'm logging into. is there a solution to this?

JP ✨'s avatar
JP ✨
1mo

once "Login with ATProto" becomes normal, it's downhill from there We have a long way to go, though

Eli Mallon's avatar
Eli Mallon
1mo

No yeah I agree, "type your handle" is exactly the kind of thing where the nerds will be like "what, it's easy!" and then 25% of people just lose interest when they don't remember their handle instantly Shame to entrench Bluesky tho. One way to make it faster would be something like Discord login

discord login page. username + password + qr code
Boris's avatar
Boris
1mo

This would make for an interesting front end only ATProto project - make a standalone account creation interface. Might actually pair nicely with - @danabra.mov’s internethandle.org - Blacksky, NorthSky, EuroSky options - choice of domain name - additional app explorer / new account checklist

dame's avatar
dame
1mo

if a specific atproto app gains enough traction independently, it could just have a login without explicitly referencing a protocol or bluesky at the top level

Ducky 🦆's avatar
Ducky 🦆
1mo

̶L̶o̶g̶i̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶B̶l̶u̶e̶s̶k̶y̶ ̶L̶o̶g̶i̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶A̶T̶P̶r̶o̶t̶o̶ ̶L̶o̶g̶i̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶ ̶ Login with your DID* (* did:plc or did:web supported)

Tom Sherman's avatar
Tom Sherman
1mo

Thoughts on this atproto login UI? Play with it on the link below but you need a Vercel account so i attached some screenshots too frontpage-git-rework-login-form-frontpagefyi.vercel.app/login?_vercel_sh…

Login UILogin with PDS modalLogin UI with help articles expanded
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Nick Gerakines's avatar
Nick Gerakines
1mo

My thoughts on "Sign in with your internet handle" as a call-to-action for authentication, and my guidance and best practices for handling authentication inputs. #ATProtocol #Authentcation ngerakines.leaflet.pub/3ma7hed2kdk2x

Sign In With Your Internet Handle - Nick's Blog

Sign In With Your Internet Handle - Nick's Blog


https://ngerakines.leaflet.pub/3ma7hed2kdk2x
Eli Mallon's avatar
Eli Mallon
1mo

I like Nick’s take here but I think the single best thing we could do would just be visually consistent across all the major atproto apps Atproto Login Form Working Group (ALFWG), anyone? Getting us all to actually reach consensus and ship something together would make us unstoppable

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Boris's avatar
Boris
1mo

Yes - hence it will take time & I don’t think it’s going to be done in a thread at all. I’m certainly not qualified but I know some people who are.

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surfdude29's avatar
surfdude29
1mo

maybe I watched too many commercials when I lived in America, but I can so easily imagine generic voiceover guy saying "Powered by ATProto"

zeu's avatar
zeu
1mo

my two cents h1 - Log into the Atmosphere summary - Use your internet handle details - This would be a domain you control. Most likely from Bluesky, Tangled, Gander, or other AT protocol applications. a - Learn more about the AT Protocol and owning your social media data

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Bailey Townsend 🦀's avatar
Bailey Townsend 🦀
1mo

Guide on what to name the handle/username/signin on your atproto/ATProtocol/AT Protocol/Atmosphere app/website/application/cli - 100 < users: BlueSky - 110 > Bluesky - atleast 1 did:web user, Bluesky/atproto handle - 1k > ATProtocol handle - 10k > Internet Handle - 40m > Bluesky handle

midwest emo fan's avatar
midwest emo fan
1mo

been sketching off this idea of the internet handle. i don't completely hate it now

Post image
surfdude29's avatar
surfdude29
1mo

my vote would be for "ATmosphere handle" a variant of a recognisable English word distinguished by its capitalisation and you can further strengthen the branding by also mentioning "powered by ATProto"

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Ted Han★ 韓聖安's avatar
Ted Han★ 韓聖安
1mo

So much of this should focus on some basic branding. Like, how would normal people use it in a sentence? This is what was brilliant about "tweet". "You can find me 'at' knowtheory.net " makes sense and has previous history. I'm less excited about "My internet handle is 'at' knowtheory.net "

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Ted Han★ 韓聖安's avatar
Ted Han★ 韓聖安
1mo

I'll be honest, I'm not especially worried about whether we call it "internet handle" or "at handle" or something else. I'm thinking more about things like this.

Nyx 🔵's avatar
Nyx 🔵
1mo

I think that the login form on every atproto app should be different because I like individuality

zeu's avatar
zeu
1mo

something like this

Post image
dad (aka miguel)'s avatar
dad (aka miguel)
1mo

Literally. We aren’t the entire internet as cool as that’d be… I don’t understand why this is the direction y’all want to go. The protocol has already coined a term for this. Atmosphere. Just use it and people will begin to understand. Use something completely unrelated and it will cause confusion.

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Paul Rohr's avatar
Paul Rohr
1mo

Great marketing defines the answer by the questions it asks: "what's your @?" "what can you do with it?" "where can you use it?" just one site? or everywhere worth going?

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Ted Han★ 韓聖安's avatar
Ted Han★ 韓聖安
1mo

It is so funny that people are calling a discussion about network ui and ux as a scandal. How do people think communities and open decisions get made? Discussion is important! Disagreement is ok!

dame's avatar
dame
1mo

Welcome to the ATmosphere. It’s an ecosystem of independent apps including @bsky.app, @leaflet.pub, and @anisota.net. You sign in to all of them using your @ handle which is tied to your ATmosphere account. The apps and companies don’t control your data, identity, or username anymore… you do.

taurean's avatar
taurean
1mo

This has been the most approachable proposal imo but doubling down on what I said yesterday about UX/content needing to lead this, this also needs research and talking to people not directly invested in a solution.

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midwest emo fan's avatar
midwest emo fan
1mo

its probably obvious im not a designer here lol

nate's avatar
nate
1mo

rant nate.leaflet.pub/3mac4dcsums2h

the power of software compels you! - n8

the power of software compels you! - n8

most people do not care about the atproto moral claim


https://nate.leaflet.pub/3mac4dcsums2h
Rudy wants revolution.'s avatar
Rudy wants revolution.
1mo

If your thing says Bluesky without mentioning Blacksky, it's cool -- I'm just going to act like you and your project and your company don't exist. It's atproto or stay on your side.

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Chris Messina's avatar
Chris Messina
1mo

Remember back in 2007 when ZDNet called 2007 the year of URL-based identity?

ZDNet calls 2007 the year of URL-based identity

ZDNet calls 2007 the year of URL-based identity

In its 2007 predictions, Identity World suggests that URL-based identities will take the alpha geek world by storm. I couldn’t agree more: URL-based identity begins a cycle of real adoption i…


https://factoryjoe.com/2007/01/03/zdnet-calls-2007-the-year-of-url-based-identity/
Ronen Tamari's avatar
Ronen Tamari
1mo

Agreed, and at the same time I feel we have barely scratched the surface on the power of movements: there is something important in what my friend Ida wrote here idajosefiina.com/services-1

Post image
Steven Vandevelde's avatar
Steven Vandevelde
1mo

I like the internet handle thing except maybe for the fact that it looks so much like your email address. I suppose if I say my internet handle is @tokono.ma and my email is email@tokono.ma That kind of makes sense. But what if my handle was @steven.tokono.ma and email steven@tokono.ma? 🤷‍♂️

AngryDutchman's avatar
AngryDutchman
1mo

All the discourse about ATproto handle or internet handle etc just convinced me I'm on the right track just saying "log in with your whatever". Although I'd probably just settle for a button that just says "Atmosphere". *stokes the flames a bit*

Eli Mallon's avatar
Eli Mallon
1mo

atproto login discourse is calming down, maybe I should do a an atproto login page tier list so we all get angrier 👀 jk I think maybe every single Streamplace contributor is waiting on me for code review right now, that’s today’s stream

Eli Mallon's avatar
Eli Mallon
1mo

See I can live without “internet handle” but I’m just not sold on leading with “Atmosphere”. If someone has legitimate curiosity or confusion they can’t google it like they could with “AT Protocol” or atproto

dame's avatar
dame
1mo

alright the internet handle, atmosphere, atproto discourse has been fun, but i think it’s time we all got back to the hard work of making shit people wanna actually use in the first place

Erlend Sogge Heggen's avatar
Erlend Sogge Heggen
1mo

I’ve oftentimes said AT-net as a more explicit way to talk about the Atmosphere, thinking of it as AT-net = the network Atmosphere = the ecosystem The cuter spelling is @net. Soo, might have a go at ‘Login with @net address’ It’s semantically similar to ‘internet handle’ so they can co-exist.

Christian's avatar
Christian
1mo

In which i offer to facilitate a research project to explore atproto ecosystem brand and user experience needs discourse.atprotocol.community/t/research-p...

Research Project for ATProto Ecosystem Brand and User Experience Needs

Research Project for ATProto Ecosystem Brand and User Experience Needs

Hello atproto builders — I’m a long time lurker and first time forum poster. I met some of you at Atmosphere conf in March, but for the most part have been thinking and talking about how I might get i...


https://discourse.atprotocol.community/t/research-project-for-atproto-ecosystem-brand-and-user-experience-needs/395
𝕮's avatar
𝕮
1mo

putting the @ in atproto

putting the @ in atproto

but really a moment to reflect on the politics behind atproto


https://chrisshank.leaflet.pub/3maf7mbsi222i
Brookie's avatar
Brookie
1mo

Thinking about atproto login flow and I’m leaning towards the following: 1. No technical jargon, let the infrastructure fade into the background. 2. Identity is contextual, use language that reflects intent (writing as, reading as, etc). 3. Bring an identity or start a new one. Thoughts?

Thumbnail from embedded video. Go to Bluesky to see the full post.
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dan's avatar
dan
1mo

i should say “sing in with your AT handle” is easily my second favorite. sounds exactly like @ handle, but clear tie to AT and visually different doesn’t require so much arguing, capitalizes on AT wordplay but it needs to link to normie explainer etc

Wesley Finck's avatar
Wesley Finck
1mo

It would be awesome to use a collective deliberation tool like polis for making sense of atproto ecosystem-wide discussions like sign in branding / terminology. Bsky threads are not the appropriate format. plus many more voice can contribute meaningfully.

Sam Hart's avatar
Sam Hart
1mo

I’m very confused by this internet handle discussion. If the protocol design has been consistent about one thing, it’s that atproto is *not* an authentication system. You’re signing-in with a DID that uses DNS as a certificate authority.

Ricardo J. Méndez's avatar
Ricardo J. Méndez
1mo

What this ecosystem needs is a way for people to sign up for Bsky accounts without them having to ask "what the fuck is Bluesky?" Effectively, a flow that's as transparent as OAuth for sign-ups. We're almost there, but every step you ask someone a question you double your odds of losing them.

Step 1: Leaflet's "Log in / sign up with Bluesky" prompt.Step 2: an unfamiliar logo - if your entry point was Leaflet - and Bluesky once again asking if you want to create an account.Step 3: FINALLY we get to some details that users may want or need to enter.Different path: Deer.social asking people if they want to sign in with a particular provide, or what were we talking about and what's an ATmosphere?
kat's avatar
kat
1mo

hard agree, we need something to link people to as a quick intro/run-down of atproto besides "it's the protocol that powers bluesky" and i think this is the perfect opportunity for that

The Case For Universal Login and "Off-Protocol" Services
Snapshot of recent discourse:
https://discourse.atprotocol.community/t/the-case-for-universal-login-and-off-protocol-services/348/13
Research Project for ATProto Ecosystem Brand and User Experience Needs
seconded! if bluesky itself doesn’t work for day to day, could we use this discourse instead of ?
https://discourse.atprotocol.community/t/research-project-for-atproto-ecosystem-brand-and-user-experience-needs/395/8
Rudy wants revolution.'s avatar
Rudy wants revolution.
1mo

my bad. I thought you #atproto folks were still discussing if the button should be “login with Bluesky” or “login with atproto”… didn’t mean to distract from that by bringing up 💸 if you wanna be really really useful this Christmas Eve Eve, please make a fork of Ozone that actually works, thx

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