Magic Link Authentication: How It Works and How to Build It Securely
Magic Link authentication looks simple on the surface: enter your email, receive a link, click it, and you're authenticated. But behind that simple experience are important security decisions around cryptographically secure tokens, hashing, expiration, one-time use, and token storage. In this article, I break down how Magic Link authentication works, why each step matters, and how to approach its implementation securely in a production application.