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Ncurses Meets OpenID Connect: Secure Terminal Logins Without Leaving the CLI

Andrios Robert

• 1 min read

The terminal was silent except for the hum of fans when the ncurses interface lit up — driven by OpenID Connect. No browser pop-ups. No mouse clicks. Just raw, controlled authentication inside your CLI.

Ncurses and OpenID Connect (OIDC) might seem worlds apart: one is a library for text-based UIs, the other a modern federation protocol. But integrating them unlocks secure, standards-based login flows directly in terminal applications without breaking a user's workflow.

OIDC builds on OAuth 2.0 to provide identity verification alongside authorization. It sends ID tokens, typically JWTs, to confirm the identity of the end user. In a GUI or web environment, OIDC flows rely on a redirect to an authorization server. In a terminal, that’s more complex — which is where ncurses steps in. Ncurses can render forms, prompts, and QR codes for device authorization grants, giving users a clear authentication path without leaving the CLI.

The most common approach for ncurses OIDC integration:

  1. Device Authorization Flow – Ask the user to visit a URL and enter a code generated by ncurses in the terminal.
  2. Local Redirect or Loopback – For advanced setups, spin up a local HTTP listener to catch OIDC callbacks, but display status and prompts via ncurses.
  3. Token Storage – Store ID, access, and refresh tokens securely. Encrypted local storage ensures they can be reloaded for future sessions.

Critical implementation details:

  • Use well-tested OpenID Connect client libraries; avoid reinventing JWT parsing or signature verification.
  • Leverage ncurses for real-time feedback during exchange steps, showing code entry status and error messages.
  • Always validate issuer, audience, and expiration claims in ID tokens before trusting them.
  • Integrate token refresh logic so sessions can extend without repeated full logins.

Pairing ncurses with OIDC is ideal for developer tools, admin dashboards, or secure remote scripts where a GUI is impractical. It maintains OIDC’s compliance and security while keeping the interface fast and minimal.

If you want to skip boilerplate and see a ncurses-driven OpenID Connect login in action, try it now on hoop.dev — you can have it running in minutes.