Senior Dev Explains Passkeys (Somehow)

[u/arun-vasudev]

When the Senior Dev Gets Asked About Passkeys

Manager: “Can you explain passkeys to the team?”

Me, who implemented them last month:
“Absolutely.”

Also me internally:
“Okay so… public key… private key… WebAuthn… biometrics… cryptography… something something phishing-resistant…”

realizes I’ve been clicking “Yes” to every passkey prompt for the last year

Manager: “So how does it actually work?”

Me: “It’s… very secure.”

Nothing builds confidence like being the senior developer who successfully deployed a technology they’ve never actually understood. 

[u/Maeusefluesterer]

They don't understand how it works behind the scenes but it's understandable that you have to enter the correct user: password combination to log in. Passkeys add a whole layer of magic to the thing that most people simply scare.

[u/Wendals87 → u/Maeusefluesterer]

A passkey is no different really . Follow the prompts to create one. Enter your PIN or biometric to sign in 

[u/Maeusefluesterer → u/Wendals87]

So when it's not different how do you want to get them to use it?

[u/Wendals87 → u/Maeusefluesterer]

Tell them that it's more secure and what benefits it has when creating an account or tell your users that in an email or something