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To add passwordless phone login in Laravel, treat SMS delivery, OTP verification, and Laravel authentication as three distinct steps. Fast2SMS can send the code; your application must verify it, identify or create the user according to your registration policy, and then establish a Laravel session. The guide below uses Laravel 13-style application and testing concepts. Confirm the exact Fast2SMS verify request and response in its current documentation before implementing that part: the available reference does not establish the full contract.
How the login flow fits together
A successful SMS send does not authenticate anyone. The code must be verified first; only then should the application authenticate the account linked to the submitted phone number.
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- The browser submits a phone number to your Laravel application.
- The server validates the number and requests an OTP from Fast2SMS.
- The user submits the received code to your application.
- Your application verifies the code using the provider’s documented verify contract.
- After verification succeeds, your application finds or provisions the corresponding user, regenerates the session, and logs that user in.
Keep the provider API key on the server. The official send reference requires it in the Authorization header and documents POST https://www.fast2sms.com/dev/otp/send. Fast2SMS OTP API reference
Decide what a phone number means in your app
Before writing controllers, decide whether OTP login is also registration. If only existing accounts may log in, return a generic response for an unrecognized number so the endpoint does not disclose which phone numbers have accounts. If first-time users may register, define what account data is required and how duplicate or previously changed numbers are handled. Enforce uniqueness for the normalized phone number in the database.
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Normalize and validate numbers consistently with the provider contract. Fast2SMS documents a 10-digit Indian mobile number for the send endpoint; do not treat that as an international-number format. If your app accepts other countries or formats, confirm the provider supports them and implement a deliberate mapping rather than truncating or guessing digits.
Configure the Fast2SMS send request
Store the API key in server-side environment configuration and read it through Laravel configuration. Do not put it in JavaScript, HTML, mobile-app bundles, or client-visible responses. For example, add a secret to the deployment environment and map it through a configuration file:
'fast2sms' => [
'key' => env('FAST2SMS_API_KEY'),
],Access the value with config('services.fast2sms.key') in application code; avoid calling env() directly from runtime application logic. Ensure production configuration is cached only after environment values are correctly set.
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The send API requires the authorization key, a 10-digit Indian mobile number, and an otp_id identifying the configured OTP template. The documented optional expiry is 1–10080 minutes (default 15), and optional OTP length is 4–10 digits (default 6). These are provider-supported bounds and defaults, not a security recommendation. Choose an expiry and length appropriate to your threat model and operational needs. Fast2SMS OTP API reference
Use Laravel’s HTTP client with a finite timeout, and handle both unsuccessful HTTP responses and connection exceptions. Avoid logging the API key, OTP, or full request payload. Retrying a send request automatically can result in duplicate messages or codes that confuse users; define whether a retry creates a new code, reuses a pending code, or is not attempted.
Implement the send and verify endpoints
Validate and throttle sending
Create a send-code route that accepts a phone number, validates its shape and any account policy, then applies rate limits before contacting the provider. Rate limits should consider both the requester and destination number so rotating IP addresses cannot trivially target one number and one IP cannot send unlimited requests to many numbers. Keep response wording and timing from revealing account existence.
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When sending succeeds, return a neutral confirmation that does not include the OTP. When the provider rejects the request, map the failure to a safe user-facing response and record diagnostic context without secrets. Fast2SMS documents response categories of HTTP 200 for sent, 400 for validation or logic errors, and 401 for an invalid or missing authorization key. Treat 401 as a server configuration issue, not as an instruction for the user to retry repeatedly. Fast2SMS OTP API reference
Verify against the provider’s current contract
The send endpoint is documented, but the available verification reference does not establish all request fields and response semantics. Do not infer a verify URL, parameter names, or success indicator from the send API. Consult Fast2SMS Verify OTP reference and implement exactly the current documented request and success/failure handling.
Your verify endpoint should independently validate the submitted phone and code, enforce attempt limits, and reject codes that are wrong, expired, already used, or associated with a different phone. Avoid returning provider response bodies directly to the browser. Do not log submitted codes. A successful provider response should be treated as proof for the specific phone-and-code attempt, not as a Laravel login by itself.
Turn verified OTP into a Laravel session
After verification, retrieve the user associated with the normalized phone number or create one if your policy permits first-time registration. Authenticate with Laravel’s session guard, then regenerate the session ID to mitigate session fixation. For a browser flow, the important outcome is an authenticated Laravel session, not merely a successful JSON response from Fast2SMS. See Laravel 13 authentication documentation.
Keep remember-me behavior explicit. If you do not offer a persistent-login option, do not silently enable it. If you do, accept the choice only after successful OTP verification. Ensure failed verification does not authenticate a user or leave a partially logged-in session.
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Laravel’s HTTP client fakes let feature tests intercept outbound provider requests, so routine test runs do not need live credentials or SMS delivery. Use the framework version’s current HTTP testing APIs and assert both the provider interaction and the app’s own session state. Laravel also documents test helpers for session and authentication assertions. Laravel 13 HTTP tests and Laravel 13 authentication documentation
Build tests around observable behavior
- Reject malformed phone input before making any provider request.
- For a valid send request, fake a successful provider response and assert the outbound method, endpoint, required authorization header, mobile, and template identifier.
- Fake a provider rejection and confirm the application returns a safe failure without exposing provider internals or logging secrets.
- Simulate a connection timeout or exception and verify it produces a controlled error response rather than an unhandled exception.
- Test correct, incorrect, and expired OTP outcomes using the provider verification boundary your implementation actually uses.
- Test resend and rate-limit behavior, including that blocked requests do not trigger another outbound SMS call.
- For successful verification, assert the intended user is authenticated and the session is regenerated; for failed verification, assert that no user is authenticated.
Use a fake response matching the real provider contract you confirmed, rather than building assumptions into the test. Feature tests can cover your Laravel routes and session behavior, but they cannot prove real carrier delivery or provider behavior unless you run a separate controlled integration test. Keep any live integration test isolated from the default test suite and protect its credentials.
Operational and compliance checks
Fast2SMS help material says Indian business SMS requires DLT registration. Requirements can depend on message type, sender, operator, and current regulation; verify the applicable obligations with the provider and relevant authorities before production use. Fast2SMS help
Monitor delivery failures and provider errors without retaining OTPs or API keys. Set a short-lived validity window, cap verification attempts, invalidate a code after successful use, and ensure resend behavior cannot leave multiple active codes valid unless that is an intentional design. Laravel’s HTTP client documentation describes timeout behavior and connection exceptions; make failure handling explicit and avoid blind retries. Laravel HTTP client documentation
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The cited HTTP client reference is for Laravel 10.x, while the authentication and test references above are Laravel 13.x. Check the documentation for the Laravel version your application actually runs before copying method names or exception-handling syntax; do not assume every version has identical APIs.
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