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Passkey Creation after Error

Users logging into desktop and mobile web apps may experience an error during passkey login, need to use conventional login methods, and can then append a new passkey. This flow provides an intelligent recovery mechanism for various scenarios.

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Common Scenarios Leading to Passkey Login Errors

Passkey login errors can occur in several situations:
  • Locally deleted passkeys: The user has deleted their passkey from their device or password manager
  • Different cloud account: The user is logged into a similar device they’ve used before, but it’s now connected to a different iCloud account (or different Google account on Android)
  • Logged-out password manager: The user has signed out of their password manager that stored the passkey

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How Passkey Intelligence Enables Auto-Healing

Passkey Intelligence monitors the authentication flow and detects when passkey login fails repeatedly. After the user successfully authenticates via traditional methods, it automatically suggests creating a new passkey to heal the broken authentication state. This smart system helps identify underlying account or device synchronization issues while ensuring users can quickly recover access.
This autohealing mechanism is part of a broader passkey fallback and recovery strategy. Learn more about designing resilient authentication systems that handle passkey errors gracefully while maintaining security.
  • macOS
  • Windows
  • iOS
  • Android
append-after-error-macos.png

macOS passkey append after error

1

User enters identifier

  • User enters their identifier (email/username) on the login page.
  • System now knows which user account is attempting to log in.
2

Passkey Intelligence detects existing passkey

  • Passkey Intelligence analyzes the user’s passkey availability.
  • It detects the user has a passkey registered and automatically initiates passkey login.
3

Passkey login errors occur

  • User encounters one or more passkey login errors.
  • Common causes: deleted passkey, different cloud account, logged-out password manager.
  • System recognizes repeated login failures.
4

Fallback to traditional login method

  • After multiple failed passkey login attempts, system falls back to traditional login method (username + password).
  • User successfully logs in using their password.
5

Autohealing: Passkey append initiates

  • Passkey Intelligence detects the broken passkey situation and triggers autohealing.
  • User is offered an option to create a new passkey to replace the broken one.
6

OS-native modal overlay

  • User continues to set up a new passkey using fingerprint, face, or PIN for secure sign-in.
7

Passkey creation successful (healing complete)

  • User successfully creates a new passkey, replacing the broken one.
  • The account is now healed with a working passkey.
8

Redirection to app dashboard

  • User is redirected to the app dashboard.
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