> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.userkit.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Start two-factor setup

> Generates a TOTP secret for the signed-in contact and returns what an authenticator app needs. It does **not** turn two-factor on: that happens at `enable`, once a code proves the secret was stored correctly, so an abandoned setup never locks anyone out.



## OpenAPI

````yaml /api-reference/openapi.json post /v1/contact/two-factor/setup
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: UserKit API
  version: 1.0.0
  description: >-
    The HTTP surface of UserKit.


    Two planes share one API. The **staff plane** is what a human uses in the
    panel: users, organizations, roles, members, keys. The **customer plane** is
    what a developer's own product uses: contacts, identities, hosted or
    federated sign-in.


    Every error answers the same envelope — `{"error": {"code", "message"}}`.
    The `code` is a stable contract to branch on; the `message` is for a person
    and may change.
servers:
  - url: '{baseUrl}'
    description: The API host.
    variables:
      baseUrl:
        default: https://api.userkit.dev
        description: Base URL of the API, no trailing slash.
security:
  - sessionToken: []
tags:
  - name: Authentication
    description: >-
      Public sign-up, sign-in, two-factor and password recovery for staff
      accounts.
  - name: Session
    description: >-
      The active session: who the caller is, which organization they are in, and
      signing out.
  - name: Account
    description: The caller's own account — profile, password, sessions, avatar.
  - name: Two-factor
    description: >-
      TOTP setup, activation and recovery codes. Returns 501 when two-factor is
      unavailable on the server.
  - name: Organizations
    description: The organizations a user belongs to, and the active one.
  - name: Environments
    description: >-
      The live and test environments seeded with every organization, and their
      identity settings.
  - name: Members
    description: Memberships and invitations.
  - name: Roles
    description: Roles and the permission catalogue they draw from.
  - name: API keys
    description: Secret keys (`uk_sk_…`) and publishable keys (`uk_pk_…`).
  - name: Contacts (panel)
    description: >-
      The staff view of the customer plane. Reads take `?environment=` as an
      explicit view parameter.
  - name: Contacts (server)
    description: >-
      The machine surface, authenticated by an API key. The environment is the
      key's environment and cannot be named by the caller.
  - name: Customer plane
    description: >-
      Called from the developer's own pages with a publishable key: boot, magic
      link, and the contact's own session.
  - name: Hosted auth
    description: >-
      Sign-up, sign-in, verification and recovery for contacts, when UserKit
      owns the account.
  - name: System
    description: Health and the internal job callback.
paths:
  /v1/contact/two-factor/setup:
    post:
      tags:
        - Customer plane
      summary: Start two-factor setup
      description: >-
        Generates a TOTP secret for the signed-in contact and returns what an
        authenticator app needs. It does **not** turn two-factor on: that
        happens at `enable`, once a code proves the secret was stored correctly,
        so an abandoned setup never locks anyone out.
      operationId: setupContactTwoFactor
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Scan or type it.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                type: object
                properties:
                  secret:
                    type: string
                    description: >-
                      Base32, shown once — what someone types when they cannot
                      scan.
                  otpauth_url:
                    type: string
                  qr_data_uri:
                    type: string
                    description: A PNG as a data URI.
        '401':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
        '403':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/UnverifiedSession'
        '409':
          description: >-
            `already_enabled` — disable it first. `environment_not_hosted` —
            two-factor is UserKit's to enforce only where UserKit owns the
            sign-in.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
        '501':
          $ref: '#/components/responses/TwoFactorUnavailable'
components:
  responses:
    Unauthorized:
      description: >-
        `unauthorized` — missing, malformed or expired credential. A well-formed
        credential from the wrong family says so: "this endpoint expects a staff
        session token, not an organization API key".
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
    UnverifiedSession:
      description: >-
        `unverified_session` — this session claims an identity that was never
        proven, which is what a federated boot with no identity hash produces.
        Sign in through a flow that proves the person (magic link, email code,
        social) or boot with a valid hash. Anonymous sessions are not affected.
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
    TwoFactorUnavailable:
      description: '`two_factor_unavailable` — the server cannot keep a TOTP secret safely.'
      content:
        application/json:
          schema:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
  schemas:
    Error:
      type: object
      description: Every error in this API answers this envelope.
      properties:
        error:
          type: object
          properties:
            code:
              type: string
              description: Stable. Branch on this.
            message:
              type: string
              description: For a person. May change.
          required:
            - code
            - message
      required:
        - error
      example:
        error:
          code: forbidden
          message: your role does not allow this action
  securitySchemes:
    sessionToken:
      type: http
      scheme: bearer
      description: >-
        A staff session token, `uk_st_…`. Minted by sign-up, sign-in or the
        two-factor exchange.

````