Amplify.configure() throws error when using Identity Pool only (no User Pool) — v6

[jacoyutorius]

Before opening, please confirm:

• I have searched for duplicate or closed issues and discussions.
• I have read the guide for submitting bug reports.
• I have done my best to include a minimal, self-contained set of instructions for consistently reproducing the issue.

JavaScript Framework

React

Amplify APIs

Authentication

Amplify Version

v6

Amplify Categories

auth

Backend

None

Environment information

  System:
    OS: macOS 15.3.1
    CPU: (10) arm64 Apple M4
    Memory: 82.48 MB / 24.00 GB
    Shell: 5.9 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 23.9.0 - /opt/homebrew/bin/node
    npm: 10.9.2 - /opt/homebrew/bin/npm
  Browsers:
    Chrome: 134.0.6998.119
    Safari: 18.3
  npmPackages:
    @aws-amplify/auth: ^6.11.6 => 6.11.6
    @aws-amplify/auth/cognito:  undefined ()
    @aws-amplify/auth/cognito/server:  undefined ()
    @aws-amplify/auth/enable-oauth-listener:  undefined ()
    @aws-amplify/auth/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify: ^6.13.6 => 6.13.6
    aws-amplify/adapter-core:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/adapter-core/internals:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/analytics:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/analytics/kinesis:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/analytics/kinesis-firehose:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/analytics/personalize:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/analytics/pinpoint:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/api:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/api/internals:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/api/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/auth:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/auth/cognito:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/auth/cognito/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/auth/enable-oauth-listener:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/auth/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/data:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/data/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/datastore:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/in-app-messaging:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/in-app-messaging/pinpoint:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/push-notifications:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/push-notifications/pinpoint:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/storage:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/storage/s3:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/storage/s3/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/storage/server:  undefined ()
    aws-amplify/utils:  undefined ()
  npmGlobalPackages:
    corepack: 0.31.0
    npm: 10.9.2

Describe the bug

Describe the bug

When using Amplify v6 with Identity Pool only (no User Pool), calling Amplify.configure() throws a runtime error.

To Reproduce

1. Create a Cognito Identity Pool with unauthenticated access enabled.
2. Set proper permissions on the unauthenticated IAM role (GetId, GetCredentialsForIdentity)
3. Create a minimal JavaScript file like this:

import { Amplify } from 'aws-amplify';
import { fetchAuthSession } from 'aws-amplify/auth';

async function test() {
  try {
    Amplify.configure({
      Auth: {
        identityPoolId: 'ap-northeast-1:xxxxxxx',
        region: 'ap-northeast-1',
        mandatorySignIn: false,
      }
    });

    const session = await fetchAuthSession();
    const credentials = await Promise.resolve(session.credentials);

    console.log('identityId:', session.identityId);
    console.log('credentials:', credentials);
  } catch (err) {
    console.error('Error during fetchAuthSession():', err);
  }
}

test();

{
  "name": "amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "index.js",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "description": "",
  "dependencies": {
    "@aws-amplify/auth": "^6.11.6",
    "aws-amplify": "^6.13.6"
  }
}

and this code outputs this,

Error during fetchAuthSession(): TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'loginWith')
    at AmplifyClass.notifyOAuthListener (file:///Users/yuto/work/node/amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue/node_modules/@aws-amplify/core/dist/esm/singleton/Amplify.mjs:78:48)
    at AmplifyClass.configure (file:///Users/yuto/work/node/amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue/node_modules/@aws-amplify/core/dist/esm/singleton/Amplify.mjs:56:14)
    at Object.configure (file:///Users/yuto/work/node/amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue/node_modules/aws-amplify/dist/esm/initSingleton.mjs:42:21)
    at test (file:///Users/yuto/work/node/amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue/issue.js:6:13)
    at file:///Users/yuto/work/node/amplify-v6-auth-no-userpool-issue/issue.js:24:1
    at ModuleJob.run (node:internal/modules/esm/module_job:273:25)
    at async onImport.tracePromise.__proto__ (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:600:26)
    at async asyncRunEntryPointWithESMLoader (node:internal/modules/run_main:98:5)

Expected behavior

I expects fetchAuthSession() return valid temporary credentials when using an Identity Pool-only configuration, just like the AWS SDK does.

Reproduction steps

Code Snippet

The same Identity Pool configuration works with the AWS SDK directly:

import {
  CognitoIdentityClient,
  GetIdCommand,
  GetCredentialsForIdentityCommand
} from '@aws-sdk/client-cognito-identity';

const client = new CognitoIdentityClient({ region: 'ap-northeast-1' });

const identityId = (
  await client.send(new GetIdCommand({ IdentityPoolId: '...' }))
).IdentityId;

const credentials = (
  await client.send(new GetCredentialsForIdentityCommand({ IdentityId: identityId }))
).Credentials;

Log output

// Put your logs below this line

aws-exports.js

Amplify.configure({
  Auth: {
    identityPoolId: 'ap-northeast-1:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx',
    region: 'ap-northeast-1',
    mandatorySignIn: false
  }
});

Manual configuration

No response

Additional configuration

aws cognito-identity describe-identity-pool --identity-pool-id ap-northeast-1:xxxxxxxxx

{
    "IdentityPoolId": "ap-northeast-1:xxxxxxxxx",
    "IdentityPoolName": "MyIdentityPool",
    "AllowUnauthenticatedIdentities": true,
    "AllowClassicFlow": false,
    "IdentityPoolTags": {}
}

Mobile Device

No response

Mobile Operating System

No response

Mobile Browser

No response

Mobile Browser Version

No response

Additional information and screenshots

No response

[tiffanynwyeung]

Hello @jacoyutorius, this feature request is not on our roadmap, but we'd like to learn more about this use case with Amplify, as it seems like the AWS SDK suits these requirements. Thanks!

[jacoyutorius]

Helllo @tiffanynwyeung -san.
Thank you for the response.
The reason I want to use Identity Pool with Amplify (without a User Pool) is because I’d like to grant temporary AWS credentials to guest users in a browser-based application without requiring sign-in.

I’m already using other Amplify features such as Storage.
So, it would be helpful if I could integrate guest credentials into the Amplify auth flow rather than using the raw AWS SDK.

Are there any plans to make Amplify more flexible to support this pattern?

[AllanZhengYP]

Hi @jacoyutorius

Thanks for going over the use case with us. This is a valid feature request and we already have a tracker internally. However we don't support this use case now because we require user pool configuration when fetch the user session.

An alternative to use custom credentials would be overwriting the credentials provider, similar like code below

import { Amplify } from 'aws-amplify';

Amplify.configure(config, {
	Auth: {
		tokenProvider: {
			async getTokens() {
				return null
			}
		},
		credentialsProvider: {
			clearCredentialsAndIdentityId() {},
			async getCredentialsAndIdentityId() {
				/* Call AWS SDK to fetch the STS tokens */
				return {
					credentials: {
						accessKeyId: 'xxx',
						secretAccessKey: 'xxx',
						sessionToken: 'xxx',
						expiration: new Date(),
					},
					identityId: 'xxx'
				}
			}
		}
	}
})

However, they may NOT solve your issue because we don't expose the default credentials provider calling the Cognito identity pool.