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Overview

In this quickstart, you’ll add Fingerprint to a new Nuxt project and identify the user’s device. The example use case in this quickstart is stopping new account fraud, where attackers create multiple fake accounts to abuse promotions, exploit systems, or evade bans. However, the steps you’ll follow apply to most use cases. By identifying the device behind each sign-up attempt, login, or transaction, you can flag and block suspicious users early. This guide focuses on the frontend integration. You’ll install the Fingerprint Vue SDK and initialize the JavaScript agent to generate a request ID to send to your backend for analysis. To see how to implement fraud prevention with this ID, continue to one of the backend quickstarts after completing this quickstart.
Estimated time: < 10 minutes

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following:
  • Node.js (v20 or later) and npm installed
  • Your favorite code editor
  • Basic knowledge of Nuxt and Vue 3
This quickstart only covers the frontend setup. You’ll need a backend server to receive and process the device identification event to enable fraud detection. Check out one of the backend quickstarts after completing this quickstart.

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1. Create a Fingerprint account and get your API key

  1. Sign up for a free Fingerprint trial if you don’t already have an account.
  2. After signing in, go to the API keys page in the dashboard.
  3. Copy your public API key; you’ll need it to initialize the JavaScript agent.

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2. Set up your project

To get started, scaffold a new Nuxt app. If you already have a project you want to use, you can skip to the next section.
  1. Create a new Nuxt project:
Terminal
npm create nuxt@latest fingerprint-nuxt-quickstart
cd fingerprint-nuxt-quickstart
npm install
  1. When prompted, choose the minimal configuration and default options.
  2. Open the fingerprint-nuxt-quickstart folder in your code editor and you’re ready to go! To run your project, run:
Terminal
npm run dev
  1. In your browser, go to http://localhost:3000, and you should see the Nuxt welcome page.

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3. Set up your account creation form

  1. Before adding Fingerprint, create a new component at app/components/CreateAccountForm.vue with the following:
app/components/CreateAccountForm.vue
<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref } from "vue";

const username = ref("");
const password = ref("");

async function handleSubmit() {
  // Logic will be added in further steps
}
</script>

<template>
  <div class="wrapper">
    <h1>Create an account</h1>
    <div class="input-group">
      <label for="username">Username</label>
      <input id="username" v-model="username" type="text" placeholder="Username" required />
    </div>
    <div class="input-group">
      <label for="password">Password</label>
      <input id="password" v-model="password" type="password" placeholder="Password" required />
    </div>
    <button @click="handleSubmit">Create Account</button>
  </div>
</template>

<style scoped>
.wrapper {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  align-items: center;
  justify-content: center;
  min-height: 100vh;
  gap: 1rem;
  padding: 2rem 3rem;
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 800px;
  margin: 0 auto;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  font-family: "Inter", "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif;
}

input {
  width: 100%;
  padding: 0.5rem;
  border: 1px solid #ccc;
  border-radius: 4px;
}

.input-group {
  width: 100%;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  align-items: flex-start;
  gap: 0.5rem;
}

button {
  background-color: #f35b22;
  color: #fff;
  border: none;
  padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;
  border-radius: 4px;
  cursor: pointer;
}

button:disabled {
  opacity: 0.6;
  cursor: not-allowed;
}
</style>

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4. Install and initialize the Fingerprint Vue SDK

  1. To integrate Fingerprint into your Nuxt app, add the Fingerprint Vue SDK via npm:
Terminal
npm install @fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs-pro-vue-v3
Note: This quickstart is written for version 1.x of the Fingerprint Vue SDK
  1. Create a client-side plugin so Fingerprint only runs in the browser. Create app/plugins/fingerprint.client.ts:
app/plugins/fingerprint.client.ts
import { fpjsPlugin } from "@fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs-pro-vue-v3";

export default defineNuxtPlugin((nuxtApp) => {
  nuxtApp.vueApp.use(fpjsPlugin, {
    loadOptions: {
      apiKey: "<your-public-api-key>",
      region: "us", // Ensure this matches your workspace region
      // For more information, see https://docs.fingerprint.com/docs/regions
    },
  });
});
The .client suffix ensures the plugin runs only on the client, which is required because fingerprinting relies on browser APIs.
  1. Replace <your-public-api-key> with your public API key from the Fingerprint dashboard.
Note: For production, consider using Nuxt runtime config to configure the key.

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5. Trigger visitor identification

Now that the JavaScript agent is initialized, you can identify the visitor only when needed. In this case, that’s when the user taps the Create Account button. When making the visitor identification request, you will receive a visitor ID as well as a request ID. Instead of using the visitor ID returned directly on the frontend (which could be tampered with), you’ll send the request ID to your backend. This ID is unique to each identification event. Your server can then use the Fingerprint Events API to retrieve complete identification data, including the trusted visitor ID and other actionable insights like whether they are using a VPN or are a bot.
  1. In app/components/CreateAccountForm.vue, import the Fingerprint useVisitorData hook and replace the placeholder logic:
app/components/CreateAccountForm.vue
<script setup lang="ts">
import { ref } from "vue";
import { useVisitorData } from "@fingerprintjs/fingerprintjs-pro-vue-v3";

const username = ref("");
const password = ref("");
const { data, isLoading, getData } = useVisitorData({}, { immediate: false });

async function handleSubmit() {
  await getData();
  if (!data.value) return;

  const { visitorId, requestId } = data.value;
  console.log("Visitor ID:", visitorId);
  console.log("Request ID:", requestId);

  // Send the requestId to your server
  // await fetch("/api/create-account", {
  //   method: "POST",
  //   headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
  //   body: JSON.stringify({
  //     username: username.value,
  //     password: password.value,
  //     requestId,
  //   }),
  // });
}
</script>
This gives you:
  • getData(): A function to trigger visitor identification on demand.
  • data: A reactive ref that holds the visitorId, requestId, and more details.
  • isLoading: A flag to monitor visitor identification progress.
By setting immediate to false you’re triggering device identification only when needed with the getData() method. Check the Vue SDK reference for available useVisitorData options.
  1. Update the button to use isLoading:
app/components/CreateAccountForm.vue
<template>
  <div class="wrapper">
    <!-- ... -->
    <button :disabled="isLoading" @click="handleSubmit">
      {{ isLoading ? "Loading…" : "Create Account" }}
    </button>
  </div>
</template>
  1. Update app/app.vue to display the form. Wrap it in <ClientOnly> so it only renders in the browser (Nuxt uses server-side rendering by default):
app/app.vue
<template>
  <div>
    <ClientOnly>
      <CreateAccountForm />
    </ClientOnly>
  </div>
</template>

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6. Test the app

  1. If your dev server isn’t already running, start it with:
Terminal
npm run dev
  1. In your browser, go to http://localhost:3000.
  2. If you have any ad blockers, turn them off for localhost. View the documentation to learn how to protect your Fingerprint implementation from ad blockers in production.
  3. Enter a username and password, then click Create Account.
  4. Open the developer console in your browser and you should see the visitor ID and request ID in the output:
Output
Visitor ID: JkLmNoPqRsTuVwXyZaBc
Request ID: 1234566477745.abc1GS

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Next steps

To use the identification data for fraud detection (like blocking repeat fake account creation attempts), you’ll need to send the requestId to your backend. From there, your server can call the Fingerprint Events API to retrieve the full visitor information data and use it to make decisions and prevent fraud. Check out these related resources: