LinkedIn

LinkedIn single sign-on (SSO) lets visitors join your website or app with their LinkedIn account instead of creating a new username and password. For a B2B audience it's often the most trusted option on the page. This article explains what LinkedIn shares with your site, then walks you through connecting your own LinkedIn app so visitors see your brand when they click "Continue with LinkedIn", and covers what to do if you need more from LinkedIn than a visitor's basic profile.

In short: When a visitor clicks "Continue with LinkedIn", LinkedIn confirms who they are and shares their name, profile picture, language and email address with your site, so you never see or store their password. Bread & Butter supports LinkedIn out of the box in Sandbox Mode. To show your own brand, create an app in the LinkedIn Developer portal, add the Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect product, then paste its Client ID and Client Secret into Settings, then Global Conversion Methods, in Bread & Butter. Posting to LinkedIn on a visitor's behalf is also self-serve; most other LinkedIn APIs need LinkedIn's approval, and full profile access is closed to new apps.

Need a hand? Setting up developer credentials can feel a bit overwhelming. We offer a free 15-minute onboarding session to help you get this configured. Book your session with a specialist here.

What is LinkedIn SSO?

LinkedIn SSO, which LinkedIn calls Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect, lets people use their LinkedIn account to sign in to other websites and apps. It's built on OpenID Connect, the same open standard used by Google and Microsoft sign-in.

  1. A visitor clicks Continue with LinkedIn on your site.
  2. LinkedIn asks them to confirm they want to share their details with you.
  3. LinkedIn confirms who they are and sends your site their details.
  4. Bread & Butter creates a verified profile for them, and returning visitors are recognized with the same click.

What LinkedIn shares with your site

With the standard openid   , profile    and email    scopes, LinkedIn returns:

  • The visitor's full name, first name and last name
  • Their profile picture
  • Their language and region setting
  • Their primary email address, and whether LinkedIn has verified it
  • A LinkedIn member ID unique to your app

That's all Bread & Butter needs to create a verified profile. The research on the person and their company comes from Profile Enrichment, not from LinkedIn. See What is Profile Enrichment, and what does it find?

Why offer LinkedIn sign-in?

  • A professional identity. A LinkedIn account belongs to a real person with a real job, so you get a business contact rather than a throwaway address.
  • Less friction. One familiar button replaces a sign-up form.
  • No passwords to manage. You don't handle resets or protect a password database.
  • Trusted by B2B buyers. For software, professional services and B2B content, it's often the option visitors choose first.

Offer it alongside Google and Microsoft, and put the option your audience uses most at the top.

Why connect your own LinkedIn app?

When you first install Bread & Butter, the LinkedIn 1-click connection is pre-configured in Sandbox Mode. This allows you to instantly test your widgets, but it means visitors will see Bread & Butter's name on the LinkedIn connection screen instead of yours.

To maximize user trust and prevent conversion drop-off, you must transition LinkedIn out of the sandbox. By setting up an application in the LinkedIn Developer portal, you can generate your own credentials so buyers see your brand when they click "Continue with LinkedIn".

Here is how to set it up in four steps.


Step 1: Create Your LinkedIn App

  • Log in to the LinkedIn Developer portal using your standard LinkedIn account.
  • https://www.linkedin.com/developers/
  • Click Create App.
  • Enter the required App Information for your organization.

⚠️ Important: You will need to link this application to your official LinkedIn Company Page. If your business does not have a Company Page yet, you must create one first.

  • Agree to the Legal agreement, then click Create app.

  • Once created, you will be prompted to officially verify the App with your organization's LinkedIn Account. Complete this verification process.

Step 2: Configure Products and Scopes

This dictates what type of data your app is allowed to request from visitors.

  • Navigate to the Products tab.
  • Find Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect and click Request access.

(Note: Your app will need to be approved before users will be able to log in, so agree to the terms provided here).

  • Next, navigate to the Auth tab.
  • Scroll down to check your OAuth 2.0 scopes. Ensure that openid   , profile   , and email    are all enabled. (If you don't see them, try refreshing the page).

Step 3: Configure Redirect URL & Generate Credentials

  • Staying on the Auth tab, look for the OAuth 2.0 settings section.
  • Under Authorized redirect URLs, click the edit or add icon and paste the following exact link: https://api.breadbutter.io/callback   
  • Click Update.
  • On this same Auth page, locate your Client ID and Client Secret. Copy and save both of these values, as you will need them for the final setup step.

Step 4: Link Your Credentials to Bread & Butter

  • Log in to your Bread & Butter dashboard.
  • https://app.breadbutter.io
  • Go to Settings in the left menu, then navigate to your Global Conversion Methods tab.
  • Locate your LinkedIn connection and edit the settings to switch from Sandbox to Production Mode, then click Create New.
  • Enter a custom name and description for your reference.
  • Paste the Client ID and Client Secret you generated in the LinkedIn Developer portal.
  • Click Save, and ensure the checkbox next to your new LinkedIn provider is enabled.

Final Polish: Complete Your White-Label Setup

You have successfully added your brand name to the LinkedIn consent screen! However, visitors may still see breadbutter.io    listed in the URL routing during the connection process.

To completely remove our branding and keep visitors fully within your own domain ecosystem, navigate to the Custom Auth Domain tab in your Bread & Butter settings to set up your Custom Auth Domain.

Need more from LinkedIn than the basic profile?

Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect is all Bread & Butter needs. If your own app wants to do more with a visitor's LinkedIn account, here's what's available.

Posting on a visitor's behalf

Share on LinkedIn is self-serve. Add it on the Products tab of your LinkedIn app, and it gives you the w_member_social    scope, which lets your app post to LinkedIn on behalf of a visitor who allows it.

Bread & Butter doesn't post for you. To use it:

  1. Add w_member_social    in the Scopes section of your LinkedIn provider's Advanced Settings in Bread & Butter.
  2. Turn on Return Authorization Data in the same place.
  3. Bread & Butter passes the visitor's LinkedIn access token to your site when they sign in, and your app uses it with LinkedIn's API.

See What are scopes and access tokens, and how do I request more access from a sign-in provider?

Other LinkedIn APIs

Most other LinkedIn APIs, including advertising, Sales Navigator and talent products, are only available through LinkedIn's partner programmes and need LinkedIn's approval. Apply through the LinkedIn Developer portal. If you're approved, the access token Bread & Butter returns works with those APIs in the same way.

Full profile access (r_fullprofile) is closed

LinkedIn once offered an r_fullprofile    scope that returned a member's full profile, such as their work history and education. LinkedIn has closed access to it, and new apps can't request it, even though its documentation is still online.

Older LinkedIn apps (r_liteprofile and r_emailaddress)

If your LinkedIn app was created before August 2023, it may use the older Sign In with LinkedIn product and its r_liteprofile    and r_emailaddress    scopes. LinkedIn deprecated that product on 1 August 2023. Add Sign In with LinkedIn using OpenID Connect on your app's Products tab, make sure openid   , profile    and email    are enabled on the Auth tab, and your existing Client ID and Client Secret keep working in Bread & Butter.

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