Unable to Enable 2FA with Authenticator App - Option is Missing

[Alexzjt]

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Bug

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Hi everyone,

I'm trying to set up two-factor authentication (2FA) on my npm account, but I'm unable to find the option to use an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator, Authy, etc.).

What I've Tried
I went to my account settings to enable 2FA. Initially, I thought the "Add Security Key" option was the correct way to link an authenticator app. I tried for a long time but failed in the end. See 181802

I asked a friend who already has 2FA enabled with an authenticator app to show me their settings page. Their page has a dedicated "Authenticator App" section, which clearly states: Authenticator app is configured.

However, this entire "Authenticator App" section is completely missing from my account settings page. There is no UI element for it at all.

Further Verification
To confirm this wasn't an issue specific to my old account, I registered a brand new npm account today to test the flow. During the 2FA setup process, the only option presented to me was to add a "Security Key". The choice to use an authenticator app was never offered.

My Questions
What is the correct procedure to enable 2FA using an authenticator app? Is there a different workflow I'm missing?
Is this a known bug, or is the feature intentionally unavailable for some accounts?
Could this be related to a feature flag or A/B testing, where the authenticator app option is only rolled out to a subset of users?
I would greatly appreciate any clarification or guidance on this. It seems like a fundamental security feature is not accessible.

Thank you for your time and help!

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[leobalter]

this is working as intended. As we informed in September, users can no longer config new TOTP 2fa methods. The Authenticator Apps was previously used for TOTP. Existing configurations are not removed yet, so that's why you could still see it before removing the one that was there.

You can create a new security key for a stronger 2fa method. TOTP is no needed that way.

[zhouwenqi]

The problem is that I must have a 6-digit OTP code now. Where can I find it? I had already set up Hello's 2FA, and now they don't even send me emails. I'm completely stuck.

[cooper-citian]

Is there any update on @zhouwenqi 's request? I have set up 2FA via passkey, however on npm publish I am prompted for a OTP, and don't receive an email

[meretodev]

Try running

npm install npm -g

In case you don't have the newest version

[phatshambler]

@leobalter Same here, I removed my authenticator app after adding security keys and now I cannot publish my packages to npm or re-add my authenticator app, the section is gone. Running npm publish I get asked for a one-time code I can't provide anymore. Please advise what to do.

[cooper-citian]

@phatshambler I was able to use a 2fa bypass auth token for a short-term fix