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Client to Authenticator Protocol 2

CTAP2.

The FIDO Alliance protocol that lets a browser communicate with an external authenticator (USB security key, NFC token, BLE device) to perform WebAuthn operations.

CTAP2 is implemented inside the browser and inside FIDO2 hardware tokens (YubiKey, Feitian, Google Titan). Web developers do not write CTAP2 directly, they write WebAuthn, and the browser handles the CTAP2 conversation with whatever authenticator is connected.

Common questions

Is CTAP2 the same as WebAuthn?

Do I need to implement CTAP2 myself?

What's the difference between CTAP1 and CTAP2?

Related terms

In the guides

Last updated 2026-05-07.