Auto-redirect logged-in users from flowfuse.com to app.flowfuse.com

[dimitrieh]

Problem

Currently, existing users who navigate to flowfuse.com must manually click the "Sign In" button to get to app.flowfuse.com, creating unnecessary friction in the user journey.

Quite a number of unique visitors clicked "Sign In" from the homepage in a 7-day period (late October 2025), suggesting these users just wanted to access their environment, not view marketing content.

Current Behavior

• User types flowfuse.com or clicks a bookmark
• User sees marketing homepage
• User manually clicks "Sign In"
• User is redirected to app.flowfuse.com

Desired Behavior

Similar to GitHub's approach:

• User navigates to flowfuse.com
• JavaScript detects if user is logged in (via API call to app.flowfuse.com)
• If logged in, automatically redirect to app.flowfuse.com
• If not logged in, show marketing homepage as normal

Proposed Solutions

Short-term: Homepage Auto-redirect

Add JavaScript to the homepage that:

1. Checks if the user is logged in by making an API call to app.flowfuse.com
2. Redirects logged-in users to app.flowfuse.com
3. Shows marketing content to non-logged-in users

Technical Feasibility: Confirmed feasible by @knolleary in Slack discussion (Oct 28, 2025)

Long-term: Subdomain Strategy (Optional)

Consider adopting GitLab's approach with an about.flowfuse.com subdomain:

• Move marketing content to about.flowfuse.com
• flowfuse.com becomes the app entry point
• Provides cleaner separation between marketing and product
• Makes docs/pricing accessible without losing app access

Considerations

1. Navigation from App: If homepage redirects logged-in users, we need better links from the app back to:

   • Documentation
   • Pricing information
   • Other website resources

2. Performance: API call to check login status should be fast and not delay page load significantly

3. Privacy: CORS and cookie policies need to support cross-subdomain authentication checks

Examples

• GitHub: Detects logged-in users on homepage and redirects to app
• GitLab: Uses about.gitlab.com for marketing, gitlab.com for the app

Related Discussion

Original Slack thread in #design (Oct 28, 2025): https://flowfuse.slack.com/archives/C03387T7UFP/p1761662521430019

Acceptance Criteria

• Logged-in users navigating to flowfuse.com homepage are automatically redirected to app.flowfuse.com
• Non-logged-in users continue to see marketing homepage
• Login detection does not significantly impact page load time
• Solution works across all major browsers
• Analytics track how many users are auto-redirected vs. manually signing in