Authentication is enabled by calling active_element.authenticate_with from a controller, typically your ApplicationController, or some base controller used for a restricted namespace. active_element.authenticate_with receives a block which calls your chosen authentication framework’s user authentication.

The recommended way to handle authentication with ActiveElement is to use prepend_before_action which calls the authenticator:

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  prepend_before_action :configure_authentication

  private

  def configure_authentication
    active_element.authenticate_with { authenticate_user! }
  end
end

Passing the authenticator to ActiveElement is optional and you are free to handle your own authentication, but allowing ActiveElement to call the authenticator is required if you wish to utilize the authorization model.