Failed to execute before state hook (state: passcode_confirmation)

[vdevc]

Hi, I setup a new docker container locally and configured an nginx service to act as a proxy.
The service starts successfully and if I query the public configuration endpoint I successfully get

{
    "password": {
        "enabled": true,
        "min_password_length": 8
    },
    "emails": {
        "require_verification": true,
        "max_num_of_addresses": 3
    },
    "providers": null,
    "account": {
        "allow_deletion": true,
        "allow_signup": true
    },
    "use_enterprise": false
}

My objective is to learn the Flows API to understand how it works.
I started with registration of a user. These are the steps I am executing using Postman:

1. Send a POST request with an empty body to /registration. This request returns 200 OK and contains a single action with name register_client_capabilities
2. I then send another POST request to /registration?action=register_client_capabilities@{flowId}. This request returns 200 OK and a body with a single action with name register_login_identifier
3. I then send a third POST request to /registration?action=register_login_identifier@{flowId}. This request takes 10 seconds to complete with 500 Internal Server Error. The body I am sending is:

{
    "input_data": {
        "email": "{myemail}"
    },
    "csrf_token": "{csrfToken}"
}

I looked into the container logs and found this :

{
    "level":"info",
    "time_unix":"1758274920",
    "id":"DHJgefzUycGoFCKEVElGWLzWcdwaHDIK",
    "remote_ip":"x.x.x.x",
    "host":"auth.myserver.com",
    "method":"POST",
    "uri":"/registration?action=register_login_identifier@b7cac088-f80e-49d3-b06b-ad5308cae444",
    "user_agent":"PostmanRuntime/7.46.1",
    "status":500,
    "referer":"",
    "error":"technical_error",
    "error_internal":"the action failed to handle the request: failed to execute before state hook (state: passcode_confirmation): passcode service failed: dial tcp 1.179.115.1:2500: i/o timeout",
    "time":"2025-09-19T09:42:00.817762703Z"
}

What I am doing wrong?

[FreddyDevelop]

Hey @vdevc, the error message dial tcp 1.179.115.1:2500: i/o timeout indicates that the backend can't connect to the SMTP server.

[vdevc]

Thanks a lot @FreddyDevelop

[shiv669]

Hey, I’ve encountered this issue before. From the logs:

passcode service failed: dial tcp 1.179.115.1:2500: i/o timeout

This isn’t a problem with your request flow; it’s a connectivity issue between your Hanko container and the passcode service.

In Hanko’s setup, some processes, like register_login_identifier, need to contact the passcode service for verification. By default, this service runs internally and listens on port 2500. Your Nginx proxy or Docker network setup might be blocking your container from reaching it.

Here’s what to check:

1. Make sure your Docker container network allows connections between the main Hanko service and the passcode service.

2. If you’re using Docker Compose, check the networks and service definitions to ensure the passcode service is accessible.

3. If you’ve changed ports or exposed services differently, update the configuration to show the correct passcode service URL.

4. Ensure firewall rules allow connections to port 2500 inside the Docker network.

Once the passcode service is reachable, the register_login_identifier step should finish successfully.