Adding Auth to an Express Microblog

Objective: Add auth to a simple blogging platform using passport.js

MicroBlog Overview

This application has the following REST endpoints:

GET /api/posts to READ all blog posts
POST /api/posts to CREATE a new blog post
GET /api/posts/:id to READ one blog post
PUT /api/posts/:id to UPDATE one blog post
DELETE /api/posts/:id to DELETE one blog post
Full CRUD for blog posts
A persistent database that store blog posts with a title and description.
Client-side templating using Handlebars (and AJAX)
Bootstrap

Initial Setup

Fork this repo, and clone it into your develop folder on your local machine.
Next, run npm install to download the dependencies listed in package.json
You are encouraged to use Postman to test and debug your API routes. Make sure you are always console.log-ing data that comes back from your API when you make an AJAX call before you write any other code.

Micro-blog Tutorial: Setting Up Users & Auth

Adapted from User Authentication With Passport and Express 4.

Install additional dependencies

Install the new libraries cookie-parser, express-session, passport, passport-local, and passport-local-mongoose.

➜  npm install --save cookie-parser express-session passport passport-local passport-local-mongoose

cookie-parser: parses cookies from the browser
express-session: stores logged-in user info in the session
passport: authentication middleware for Node/Express
passport-local: passport strategy for authenticating with username and password
passport-local-mongoose: mongoose plugin that simplifies building username and password auth with passport

Require the newly installed dependencies in server.js.

/*
 * server.js
 */

// require express and other modules
var express = require('express'),
    app = express(),
    bodyParser = require('body-parser'),
    mongoose = require('mongoose'),

    //  NEW ADDITIONS
    cookieParser = require('cookie-parser'),
    session = require('express-session'),
    passport = require('passport'),
    LocalStrategy = require('passport-local').Strategy;

Also in server.js, tell Express to use the auth middleware you just installed.

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// middleware for auth
app.use(cookieParser());
app.use(session({
  secret: 'supersecretkey', // change this!
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false
}));
app.use(passport.initialize());
app.use(passport.session());

Right under your auth middleware in server.js, configure passport. This allows users to sign up, log in, and log out of your application.

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// passport config
passport.use(new LocalStrategy(User.authenticate()));
passport.serializeUser(User.serializeUser());
passport.deserializeUser(User.deserializeUser());

At this point, if you check your terminal, you'll see that your server crashed. This is because in your passport configuration, you're using a User model (User.authenticate(), etc.), which you haven't defined yet. Let's go ahead and do that now!

User Model

Create a new file in models called user.js.

➜  touch models/user.js

Open up user.js, and require mongoose and passport-local-mongoose at the top.

/*
 * models/user.js
 */

var mongoose = require('mongoose'),
    Schema = mongoose.Schema,
    passportLocalMongoose = require('passport-local-mongoose');

Also in user.js, define the UserSchema. Users should have the attributes email and password.

/*
 * models/user.js
 */

var mongoose = require('mongoose'),
    Schema = mongoose.Schema,
    passportLocalMongoose = require('passport-local-mongoose');

var UserSchema = new Schema({
  username: String,
  password: String
});

Next, add passportLocalMongoose to the UserSchema. passportLocalMongoose takes care of hashing and salting the user's plain-text password when they sign up. It also takes of comparing the password the user enters at login to their hashed and salted password stored in the database.

/*
 * models/user.js
 */

var mongoose = require('mongoose'),
    Schema = mongoose.Schema,
    passportLocalMongoose = require('passport-local-mongoose');

var UserSchema = new Schema({
  username: String,
  password: String
});

UserSchema.plugin(passportLocalMongoose);

The last step is to create the User model and export it.

/*
 * models/user.js
 */

var mongoose = require('mongoose'),
    Schema = mongoose.Schema,
    passportLocalMongoose = require('passport-local-mongoose');

var UserSchema = new Schema({
  username: String,
  password: String
});

UserSchema.plugin(passportLocalMongoose);

var User = mongoose.model('User', UserSchema);
module.exports = User;

Make sure to also update /models/index.js to import/export your User model:

/*
 * models/user.js
 */

 ...
 module.exports.User = require("./user");

Back in server.js, require the User model (you can do this right under where you required the Post model). Ensure that any references to User in server.js come after variable declaration for User!

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// require Post and User models
var db = require("./models"),
    Post = db.Post,
    User = db.User;

Sign Up Routes

Create a new view with a form for users to sign up.

➜  touch views/signup.html

Your signup form should look something like this:

<!-- signup.html -->

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <!-- set viewport to device width to make site responsive -->
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <!-- bootstrap css -->
  <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/css/bootstrap.min.css">
  <!-- custom styles -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/styles/style.css">
  <!-- jquery -->
  <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <!-- bootstrap js -->
  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
  <title>Express Microblog App</title>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="container">
    <div class="row">
      <div class="col-md-12">
        <h2>Sign Up</h2>
        <br>
        <form method="POST" action="/signup">
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="text" name="username" class="form-control" placeholder="Username" autofocus>
          </div>
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="password" name="password" class="form-control" placeholder="Password">
          </div>
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="submit" class="btn btn-block btn-primary" value="Sign Up">
          </div>
        </form>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Take note of the method and action in the form. This combination of the request type POST and the URL /signup will correspond to a server route for signing up new users.

In server.js, you need two new routes for signing up new users: a route to render the signup view, and a route to handle the signup request when the user submits the form. Let's create the route to render the view first:

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// AUTH ROUTES

// show signup view
app.get('/signup', function (req, res) {
 res.sendFile('/views/signup.html', { root: __dirname });
});

Now, let's create the route that handles signing up new users. Again, the code in this route will run when the user submits the signup form (since you already set method and action in the form to match this route).

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// AUTH ROUTES

...

// sign up new user, then log them in
// hashes and salts password, saves new user to db
app.post('/signup', function (req, res) {
  User.register(new User({ username: req.body.username }), req.body.password,
    function (err, newUser) {
      passport.authenticate('local')(req, res, function() {
        res.send('signed up!!!');
      });
    }
  );
});

Go to http://localhost:3000/signup in your browser. You should see the signup form. Fill out the form and hit submit. If it's working, you should see the "signed up!!!" message in your browser. If not, use the error messages you're getting to guide your debugging.
Best practice is to redirect your user when they have successfully signed up. Change res.send to res.redirect('/') (or wherever you want to send them).

Log In Routes

Create a new view with a form for users to login.

➜  touch views/login.html

Your login form should look something like this:

<!-- login.html -->

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <!-- set viewport to device width to make site responsive -->
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <!-- bootstrap css -->
  <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/css/bootstrap.min.css">
  <!-- custom styles -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/styles/style.css">
  <!-- jquery -->
  <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.2/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <!-- bootstrap js -->
  <script type="text/javascript" src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.5/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>

  <title>Express Microblog App</title>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="container">
    <div class="row">
      <div class="col-md-12">
        <h2>Log In</h2>
        <br>
        <form method="POST" action="/login">
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="text" name="username" class="form-control" placeholder="Username" autofocus>
          </div>
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="password" name="password" class="form-control" placeholder="Password">
          </div>
          <div class="form-group">
            <input type="submit" class="btn btn-block btn-primary" value="Log In">
          </div>
        </form>
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>
</body>
</html>

Take note of the method and action in the form. This combination of the request type POST and the URL /login will correspond to a server route for logging in existing users.

We are not using AJAX to sumbit our forms! We are just using a vanilla HTML form.

In server.js, you need two new routes for logging in existing users: a route to render the login view, and a route to handle the login request when the user submits the form. Let's create the route to render the view first:

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// AUTH ROUTES

...

// show login view
app.get('/login', function (req, res) {
 res.sendFile('/views/login.html', { root: __dirname });
});

Now, let's create the route that handles logging in existing users. Again, the code in this route will run when the user submits the login form (since you already set method and action in the form to match this route).

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// AUTH ROUTES

...

// log in user
app.post('/login', passport.authenticate('local'), function (req, res) {
  console.log(req.user);
  res.send('logged in!!!'); // sanity check
  // res.redirect('/'); // preferred!
});

Go to http://localhost:3000/login in your browser. You should see the login form. Fill out the form with the username and password of the user you just created, then hit submit. If it's working, you should see the "logged in!!!" message in your browser. If not, use the error messages you're getting to guide your debugging.
Best practice is to redirect your user when they have successfully logged in. Change res.send to res.redirect('/') (or wherever you want to send them).

Log Out Route

You should also have a route for a user to log out. Set this up in server.js as well. You'll want to redirect the user to the homepage (/) after successfully logging out.

/*
 * server.js
 */

...

// AUTH ROUTES

...

// log out user
app.get('/logout', function (req, res) {
  console.log("BEFORE logout", JSON.stringify(req.user));
  req.logout();
  console.log("AFTER logout", JSON.stringify(req.user));
  res.redirect('/');
});

Embedding the User Object in the page

This is an odd step, but a useful strategy for attaching your user to the page without requiring an additional request/response for user data.

Open views/index.hbs and add the following script:

<script type="text/javascript">
  window.user = {{{ user }}};
</script>

We also need to update server.js to pass in the user object:

/*
 * server.js
 */

 ...
 app.get('/', function (req, res) {
      res.render('index', {user: JSON.stringify(req.user) + " || null"});
 });

This works just like you would expect a front-end handlebars template to work, except that now we're doing this work on the backend!

Visit your homepage, and see if the user object is globally accessible:
```
window.user // {_id: "13245t", username: "example"}
// or just
user //  {_id: "13245t", username: "example"}
```
Congrats! If a user is currently logged in, you now have an easy way of retrieving their data from the page!

Authorization: Protecting Routes

When a logged-in user visits our site, they send a cookie to server which stores their session id. Passport.js looks up the session and attaches the user to the request (req.user). We can access this user object at any time, and use it to "authorize" or protect our routes.

Of the following /posts CRUD routes, which do we need to protect?

GET /posts
GET /posts/:id
POST /posts
PUT /posts/:id
DELETE /posts/:id

Can you use the req.user object to protect sensitive endpoints?

For example:

if (req.user) {
    res.send(...)
} else {
    res.status(401).send({error: "Not Authorized! Please login first."})
}

Or using the "return early and often" pattern:

if (!req.user) {
   return res.sendStatus(401);
}

These approaches may eventually start to get repetitive and cumbersome, at which point you should consider refactoring to use express middleware. For example, you could create a blanket check that no un-logged-in user should ever be able to DELETE. To get this to work you will need to research app.use and create your own custom middleware.

Solution

See the solution branch.

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README.md

README.md

Adding Auth to an Express Microblog

MicroBlog Overview

Initial Setup

Micro-blog Tutorial: Setting Up Users & Auth

Install additional dependencies

User Model

Sign Up Routes

Log In Routes

Log Out Route

Embedding the User Object in the page

Authorization: Protecting Routes

Solution

Files

README.md

Latest commit

History

README.md

File metadata and controls

Adding Auth to an Express Microblog

MicroBlog Overview

Initial Setup

Micro-blog Tutorial: Setting Up Users & Auth

Install additional dependencies

User Model

Sign Up Routes

Log In Routes

Log Out Route

Embedding the User Object in the page

Authorization: Protecting Routes

Solution