JSON web tokens (JWT) with NodeJS REST API

Here is how to deal with JWT inside REST API routes:
Note: if you want to learn more on JSONWebTokens and REST you can visit this course: Learn Node.js, Express and MongoDB + JWT

 


So let's begin by creating a new directory project:
mkdir auth
setup the project:
npm init -f
Then we will install the following libraries:
for setting up the webserver
npm i express
for the database connection
npm i mongoose
for reading .env files
npm i dotenv
for restarting the nodejs application(webserver)
npm i --save-dev nodemon
for using ES6 syntax inside nodejs
npm i --save-dev @babel/preset-env @babel/core @babel/node
setting up the transpiling inside babel
nano .babelrc
{"presets": ["@babel/preset-env"]}

install eslint
npm install eslint --save-dev
other packages: bcryptjs, jsonwebtoken

to be able to run the code change package.json:
"start": "nodemon --exec babel-node index.js"
start developing from the current directory inside visual studio code:
code .

.env file
DB_CONNECT ="mongodb://127.0.0.1/users"
TOKEN_SECRET = "onetwothreefourfive"

our index.js file:
import express from "express";
import mongoose from "mongoose";
import dotenv from "dotenv";
// import the routes
import routes from "./routes/routes";

// create an express instance
const app = express();

// setup the middleware routes
routes(app);

// config the database credentials
dotenv.config();

// connect to the database
mongoose.connect(
process.env.DB_CONNECT,
{ useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true },
() => console.log("connected to mongoDB")
);
// listen for errors
mongoose.connection.on('error', console.error.bind(console, 'MongoDB connection error:'));
// listen on port 3000
app.listen(3000, () => console.log("server is running"));


controller.js:
import mongoose from "mongoose";
mongoose.set("useCreateIndex", true);
import { userSchema } from "../models/user.js";
import * as bcrypt from "bcryptjs";
import * as jwt from "jsonwebtoken";

const User = mongoose.model("users", userSchema); // users is the name of our collection!!!
export const addNewUser = (req, res) => {
User.init(() => {
// init() resolves when the indexes have finished building successfully.
// in order for unique check to work
let newUser = new User(req.query); // just creating w/o saving
newUser.password = bcrypt.hashSync(req.query.password, 10); // setting password synchronously
newUser.save((err, user) => { // now saving
if (err) {
res.send(err.message);
}
res.json(user);
});
});
};

export const loginUser = (req, res) => {
User.init(() => {
User.findOne({ email: req.query.email }, (err, user) => {
if (err) {
res.send(err);
}
if (user == null) {
res.status(400).send("Non existing user");
}

// we have the user record from db, now check the password
const validPassword = bcrypt.compareSync(
req.query.password,
user.password
);
if (!validPassword) res.status(400).send("Not valid password");

// create and send a token to be able to use it in further requests
const token = jwt.sign({ _id: user._id }, process.env.TOKEN_SECRET);
res.header("auth-token", token)  // set the token in the header of the response

.send(token); // display the token
});
});
};


routes.js: // our main routes file
import { addNewUser, loginUser } from "../controllers/controller.js";
import { info } from "../controllers/info.js"; // the protected route

import { auth } from "../controllers/verifyToken"; // middleware for validating the token

const routes = app => { 
app.route("/user/register").get((req,res)=>addNewUser(req,res)); // we capture inside req, and res
app.route("/user/login").get((req,res)=>loginUser(req,res)); // we capture inside req, and res
app.route("/info").get(auth,(req,res)=>info(req,res)); // we capture inside req, and res
// and insert the auth middleware to process the token
};
export default routes;


verifytoken.js
import * as jwt from "jsonwebtoken";

export const auth = (req, res, next) => {
const token = req.header("Bearer");
if (!token) return res.status(401).send("access denied");
const verified = jwt.verify(token, process.env.TOKEN_SECRET);
if (!verified) res.status(400).send("Invalid token");
// continue from the middleware to the next processing middleware :)
next();
};

// user mongoDB schema:
user.js
import mongoose from "mongoose";
export const userSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
{
name: { type: String, required: "Enter username", minlength: 5, maxlength: 20 },
email: { type: String, required: "Enter email", maxlength: 50, unique: true },
password: { type: String, required: "Enter password", maxlength: 65 }
},
{
timestamps: true
}
);

Congratulations and enjoy learning !

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About Nevyan Neykov

I do web design and development for more than 15 years. Have been working in various companies dealing mainly with PHP and JavaScript. Independently as well as in teams, I am involved in design and development of user friendly websites. Exploring the new aspects of JavaScript language such as ES6, as well as the Angular framework and how to apply them in practice. Nowadays I find dealing with Docker / Kubernetes and Linux system administration compelling. @youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC69XQPDbEpfAtO5S2-ZyNoA at udemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/nevyan-neykov/ Have a nice day !

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