Node Authentication User

This project is a Node.js application that demonstrates user authentication using Express.js and a local database. It includes features such as user registration, login, and session management with cookies. The application uses Express.js for the server framework, a local database for storage, and JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for authentication.

Preview

Watch the demo

Features

• User Registration: Allows new users to create an account.
• User Login: Enables existing users to log in.
• Session Management: Manages user sessions using cookies.
• Protected Routes: Restricts access to specific routes for authenticated users.
• Password Hashing: Secures user passwords by hashing them before storage.
• Input Validation with Zod: Validates user input to ensure data integrity and provide detailed error messages.

Prerequisites

• Node.js: Ensure that Node.js is installed on your machine.
• db-local: Set up and ensure the local database is ready for use.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/gteixi/node-authentication-user.git

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd node-authentication-user

3. Install dependencies:

   npm install

4. Set up environment variables:

   Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following:

   PORT=your_preferred_port
   JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
   

   • Replace your_preferred_port with the port number you wish to use (e.g., 3000).
   • Replace your_jwt_secret_key with a secure secret key for JWT.

Usage

1. Start the application:

   node —-run dev

   The server will start running at http://localhost:PORT, where PORT is the value specified in your .env file.

2. Access the application:

   • Registration: Navigate to http://localhost:PORT/register to create a new account.
   • Login: Navigate to http://localhost:PORT/login to log in with existing credentials.

API Endpoints

• POST /register: Registers a new user.

  • Request body: { "username": "string", "password": "string" }
  • Response: { "id": "user_id" } or an error.

• POST /login: Authenticates a user and returns a JWT in an HTTP-only cookie.

  • Request body: { "username": "string", "password": "string" }
  • Response: The user data or an error.

• POST /logout: Logs out the user by clearing the session cookie.

  • Response: { "message": "Sesión cerrada" }.

• GET /protected: Returns a protected page only accessible to authenticated users.

  • Response: The user's session data if authenticated, or an access denied error.

• GET /: Displays the home page with user session data if authenticated.

Technologies Used

• Node.js: JavaScript runtime environment.
• Express.js: Web application framework for Node.js.
• db-local: Local database setup for development and data storage.
• Mongoose: Object Data Modeling (ODM) library for managing database interactions.
• JSON Web Tokens (JWT): Secure user authentication using tokens.
• bcryptjs: Password hashing for enhanced security.
• dotenv: Management of environment variables.
• zod: Schema validation library for validating and parsing inputs.

Acknowledgements

• This project was inspired by a node course from @midudev (www.midu.link/node).
• These resources provided valuable insights into implementing authentication in Node.js applications.