Implement user permissions to secure admin pages and optimize queries with utility functions and loaders.

Implement role-based access control, create permission checks, secure backend actions, and manage UI permissions for app security.

Implementing Role-based Access Control and Permissions

[00:00] The first thing we're going to need to do is in our permissions utilities, we've got a couple TS ignores right here, and that's because we're trying to infer the user type from what the use user returns. Use user returns, the maybe user, which is coming from use optional user,

[00:19] which comes from ultimately our root loader. So if we dive into the root loader, we're not loading enough of the information that our permissions utilities need to be able to determine the permissions for the user. So we're going to add some permissions, roles and permissions queries here.

[00:36] So we're going to get the roles, and we want to select the names and the permissions, and from these permissions, we will select the action, true, and entity and access.

[00:55] So with that now, we can come back to our permissions, we can get rid of all these TS ignores, and now TypeScript will be happier because we now have access to all of this stuff that we need on both the server and in the client to determine whether or not the user has a particular permission.

[01:14] We can use these utils all over, and it's awesome. So with that done, let's go to the admin page first, and we'll add the require user with role utility that we put together. So we'll await, require user with role, that's coming from the permissions util, and we want to require that the user has the admin role.

[01:34] So we're going to need to get the request data function args, and that's going to take the request, and then the role that we want to make sure that the user has is admin. So the request has the cookie, our utility will read that to determine who the user is, and then we'll look up the permissions or

[01:52] the user's roles to make sure that they have the admin role. Now, in general, you want to avoid using utilities like this that are just like blanket user has these roles, because there could be a future where the role permissions change,

[02:07] and so now we're saying the user can look at this page if they're an admin, but what if the admin role permissions change, so they can't do anything useful on this page anymore. So typically, you want to check for permissions specifically, but for something like an admin page,

[02:24] it does make sense to lock that down in that way. So let's come over to our root, and Kelly put together a bit of UI for a link to the admin page if you're logged in as an admin. So here's what it looks like if I change that to true,

[02:42] and now we've got our admin link right there. So let's use the user has role utility. That is not a hook. A hook is a function that uses other hooks, but this is not a hook. It's literally just a actually very simple function here.

[03:00] So even though it starts with use, it's actually starts with user. So the user has the role admin, and then with that, we can conditionally display the admin link for our users so that they can get to the admin page. Now, if I come over here,

[03:19] and right now we're showing the admin page. Yep, there we go. We got our refresh there, and I don't know why this is not going away, but whatever, this is not showing up, so that's exactly what we want. Awesome. Okay, so then we're gonna go to our note ID,

[03:38] and we no longer need to do all this nonsense. In fact, we don't have to do any nonsense in our loader anymore because all of our permissions for what UI we display happen in the UI piece, which is kind of nice, and the reason that we can reasonably do that

[03:55] is because the user's permissions are, like, it's not a ton of data, so we just send it all to the UI, and then the UI can make that happen. So here we'll say user has permission, and we want to pass the user, and whether the user has the particular permission for deleting a note,

[04:15] and that's how we're gonna determine whether or not the user can see the display or see the bar that shows the notes. So Copilot tried to help. It was not helpful at all. So instead, what we're gonna do is right here, we'll say if they're the owner, then this is the special syntax

[04:36] that we put together for our utility, and it's actually quite nice because it's all auto-completed. So if they're the owner, then we want to see whether they can delete a note that is their own. Otherwise, we want to delete a note that is any.

[04:56] They can delete any note if they're not the owner, and if they can do that, then we can show them the Delete button. And with that, now, if I go over here, and I look at this user's note, there it is. We can see the Delete button. If I go to my own notes, nope, not Edit Profile, we're gonna go to My Notes, and there we go.

[05:13] I can see the Delete button on my own as well. And then if I come over here to somebody who's not logged in, and we go to this user's notes, I cannot see the Delete button. I can't see the Edit button. That would be another thing that you would add support for in the future. Okay, great. So let's see.

[05:33] We've got that piece done. Our loader has been emptied of any logic, and now our action we need to address. So all of this stuff that we did before, we no longer need to do because we have this handy utility called Require with Permission, User with Permission.

[05:51] And the permission is actually gonna look pretty similar to what we had before. So first I'm gonna determine is Owner based on whether the user ID matches the note owner ID. And then based on that, I'm gonna pass the request here, Request.

[06:09] And if we are the owner, then I want to make sure that I can delete my own notes. Otherwise, I have to be able to delete any note. Otherwise, I can't do any of this stuff. So we're gonna await this, and this comes from the utils that we put together here. And Require User with Permission, if the user doesn't have those permissions,

[06:28] then it's gonna throw the JSON, the same thing that we were doing before, which is awesome that we can just have this one line and it will handle everything for us. We don't have to... I love that you can throw responses. Let me just say that. It's awesome. Okay, so we save that.

[06:43] And now if I go back to another user and I say Delete, I am able to delete that user stuff. And then if we... Let's try this again. Actually, let's log in as somebody else. Let's come here, grab this user. And let's say that this user is kind of mad

[07:04] because Cody keeps deleting his notes and he wants retribution. So we're gonna log in as this user. And then we're gonna go over to Cody. And oh man, I can't see that bar. That's super annoying. I don't like that. So we're gonna say that this user hacked into our code base because they really want to delete Cody's notes.

[07:23] And they said, you know what? Can, well, const can delete is true. Take that, Cody. Now I'm gonna go delete your note. And boom, ah, you're not allowed to do that. So we have successfully protected our backend. Of course, if this user could hack our code,

[07:43] then maybe we'd be concerned about that too. But there you go. That is some of the utilities. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what you can do. These utilities just kind of JavaScript stuff. There's nothing, no like true learnings out of here that you didn't already get from what we've done so far.

[08:03] So feel free to explore these utilities if you like. But what we did here was, and the things that I want you to take away from this exercise, was that to make our roles and permissions, our role-based access control really nice,

[08:21] we added selecting the roles and permissions for each user. And then with that, we were able to feed that into some UI utilities so that we could determine what UI to display. And then on the, and I should mention also that like you're gonna need to do that whether or not your backend

[08:39] automatically supports handling these permissions. So it is kind of annoying that you have to have like checks in your actions and stuff, but you're gonna have to have checks in your UI anyway. And so you're not ever gonna really avoid that. So in any case, you're gonna select the roles and permissions

[08:59] to display some UI stuff based on the user's roles and permissions. And then we also have some backend utilities to allow checking for whether the user has particular permission to do a particular thing. And we updated our note ID.

[09:17] Here, let's fix that there and get rid of you. So we've got our note ID route action that now can simply say require user with permission. And if they have permission to do that, then the code will continue. If they don't, it will throw a response and we can display something nice

[09:35] with our general error boundary that we learned forever ago in the first workshop. So that is that, well done.

Securing Admin Pages with User Permissions

[00:00] We have now created a bunch of utilities that we'll be able to use for making much easier queries to determine whether a user has permission to do a particular thing, which is quite nice. And so in addition to that, Kelly has also made us an admin page, which doesn't really

[00:19] do a whole lot yet. But we want to lock this down to only admin users. And so you've got a couple of things that you need to do in this exercise. First, you need to update the root loader so that we're loading all the user's permissions. There shouldn't be a lot of them, but we do want to have the user permissions so that our UI can display the right stuff based

[00:38] on the user's permissions. You're going to be creating a couple of, or updating a couple of utilities for being able to access those permissions. And then you're going to update a couple of places in both the admin route that I showed you, as well as the note ID route, so that we

[00:56] don't have to do all those queries ourselves. It will be a lot easier, a lot better this way. So feel free to explore the utilities that Kelly put together for us, and then you can get into this exercise. Should be a good one. Have fun.

Most web applications feature user accounts in one form or another.

To the user, having a login form seems simple enough. But behind the scenes, there's a lot going on. You need to securely store and manage user sessions, handle authentication and authorization, and protect against malicious attacks.

Without knowledge of the underlying concepts, it's easy to make mistakes (even if you decide to use a third party service or library to do all the hard work for you). Weak authentication systems, misconfigured route protection, and flawed session management all lead to vulnerabilities and negative user experiences.

The Authentication Strategies & Implementation workshop is your guide to implementing industry standard user account flows in a modern web application.

Securely managing passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and integrating with third-party providers are just some of the processes you will practice. You'll also learn how to handle user preferences, session data, and send emails to users. This will take you all the way to the point where you could easily add Single-Sign On (SSO) support–a must if you’re building a business-to-business application.

There are a lot of moving parts to consider, but this workshop will give you the confidence to tackle them all.

## Cookies

The workshop begins by diving into cookies. This fundamental part of web browsing is often misunderstood, but important to understand. We keep it simple to ramp you up slowly on the web’s original state management solution. This also introduces us to important UI patterns you’ll want to use in other areas of web development as well. It’s surprisingly deep! Topics include:

- Storing user theme preferences in a cookie
- Server-side cookie handling
- Using fetchers for non-navigation mutations
- Optimistic UI updating to apply changes immediately

## Session Storage

Storing user preferences in cookies is fine, but you need to be more careful when it comes to session data. It's vital that users with devtools or malicious client-side JavaScript can't access or modify the data inside of cookies. In this section, you'll learn:

- Cookie-based session data persistence
- Properly getting, setting, and updating session data
- Deleting data after reading
- The flash pattern for short-lived messages

## User Sessions

Depending on the amount of data you need to store, it may make sense to use a different storage mechanism for session data. For this workshop we will continue to use cookies, however we will switch to using a dedicated session cookie. This section will teach you:

- Create a session storage object for storing user data
- Transform form submissions into user objects for storage
- Retrieving user information from cookies then the database

## Passwords

Passwords are the most common way to authenticate that a user is who they say they are. Obviously, storing them in plain text is a bad idea, but even encryption isn't enough. You need to properly prepare to securely handle passwords:

- Create a Password model in the database
- Generate secure password hashes with the battle-tested bcrypt algorithm
- Protection against password attacks
- Update signup route to securely create records

## Login & Logout

At this point, you have the ability to create users and store their passwords. But how do you actually log them in? And how do you log them out? In this one we’re also going to learn about imperative mutations which you’ll definitely want to know for other app features. This section will teach you:

- Verify a user's password hash with bcrypt
- Handling optional vs. required user data
- Guard against timing attacks
- Clearing session data on logout
- Handle edge cases like deleted accounts
- Set expiration dates for session cookies
- Implement automatic logout after a set idle time

## Protecting Routes & Role-Based Access

Most web application have routes that you need to be logged in to access. It's one thing to prevent this in the UI, but the real thing you need to do is protect the data that powers those pages. There are also considerations for different user roles and permissions. This section will teach you how to:

- Ensure users only access data they own
- Restrict private pages to logged in users
- Implement smart redirects for login and logout
- Specify and enforce permissions with Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

## Managed Sessions

Imagine a user logging in on a public computer, who then forgets to log out. This security risk can be mitigated by implementing a session management feature:

- Add a session model to the database
- Update auth utils, login, and logout routes to query sessions
- Refactor for session expiration support
- Create a page for displaying & managing active sessions

## Email Verification & Password Resets

Email is one of the most common ways to verify a user's identity. If a user loses access to their account, needs to reset their password, or wants to change their email address, you'll need to send them an email. While the actual sending of the email is best handled by a third-party service, the process flow behind the scenes is what you'll need to implement:

- Integrate a third-party email API
- Share session data between routes for multi-step flows
- Style HTML emails
- Generate time-based one time passwords (TOTP) for password resets
- Force verification of email address change

## Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a great way to add an extra layer of security to your application. It requires the user to enter a code from a second device along with their username and password. Even if an attacker determines a password, they won't be able to access the account without the second factor. In this section, you'll add 2FA to the Epic Notes application:

- Handle the 2FA enable flow
- Provide the user with a QR code
- Implement a 2FA code input form
- Verify the code and log the user in
- Require re-verification
- Provide option to disable 2FA

## Third-Party Authentication

There are several reasons to use third-party authentication providers. It can be a great way to reduce friction for users, or allow easier access to other data. The most common way to do this is with OAuth 2. Once you’re finished with this section, you’ll be geared up to implement third party auth with any provider. Including Single-Sign On (SSO) flows. We’ll be following these steps:

- Add an authentication strategy to enable GitHub login
- Create a connections model to associate users with providers
- Prevent duplicate account connections & hijack attempts
- Pre-fill user account data based on third-party login
- Mocking third party APIs for testing
- Gracefully handle login errors
- Implement smart redirection to return to original page after login

Learn best practices for managing user sessions, passwords, 2FA, email verification, OAuth, and more in the Authentication Strategies & Implementation Workshop!

Authentication Strategies & Implementation

Kent C. Dodds

Full Stack Vol 1

Discover the ins and outs of web authentication, including role-based access control, session management, third-party authentication, 2fa, and more.

Intro to Authentication Strategies & Implementation Workshop

Intro to Authentication Strategies & Implementation

Intro to Cookies

Learn how to properly set and manage the theme preference in a form using Conform and UseFetcher. 

Implement a theme switcher with hidden input, user-based theme, and no page refresh using useFetcher.

Creating a Theme Switcher with Form Submission and Fetcher in React

Implementing Theme Switching with Conform and UseFetcher

Wire cookie-based dark mode preference into app using root TSX file and theme module for seamless light-dark theme toggling.

Master cookie-based theme selection, updating UI dynamically for a superior user experience in your web app.

Implementing Cookies for Theme Selection

Adding User Preference for Dark Mode

Optimize UI for theme switching: Instantly update UI on theme switch, improving user experience by eliminating network delay.






Leverage useTheme hook for optimistic theme changes: Extract data from fetchers, manage fallbacks, and simplify with Remix for seamless UI updates.






Implementing Optimistic UI with Remix

Implementing Optimistic UI for Theme Switching

Discover the value of taking breaks to refresh and solidify information in your brain during your learning journey. Don't underestimate the power of a short break to enhance your learning experience.

Dad Joke Break Cookies

Cookies

Intro to Session Storage

Utilize cookies for dynamic toast messages in your web app: Set and read cookie values to display informative alerts and success notifications to users.






Set up secure cookie session storage for toast messages in server-side code: Configure, sign, and rotate with step-by-step guidance.










Configuring Cookie Session Storage for Toast Messages

Toast Messages with Cookies

Implement Toast messages for user feedback during delete actions: Set up frontend and backend components for seamless notification display.

Utilize cookie sessions for dynamic toast messages: Read, set cookies, serialize objects, and manage toasts via session storage, independent of global state.

Managing Toast Messages with Cookie Sessions

Adding Toast Notifications to Delete Functionality 

Efficiently delete notes, set multiple cookies using utility, eliminate persistent toast for a smoother user experience.






Sync browser-server state efficiently: Unset and serialize cookie properties, optimize performance, and enhance user experience with header management insights.

Efficiently Updating and Serializing Cookies 

Improving Note Deletion Functionality with Multiple Cookies

Use "flash and get" for temp notifications like toasts, skip needless unsets, and embrace session management's flashes.

Use Flash API to auto-remove toast messages on the next get call, maintaining clean code and up-to-date cookie storage.






Efficiently Removing Toast Messages with Flash API

Implementing Flash Messages for Temporary Notifications

Dad Joke Break Session Storage

Session Storage

Intro to User Sessions

Securely manage user login info with separate session cookies, similar to Toast messages in session storage. Gain valuable insights for effective handling.

Set up secure session storage for user info in cookies with RemixRunNode. Configure for enhanced security and protection against unauthorized access.

Secure Cookie Session Storage 

Managing User Sessions with Separate Cookies

Learn how to authenticate users, set session values, and create cookies for user identification and access control.

Learn how to create a secure login process using form data, user validation, and session storage, including error handling and user authentication.

User Authentication and Session Management with Login Forms

User Authentication and Session Management

Resolve user IDs to display avatars for a personalized logged-in experience. Refresh the page to see avatars appear dynamically.

Implement user auth and session management with Prisma, TypeScript, and session storage, including retrieving user data from cookies for UI integration.

Handling User Authentication and Session Management with Prisma

Load User Avatars

Dad Joke Break User Sessions

User Sessions

Intro to Password

Learn how to add a one-to-one password model in Prisma schema with optional fields, understanding the unique constraints and implications for database design.

Learn how to create one-to-one relationships in Prisma database schema and handle password security by separating password hash in a separate model.

Model Relationships and Handling Passwords in Database Schema

Creating an Optional Password Model in Prisma Schema

Update seed script to generate secure passwords for user accounts, ensuring all users have passwords and enhancing app security.

Utilize bcrypt to generate secure password hashes, integrate them into seed scripts, and bolster your test suite.

Secure Password Creation with Prisma

Generating Passwords for Secure User Creation

Learn how to integrate password creation functionality into an existing user creation process, allowing for a seamless onboarding experience.

Securely create and hash passwords during user sign-up with bcrypt.js for data integrity and improved Node.js app performance.

Creating and Hashing Passwords for User Sign-Up

Enhancing User Creation by Adding Passwords

Dad Joke Break Password

Password

Verify passwords with bcrypt, UI for authenticated users, and hooks to prevent timing attacks. 

Intro to Login

Learn how to compare hashed passwords for secure authentication using bcrypt compare in a Node.js application.

Learn how to securely verify passwords during the user login process, ensuring that the password hash matches and avoiding potential security risks. 

Implementing Secure Password Verification in User Login

Secure Password Authentication with bcrypt Compare in Node.js

Create utility functions to selectively hide new note, delete, and edit buttons on user profiles to ensure they are only visible on the user's own profile.

Learn how to use utility functions to handle user data and create dynamic UI elements based on authentication status and user roles. 

Leveraging Utility Functions for User Data Handling and UI Customization

Securing UI Elements

Dad Joke Break Login

Login

Make logout button functional, auto-logout after time, explore 'expires' cookie property, handle deleted user accounts.

Intro to Logout

Enhance web app security by converting logout link to a secure POST request instead of GET.

Implement secure logout with session storage, protect against CSRF attacks, post logout request, destroy session cookie, ensure user experience.

Logout Functionality with Session Storage and CSRF Protection

Transforming a Logout Link into a Secure Logout Form

Set session cookie expiration with 'Remember Me' checkbox, configure/update expiration for flexible session persistence without compromising security.

Configure session expiration with 'Remember Me' checkbox, enable users to stay logged in, and refresh cookie expiration for active sessions.

Implementing Remember Me Functionality

Implementing Remember Me Functionality for Login Sessions

Discover techniques to detect and destroy invalid sessions, preventing unnecessary database requests.

Learn how to handle sessions without user IDs, destroy sessions, and handle weird states to ensure proper functioning of your web application.

Destroying Sessions and Handling Weird States

Managing Inactive User Sessions

Create an inactivity logout modal for web apps, explore use cases, detection methods, and customization for a seamless experience.

Auto-logout users after inactivity in a web app. Set up logout timer, detect user activity, use imperative submissions for efficient session control.

Auto-Logout Functionality

Implementing Automatic Logout with Modals

Step away and engage in physical activity to recharge your brain and enhance your learning experience. Return revitalized and ready to absorb more knowledge.

Dad Joke Break Logout

Logout

Secure routes with access control, authenticate, authorize users, and enforce data restrictions for app safety.

Intro to Protecting Routes

Create protected routes to restrict logged-in users and auto-redirect them to the homepage.

Centralize auth logic, use requireAnonymous function for login/signup routes, ensure proper redirection.

Creating an Auth Utility 

Creating Protected Routes 

Craft dynamic profile page: edit details, change pic, download data, delete, auth, error handling.

Protect routes/actions with requireUserId to limit access to authenticated users, ensuring data security.

User Authentication and Authorization

Building a Profile Page 

Authenticate and authorize users for secure note access and actions, enforcing ownership verification.

Secure your app with user auth and authorization. Protect routes, handle user IDs, enhance security.

Authorization and User Authentication

Securing User Access 

Improve UX with post-auth redirection, taking users back to their original location for efficiency.

Secure user auth redirects with optional URLs to protect sensitive info.

Handling Redirects Safely in User Authentication

Redirect Functionality 

Take a moment to enjoy a dad joke, take a break, and come back recharged for the remaining content. Refreshments and high fives optional!

Dad Joke Break Protecting Routes

Protecting Routes

RBAC simplifies permissions, secures actions, enables granular control, attaches permissions to roles, and enhances app security and scalability. 

Intro to Permissions

Establish role-based access control with Prisma's many-to-many relationships for users, roles, and permissions.

Design Prisma models for permissions, roles, and data integrity with many-to-many relationships.

Modeling Permissions and Roles in Prisma Database

Role-Based Access Control with Prisma

Seed roles and permissions, assign to new users, optimize seeding for local and production environments.

Update seed script: delete, create, connect roles, permissions, and generate permissions dynamically for cleaner code. 

Seed Data

Managing Roles and Permissions

Implement user permissions, distinguish admin from regular users, handle user-specific actions, and automate permission checks for robust app development.

Implement role-based permissions for note deletion, hide unauthorized delete options for a seamless user experience.

Implementing Role-Based Permissions

Implementing User Permissions and Authorization Logic

Breaks enhance learning, prevent brain overload, and improve retention. Incorporate them for a better study experience.

Dad Joke Break Permissions

Permissions

Implement simultaneous sign-out across sessions with managed sessions and database updates for proactive session deletion.

Intro to Managed Sessions

Store user session data in the database, update download feature, and explore seeding session limitations.

Create session model, manage expiration, relate to user ID, and enhance login process for efficient, secure DB  

Integrating User Sessions into the Login Process

Managing User Sessions and Allowing Data Downloads

Move from user ID to session-based auth, update AuthServer to resolve session IDs to user IDs for login/signup.

Enhance authentication with session IDs, rename variables, manage sessions for login/signup, and handle session deletion with error resilience.

Authentication Logic with Session IDs and User Creation

Implementing Session-Based Authentication

Switch to session-based auth, update routes, auth server, and rename user ID to session ID for security

Refactor login/signup to use session-based auth, update variables, queries, and validate sessions for security, performance. 

Updating Login and Signup Routes to Use Sessions instead of User IDs

Improving Login and Signup Flows with Session Management

Learn how to implement a button that allows users to delete multiple sessions, ensuring proactive logout and improved security.

 Explore techniques for session deletion and session ID verification to enhance user control and privacy.

Managing Sessions and Sign Out in Web Applications

Proactive Session Management

Take a well-deserved break, engage in activities you enjoy, like playing video games or reading a book, before diving back into the course content with renewed energy.

Dad Joke Break Man Sessions

Managed Sessions

Mock email sending in development, use Resend for production, leverage React Email components, and pass data for efficient email workflow.

Intro to Email

Set up email API keys, manage environment variables, create send email function, and use mocks for dev.   

Configure env variable, set up email server, make fetch calls with Resend API, handle errors, mock for local dev.

Sending Emails with the Resend API using Fetch

Integrating Email Services 

Use MSW to create mock API handlers for development and testing, saving costs and improving performance.

Setting Up a Mock Server with MSW Node

Mocking APIs with MSW and Testing

Integrate email verification in sign-up, log email content for testing, enhance onboarding process. 

Implement email verification with custom content, utility functions, user ownership check, and onboarding redirection.

User Verification Emails

Email Verification Flow

Safely pass user emails between signup and onboarding using cookies for verification and security. 

Safely pass data between routes with session storage and cookies for seamless web app data persistence.

Passing Data Between Routes

Secure Email Transfer and Storage with Cookies for Onboarding

Discover the importance of taking regular breaks to optimize brain function and overall well-being. Learn how simple physical activity can boost blood flow and enhance productivity in your coding journey.

Dad Joke Break Email

Email

Implement secure email ownership verification with time-based OTPs, rate limiting, and use cases for 2FA and account recovery.

Intro to Verification

Learn how to create a database model for storing verification information and generate one-time password data for secure authentication processes.

Build Prisma verification model for secure OTPs, expiration, unique constraints, target/type lookup, robust verification.

Creating a Verification Model in Prisma for User Verification

Implementing One-Time Password Verification with Database Storage

Implement a user verification workflow by generating URLs with pre-filled parameters, such as target, redirect, and creating database verification entries.

Learn how to generate secure one-time passwords for user verification in a signup flow. 

Authentication Strategies & Implementation

Authentication Strategies & Implementation

Transcript

Securing Admin Pages with User Permissions

Transcript