Secure Auth

A full-stack authentication system implementing secure JWT-based authentication with refresh token rotation using TypeScript, React, and Express.

Project Overview

The project consists of two main parts:

• Backend: Express.js server with TypeScript implementing JWT authentication
• Frontend: React application with TypeScript handling secure authentication flows

Key Features

• 🔐 Secure JWT-based authentication with access and refresh tokens
• 🔄 Refresh token rotation for enhanced security
• 🍪 HTTP-only cookies for secure token storage
• ⚡️ Rate limiting on sensitive endpoints
• 📝 TypeScript for type safety
• 🔄 React Query for efficient data fetching and caching
• ✅ Zod for runtime type validation

Backend Architecture

Core Components

• Authentication Service: Handles token generation, validation, and rotation
• User Management: Handles user data and profile operations
• Security Middleware: Implements rate limiting and token verification
• Repository Layer: Manages data persistence for users and tokens

Security Features

• Access tokens expire in 15 minutes
• Refresh tokens expire in 4 hours
• Rate limiting:
  • Login: 5 attempts/15min
  • Refresh token: 10 requests/15min
  • General API: 100 requests/15min
• Secure cookie configuration with HTTP-only, Secure, and SameSite flags
• Password hashing using bcrypt
• Input validation using Zod schemas

API Endpoints

• Authentication
  • POST /api/auth/login: User login
  • POST /api/auth/refresh-token: Token refresh
  • POST /api/auth/logout: User logout
• User
  • GET /api/users/profile: Get user profile (protected)

Frontend Architecture

Core Features

• Global authentication state management
• Automatic token refresh handling
• Protected route implementation
• Form validation
• Error handling

Security Measures

• Access token stored in memory
• Refresh token handled via HTTP-only cookies
• Automatic token refresh on expiration
• Protected route guards

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• TypeScript

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/ifindev/secure-authentication

2. Install dependencies for both frontend and backend

# Backend
cd server
npm install

# Frontend
cd ../client
npm install

3. Set up environment variables

• Copy .env.example to .env in both server and client directories
• Configure the variables according to your needs

4. Start the development servers

# Backend
cd server
npm run dev

# Frontend
cd ../client
npm run dev

Development Workflow

1. Backend runs on http://localhost:5000
2. Frontend runs on http://localhost:5173
3. API requests from frontend to backend are proxied through CORS configuration

Security Best Practices

• Never store sensitive data in localStorage
• Use HTTP-only cookies for refresh tokens
• Implement proper error handling
• Validate all inputs
• Use rate limiting for sensitive endpoints
• Rotate refresh tokens after use
• Set proper CORS configuration

License

MIT License