DEV Community

Cover image for How to create password back-up system on Node.js
Jahongir Sobirov
Jahongir Sobirov

Posted on

How to create password back-up system on Node.js

#express #node #tutorial #beginners

Passwords can be forgotten, and forcing users to reset via email every time is annoying. With magic links, we can provide a secure and seamless password backup system. In this tutorial, I’ll show how to implement it in Node.js using the auth-verify library.

Install dependecies 

npm install auth-verify express
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode
  • auth-verify: To handle magic links
  • express: To create server routes.

Setup auth-verify

Initialize in your server.js:

const express = require('express')
const app = express()

const AuthVerify = require('auth-verify')
const auth = new AuthVerify({
  mlSecret: 'super_secret_key', // making secret for magic links
  mlExpiry: '5m', // magic links expiration time
  appUrl: 'http://localhost:3000', // URL of running app
  storeTokens: 'memory' // Storing magic links on 'memory' or 'redis'
})

// Configuring magic link sender
auth.magic.sender({
  service: 'gmail',
  sender: 'yourapp@gmail.com',
  pass: 'your_gmail_app_password'
})
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Create Magic Link Endpoint

When a user forgets their password, we send a magic link to their email.

app.post('/send-magic-link', async (req, res)=> {
    const { email } = req.body
    try {
        const result = await auth.magic.send(email, {
            subject: 'Your Reset password Link ✨',
            html: `<p>Click below to sign in:</p>
            <a href="{{link}}">Login Now</a>` // {{link}} automatically changes to link like localhost:3000/auth/verify?token=GENERATED_TOKEN
        })
        res.json({ success: true, message: 'Magic link sent!', result })
    }catch(err){
        console.error(err)
        res.status(500).json({ success: false, message: 'Failed to send magic link' })
    }
})
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Create Verification end point

When user clicks the link that sent to his/her email token will be verified

app.get('/auth/verify', async (req, res) => {
  const { token } = req.query; // getting token by link
  try {
    await auth.magic.verify(token)
    res.send(`
        <form method="POST" action="/reset-password">
            <input name="newpassword" type="password">
            <button type="submit">Set new password</button>
        </form>
        `)
  } catch (err) {
    res.status(400).json({ success: false, message: err.message })
  }
})
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Set the new password

At this endpoint new password will be set by user

app.post('/reset-password', (req, res)=> {
  const { newpassword } = req.body // getting new password of user
  // And new password will be set in here...
})
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Conclusion:

With magic links, users can reset their passwords without remembering old ones. Using auth-verify makes this setup secure and easy. You now have a simple Node.js password backup system that’s user-friendly and secure.

Top comments (0)