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[Rails]Implement session-based authentication from scratch

#rails

Here is how you can implement session-based authentication functionality in your rails application without using any gem.

Create author resources

Run the commands below.

$ rails generate model Author
$ rails generate controller Authors name:string email:string password_digest:string
$ rails generate migration add_index_to_authors_email // Add index
$ rake db:migrate
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Set validations

Add validations for name and email.

# models/author.rb
class Author < ApplicationRecord
  VALID_EMAIL_REGEX = /\A[\w+\-.]+@[a-z\d\-.]+\.[a-z]+\z/i.freeze

  validates :name, presence: true, length: { maximum: 50 }
  validates :email, presence: true, length: { maximum: 255 }, format: { with: VALID_EMAIL_REGEX }, uniqueness: { case_sensitive: false }
end
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Add secure password to Author

You'll have your users put the password and its confirmation in the form and send them as hashed values. (Hash values can not be decrypted even though they got intercepted by a third party during the transmission.)
You check if the sent hashed value matches the hashed password stored in the DB. And if it does, you allow your user to log in to the application.

Add has_secure_password

It's quite easy to set up in rails. Simply put has_secure_password in the Author model. (Also add the minimum length of each password.)

class Author < ApplicationRecord
  #
  # other code
  #
  validates :password, length: { minimum: 6 }
  has_secure_password
end
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has_secure_password

  • Enables you to store the hashed password in your DB as password_digest
  • Lets you use password and password_confirmation params and validations for them.
  • Lets you use the authenticate method.

Add bcrypt gem

Add gem 'bcrypt' to your Gemfile and run bundle install.

gem 'bcrypt'
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Check if it's working correctly

Run the commands in the rails console to see if you can use the authenticate method.
The authenticate method returns false if the given password was wrong and returns the author object if the given password was correct.

$ Author.create(name:"test", email:"test@email.com", password:"000000")
$ Author.first.authenticate('test')
//=> false
$ Author.first.authenticate('000000')
//=>
#<Author:0x0000560ee2e0a1b8
 id: 1,
 name: "test",
 email: "test@email.com",
 password_digest: "$2a$12$bQQu49N3xNCKO8StooXLBOqwwCAv7NbPqt3aG35AFDHRUgh.C8BgO",
 created_at: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:40:11 UTC +00:00,
 updated_at: Mon, 30 Sep 2019 08:40:11 UTC +00:00>
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Sign up functionality

Let's start by setting up the routes for users to sign up.

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  resources :authors
  get  '/signup',  to: 'authors#new'
  post '/signup',  to: 'authors#create'
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Add the code below to the author controller.

class AuthorsController < ApplicationController
  def show
    @author = Author.find(params[:id])
  end

  def new
    @author = Author.new
  end


  def create
    @author = Author.new(author_params)
    if @author.save
      redirect_to @author
    else
      render 'new'
    end
  end

  private

  def author_params
    params.require(:author).permit(:name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation)
  end
end
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Lastly, create a signup page and show page for each user under views/authors/.

# views/authors/show.html.erb
<%= @author.name %>
<%= @author.email %>
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# views/authors/new.html.erb
<% provide(:title, 'Sign up') %>
<h1>Sign up</h1>

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-6 col-md-offset-3">
    <%= form_for(@author) do |f| %>

      <%= f.label :name %>
      <%= f.text_field :name, class: 'form-control' %>

      <%= f.label :email %>
      <%= f.email_field :email, class: 'form-control' %>

      <%= f.label :password %>
      <%= f.password_field :password, class: 'form-control' %>

      <%= f.label :password_confirmation, "Confirmation" %>
      <%= f.password_field :password_confirmation, class: 'form-control' %>

      <%= f.submit "Create my account", class: "btn btn-primary" %>
    <% end %>
  </div>
</div>
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Sign in/out

HTTP is a stateless protocol. So we use sessions to maintain the user state.
The new action is used to put information for a new session and create action is used to actually create a new session. And the destroy action is used to delete a session.

Set up routes

Set up routes for sessions.

Rails.application.routes.draw do
  resources :authors
  # Create new users
  get  '/signup',  to: 'authors#new'
  post '/signup',  to: 'authors#create'
  # Sessions
  get    '/login',   to: 'sessions#new'
  post   '/login',   to: 'sessions#create'
  delete '/logout',  to: 'sessions#destroy'
end
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Create a session controller 

$ rails generate controller Sessions
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Add the code to SessionsController.

class SessionsController < ApplicationController
  def new
  end

  def create
    author = Author.find_by(email: params[:session][:email].downcase)
    if author && author.authenticate(params[:session][:password])
      log_in author
      redirect_to author
    else
      render 'new'
    end
  end

  def destroy
    log_out
    redirect_to root_url
  end
end
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And add the code to SessionHelper and include session helper in ApplicationController.
The session used in the code below is the built-in session method in Rails.

module SessionsHelper
  def log_in(author)
    session[:author_id] = author.id
  end

  def current_author
    @author ||= Author.find_by(id: session[:author_id]) if session[:author_id]
  end

  def logged_in?
    !current_author.nil?
  end

  def log_out
    session.delete(:author_id)
    @current_author = nil
  end
end
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class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  protect_from_forgery with: :exception
  include SessionsHelper
end
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Remember me functionality

First of all, add a column called remember_digest to Author.

 $ rails generate migration add_remember_digest_to_users remember_digest:string
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Update code in the Author model. Each method has its description in the code.

class Author < ApplicationRecord
  attr_accessor :remember_token
  VALID_EMAIL_REGEX = /\A[\w+\-.]+@[a-z\d\-.]+\.[a-z]+\z/i.freeze

  validates :name, presence: true, length: { maximum: 50 }
  validates :email, presence: true, length: { maximum: 255 }, format: { with: VALID_EMAIL_REGEX }, uniqueness: { case_sensitive: false }
  validates :password, length: { minimum: 6 }

  has_secure_password

  class << self
    # Return the hash value of the given string
    def digest(string)
      cost = ActiveModel::SecurePassword.min_cost ? BCrypt::Engine::MIN_COST : BCrypt::Engine.cost
      BCrypt::Password.create(string, cost: cost)
    end

    # Return a random token
    def generate_token
      SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64
    end
  end

  # Create a new token -> encrypt it -> stores the hash value in remember_digest in DB.
  def remember
    self.remember_token = Author.generate_token
    update_attribute(:remember_digest, Author.digest(remember_token))
  end

  # Check if the given value matches the one stored in DB
  def authenticated?(remember_token)
    BCrypt::Password.new(remember_digest).is_password?(remember_token)
  end

  def forget
    update_attribute(:remember_digest, nil)
  end
end
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Update the session helper.

module SessionsHelper
  def log_in(author)
    session[:author_id] = author.id
  end

  def current_author
    if (author_id = session[:author_id])
      @current_author ||= User.find_by(id: author_id)
    elsif (author_id = cookies.signed[:author_id])
      author = User.find_by(id: author_id)
      if author && author.authenticated?(cookies[:remember_token])
        log_in author
        @current_author = author
      end
    end
  end

  def logged_in?
    !current_author.nil?
  end

  # Make the author's session permanent
  def remember(author)
    author.remember
    cookies.permanent.signed[:author_id] = author.id
    cookies.permanent[:remember_token] = author.remember_token
  end

  # Delete the permanent session
  def forget(author)
    author.forget
    cookies.delete(:author_id)
    cookies.delete(:remember_token)
  end

  def log_out
    forget(current_author)
    session.delete(:author_id)
    @current_author = nil
  end
end
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Update the session controller.

class SessionsController < ApplicationController
  def new
  end

  def create
    author = Author.find_by(email: params[:session][:email].downcase)
    if author && author.authenticate(params[:session][:password])
      log_in author
      params[:session][:remember_me] == '1' ? remember(author) : forget(author)
      redirect_to author
    else
      render 'new'
    end
  end

  def destroy
    log_out
    redirect_to root_url
  end
end
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Lastly, add remember_me checkbox in the view.

<div class="login-form">
  <h2>Log in</h2>
  <%= form_for(:session, url: login_path) do |f| %>
    <%= f.email_field :email, autofocus: true, autocomplete: "email", placeholder: 'Email', class: 'login-input'%><br/>
    <%= f.password_field :password, autocomplete: "current-password", placeholder: 'Password', class: 'login-input' %>
    <div class="check-field">
      <%= f.check_box :remember_me %>
      <%= f.label :remember_me %>
    </div>
    <%= f.submit "Log in", class: 'btn btn-outline-primary login-btn' %>
  <% end %>
</div>
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Authorization

Add the following methods to the author controller.

class AuthorsController < ApplicationController
  before_action :authenticate_author

  ##
    Other code
  ##

  private

  def author_params
    params.require(:author).permit(:name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation)
  end

  def authenticate_author
    unless logged_in?
      flash[:danger] = "Please log in."
      redirect_to login_url
    end
  end

  def correct_author
    @author = Author.find(params[:id])
    redirect_to(root_url) unless current_author?(@author)
  end
end
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Add the current_author? method to the session helper.

module SessionsHelper
  def current_author?(author)
    author == current_author
  end
end
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That's it! Now you should have a simple authentication functionality on your rails app!

References

Top comments (9)

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algerroberts profile image
Alger Roberts •

This is definitely an article with valuable information that I was looking for. So I'd love to thank you for the effort you've made in writing this information. smash karts

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_4fc96960e00a5c4ba4e23 profile image
Cheese Chompers 3D •

Cool! This is a really helpful guide for implementing session-based authentication in Rails. I've been looking for a simple tutorial like this for ages. Thanks for sharing! Internet Roadtrip

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_4fc96960e00a5c4ba4e23 profile image
Cheese Chompers 3D •

This is a really helpful guide! I've always wanted to implement session-based authentication from scratch in Rails. This makes it so much easier to understand the process. Thanks for sharing! Cheese Chompers 3D

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marc_hall_4e0bbf1d4454c79 profile image
Marc Hall • • Edited

I have used this for setting up a basic login system for a side project to help a friend run his book printing toronto. We didn't require much in terms of logging him in and keeping track of orders safely. This guide was helpful: it cleared up session-based authentications while avoiding the use of extra gems. If it's a lightweight app, you can start here and do whatever you like. I surely would suggest giving it a try, especially toward local service apps and small-time businesses.

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rosebl profile image
Rose Black •

This tutorial provides a clear and detailed approach to implementing session-based authentication in a Rails application without Football Bros using any gems, giving users a deeper understanding of the security mechanism and how the system works.

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History Spot •

This tutorial offers a straightforward and comprehensive guide to setting up session-based authentication in a Rails application without relying on external gems. By following this step-by-step approach, users gain a thorough understanding of the underlying security mechanisms and the inner workings of the authentication system, empowering them to build and manage secure sessions effectively. Read more: football-bros.io

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RobertTaylor •

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DRwilliam •

Thanks for sharing. lovely informative codes.. It appears that you are asking about implementing session-based authentication for a website. Cookie Clicker Unblocked

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