@fastify/auth

This module does not provide an authentication strategy but offers a fast utility to handle authentication and multiple strategies in routes without adding overhead. See a complete example here.

Install

npm i @fastify/auth

Compatibility

Please note that if a Fastify version is out of support, then so are the corresponding versions of this plugin in the table above. See Fastify's LTS policy for more details.

Usage

@fastify/auth does not provide an authentication strategy; authentication strategies must be provided using a decorator or another plugin.

The following example provides a straightforward implementation to demonstrate the usage of this module:

fastify
  .decorate('verifyJWTandLevel', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .decorate('verifyUserAndPassword', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .register(require('@fastify/auth'))
  .after(() => {
    fastify.route({
      method: 'POST',
      url: '/auth-multiple',
      preHandler: fastify.auth([
        fastify.verifyJWTandLevel,
        fastify.verifyUserAndPassword
      ]),
      handler: (req, reply) => {
        req.log.info('Auth route')
        reply.send({ hello: 'world' })
      }
    })
  })

The default relationship of these customized authentication strategies is or, but and can also be used:

fastify
  .decorate('verifyAdmin', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .decorate('verifyReputation', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .register(require('@fastify/auth'))
  .after(() => {
    fastify.route({
      method: 'POST',
      url: '/auth-multiple',
      preHandler: fastify.auth([
        fastify.verifyAdmin,
        fastify.verifyReputation
      ], {
        relation: 'and'
      }),
      handler: (req, reply) => {
        req.log.info('Auth route')
        reply.send({ hello: 'world' })
      }
    })
  })

For composite authentication, such as verifying user passwords and levels or meeting VIP criteria, use nested arrays. For example, the logic [(verifyUserPassword and verifyLevel) or (verifyVIP)] can be achieved with the following code:

fastify
  .decorate('verifyUserPassword', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .decorate('verifyLevel', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .decorate('verifyVIP', function (request, reply, done) {
    // your validation logic
    done() // pass an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .register(require('@fastify/auth'))
  .after(() => {
    fastify.route({
      method: 'POST',
      url: '/auth-multiple',
      preHandler: fastify.auth([
        [fastify.verifyUserPassword, fastify.verifyLevel], // The arrays within an array have the opposite relation to the main (default) relation.
        fastify.verifyVIP
      ], {
        relation: 'or' // default relation
      }),
      handler: (req, reply) => {
        req.log.info('Auth route')
        reply.send({ hello: 'world' })
      }
    })
  })

If the relation (defaultRelation) parameter is and, then the relation inside sub-arrays will be or. If the relation (defaultRelation) parameter is or, then the relation inside sub-arrays will be and.

The defaultRelation option can be used while registering the plugin to change the default relation:

fastify.register(require('@fastify/auth'), { defaultRelation: 'and'} )

For more examples, please check example-composited.js

This plugin supports callbacks and Promises returned by functions. Note that an async function does not have to call the done parameter, otherwise, the route handler linked to the auth methods might be called multiple times:

fastify
  .decorate('asyncVerifyJWTandLevel', async function (request, reply) {
    // your async validation logic
    await validation()
    // throws an error if the authentication fails
  })
  .decorate('asyncVerifyUserAndPassword', function (request, reply) {
    // return a promise that throws an error if the authentication fails
    return myPromiseValidation()
  })
  .register(require('@fastify/auth'))
  .after(() => {
    fastify.route({
      method: 'POST',
      url: '/auth-multiple',
      preHandler: fastify.auth([
        fastify.asyncVerifyJWTandLevel,
        fastify.asyncVerifyUserAndPassword
      ]),
      handler: (req, reply) => {
        req.log.info('Auth route')
        reply.send({ hello: 'world' })
      }
    })
  })

Route definition should be done as a plugin or within an .after() callback. For a complete example, see example.js.

@fastify/auth runs all authentication methods, allowing the request to continue if at least one succeeds; otherwise, it returns an error to the client. Any successful authentication stops @fastify/auth from trying the rest unless the run: 'all' parameter is provided:

fastify.route({
  method: 'GET',
  url: '/run-all',
  preHandler: fastify.auth([
    (request, reply, done) => { console.log('executed 1'); done() },
    (request, reply, done) => { console.log('executed 2'); done() },
    (request, reply, done) => { console.log('executed 3'); done(new Error('you are not authenticated')) },
    (request, reply, done) => { console.log('executed 4'); done() },
    (request, reply, done) => { console.log('executed 5'); done(new Error('you shall not pass')) }
  ], { run: 'all' }),
  handler: (req, reply) => { reply.send({ hello: 'world' }) }
})

This example shows all console logs and always replies with 401: you are not authenticated. The run parameter is useful for adding business data read from auth tokens to the request.

This plugin can be used at the route level as in the above example or at the hook level using the preHandler hook:

fastify.addHook('preHandler', fastify.auth([
  fastify.verifyJWTandLevel,
  fastify.verifyUserAndPassword
]))

fastify.route({
  method: 'POST',
  url: '/auth-multiple',
  handler: (req, reply) => {
    req.log.info('Auth route')
    reply.send({ hello: 'world' })
  }
})

The difference between the two approaches is that using the route-level preHandler function runs authentication for the selected route only, while using the preHandler hook runs authentication for all routes in the current plugin and its descendants.

Security Considerations

Hook selection

In the Fastify Lifecycle, the onRequest and preParsing stages do not parse the payload, unlike the preHandler stage. Parsing the body can be a potential security risk, as it can be used for denial of service (DoS) attacks. Therefore, it is recommended to avoid parsing the body for unauthorized access.

Using the @fastify/auth plugin in the preHandler hook can result in unnecessary memory allocation if a malicious user sends a large payload in the request body and the request is unauthorized. Fastify will parse the body, even though the request is not authorized, leading to unnecessary memory allocation. To avoid this, use an onRequest or preParsing hook for authentication if the method does not require the request body, such as @fastify/jwt, which expects authentication in the request header.

For authentication methods that require the request body, such as sending a token in the body, use the preHandler hook.

In mixed cases, you must use the preHandler hook.

API

Options

@fastify/auth accepts the options object:

{
  defaultRelation: 'and'
}

• defaultRelation (Default: or): The default relation between the functions. It can be either or or and.

Acknowledgments

Past sponsors:

• LetzDoIt

License

Licensed under MIT.