JWT is not stored... How to view it? - node.js

Question

Can't understand the nodejs Authentication (KoaJS2).
I have this piece of code :
router.post("/login", koaBody, (ctx, next) => {
const data = ctx.request.body;
db
.any("SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY id ASC")
.then(function(data) {
token = jwt.sign(data, token_secret, {
expiresIn: "24h" // expires in 24 hours
});
console.log(ctx.request.header);
// ctx.set("token", `test`);
})
.catch(function(error) {
// error;
});
Where is the token stored after I sign it?
There is no "Authentication" header...

Answer 1

On the server side you neary to the right thing. What you need to do: return back the token to the client:
router.post("/login", koaBody, (ctx, next) => {
const data = ctx.request.body;
// ...
// extract username and password from body
// ...
db
.any("SELECT * FROM users ORDER BY id ASC") // here using and checking credentials is also missing ;-)
.then(function(data) {
// create the token
token = jwt.sign(data, token_secret, {
expiresIn: "24h" // expires in 24 hours
});
// now you have to pass it back to the client
// the token is NOT stored on the server side!
ctx.body = { 'token': token }
})
.catch(function(error) {
// error;
});
On the client side - if you get back a token in the body - you store it e.g. in the local storage
I am using angular 2 on the client side, here the code (client side login service) could look like this:
login(credentials) {
const headers = new Headers();
headers.append('Content-Type', 'application/json');
headers.append('Accept', 'application/json');
const reqopt: RequestOptions = new RequestOptions({
headers: headers
});
// credentials: username, password --
return this.http.post(...your_api_endpoint_ + '/login', credentials, reqopt)
.map(res => {
const data = res.json();
if (data && data.token) {
localStorage.setItem('token', data.token); // <--- here you store your token
}
});
}
Each time you now hit your API again, do not forget to provide you token in the header and check it on the server side (JWT.verify()).
Here you can find a more general introduction to JWT:
https://medium.com/vandium-software/5-easy-steps-to-understanding-json-web-tokens-jwt-1164c0adfcec
Hope that helps.