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Sessions & Cookies (express-session) · learncode.live

Sessions vs Cookies

FeatureCookiesSessions
Where data livesClient (browser)Server (memory/DB/Redis)
What’s storedSession ID onlyUser data, cart, preferences
Size limit~4KB per cookieLimited by storage
SecurityTamperable (must sign)Controlled by server
PersistenceClient-controlledServer-controlled
Browser                          Server
  │                                │
  │── POST /login ────────────────→│
  │   { username, password }       │ Create session
  │                                │ Store { userId, role } in session store
  │                                │
  │←── Set-Cookie: connect.sid=...─│ Send session ID in signed cookie
  │                                │
  │── GET /dashboard ─────────────→│
  │   Cookie: connect.sid=...      │ Look up session by ID
  │                                │ Load { userId, role } from session store
  │←── 200 Dashboard HTML ─────────│

Installing express-session

npm install express-session

Basic Setup

const express = require('express');
const session = require('express-session');

const app = express();

app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET || 'your-secret-key',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: {
    secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production', // HTTPS only in production
    httpOnly: true,     // Not accessible via JavaScript
    maxAge: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000, // 1 day
    sameSite: 'lax'
  }
}));

app.listen(3000);

Session Configuration Options

app.use(session({
  // Required: used to sign the session ID cookie
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET || 'fallback-secret',

  // Forces session to be saved even if unmodified
  resave: false,

  // Forces uninitialized sessions to be saved
  saveUninitialized: false,

  // Cookie settings
  cookie: {
    secure: true,          // HTTPS only
    httpOnly: true,        // No JS access (prevents XSS)
    maxAge: 86400000,      // 24 hours in ms
    sameSite: 'strict',    // CSRF protection
    path: '/',             // Cookie path
    domain: '.example.com' // Domain (optional)
  },

  // Session store (default: MemoryStore - use Redis in production)
  store: new RedisStore({ client: redisClient }),

  // Session ID cookie name
  name: 'myapp.sid',

  // Rolling session - reset maxAge on every response
  rolling: false,

  // Function to generate session IDs
  genid: (req) => crypto.randomUUID()
}));

Session Usage in Routes

// Login route
app.post('/login', (req, res) => {
  const { username, password } = req.body;

  // Verify credentials (simplified)
  if (username === 'admin' && password === 'secret') {
    // Store data in session
    req.session.userId = 1;
    req.session.username = username;
    req.session.role = 'admin';
    req.session.loggedInAt = new Date().toISOString();

    res.json({ message: 'Logged in successfully' });
  } else {
    res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
  }
});

// Protected route - reads from session
app.get('/dashboard', (req, res) => {
  if (!req.session.userId) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Please login first' });
  }

  res.json({
    message: `Welcome, ${req.session.username}!`,
    role: req.session.role,
    loggedInAt: req.session.loggedInAt
  });
});

// Logout - destroy session
app.post('/logout', (req, res) => {
  req.session.destroy((err) => {
    if (err) {
      return res.status(500).json({ error: 'Logout failed' });
    }
    res.clearCookie('connect.sid');
    res.json({ message: 'Logged out' });
  });
});

Session Middleware for Auth

// middleware/auth.js - protect routes
function requireAuth(req, res, next) {
  if (!req.session.userId) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Authentication required' });
  }
  next();
}

function requireRole(...roles) {
  return (req, res, next) => {
    if (!req.session.userId) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Authentication required' });
    }
    if (!roles.includes(req.session.role)) {
      return res.status(403).json({ error: 'Insufficient permissions' });
    }
    next();
  };
}

// Usage
app.get('/profile', requireAuth, (req, res) => {
  res.json({ user: req.session.username });
});

app.get('/admin', requireRole('admin'), (req, res) => {
  res.json({ secret: 'Admin data' });
});

Session Store - MemoryStore (Default)

// Default - NOT for production
app.use(session({
  secret: 'keyboard cat',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false
}));
// MemoryStore leaks memory and doesn't scale across processes

Session Store - Redis (Production)

npm install redis connect-redis

const RedisStore = require('connect-redis').default;
const { createClient } = require('redis');

const redisClient = createClient({
  url: process.env.REDIS_URL || 'redis://localhost:6379'
});

redisClient.connect().catch(console.error);

app.use(session({
  store: new RedisStore({ client: redisClient }),
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET,
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: { secure: true, httpOnly: true, maxAge: 86400000 }
}));

Other Session Stores

StoreUse Case
RedisFast, production-ready, shared across processes
MongoDB (connect-mongo)Good if you already use MongoDB
PostgreSQL (connect-pg-simple)Good if you already use PostgreSQL
MySQL (express-mysql-session)Good if you already use MySQL

For reading unsigned cookies sent by the client:

npm install cookie-parser

const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
app.use(cookieParser());

app.get('/cookies', (req, res) => {
  console.log(req.cookies);     // Unsigned cookies
  console.log(req.signedCookies); // Signed cookies
  res.json({ cookies: req.cookies });
});

Full Auth Flow with Sessions

const express = require('express');
const session = require('express-session');
const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');
const User = require('./models/User');

const app = express();

app.use(express.json());
app.use(session({
  secret: process.env.SESSION_SECRET,
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: false,
  cookie: { httpOnly: true, secure: false, maxAge: 86400000 }
}));

// Register
app.post('/register', async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    const { username, password } = req.body;
    const hashedPassword = await bcrypt.hash(password, 10);
    const user = await User.create({ username, password: hashedPassword });
    res.status(201).json({ message: 'User created' });
  } catch (err) { next(err); }
});

// Login
app.post('/login', async (req, res, next) => {
  try {
    const { username, password } = req.body;
    const user = await User.findOne({ username });
    if (!user || !(await bcrypt.compare(password, user.password))) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
    }

    req.session.userId = user._id;
    req.session.username = user.username;
    req.session.role = user.role;

    res.json({ message: 'Login successful', user: { username: user.username, role: user.role } });
  } catch (err) { next(err); }
});

// Check session
app.get('/me', (req, res) => {
  if (!req.session.userId) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Not authenticated' });
  }
  res.json({
    userId: req.session.userId,
    username: req.session.username,
    role: req.session.role
  });
});

// Logout
app.post('/logout', (req, res) => {
  req.session.destroy();
  res.clearCookie('connect.sid');
  res.json({ message: 'Logged out' });
});

app.listen(3000);

Security Considerations

// ❌ Insecure cookie settings
cookie: {
  secure: false,    // Sent over HTTP
  httpOnly: false,  // XSS can read it
  sameSite: false   // Vulnerable to CSRF
}

// ✅ Secure cookie settings
cookie: {
  secure: true,         // HTTPS only
  httpOnly: true,       // No JS access
  sameSite: 'strict',   // CSRF protection
  maxAge: 86400000      // Reasonable expiry
}
  • Rotate secret periodically
  • Use a proper session store (Redis, DB) in production
  • Set httpOnly: true to prevent XSS access
  • Set secure: true in production (HTTPS)
  • Use sameSite: 'lax' or 'strict' for CSRF protection
  • Regenerate session ID on privilege escalation:
req.session.regenerate((err) => {
  // New session ID, old data discarded
  req.session.userId = user.id;
});

Key Takeaways

  • Express sessions store data server-side, only the session ID is stored in a cookie
  • Install express-session and configure with a secret and cookie options
  • Access session data via req.session - it’s a plain object you can read/write
  • Use req.session.destroy() to log out
  • For production, use Redis or another external session store
  • Set httpOnly: true, secure: true, and sameSite: 'strict' for security
  • Use session middleware (requireAuth) to protect routes
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