als-cookie-options

als-cookie-options is a library for managing cookie settings in Node.js applications, providing a structured way to define and serialize cookie options with built-in security, validation, and enhanced customization through default settings.

V2.1: Enhanced flexibility with the CookieOptions class, supporting universal usage and default configuration merging.

What's New in V2.1

• Dynamic Security Check: Automatically applies the Secure attribute based on the request object.
• Unified Option Handling: Merge default settings with overrides for dynamic use cases.
• Static Serialization: Improved serializeOptions method for universal quick serialization without instance creation.
• Backward Compatibility: Maintains compatibility with v1 use cases while extending functionality.

Features

• Validation: Ensures that all cookie settings comply with standard specifications before serialization.
• Security: Automatically applies secure attributes when necessary, e.g., SameSite=None requires Secure.
• Default Configuration: Define global defaults and merge them with case-specific settings effortlessly.
• Flexibility: Offers customization for most cookie attributes, such as domain, path, expires, httpOnly, secure, and more.
• Dynamic Request Handling: Incorporates request-based security evaluation seamlessly.

Installation

Install als-cookie-options using npm:

npm install als-cookie-options

Usage

Here's a basic example of how to use als-cookie-options with the enhanced CookieOptions class:

const CookieOptions = require('als-cookie-options');

// Define default settings
const defaultOptions = new CookieOptions({
   domain: 'example.com',
   path: '/',
   secure: true,
   httpOnly: true,
   sameSite: 'strict'
});

// Override defaults for a specific case
const specificOptions = defaultOptions.getOptions({
   maxAge: 3600,
   path: '/secure'
});

console.log(specificOptions);
// Output: "Domain=example.com; Path=/secure; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Strict; Max-Age=3600"

API Reference

CookieOptions Class

Constructor: new CookieOptions(options)

Creates an instance of CookieOptions with optional default settings.

Parameters

• options (Object, optional): Default cookie settings. Supported properties:
  • domain (String, optional): Specifies the domain for the cookie.
  • path (String, optional): Specifies the path for the cookie.
  • expires (Date, optional): Specifies the expiration date of the cookie.
  • maxAge (Number, optional): Specifies the number of seconds until the cookie expires.
  • httpOnly (Boolean, optional): Specifies whether the cookie is HTTP-only.
  • secure (Boolean, optional): Specifies whether the cookie should be secure.
  • partitioned (Boolean, optional): Specifies whether the cookie should be partitioned (experimental).
  • priority (String, optional): Specifies the priority of the cookie (low, medium, high).
  • sameSite (String, optional): Specifies the SameSite attribute of the cookie (strict, lax, none).

Methods

getOptions(overrides, req)

Merges default settings with case-specific overrides and evaluates security based on the request object.

Parameters

• overrides (Object, optional): Case-specific settings to override the defaults.
• req (Object, optional): The request object to dynamically evaluate security.

Returns

• (String): A serialized string suitable for use in a Set-Cookie HTTP header.

serializeOptions(options, req) (Static Method)

Quickly serializes the provided options without creating an instance of the class. Backward-compatible with v1-style usage.

Parameters

• options (Object): Cookie options to serialize.
• req (Object, optional): The request object for security context.

Returns

• (String): A serialized string suitable for use in a Set-Cookie HTTP header.

Example

const CookieOptions = require('als-cookie-options');

// Define global defaults
const defaults = new CookieOptions({
   domain: 'example.com',
   path: '/',
   secure: true,
   httpOnly: true,
   sameSite: 'lax'
});

// Merge defaults with overrides
const cookieString = defaults.getOptions({
   maxAge: 7200,
   priority: 'high'
});

console.log(cookieString);
// Output: "Domain=example.com; Path=/; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax; Max-Age=7200; Priority=High"

// Static usage for quick serialization
const quickCookie = CookieOptions.serializeOptions({
   domain: 'example.com',
   secure: true,
   sameSite: 'strict'
});

console.log(quickCookie);
// Output: "Domain=example.com; Secure; SameSite=Strict"

Examples

Setting a Secure Cookie with Custom Options

const CookieOptions = require('als-cookie-options');

const defaults = new CookieOptions({
   domain: 'example.com',
   secure: true,
   httpOnly: true,
   sameSite: 'strict'
});

const cookieString = defaults.getOptions({
   maxAge: 3600,
   path: '/secure'
});

console.log(cookieString);
// Output: "Domain=example.com; Path=/secure; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Strict; Max-Age=3600"

Automatically Applying Secure for SameSite=None

const CookieOptions = require('als-cookie-options');

const defaults = new CookieOptions({
   sameSite: 'none' // Automatically adds Secure
});

const cookieString = defaults.getOptions();

console.log(cookieString);
// Output: "SameSite=None; Secure"

Handling Validation Errors

const CookieOptions = require('als-cookie-options');

try {
   const options = new CookieOptions();
   options.getOptions({ priority: 'invalid' }); // Throws an error
} catch (error) {
   console.error(error.message);
   // Output: "Invalid Priority value: invalid"
}

// Using static method for quick validation and serialization
try {
   const quickOptions = CookieOptions.serializeOptions({ priority: 'ultra' });
} catch (error) {
   console.error(error.message);
   // Output: "Invalid Priority value: ultra"
}