passport-magic-link

Magic Link authentication for Passport JS

Installation

npm install passport-magic-link

Usage

This package supports both CommonJS and ES Modules, and includes TypeScript definitions.

Configure Strategy

The MagicLinkStrategy constructor receives three parameters:

• options: A javascript object containing some configuration:
  • secret Mandatory string, used to sign tokens
  • userFields: An array of mandatory field names from the request query or body that are going to be used to create or retrieve the user.
  • tokenField: The name of the field which contains the token in the request query or body.
  • ttl: Optional integer, defaults to 10 minutes (in seconds). It's used to set the token expiration
  • passReqToCallbacks: Optional boolean, defaults to false. If true, the request is passed to the sendToken and verifyUser functions.
  • verifyUserAfterToken: Optional boolean, defaults to false. If true, the request data is passed to the token and the user is verified after the token confirmation.
  • storage: Optional token storage instance. Defaults to MemoryStorage.
• sendToken: A function that is used to deliver the token to the user. You may use an email service, SMS or whatever method you want. It receives the user object, the token and optionally the request. It returns a promise indicating whether the token has been sent or not.
• verifyUser: A function that receives the request and returns a promise containing the user object. It may be used to insert and/or find the user in the database. It may be executed before the token creation or after the token confirmation.

Examples

CommonJS:

const { Strategy } = require('passport-magic-link')

passport.use(new Strategy({
   secret: 'my-secret',
   userFields: ['name', 'email'],
   tokenField: 'token'
}, (user, token) => {
   return MailService.sendMail({
    to: user.email,
    token
   })
}, (user) => {
  return User.findOrCreate({email: user.email, name: user.name})
}))

ES Modules:

import { Strategy } from 'passport-magic-link'

passport.use(new Strategy({
   secret: 'my-secret',
   userFields: ['name', 'email'],
   tokenField: 'token'
}, (user, token) => {
   return MailService.sendMail({
    to: user.email,
    token
   })
}, (user) => {
  return User.findOrCreate({email: user.email, name: user.name})
}))

TypeScript:

import { Strategy, MagicLinkStrategyOptions } from 'passport-magic-link'
import type { SendTokenFunction, VerifyUserFunction } from 'passport-magic-link'

const options: MagicLinkStrategyOptions = {
   secret: 'my-secret',
   userFields: ['name', 'email'],
   tokenField: 'token'
}

const sendToken: SendTokenFunction = async (user, token) => {
   return MailService.sendMail({
    to: user.email,
    token
   })
}

const verifyUser: VerifyUserFunction = async (user) => {
  return User.findOrCreate({email: user.email, name: user.name})
}

passport.use(new Strategy(options, sendToken, verifyUser))

Authenticate Requests

Use passport.authenticate(), specifying the 'magiclink' strategy for two actions:

request token

In this situation the passport authenticate middleware will send a token produced by the user information, which is returned by the verifyUser function. The delivery system is not provided by default and must be placed in the sendToken function.

app.post('/auth/magiclink',
    passport.authenticate('magiclink', { action : 'requestToken' }),
    (req, res) => res.redirect('/check-your-inbox')
)

accept token

In this situation (the default) the passport authenticate middleware will check for a token. The token value is returned by the verifyToken function.

app.get('/auth/magiclink/callback',
  passport.authenticate('magiclink', { action : 'acceptToken' }),
  (req, res) => res.redirect('/profile')
)

The options field can also receive some optional properties:

• allowReuse: A boolean indicating whether a token can be used more than once. Defaults to false.
• userPrimaryKey: A string containing the primary key of the user object. This is only used if the token cannot be reused. Defaults to email.
• tokenAlreadyUsedMessage: A string containing the error message if the token has already been used. Defaults to Token was already used.

app.get('/auth/magiclink/callback',
  passport.authenticate('magiclink', {
    action : 'acceptToken',
    userPrimaryKey: 'id'
   }),
  (req, res) => res.redirect('/profile')
)

TypeScript Support

This package includes comprehensive TypeScript definitions. Key types include:

• MagicLinkStrategyOptions: Configuration options for the strategy
• SendTokenFunction / SendTokenFunctionWithRequest: Function signatures for token delivery
• VerifyUserFunction / VerifyUserFunctionWithRequest: Function signatures for user verification
• StorageInterface: Interface for custom token storage implementations
• MagicLinkUser: User object structure
• MagicLinkPayload: JWT payload structure

Custom Storage Implementation

import { StorageInterface } from 'passport-magic-link'

class RedisStorage implements StorageInterface {
  async set(key: string, value: any): Promise<void> {
    // Redis implementation
  }
  
  async get(key: string): Promise<any> {
    // Redis implementation
  }
  
  async delete(key: string): Promise<boolean> {
    // Redis implementation
  }
}

const strategy = new Strategy({
  secret: 'my-secret',
  userFields: ['email'],
  tokenField: 'token',
  storage: new RedisStorage()
}, sendToken, verifyUser)

Module Formats

This package supports multiple import methods:

// CommonJS
const { Strategy, MemoryStorage, lookup } = require('passport-magic-link')

// ES Modules
import { Strategy, MemoryStorage, lookup } from 'passport-magic-link'

// TypeScript
import { Strategy, MemoryStorage, lookup } from 'passport-magic-link'
import type { MagicLinkStrategyOptions } from 'passport-magic-link'

Acknowledgements

This module is forked and modified from Nick Balestra's Passport Zero