Authentication Overview

Comprehensive guide to Feathers authentication system architecture, JWT tokens, and authentication strategies

Feathers authentication provides a flexible, secure system for managing user authentication in your application. It supports multiple authentication strategies including JWT, local username/password, and OAuth providers.

Core Architecture

The authentication system is built around the AuthenticationService which manages:

• Authentication strategies - Pluggable methods for authenticating users (JWT, local, OAuth)
• JWT token management - Creating and verifying access tokens
• Real-time connection handling - Managing authenticated WebSocket connections
• HTTP request parsing - Extracting authentication from HTTP headers

Installation

npm

npm install @feathersjs/authentication --save

Basic Setup

1. Configure Authentication

   Set up authentication in your application configuration:

   // config/default.json
   {
     "authentication": {
       "secret": "your-secret-key",
       "entity": "user",
       "service": "users",
       "authStrategies": ["jwt", "local"],
       "jwtOptions": {
         "header": { "typ": "access" },
         "audience": "https://yourdomain.com",
         "issuer": "feathers",
         "algorithm": "HS256",
         "expiresIn": "1d"
       }
     }
   }
   
2. Create Authentication Service

   Register the authentication service in your application:

   import { AuthenticationService, JWTStrategy } from '@feathersjs/authentication'
   
   // Configure authentication service
   const authentication = new AuthenticationService(app)
   
   // Register JWT strategy
   authentication.register('jwt', new JWTStrategy())
   
   // Register the service
   app.use('/authentication', authentication)
   
3. Protect Routes

   Use the authenticate hook to protect your services:

   import { authenticate } from '@feathersjs/authentication'
   
   app.service('messages').hooks({
     before: {
       all: [authenticate('jwt')],
       create: [authenticate('jwt')]
     }
   })
   

Configuration Options

The authentication service accepts the following configuration options:

Required Options

Option	Type	Description
secret	string	The JWT signing secret (keep this secure!)
entity	string | null	The name of the authentication entity (e.g., ‘user’)
authStrategies	string[]	Array of strategy names allowed to create JWT tokens

Optional Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
service	string	-	The path of the entity service (e.g., ‘users’)
entityId	string	-	The name of the entity id property
jwtOptions	object	See below	Options for JWT token creation
parseStrategies	string[]	authStrategies	Strategies that parse HTTP headers

JWT Options

jwtOptions: {
  header: { typ: 'access' },      // JWT header type
  audience: 'https://yourdomain.com', // Token audience
  issuer: 'feathers',             // Token issuer
  algorithm: 'HS256',             // Signing algorithm
  expiresIn: '1d'                 // Token expiration
}

Supported algorithms: HS256, HS384, HS512, RS256, RS384, RS512, ES256, ES384, ES512

Authentication Flow

1. Client Login Request

   Client sends credentials to the authentication service:

   const response = await app.service('authentication').create({
     strategy: 'local',
     email: '[e-mail]',
     password: 'password123'
   })
   
2. Strategy Validation

   The authentication service:

   1. Validates the strategy is allowed (in authStrategies)
   2. Calls the strategy’s authenticate() method
   3. Strategy validates credentials and returns user entity
3. JWT Creation

   The service creates a JWT access token:

   • Calls getPayload() to build token payload
   • Calls getTokenOptions() to set token options (subject, expiration)
   • Signs the token with the configured secret
4. Return Authentication Result

   Returns the authentication result:

   {
     accessToken: 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9...',
     authentication: {
       strategy: 'local',
       payload: { sub: '123', iat: 1234567890, exp: 1234654290 }
     },
     user: { id: '123', email: '[e-mail]' }
   }
   

Using the authenticate Hook

The authenticate hook protects service methods by requiring authentication:

Single Strategy

import { authenticate } from '@feathersjs/authentication'

app.service('messages').hooks({
  before: {
    all: [authenticate('jwt')]
  }
})

Multiple Strategies

// Allow either JWT or API key authentication
app.service('messages').hooks({
  before: {
    all: [authenticate('jwt', 'api-key')]
  }
})

With Options

app.service('messages').hooks({
  before: {
    all: [authenticate({
      strategies: ['jwt'],
      service: 'authentication'  // Custom auth service path
    })]
  }
})

Accessing Authenticated User

After successful authentication, the user entity is available in params:

app.service('messages').hooks({
  before: {
    create: [authenticate('jwt')]
  }
})

// In your service method
class MessageService {
  async create(data, params) {
    const user = params.user
    console.log('Creating message for user:', user.id)
    
    return {
      ...data,
      userId: user.id,
      createdAt: new Date()
    }
  }
}

Real-time Connection Management

The authentication system automatically manages WebSocket connections:

// connections.ts:46-78
// When a user logs in via WebSocket:
// 1. Token expiration timer is set
// 2. Authentication info is added to connection
// 3. Connection is automatically closed when token expires

if (accessToken && event === 'login') {
  const { exp } = await this.authentication.verifyAccessToken(accessToken)
  const duration = exp * 1000 - Date.now()
  
  // Auto-disconnect when token expires
  const timer = setTimeout(() => 
    this.app.emit('disconnect', connection), 
    duration
  )
}

Security Best Practices

Keep your secret secure! Never commit your JWT secret to version control. Use environment variables:

// config/default.json
{
  "authentication": {
    "secret": process.env.AUTH_SECRET
  }
}

Recommendations

1. Use strong secrets - Generate a cryptographically secure random string (at least 32 characters)
2. Set appropriate token expiration - Balance security and user experience (1d for web, 30d for mobile)
3. Use HTTPS in production - Always transmit tokens over secure connections
4. Rotate secrets periodically - Implement a key rotation strategy
5. Validate token audience - Ensure tokens are used for the intended application
6. Use refresh tokens - Implement refresh token rotation for long-lived sessions

Custom Token Payload

Extend the getPayload method to add custom claims:

class CustomAuthService extends AuthenticationService {
  async getPayload(authResult, params) {
    const payload = await super.getPayload(authResult, params)
    
    return {
      ...payload,
      roles: authResult.user.roles,
      permissions: authResult.user.permissions,
      tenantId: authResult.user.tenantId
    }
  }
}

Custom Token Options

Customize token options per request:

app.service('authentication').create(
  { strategy: 'local', email, password },
  {
    jwtOptions: {
      expiresIn: '7d',  // Custom expiration
      audience: 'mobile-app'
    }
  }
)

Logging Out

Remove authentication (triggers logout event):

// Client-side logout
await app.service('authentication').remove(null)

// The service verifies the token and triggers logout hooks
// Real-time connections are cleaned up automatically

Events

The authentication service emits events during the authentication lifecycle:

• login - After successful authentication
• logout - After successful logout
• disconnect - When a real-time connection closes

app.service('authentication').on('login', (authResult, params) => {
  console.log('User logged in:', authResult.user.email)
})

app.service('authentication').on('logout', (authResult, params) => {
  console.log('User logged out')
})

Next Steps

JWT Strategy

Learn about JWT token authentication

Local Strategy

Implement username/password authentication

OAuth Strategy

Add social login with OAuth providers