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Backend Integration

Supported frameworks#

1) Install#

npm i -s supertokens-node

2) Initialise SuperTokens#

Add the code below to your server's init file.

import supertokens from "supertokens-node";
import Session from "supertokens-node/recipe/session";

supertokens.init({
    framework: "express",
    supertokens: {
        connectionURI: "",
        apiKey: "",
    },
    appInfo: {
        // learn more about this on https://supertokens.com/docs/session/appinfo
        appName: "<YOUR_APP_NAME>",
        apiDomain: "<YOUR_API_DOMAIN>",
        websiteDomain: "<YOUR_WEBSITE_DOMAIN>",
        apiBasePath: "/auth",
        websiteBasePath: "/auth"
    },
    recipeList: [
        Session.init()
    ]
});

3) Add the SuperTokens APIs & CORS setup#

important
  • Add the middleware BEFORE all your routes.
  • Add the cors middleware BEFORE the SuperTokens middleware as shown below.
import express from "express";
import cors from "cors";
import supertokens from "supertokens-node";
import { middleware } from "supertokens-node/framework/express";

let app = express();

app.use(cors({
    origin: "<YOUR_WEBSITE_DOMAIN>",
    allowedHeaders: ["content-type", ...supertokens.getAllCORSHeaders()],
    credentials: true,
}));

// IMPORTANT: CORS should be before the below line.
app.use(middleware());

// ...your API routes

This middleware adds a few APIs (see all the APIs here):

  • POST /auth/session/refresh: It is used to get a new refresh and access token in case the older one expires.
  • POST /auth/signout: It is used sign out the currently logged in user.

4) Add the SuperTokens error handler#

import express, { Request, Response, NextFunction } from "express";
import { errorHandler } from "supertokens-node/framework/express";

let app = express();

// ...your API routes

// Add this AFTER all your routes
app.use(errorHandler())

// your own error handler
app.use((err: unknown, req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) => { /* ... */ });

5) Add session verification to your API#

For your APIs that require a user to be logged in, use the verifySession middleware:

import express from "express";
import { verifySession } from "supertokens-node/recipe/session/framework/express";
import { SessionRequest } from "supertokens-node/framework/express";

let app = express();

app.post("/like-comment", verifySession(), (req: SessionRequest, res) => {
    let userId = req.session!.getUserId();
    //....
});

6) Setup the SuperTokens core#

Are you using https://try.supertokens.com as the connection URI in the init function?
YesNo
Which UI do you use?
Custom UI
Pre built UI