/api-authentication

name: api-authentication
description: >
  Implement secure API authentication with JWT, OAuth 2.0, API keys, and session
  management. Use when securing APIs, managing tokens, or implementing user
  authentication flows.

API Authentication

Table of Contents

• [Overview](#overview)
• [When to Use](#when-to-use)
• [Quick Start](#quick-start)
• [Reference Guides](#reference-guides)
• [Best Practices](#best-practices)

Overview

Implement comprehensive authentication strategies for APIs including JWT tokens, OAuth 2.0, API keys, and session management with proper security practices.

When to Use

• Securing API endpoints
• Implementing user login/logout flows
• Managing access tokens and refresh tokens
• Integrating OAuth 2.0 providers
• Protecting sensitive data
• Implementing API key authentication

Quick Start

Minimal working example:

// Node.js JWT Implementation
const express = require('express');
const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken');
const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');

const app = express();
const SECRET_KEY = process.env.JWT_SECRET || 'your-secret-key';
const REFRESH_SECRET = process.env.REFRESH_SECRET || 'your-refresh-secret';

// User login endpoint
app.post('/api/auth/login', async (req, res) => {
  try {
    const { email, password } = req.body;

    // Find user in database
    const user = await User.findOne({ email });
    if (!user) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
    }

    // Verify password
    const isValid = await bcrypt.compare(password, user.password);
    if (!isValid) {
      return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid credentials' });
    }
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)

Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the `references/` directory:

| Guide | Contents | |---|---| | [JWT Authentication](references/jwt-authentication.md) | JWT Authentication | | [OAuth 2.0 Implementation](references/oauth-20-implementation.md) | OAuth 2.0 Implementation | | [API Key Authentication](references/api-key-authentication.md) | API Key Authentication | | [Python Authentication Implementation](references/python-authentication-implementation.md) | Python Authentication Implementation |

Best Practices

✅ DO

• Use HTTPS for all authentication
• Store tokens securely (HttpOnly cookies)
• Implement token refresh mechanism
• Set appropriate token expiration times
• Hash and salt passwords
• Use strong secret keys
• Validate tokens on every request
• Implement rate limiting on auth endpoints
• Log authentication attempts
• Rotate secrets regularly

❌ DON'T

• Store passwords in plain text
• Send tokens in URL parameters
• Use weak secret keys
• Store sensitive data in JWT payload
• Ignore token expiration
• Disable HTTPS in production
• Log sensitive tokens
• Reuse API keys across services
• Store credentials in code