How do I test auth flows?
Use Jest and supertest. Test signup (returns 201, no passwordHash in response), login (sets cookie), protected routes (401 without token, 200 with token), role checks (403 for wrong role), password reset, and token refresh. Run tests in CI.
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More FAQs in Authentication Roadmap for Node.js: From Zero to Production
Understand fundamentals, set up the User model, implement signup and login with bcrypt and JWT, write the auth middleware, protect routes, add RBAC, add refresh tokens, implement password reset, add security middlewares, rate limit auth routes, use HTTPS, invalidate sessions on password change, and test auth flows.
The difference between authentication (who are you?) and authorization (what can you do?), and how cookies work. Without these fundamentals, JWT and sessions will not make sense.
After basic JWT auth works and you want short-lived access tokens. Refresh tokens (stored in DB) let you revoke access without a blacklist. Without them, a stolen JWT is valid until it expires.
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