mainmatter
- Ember Simple Auth supports all Ember.js versions starting with 3.28.
- Doesn't support IE11
- Node >=16 is required
- Supports Embroider see our ember-try scenario and test app for guidance.
[!NOTE] Ember Simple Auth was written and is maintained by Mainmatter and contributors. We offer consulting, training, and team augmentation for Ember.js – check out our website to learn more!
Ember Simple Auth
Ember Simple Auth is a lightweight library for implementing authentication/ authorization with Ember.js applications. It has minimal requirements with respect to application structure, routes etc. With its pluggable strategies it can support all kinds of authentication and authorization mechanisms.
Table of Contents
Basic Information
Usage
Core Feature Guides
Other Guides
- Managing a current User
- GitHub authorization with torii
- Upgrading to v7
- Upgrading to v4
- Upgrading to v3
Other Resources
What does it do?
- it maintains a client side session and synchronizes its state across multiple tabs/windows of the application
- it authenticates the session against the application's own server, external providers like Facebook etc.
- it is easily customizable and extensible
How does it work?
Ember Simple Auth consists of 3 main building blocks - the session, a session store and authenticators.
The session service is the main interface to the library. It provides methods for authenticating and invalidating the session as well as for setting and reading session data.
The session store persists the session state so that it survives a page reload. It also synchronizes the session state across multiple tabs or windows of the application so that e.g. a logout in one tab or window also results in a logout in all other tabs or windows of the application.
Authenticators authenticate the session. An application can leverage multiple authenticators to support multiple ways of authentication such as sending credentials to the application's own backend server, Facebook, github etc.
Example App
Ember Simple Auth comes with a test app that implements a complete auth solution including authentication against the application's own server as well as Facebook, authorization of Ember Data requests and error handling. Check out that test app for reference. To start it, run
git clone https://github.com/mainmatter/ember-simple-auth.git
cd ember-simple-auth/packages/test-app
pnpm install && ember serveand go to http://localhost:4200.
Installation
Installing the library is as easy as:
ember install ember-simple-authUpgrading from a pre-3.0 release?
The 3.0 release of ember-simple-auth removes previously deprecated code, introducing some breaking changes, but thankfully there is an v3 upgrade guide.
Upgrading to 4.0 release?
The 4.1 release introduced a session#setup that fixes build issues for typescript and embroider users,
due to ESA using initializers. Consult with the guide in order to fix them
as well as prepare yourself for v5 release which will make it required.
v4 upgrade guide.
Upgrading to 7.0 release?
The 7.0 release introduces a breaking change, it no longer automatically provides a session service and a default session-store. You have explicitly import these files instead. Additional semi-breaking change is how classes provided by us are extended. Please see the guide v7 upgrade guide.
Walkthrough
Once the library is installed, import a session service and a session-store inside your application__.
Add app/services/session.js or app/services/session.ts
import Service from 'ember-simple-auth/services/session';
export default class SessionService extends Service {}Add app/session-stores/application.js or app/session-stores/application.ts
import AdaptiveStore from 'ember-simple-auth/session-stores/adaptive';
export default class SessionStore extends AdaptiveStore {}Optional Generic Data argument.
import Service from 'ember-simple-auth/services/session';
type Data = {
authenticated: {
// Any data your authenticators return
id: string;
}
}
export default class SessionService extends Service<Data> {}then the session service can be injected wherever
needed in the application. In order to display login/logout buttons depending
on the current session state, inject the service into the respective controller
or component and query its
isAuthenticated property
in the template:
// app/controllers/application.js
import Controller from '@ember/controller';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
export default class ApplicationController extends Controller {
@service session;
…
}{{!-- app/templates/application.hbs --}}
<div class="menu">
…
{{#if this.session.isAuthenticated}}
<a {{on "click" this.invalidateSession}}>Logout</a>
{{else}}
{{#link-to 'login'}}Login{{/link-to}}
{{/if}}
</div>
<div class="main">
{{outlet}}
</div>In the invalidateSession action call the
session service's invalidate method
to invalidate the session and log the user out:
// app/controllers/application.js
import Controller from '@ember/controller';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
import { action } from "@ember/object";
export default class ApplicationController extends Controller {
@service session;
…
@action
invalidateSession() {
this.session.invalidate();
}
}For authenticating the session, the session service provides the
authenticate method
that takes the name of the authenticator to use as well as other arguments
depending on specific authenticator used. To define an authenticator, add a
new file in app/authenticators and extend one of the authenticators the
library comes with, e.g.:
// app/authenticators/oauth2.js
import OAuth2PasswordGrant from 'ember-simple-auth/authenticators/oauth2-password-grant';
export default class OAuth2Authenticator extends OAuth2PasswordGrant {}With that authenticator and a login form like
{{!-- app/templates/login.hbs --}}
<form {{on "submit" this.authenticate}}>
<label for="identification">Login</label>
<input id='identification' placeholder="Enter Login" value={{this.identification}} {{on "change" this.updateIdentification}}>
<label for="password">Password</label>
<input id='password' placeholder="Enter Password" value={{this.password}} {{on "change" this.updatePassword}}>
<button type="submit">Login</button>
{{#if this.errorMessage}}
<p>{{this.errorMessage}}</p>
{{/if}}
</form>the session can be authenticated with the
session service's authenticate method:
// app/controllers/login.js
import Controller from '@ember/controller';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
import { action } from "@ember/object";
import { tracked } from "@glimmer/tracking";
export default class LoginController extends Controller {
@tracked errorMessage;
@service session;
@action
async authenticate(e) {
e.preventDefault();
let { identification, password } = this;
try {
await this.session.authenticate('authenticator:oauth2', identification, password);
} catch(error) {
this.errorMessage = error.error || error;
}
if (this.session.isAuthenticated) {
// What to do with all this success?
}
}
@action
updateIdentification(e) {
this.identification = e.target.value;
}
@action
updatePassword(e) {
this.password = e.target.value;
}
}To make a route in the application accessible only when the session is
authenticated, call the session service's
requireAuthentication
method in the respective route's beforeModel method:
// app/routes/authenticated.js
import Route from '@ember/routing/route';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
export default class AuthenticatedRoute extends Route {
@service session;
beforeModel(transition) {
this.session.requireAuthentication(transition, 'login');
}
}This will make the route (and all of its subroutes) transition to the login
route if the session is not authenticated. Add the login route in the router
like this:
// app/router.js
Router.map(function() {
this.route('login');
});It is recommended to nest all of an application's routes that require the session to be authenticated under a common parent route:
// app/router.js
Router.map(function() {
this.route('login');
this.route('authenticated', { path: '' }, function() {
// all routes that require the session to be authenticated
});
});To prevent a route from being accessed when the session is authenticated (which
makes sense for login and registration routes for example), call the session
service's
prohibitAuthentication
method in the respective route's beforeModel method:
// app/routes/login.js
import Route from '@ember/routing/route';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
export default class LoginRoute extends Route {
@service session;
beforeModel(transition) {
this.get('session').prohibitAuthentication('index');
}
}The session service also provides the
handleAuthentication
and
handleInvalidation
methods for handling authentication and invalidation of the session (which
not only happens when the user submits the login form or clicks the logout
button but also when the session is authenticated or invalidated in another tab
or window of the application). The handleAuthentication method will
transition to a configurable route while the handleInvalidation method will
reload the page to clear all potentially sensitive data from memory. In order
to customize those behaviours, these methods can be overridden when the
application defines its own session service that extends the one provided by
Ember Simple Auth.
To add authorization information to requests, you can use the session service to check if the session is authenticated and access authentication/authorization data, e.g. a token:
// app/adapters/application.js
import JSONAPIAdapter from '@ember-data/adapter/json-api';
import { computed } from '@ember/object';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
export default class ApplicationAdapter extends JSONAPIAdapter {
@service session;
@computed('session.{data.authenticated.access_token,isAuthenticated}')
get headers() {
let headers = {};
if (this.session.isAuthenticated) {
// OAuth 2
headers['Authorization'] = `Bearer ${this.session.data.authenticated.access_token}`;
}
return headers;
}
}The Session Service
The session service is the main interface to the library. It defines the
authenticate, invalidate and authorize methods as well as the session
events as shown above.
It also provides the
isAuthenticated
as well as the
data
properties. The latter can be used to get and set the session data. While the
special authenticated section in the session data contains the data that was
acquired by the authenticator when it authenticated the session and is
read-only, all other session data can be written and will also remain in the
session after it is invalidated. It can be used to store all kinds of client
side data that needs to be persisted and synchronized across tabs and windows,
e.g.:
this.session.set('data.locale', 'de');Authenticators
Authenticators implement the concrete steps necessary to authenticate the session. An application can leverage several authenticators for different kinds of authentication mechanisms (e.g. the application's own backend server, external authentication providers like Facebook etc.) while the session is only ever authenticated with one authenticator at a time. The authenticator to use is chosen when authentication is triggered via the name it is registered with in the Ember container:
this.session.authenticate('authenticator:some');Ember Simple Auth comes with 4 authenticators:
OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator: an OAuth 2.0 authenticator that implements the "Resource Owner Password Credentials Grant Type"OAuth2ImplicitGrantAuthenticator: an OAuth 2.0 authenticator that implements the "Implicit Grant Type"DeviseAuthenticator: an authenticator compatible with the popular Ruby on Rails authentication plugin deviseToriiAuthenticator: an authenticator that wraps the torii library
To use any of these authenticators in an application, define a new
authenticator in app/authenticators, extend if from the Ember Simple Auth
authenticator
// app/authenticators/oauth2.js
import OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator from 'ember-simple-auth/authenticators/oauth2-password-grant';
export default class OAuth2Authenticator extends OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator {}and invoke the session service's authenticate method with the respective
name, specifying more arguments as needed by the authenticator:
this.session.authenticate('authenticator:some', data);Customizing an Authenticator
Authenticators are easily customized by setting the respective properties, e.g.:
// app/authenticators/oauth2.js
import OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator from 'ember-simple-auth/authenticators/oauth2-password-grant';
export default class OAuth2Authenticator extends OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator {
serverTokenEndpoint = '/custom/endpoint';
}Implementing a custom Authenticator
Besides extending one of the predefined authenticators, an application can also
implement fully custom authenticators. In order to do that, extend the
abstract base authenticator
that Ember Simple Auth comes with and override the
authenticate,
restore
and (optionally)
invalidate
methods:
// app/authenticators/custom.js
import Base from 'ember-simple-auth/authenticators/base';
export default class CustomAuthenticator extends Base {
restore(data) {
…
}
authenticate(options) {
…
}
invalidate(data) {
…
}
}Session Stores
Ember Simple Auth persists the session state via a session store so it
survives page reloads. There is only one store per application that can be
defined in app/session-stores/application.js:
// app/session-stores/application.js
import Cookie from 'ember-simple-auth/session-stores/cookie';
export default class ApplicationSessionStore extends Cookie {}If the application does not define a session store, the adaptive store which
uses localStorage if that is available or a cookie if it is not, will be used
by default. To customize the adaptive store, define a custom store in
app/session-stores/application.js that extends it and overrides the
properties to customize.
Store Types
Ember Simple Auth comes with 4 stores:
Adaptive Store
The adaptive store
stores its data in the browser's localStorage if that is available or in a
cookie if it is not; this is the default store.
localStorage Store
The localStorage store
stores its data in the browser's localStorage. This is used by the adaptive
store if localStorage is available.
Cookie Store
The Cookie store
stores its data in a cookie. This is used by the adaptive store if
localStorage is not available. This store must be used when the
application uses
FastBoot.
sessionStorage Store
The sessionStorage store
stores its data in the browser's sessionStorage. See the Web Storage docs for details on
sessionStorage and localStorage. caniuse
has up-to-date information on browser support of sessionStorage and localStorage.
Ephemeral Store
The ephemeral store stores its data in memory and thus is not actually persistent. This store is mainly useful for testing. Also the ephemeral store cannot keep multiple tabs or windows in sync as tabs/windows cannot share memory.
Customizing the Store
The session store is easily customized by setting the respective properties, e.g.:
// app/session-stores/application.js
import AdaptiveStore from 'ember-simple-auth/session-stores/adaptive';
export default class ApplicationSessionStore extends AdaptiveStore {
cookieName = 'my-apps-session-cookie';
}Implementing a custom Store
Besides using one of the predefined session stores, an application can also
implement fully custom stores. In order to do that, extend the
abstract base session store
that Ember Simple Auth comes with and implement the
persist,
restore
and
clear
methods:
// app/session-stores/application.js
import Base from 'ember-simple-auth/session-stores/base';
export default class ApplicationSessionStore extends Base {
persist() {
…
}
restore() {
…
}
}FastBoot
Ember Simple Auth works with FastBoot out of the box as long as the Cookie session store is being used. In order to enable the cookie store, define it as the application store:
// app/session-stores/application.js
import CookieStore from 'ember-simple-auth/session-stores/cookie';
export default class ApplicationSessionStore extends CookieStore {}If you are using the
OAuth2PasswordGrantAuthenticator,
or
DeviseAuthenticator,
you must add node-fetch to your list of FastBoot whitelisted dependencies
in package.json:
{
"fastbootDependencies": [
"node-fetch"
]
}Engines
Ember Simple Auth works with engines out of the box. The host app and any
engine(s) share the same session service so they can synchronize the
authentication status:
// my-engine/addon/routes/index.js
import Application from '@ember/application';
import loadInitializers from 'ember-load-initializers';
class App extends Application {
…
engines = {
'my-engine': {
dependencies: {
services: [
'session'
]
}
}
}
});
…
export default App;
The session can then be authenticated or invalidated from the host app or any of the engines and the state will be synchronized via the service.
One thing to be aware of is that if the authentication route is outside of the
engine (e.g. in the host app), it is necessary to use the special
transitionToExternal method in the engine to transition to it. That can be
done by passing a callback instead of a route name to the session service's
requireAuthentication method in that case:
// my-engine/addon/routes/index.js
import Route from '@ember/routing/route';
import { service } from '@ember/service';
export default class IndexRoute extends Route {
@service session;
beforeModel(transition) {
this.get('session').requireAuthentication(transition, () => this.transitionToExternal('login'));
},
}Testing
Ember Simple Auth comes with a set of test helpers that can be used in acceptance tests.
Our helpers use the more modern testing syntax
and therefore require ember-cli-qunit 4.2.0 or greater
or ember-qunit 3.2.0 or greater.
We provide the following helpers:
currentSession()returns the current session.authenticateSession(sessionData)authenticates the session asynchronously; the optionalsessionDataargument can be used to mock the response of an authentication request, to provide a specific authorization token or user data.invalidateSession()invalidates the session asynchronously.
Which can be used as shown in the following example:
import { module, test } from 'qunit';
import { visit, currentURL } from '@ember/test-helpers';
import { setupApplicationTest } from 'ember-qunit';
import { currentSession, authenticateSession, invalidateSession } from 'ember-simple-auth/test-support';
module('Acceptance | app test', function(hooks) {
setupApplicationTest(hooks);
test('/login redirects to index if user is alread logged in', async function(assert) {
await authenticateSession({
authToken: '12345',
otherData: 'some-data'
});
await visit('/login');
assert.equal(currentURL(), '/');
let sessionData = currentSession().get('data.authenticated');
assert.equal(sessionData.authToken, '12345');
assert.equal(sessionData.otherData, 'some-data');
});
test('/protected redirects to /login if user is not logged in', async function(assert) {
await invalidateSession();
await visit('/protected');
assert.equal(currentURL(), '/login');
});
});If you're an ember-mocha user, we can recommend to check out this
example from the test suite of ember-simple-auth itself.
Other guides
License
Ember Simple Auth is developed by and © Mainmatter GmbH and contributors. It is released under the MIT License.
Ember Simple Auth is not an official part of Ember.js and is not maintained by the Ember.js Core Team.