CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jssessionexpress
alonkad
alonkad

Reputation: 345

NodeJS + Express - Apply session middleware to some routes

I have an Express application with some routes, only two of them need to support sessions. I read everywhere that the middleware definition (app.use(express.session({...) applies only to the routes that comes after it, so I created this sample:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
app.use(express.bodyParser());

app.get('/path1', function (req, res) {
    res.send('text response');
});


app.use(express.cookieParser());
app.use(express.session({
    secret: 'secret',
    cookie: { maxAge: new Date(Date.now() + 2 * 60 * 1000) }
}));


app.get('/path2', function (req, res) {
    res.session.test = { "test": "test" };
    res.send('text response');
});

app.listen(8088);

But this doesn't work: in /path2 res.session is undefined.
If I move the session middleware definition up - everything works, but I see that sessions are being create when calling /path1 (this is what I want to avoid)

Can someone explain how a single application can use session in only some of the routes.

Thanks!

///// UPDATE //////

After more digging - I figured it out:

Don't use: app.use(express.session({ ... }));
Instead - define the following:

var sessionMiddleware = express.session({
    //session configurations
});

function sessionHandler(req, res, next) { sessionMiddleware(req, res, next); }

Then apply the handler on the specific route/s that need session support: 

app.get('/path_that_need_session', sessionHandler, function (req, res) {                     
 /* Do somthing with req.session */  
});

Upvotes: 23

Views: 14753

Answers (2)

Waylon Flinn
Waylon Flinn

Reputation: 20247

Don't use app.use(express.session({ ... })).

Instead, initialize the session middleware, save a reference to the resulting function then include it directly in the routes you want it on.

var express = require('express'),
    app = express();

var session = express.session({
    //session configuration
});

app.use(app.router);


// must come after app.use(app.router);
app.get('/your/route/here', session, function(req, res){
    // code for route handler goes here
});

Slightly simpler than the answer included in the update (you don't need the wrapper function).

Upvotes: 31

robertklep
robertklep

Reputation: 203231

The problem is actually your route for /path1, which is defined before express.session is being used.

When you declare a route handler in Express, at that moment the router middleware (which handles all routes) will get inserted into the middleware chain. That means that if you haven't yet app.use'd any middleware which will be used by future routes (like your handler for /path2), they will never get called when handling any route.

If you move your handler for /path1 to after app.use(express.session(...)), it will work without having to resort to tricks.

Upvotes: 1

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