🧱 NodeAuth: A Production-Ready Auth Starter Kit for Node.js Developers

🧠 Introduction

Every time I kicked off a new Node.js project, I hit the same wall: “ugh, auth again?”You know the drill—set up registration, hashing, login, JWTs, refresh tokens, secure cookies… and somehow make it not suck.

That repetitive grind led me to create NodeAuth—a clean, production-ready authentication starter built with Node.js, MongoDB, Argon2, and JWT-based access & refresh token flow, all wrapped in a well-organized folder structure that doesn’t turn into spaghetti after two routes.

👨‍💻 Who’s this for?

• Fullstack devs who want a reliable base to build on—no more auth copy-pasta.
• Bootstrappers & indie hackers who need auth done right without wasting 3 days reading Medium posts.
• Anyone who wants a tested, secure, scalable backend that just works.

❤️ Open Source

I open-sourced this project because auth is a pain point everyone hits. No one should have to reinvent this wheel.

Use it. Fork it. Break it. Improve it.

🔗 Check out the GitHub repo

🔍 Features at a Glance

NodeAuth comes with everything you need to hit the ground running with real-world authentication in a Node.js backend. No fluff—just the stuff that matters.

🔑 JWT Access + Refresh Token Flow

Secure, stateless authentication using short-lived access tokens and long-lived refresh tokens to keep users logged in without compromising security.

🧰 Modular Middleware System

Includes clean, reusable middleware functions for:

• Auth token validation
• Route protection
  Easily plug them into any Express route or scale with custom logic.

// Just import the middleware

import authMiddleware from"../middlewares/auth.middleware.js";

// Protected route example

router.get("/protected-route", authMiddleware, getResponse);

🍪 Cookie-Based Auth (Not localStorage)

Tokens are stored in HTTP-only cookies—so they’re safe from XSS attacks. No weird hacks. No exposing tokens to the frontend.

🧂 Argon2 Password Hashing + MongoDB

Passwords are hashed using Argon2, a modern and secure hashing algorithm, and stored in MongoDB—flexible and production-tested.

🧪 Optional Testing with Vitest + Supertest

Includes setup for writing unit and integration tests using Vitest and Supertest, so you can ship confidently.

🏗️ Project Structure Explained

No one likes digging through spaghetti code or bloated monoliths. That’s why NodeAuth keeps things modular, minimal, and maintainable.

Here’s the folder structure at a glance:

🔍 Folder-by-Folder Breakdown

• config/ – Configuration files for database and environment variables
• controllers/ – Logic that handles the actual request/response cycle. Keeps your routes thin and your brains sane.
• middlewares/ – Reusable functions like authMiddleware for protecting routes and handling common behaviors.
• models/ – Mongoose schemas live here. Currently just User, but ready to scale.
• routes/ – All your API endpoints are defined here, grouped by feature (auth for now).
• tests/ – Vitest + Supertest powered test cases to keep your code legit.
• utils/ – Utility functions like token generation and validation.
• app.js / server.js – Entry point setup with Express and server boot-up logic.
• .env.example – Sample environment variables to help devs get started fast.

🔐 Auth Flow Deep Dive

You’re not just slapping JWTs on a project and calling it a day—this is a full-stack, real-world authentication flow built to handle login, refresh tokens, and logout like a champ.

Here’s the high-level flow:

User Registers → Email + password → hashed with Argon2 → stored in MongoDB

User Logs In → Valid creds → Generate JWT access & refresh tokens → Set as HTTP-only cookies

Access Token Used → Sent with every request → Middleware validates it

Access Token Expires? → Use Refresh Token to get a new one

User Logs Out → Clear cookies → Done securely

🔁 Token Strategy: JWT + Cookies

• Access Token: Short-lived (~15 min), used to hit protected routes.
• Refresh Token: Long-lived (~7 days), only used to re-issue access tokens.

Both tokens are stored in HTTP-only, Secure cookies — no localStorage hacks, no XSS vulnerabilities.

🔒 Security Choices That Matter

🧂 Argon2 over Bcrypt

We're using Argon2, the password hashing king:

• Memory-hard: harder to brute force
• Modern + recommended by OWASP
• Built for 2020s+, unlike old man bcrypt

🚀 Running the Project Locally

Getting started with NodeAuth is dead simple. Just follow these steps and you’ll have a secure auth system running in minutes.

✅ 1. Clone the Repo

git clone https://github.com/talhabilal-dev/Node-Auth.git
cd Node-Auth

✅ 2. Install Dependencies

npm install


✅ 3. Set Up Environment Variables

cp .env.example .env


Then fill in the required values:

PORT=3000
MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://<db_username>:<db_password>@cluster0.m8oca.mongodb.net/<db_name>?retryWrites=true&w=majority&appName=Cluster0
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
ACCESS_TOKEN_SECRET=yourAccessTokenSecret
REFRESH_TOKEN_SECRET=yourRefreshTokenSecret

✅ 4. Run the Server

npm run dev

🧪 Testing (Optional)

This isn’t just a pretty boilerplate—it’s battle-tested too. Yup, we’ve got automated tests using Vitest and Supertest to make sure your endpoints don’t break when you sneeze on them.

🧰 The Stack

• Vitest – Lightning-fast, Vite-native test runner with a Jest-like API.
• Supertest – Makes HTTP assertions on your Express routes a breeze.

▶️ Running Tests

Running your test suite is easy:

npm test

🛠️ How to Extend or Customize

One of the best parts of NodeAuth is how hackable it is. You’re not locked into some black-box package—this is your code, your rules.

Here are a few ways to take it even further:

🔑 Add Google OAuth (or any social login)

Want that sweet, one-click login with Google, GitHub, etc.?

• Use Passport.js with a strategy like passport-google-oauth20
• Add an endpoint like /api/auth/google/callback
• Store the user in your DB if they don’t exist yet
• Set the same access + refresh token cookies

🧩 You’ve already got the session/token system built—OAuth just plugs in.

📧 Add Email Verification (with Tokens)

Right now, users register and boom—they’re in. To gate that with email verification:

• Generate a unique email token on registration
• Store it in DB (expires in X mins)
• Send an email with a magic link (/verify-email?token=xyz)
• On click → verify the token → mark user as verified: true

Bonus: lock login unless verified === true.

🛡️ Add Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Wanna protect admin routes?

Add a role field to your user schema (user, admin, etc.)

Create a custom middleware:

🧠 You’re Not Limited

Other cool ideas:

• 2FA with TOTP (like Google Authenticator)
• Activity logging
• Throttling + brute-force protection
• Multi-tenant support (for SaaS vibes)

The structure is flexible. Extend it however your project needs.

🤝 . Conclusion & What’s Next

NodeAuth isn’t just a backend starter—it’s a launchpad for fullstack projects, MVPs, and anything that needs rock-solid authentication without reinventing the wheel.

If you're a dev building out a product, bootstrapping your SaaS, or just tired of wiring up the same login flow for the 100th time—this one’s for you.

🚀 What’s Next?

• ✅ Fastify + TypeScript version (coming soon)
• ✅ Neon + PostgreSQL integration
• ✅ NextAuth-compatible backend
• ✅ Maybe even a full-blown SaaS template

I’m building in public, so everything I ship will be open-source first.

🙌 Contribute or Use It

• Use it? Star it 🌟
• Found an issue? PRs welcome
• Got a feature idea? Open a discussion!

Let’s make authentication suck less—together.

🔗 Stay Connected

• 🧑‍💻 Portfolio
• 📦 GitHub Repo
• 🧠 Dev.to