I am trying to use res.locals.user to show the user object in the frontend.

Below you can see in my main app.js file the middleware I have created:

...    
const passport = require('passport')

const auth = require('./routes/auth')
const index = require('./routes/index')

const app = express()

// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'))
app.set('view engine', 'pug')
app.use(logger(process.env.LOG_ENV))
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
  extended: false,
}))
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/../public')))
app.use(cookieParser())

app.use(session({
  secret: 'super-mega-hyper-secret',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: true,
}))
app.use(passport.initialize())
app.use(passport.session())
app.use((req, res, next) => { //This middleware checks the local user
  res.locals.user = req.user
  next()
})
...

My passport file looks like the following:

const passport = require('passport')
const LocalStrategy = require('passport-local').Strategy
const serviceAuth = require('../service/auth')

passport.serializeUser((user, done) => {
  done(null, user.id)
})

passport.deserializeUser(async(id, done) => {
  const user = await serviceAuth.findById(id)
  done(null, user)
})

// Sign in with username and Password
passport.use('local', new LocalStrategy({
  usernameField: 'username',
}, async(username, password, done) => {
  const user = await serviceAuth.signin(username, password)
  done(null, user)
}))


/**
 * Login Required middleware.
 */
exports.isAuthenticated = (req, res, next) => {
  if (req.isAuthenticated()) {
    res.locals.user = req.session.user
    return next()
  }
  res.redirect('/')
}

However, I get the following error, when trying to display in my pug view the user object:

TypeError: /home/ubuntu/workspace/src/views/includes/_sidebar.pug:6
    4|          .user-panel
    5|                  .pull-left.info
  > 6|                          p= user.name
    7|                          p= user.role
    8| 
    9|          // Sidebar Menu

Cannot read property 'name' of undefined

Any suggestions why the user object is not available in the views AFTER I have properly logged in a user?

I am trying to use res.locals.user to show the user object in the frontend.

Below you can see in my main app.js file the middleware I have created:

...    
const passport = require('passport')

const auth = require('./routes/auth')
const index = require('./routes/index')

const app = express()

// view engine setup
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'))
app.set('view engine', 'pug')
app.use(logger(process.env.LOG_ENV))
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
  extended: false,
}))
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, '/../public')))
app.use(cookieParser())

app.use(session({
  secret: 'super-mega-hyper-secret',
  resave: false,
  saveUninitialized: true,
}))
app.use(passport.initialize())
app.use(passport.session())
app.use((req, res, next) => { //This middleware checks the local user
  res.locals.user = req.user
  next()
})
...

My passport file looks like the following:

const passport = require('passport')
const LocalStrategy = require('passport-local').Strategy
const serviceAuth = require('../service/auth')

passport.serializeUser((user, done) => {
  done(null, user.id)
})

passport.deserializeUser(async(id, done) => {
  const user = await serviceAuth.findById(id)
  done(null, user)
})

// Sign in with username and Password
passport.use('local', new LocalStrategy({
  usernameField: 'username',
}, async(username, password, done) => {
  const user = await serviceAuth.signin(username, password)
  done(null, user)
}))


/**
 * Login Required middleware.
 */
exports.isAuthenticated = (req, res, next) => {
  if (req.isAuthenticated()) {
    res.locals.user = req.session.user
    return next()
  }
  res.redirect('/')
}

However, I get the following error, when trying to display in my pug view the user object:

TypeError: /home/ubuntu/workspace/src/views/includes/_sidebar.pug:6
    4|          .user-panel
    5|                  .pull-left.info
  > 6|                          p= user.name
    7|                          p= user.role
    8| 
    9|          // Sidebar Menu

Cannot read property 'name' of undefined

Any suggestions why the user object is not available in the views AFTER I have properly logged in a user?

• javascript
• node.js

• Kindly verify field name which have used in template, passport staratergy. – Dipak Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 13:54
• @Dipakchavda Thx for your reply! Basically I am expecting to get the user object in the frontend. Or not? – Carol.Kar Commented Nov 13, 2017 at 15:12

2 Answers 2

EDIT[1] You will need 2 entry views in your app:

1. A index for the case a user is authenticated
2. A loginPage for the case user is not authenticated

You can also handle these both cases in the main view(index) but you need to show/hide elements based on the presence of the currentUser. But i find having separate views more clean.

Step 1 - add your authentication middleware:

const isAuthenticated = require('./path/to/isAuthenticated');
app.use(isAuthenticated)

Step 2 - render your app root / (is very important to do this after you registered the auth middleware so that your res.locals.user is populated):

app.get('/', function(req, res){
    if(res.locals && res.locals.user){
        res.render('index', { currentUser: res.locals.user });
    } else {
        res.render('loginPage');
    }            
});

Step 3 - Add the injected user to the window in index.pug:

if !!currentUser
    script.
        window.currentUser = !{currentUser}

In your isAuthenticated function, the req.session.user is undefined Passport.js store user object in req.use for each authenticated route, session only store userId.

Your middleware in app.js file is OK, but the isAuthenticated overwrite res.locals.user to undefined.

In my opinion you need remove the middleware (because it use in all routes) and change isAuthenticated like this:

exports.isAuthenticated = (req, res, next) => {
  if (req.isAuthenticated()) {
    res.locals.user = req.user
    return next()
  }
  res.redirect('/')
}