express-colander

Quick little express middleware for authorization.

Installation

1. npm install express-colander

Dependencies

Passport.js

Passport-jwt

Passport-local

Express-colander currently relies on the existence of an object attached to the request like req.body or req.headers. It defaults to req.user. Colander then looks for the provided property on that object. It defaults to permissions.

So, if you have an object like so:

req: {
  user: {
    username: 'blah',
    email: '[e-mail]',
    password: 'aas12347lkjhk@hlkjhasdjh#ha__09blkjga74',
    permissions: 'admin'
  }
}

You can just create a new instance of express-colander.

If you use a different request object, you'll need to pass and object to the class instance:

const Colander = require('express-colander')
const col = new Colander({
  modelName: 'account',
  propertyName: 'roles'
})

Note:

This is designed under the constraints of my own development. As such, it's main focus is to provide easy authorization for Express apps using Passport.js, Mongoose (yeah, I know, MongoDB sucks), and JWT based authentication. If you're interested in using this with other libraries, message me on Github.

Usage

There are two, and only two, methods provided by express-colander: allow and block. Think of them as whitelists and blacklists, respectively. In each, pass either a string or an array of strings as the argument. The methods only take one argument.

Allow

const express = require('express')
const Colander = require('express-colander')
const colander = new Colander()
const app = express()

/* Pass array to colander */
app.get(
  '/unencrypted-credit-card-info',
  passport.authenticate('jwt', { session: false}),
  colander.allow(['admin', 'editor']),
  (req, res) => {

    // Route logic here

  })

/* OR - pass a string */
app.get(
  '/your-browser-history',
  passport.authenticate('jwt', { session: false }),
  colander.allow('literallyNobodyEver'),
  (req, res) => {

    // Route logic here

  })

Block

const express = require('express')
const Colander = require('express-colander')
const colander = new Colander()
const app = express()

/* Block using string */
app.get(
  '/file-with-all-of-my-passwords',
  passport.authenticate('jwt', { session: false }),
  colander.block('guest'),
  (req, res) => {

    // Route logic here

  })

/* OR - block an array  */
app.post(
  '/ad-on-craiglist-personals',
  passport.authenticate('jwt', { session: false }),
  colander.block(['guest', 'minors', 'parents', 'grandparents', 'anyoneICareAbout']),
  (req, res) => {

    // Route logic here

  })

Contributing

Hey there. This is a side-project I started out of boredom. However, I'll probably develop it as I go along. Right now it's a bit of a mess, but feel free to jump in!

Things I ask of you:

1. Write descriptive commit messages
2. Submit a pull request on the develop branch
3. Make sure you've run npm run build before you commit.

Roadmap

0.2.0

1. Eslint configuration || Prettier integration
2. Git hooks maybe || at least github permissions on the repo level

1.0.0

1. Enable configuration
2. Test suite
3. Stricter, official contribution guide
4. Refactor into cleaner modules
5. Ability to call as a router-wide middlware: e.g. router.use(colander())

2.0.0

1. Additional drivers/options for configuration
2. More tests
3. Locked dependency versions