Auth - Register

User authentication is a fundamental component of modern web application development. Implementing a secure registration system not only protects your users' information, but also lays the foundation for more advanced features such as protected paths and custom access levels. In this content, we will explore how to create an entry point for registering users in a database using Node.js, Prisma ORM and encryption techniques.

How to implement a secure user registration system?

When developing web applications, the security of our users' data must be a priority. Implementing a robust registration system involves not only storing user information, but also protecting sensitive data such as passwords using encryption techniques.

To create our log entry point, we need to:

• Set up a POST route to receive user data.
• Extract the information from the request body
• Encrypt the password before storing it
• Store the data in the database
• Return an appropriate response

Creating the registration endpoint

First, we need to set up our POST route to receive the new user's data:

app.post('/register', async (req, res) => { // Extract information from the request body const { email, password, name } = req.body;  
 // Encrypt the password const hashedPassword = await bcrypt.hash(password, 10);  
 // Create user in database const newUser = await prisma.user.create({ data: { email, password: hashedPassword, name, role: 'user' } });  
 // Send response res.status(201).json({ message: 'User registered successfully' });});

This code sets up a /register entry point that accepts POST requests with the user's data. The password is encrypted using bcrypt with a cost factor of 10, which provides a good balance between security and performance.

Protecting passwords with bcrypt

Password security is crucial in any authentication system. We should never store passwords in plain text in our database. Instead, we use hash algorithms such as bcrypt:

const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');constjwt = require('jsonwebtoken');

We must import these libraries at the beginning of our file in order to use them. bcrypt allows us to generate a secure hash of the password, while JWT (JSON Web Token) will be used later for authentication.

The cost factor (in this case 10) determines how much computational work is required to generate the hash. A higher value provides better security but consumes more resources.

Storing users with Prisma ORM

Prisma makes it easy for us to interact with the database using an ORM (Object-Relational Mapping). To create a new user, we use the create method of the User model:

const newUser = await pr isma.user.create({ data: { email, password: hashedPassword, name, role: 'user' } });

This code creates a new record in the user table with the provided data. The ID is automatically generated thanks to the model configuration in Prisma.

How to test our registration endpoint?

Once the code is implemented, it is important to verify that it works correctly. We can use tools like Postman to send requests to our endpoint and test the responses.

Configuring the request in Postman

To test our registration endpoint:

1. Create a new POST request
2. Set the URL (e.g. http://localhost:3000/register)
3. In the "Body" tab, select "raw" and JSON format
4. Enter the user data:

{ " email": "[email protected]", " password": "password123", " name": "Example User"}

5. Send the request and verify the response

If everything works correctly, we should receive a 201 (Created) status code and a message indicating that the user has successfully registered.

Verifying the data in the database

To confirm that the data has been stored correctly, we can create a temporary endpoint that allows us to list the users:

app.get('/db/users', async (req, res) => { const users = await prisma.user.findMany(); res.json(users);});

This endpoint should be removed in production as it exposes sensitive information, but it is useful during development to verify that:

• IDs are generated correctly.
• Passwords are stored as hashes, not in plaintext
• Roles are properly assigned

What security considerations should we take into account?

Implementing a secure registration system involves more than just encrypting passwords. Some important considerations:

• Protect secret keys: The secret used to generate hashes must be kept secure.
• Eliminate debugging endpoints: Paths such as /db/users must be eliminated in production.
• Validate input data: Verify that the data provided complies with the requirements (valid email format, sufficiently strong password, etc.).
• Implement attempt limits: Prevent brute force attacks by limiting login attempts from the same IP.

Security is an ongoing process, not a feature that is implemented once and forgotten. We must be constantly updating and improving our security practices.

Implementing a secure login system is only the first step in creating a complete authentication system. In future steps, we will develop user login and validation of protected paths using JWT tokens.

Have you implemented authentication systems in your projects? What security techniques do you use to protect your users' data? Share your experience in the comments.