TokenAuthenticateMe

This gem adds simple API based token authentication. We at Wildland wanted to be able to handle our entire authentication process -- including account creation and logging in -- through a RESTful API over JSON using token authentication, and found that solutions like Devise required too much hand holding due to its complexity to ultimately get the functionality that we wanted. Unfortunately we were unable to find a satisfactory existing solution -- though I'm sure one does exist, this isn't a new problem -- so we set out to create our own. After using internally on one project, we decided to roll it out into a gem to use on another.

Compatibility

For rails < 5.x use v0.10.x For rails >= 5.x use v0.11.x

Upgrade Instructions

For all major and minor run: rails generate token_authenticate_me:install
Note: Patch version upgrades shouldnt need to run the install command.

Getting Started

Add the gem to your Gemfile: gem token_authenticate_me

Run bundle install to install it.

To install run the following: rails generate token_authenticate_me:install

Include TokenAuthenticateMe::Concerns::Controllers::TokenAuthenticateable into api controllers that require authorization:

require 'token_authenticate_me/concerns/controllers/token_authenticateable'

class ApiController < ApplicationController
  include TokenAuthenticateMe::Concerns::Controllers::TokenAuthenticateable

  skip_before_filter :verify_authenticity_token # CSRF is not needed for header or param based auth

  #...
end

Include TokenAuthenticateMe::Concerns::Controllers::SessionAuthenticateable into server rendered page controllers that require authorization:

require 'token_authenticate_me/concerns/controllers/session_authenticateable'

class AuthenticatedController < ApplicationController
  # Prevent CSRF attacks by raising an exception.
  protect_from_forgery with: :exception

  include TokenAuthenticateMe::Concerns::Controllers::SessionAuthenticateable

  #...
end

To skip authentication in a controller, just skip the authenticate before action:

class Api::V1::UsersController < Api::BaseController

  # Allow new users to create an account
  skip_before_action :authenticate, only: [:create]
end

Authentication Model

The model has 4 concerns:

Usage

class MyUser
  include TokenAuthenticateMe::Concerns::Models::Authenticatable
end

Default rules and behavior.

email is required, can't be blank, is unique (case insensitive), and must look like an email address.
password is required, can not be blank, it must be confirmed (password_confirmation), and must be between 8 and 72 characters long. If the model has been persisted password can be blank or nil which indicates that it should not be changed and will be ignored.
username is required, can't be blank, is unique (case insensitive), and only allows alphanumeric values.
To change the password or email after the model has been persisted, you will need to provide the current password as current_password.
To change the email after the model has been persisted, you will need to be confirmed (email_confirmation) to change.

Custom Validation Rules

If you don't like the validation rules you can customize some of them by using the following override methods and/or writing your own rules. Note that they are additive with the existing rules.

class MyUser
  def ignore_password_length_validations?
    true # defaults to false
  end

  def ignore_username_format_validation?
    true # defaults to false
  end

  def ignore_email_format_validation?
    true # defaults to false
  end

  def ignore_email_confirmation_on_change?
    false # defaults to true
  end
end

Custom Validation Rules Example

class MyUser
  ### Other Code
  validates(
    :password,
    format: {
      with: /\A[a-zA-Z0-9]+\Z/,
      message: 'only letters and numbers are allowed.'
    } # We wanted to have alphanumeric passwords.
    if: :password_required? # This triggers the requirements when token_authenticate_me requires them
  )
  ### More Code
  def ignore_password_length_validations? # We didn't want a password length constraints, but wanted only alphanumeric characters.
    true
  end

  def ignore_email_confirmation_on_change? # We want users to have to confirm emails to reduce mistakes.
    false
  end
end

Code Of Conduct

Wildland Open Source Code Of Conduct