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Session Management

What is a session?​

Sessions play a crucial role in Blueprint for user authentication. They ensure the synchronisation of user login statuses, contributing to a consistent and seamless user experience.

Blueprint's sessions do not store user data server-side. They are therefore defined as "stateless". They use authentication cookies to determine if a user is logged in.

How to use a session​

Blueprint has a custom hook called useSession to manage sessions. This hook calls the api/authentication/session route and returns session states such as isAuthenticated and isMasquerading.

isAuthenticated checks if two Kraken tokens, accessToken and refreshToken, are present. If not, the user is not logged in.

isMasquerading checks if the Kraken token masqueradeToken is present. If not, the user is not masquerading.

What is a session used for?​

The isAuthenticated value from useSession is used to check if a user is logged in. For example, the header can show "Account" or "Log out" based on this value.

How are sessions synchronised?​

Blueprint uses react-query's caching mechanism to keep sessions in sync. The cache key comes from the sub value of the initial ObtainKrakenToken response. This sub value is encrypted and stored as a cookie and is used to identify each user session.

The useSession hook uses three react-query options to keep the session state "fresh": refetchOnMount, refetchOnWindowFocus, and refetchOnReconnect. These options ensure that users remain logged in, even when using multiple tabs or after a period of inactivity

How does the useKrakenQuery use sessions?​

The useKrakenQuery hook (used for Blueprint's GraphQL requests) only permits queries requiring authentication when the isAuthenticated session value is true. This prevents unnecessary requests when a user is not authenticated.

Summary​

Blueprint's sessions are stateless, synchronised with caching, and managed with the useSession hook. They provide a reliable way to determine authentication states and ensure a consistent user experience throughout the application.

Useful information:​