Authentication Strategies

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>> Speaker 1: Onto the next thing, which is going to be Authentication and Authorization So in this next session, there is no code, but I just want to go over high-level concepts, and then we'll hop into the code with auth and everything

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For the notes, this is just a high-level discussion about authentication, authorization, and what I would call identification Let's talk about identification first

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So identification is like, "Who are you?" Our API wants to be able to identify who you are, which is important because I need to know who you are so I can understand where to send you based on the logic we have

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Depending on who you are, there might be different things that you have access to There are many ways to do that Obviously, we have things like usernames, emails, and IDs that we can put inside our authentication strategy, whether that's a JWT (JSON Web Token) or a session that's stored server-side or in a cookie

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Being able to store that information somewhere so your server can identify who this person or company is that's accessing your API is really important However, identification by itself is not secure

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Just because I know who you are doesn't mean you have access to what you're trying to request or that you're authorized to do what you're attempting We still need authentication and authorization

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Authentication is basically about proving that you have the right claims to do what you're trying to do A good example is: How do I know you've been granted access to this API, even though I know your name

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In the case of email and password authentication, if you signed in and your password and email match, that's proof of access to the API There are many ways to do authentication, including passwords, token-based methods, and multi-factor authentication (MFA)

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Authorization is about determining what specific actions you're allowed to perform I know you have access to the API, but that doesn't mean you can do all admin tasks or access and modify another user's data

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This is where Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) comes in It defines roles you can assign to different identities - like member, owner, admin, or teammate - specifying exactly what actions and resources each role can access

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Authentication, identification, and authorization work together By signing up, you've authenticated By providing your email, you've identified yourself By having a specific role, you're authorized to perform certain actions

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This process is more complicated than it seems, which is why many companies use authentication services like Clerk or Azure AD It's essentially like purchasing security insurance - paying someone else to be responsible for preventing security breaches

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Let's discuss different authentication flows There are session-based methods (traditional web app login), JSON Web Tokens (stateless authentication), and API keys Each has pros and cons depending on your specific use case

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Session-based authentication stores state server-side, allowing tracking of logins across multiple devices JWT is stateless, with the token stored on the client, and the server being inherently skeptical, requiring token verification on every request

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API keys are particularly useful for third-party API integrations because they can be revoked The most common method today is JSON Web Tokens, especially for single-page applications

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However, for complex systems with multiple clients (like YouTube), session-based authentication might be preferable to track and manage login states across different devices

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The authentication strategy depends on your product If your product is an API, you might use API keys If you have multiple client applications, sessions might be more appropriate

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Companies like Google use different strategies for different services - sessions for their main products, API keys for developer access.