AuthKit Remix Library

The AuthKit library for Remix provides convenient helpers for authentication and session management using WorkOS & AuthKit with Remix. You can find this library in action in the remix-authkit-example repo.

Installation

Install the package with:

npm i @workos-inc/authkit-remix

or

yarn add @workos-inc/authkit-remix

Pre-flight

Make sure the following values are present in your .env.local environment variables file. The client ID and API key can be found in the WorkOS dashboard, and the redirect URI can also be configured there.

WORKOS_CLIENT_ID="client_..." # retrieved from the WorkOS dashboard
WORKOS_API_KEY="sk_test_..." # retrieved from the WorkOS dashboard
WORKOS_REDIRECT_URI="http://localhost:5173/callback" # configured in the WorkOS dashboard
WORKOS_COOKIE_PASSWORD="<your password>" # generate a secure password here

WORKOS_COOKIE_PASSWORD is the private key used to encrypt the session cookie. It has to be at least 32 characters long. You can use the 1Password generator or the openssl library to generate a strong password via the command line:

openssl rand -base64 24

To use the signOut method, you'll need to set your app's homepage in your WorkOS dashboard settings under "Redirects".

Optional configuration

Certain environment variables are optional and can be used to debug or configure cookie settings.

WORKOS_COOKIE_MAX_AGE='600' # maximum age of the cookie in seconds. Defaults to 400 days
WORKOS_API_HOSTNAME='api.workos.com' # base WorkOS API URL
WORKOS_API_HTTPS=true # whether to use HTTPS in API calls
WORKOS_API_PORT=5173 # port to use for API calls

Setup

Callback route

AuthKit requires that you have a callback URL to redirect users back to after they've authenticated. In your Remix app, create a new route and add the following:

import { authLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = authLoader();

Make sure this route matches the WORKOS_REDIRECT_URI variable and the configured redirect URI in your WorkOS dashboard. For instance if your redirect URI is http://localhost:2884/callback then you'd put the above code in /app/routes/callback.ts.

You can also control the pathname the user will be sent to after signing-in by passing a returnPathname option to authLoader like so:

export const loader = authLoader({ returnPathname: '/dashboard' });

If your application needs to persist oauthTokens or other auth-related information after the callback is successful, you can pass an onSuccess option:

export const loader = authLoader({
  onSuccess: async ({ oauthTokens }) => {
    await saveToDatabase(oauthTokens);
  },
});

Usage

Access authentication data in your Remix application

Use authkitLoader to configure AuthKit for your Remix application routes.

import type { LoaderFunctionArgs } from '@remix-run/node';
import { useLoaderData } from '@remix-run/react';
import { authkitLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) => authkitLoader(args);

export function App() {
  // Retrieves the user from the session or returns `null` if no user is signed in
  // Other supported values include `sessionId`, `accessToken`, `organizationId`,
  // `role`, `permissions`, `entitlements`, and `impersonator`.
  const { user, signInUrl, signUpUrl } = useLoaderData<typeof loader>();

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Welcome back {user?.firstName && `, ${user?.firstName}`}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

For pages where you want to display a signed-in and signed-out view, use authkitLoader to retrieve the user profile from WorkOS. You can pass in additional data by providing a loader function directly to authkitLoader.

import type { ActionFunctionArgs, LoaderFunctionArgs } from '@remix-run/node';
import { json } from '@remix-run/node';
import { Form, Link, useLoaderData } from '@remix-run/react';
import { getSignInUrl, getSignUpUrl, signOut, authkitLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) =>
  authkitLoader(args, async ({ request, auth }) => {
    return json({
      signInUrl: await getSignInUrl(),
      signUpUrl: await getSignUpUrl(),
    });
  });

export async function action({ request }: ActionFunctionArgs) {
  return await signOut(request);
}

export default function HomePage() {
  const { user, signInUrl, signUpUrl } = useLoaderData<typeof loader>();

  if (!user) {
    return (
      <>
        <Link to={signInUrl}>Log in</Link>
        <br />
        <Link to={signUpUrl}>Sign Up</Link>
      </>
    );
  }

  return (
    <Form method="post">
      <p>Welcome back {user?.firstName && `, ${user?.firstName}`}</p>
      <button type="submit">Sign out</button>
    </Form>
  );
}

Requiring auth

For pages where a signed-in user is mandatory, you can use the ensureSignedIn option:

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) => authkitLoader(args, { ensureSignedIn: true });

Enabling ensureSignedIn will redirect users to AuthKit if they attempt to access the page without being authenticated.

Signing out

Use the signOut method to sign out the current logged in user, end the session, and redirect to your app's homepage. The homepage redirect is set in your WorkOS dashboard settings under "Redirect".

Get the access token

Sometimes it is useful to obtain the access token directly, for instance to make API requests to another service.

import type { LoaderFunctionArgs } from '@remix-run/node';
import { json } from '@remix-run/node';
import { authkitLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) =>
  authkitLoader(args, async ({ auth }) => {
    const { accessToken } = auth;

    if (!accessToken) {
      // Not signed in
    }

    const serviceData = await fetch('/api/path', {
      headers: {
        Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`,
      },
    });

    return json({
      data: serviceData,
    });
  });

Debugging

To enable debug logs, pass in the debug flag when using authkitLoader.

import { authkitLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) => authkitLoader(args, { debug: true });

If providing a loader function, you can pass the options object as the third parameter

import { authkitLoader } from '@workos-inc/authkit-remix';

export const loader = (args: LoaderFunctionArgs) =>
  authkitLoader(
    args,
    async ({ auth }) => {
      return json({ foo: 'bar' });
    },
    { debug: true },
  );