REST API Authentication Example in PHP – JWT Tutorial
Previously, we learned how to create a simple REST API in PHP. The create, read, update and delete database records (CRUD operations) has been useful for our projects.
Today, we will learn how to authenticate a user using REST API and JSON Web Tokens or JWT.
In this tutorial, we will cover a basic sign up or registration form, login and logout operations, updating a user account and more.
1.0 Project overview
1.1 What is JWT?
1.2 JWT simple analogy
1.3 What does a JWT look like?
1.4 JWT vs OAuth
2.0 Final output
3.0 File structure
4.0 Setup the database
4.1 Create a database
4.2 Create a table
4.3 Create a directory for configuration
4.4 Create a database connection file
5.0 Create API for user registration
5.1 Create a file for creating a user
5.2 Connect to database and user table
5.3 Assign submitted data to object properties
5.4 Use the create() method
5.5 Create the user object class
5.6 Add a create() method
5.7 Output
6.0 Create API for user login
6.1 Create a file for user login
6.2 Connect to database and user table
6.3 Check if email exists
6.4 Add emailExists() method
6.5 Include files to encode JWT
6.6 Generate JSON web token
6.7 Tell the user login failed
6.8 Create core configuration file
6.9 Download PHP-JWT from GitHub
6.10 Output
7.0 Create API for JWT validation
7.1 Create a file to validate JWT
7.2 Include files to decode JWT
7.3 Retrieve given JWT
7.4 Decode JWT if it exists
7.5 Show error if decoding failed
7.6 Show error message if JWT is empty
7.7 Output
8.0 Create API for user account
8.1 Create a file for updating user account
8.2 Include files to decode JWT
8.3 Connect to database and user table
8.4 Retrieve given JWT
8.5 Decode JWT if it exists
8.6 Show error message if decoding fails
8.7 Set user property values
8.8 Use the update() method
8.9 Add update() method in user class
8.10 Re-generate JWT
8.11 Show error message if JWT is empty
8.12 Output
9.0 Create interface for user registration
9.1 Create index page
9.2 Add navigation bar
9.3 Add content section
9.4 Add Bootstrap 4 and custom CSS links
9.5 Create custom CSS file
9.6 Add jQuery and Bootstrap 4 script links
9.7 Show a sign up HTML form
9.8 Remove any prompt messages
9.9 Output
10.0 Create interface for user login
10.1 Trigger when login menu was clicked
10.2 Show login HTML form
10.3 Change menu appearance
10.4 Trigger when login form is submitted
10.5 Add serializeObject() function
10.6 Create an HTTP request
10.7 Show error if HTTP request fails
10.8 Output
11.0 Create interface for home page
11.1 Add trigger to show home page
11.2 Verify if JWT is valid
11.3 Add home page HTML
11.4 Set logged-in menu
11.5 Show login page if JWT is invalid
11.6 Output
12.0 Create interface for account page
12.1 Add trigger to show account form
12.2 Verify if JWT is valid
12.3 Show account form if JWT is valid
12.4 Show login page if JWT is invalid
12.5 Add a trigger for updating user account
12.6 Get form data and JWT
12.7 Send data to API
12.8 Show error message
12.9 Output
13.0 Add JavaScript for user logout
13.1 Add a trigger to logout
13.2 Output
14.0 Download Source Codes
15.0 What's Next?
16.0 Related Tutorials
17.0 Notes
1.0 Project Overview
1.1 What is JWT?
In technical terms, JSON Web Token or JWT is an open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object.
This information can be verified and trusted because it is digitally signed. JWTs can be signed using a secret (with the HMAC algorithm) or a public/private key pair using RSA or ECDSA.
For example, a server could generate a token that has the claim "logged in as admin" and provide that to a client. The client could then use that token to prove that it is logged in as admin. Please read more here, here, here and here.
1.2 JWT simple analogy
The following is my own simple analogy. If you think you have a better one, please let me know via email. My email address is mike@codeofaninja.com
John (server) owns a house (protected data). Michael (client) wants to rent this house. John and Michael agreed to the house rules and they signed a contract (valid username and password).
John gave Michael a key (token) with other related information (claims) so he has access to the house. Michael can now get inside or outside (HTTP requests) the house. It means an access was granted.
If John (sever) and Michael (client) did not agree with the house rules, the contract won't be signed (invalid username and password) and John (server) won't give him a key (token).
Even if Michael (client) has another type of key (token), he still won't have access to the house because it is a wrong key (token). It is not the key (token) John gave. It means access was denied.
I've found another analogy that can be useful for you. Read it here.
The video below might help explain the analogy.
The following video about token-based authentication might help as well.
1.3 What does a JWT look like?
A JSON Web Token or JWT looks like a string with three parts separated by dots. The following is an example of JWT.
eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwOlwvXC9leGFtcGxlLm9yZyIsImF1ZCI6Imh0dHA6XC9cL2V4YW1wbGUuY29tIiwiaWF0IjoxMzU2OTk5NTI0LCJuYmYiOjEzNTcwMDAwMDAsImRhdGEiOnsiaWQiOiI5IiwiZmlyc3RuYW1lIjoiTWlrZSIsImxhc3RuYW1lIjoiRGFsaXNheSIsImVtYWlsIjoibWlrZUBjb2Rlb2ZhbmluamEuY29tIn19.h_Q4gJ3epcpwdwNCNCYxtiKdXsN34W9MEjxZ7sx21Vs
JWT in the serialized form represents a string of the following format:
header.payload.signature
The header component contains information about how JWT signature should be computed. The payload component is the data that is stored inside the JWT. This can be user information like user ID, name and email.
To create the signature component, you have to take the encoded header, the encoded payload, a secret, the algorithm specified in the header, and sign that. Read more here.
In this tutorial, we won't have to worry about generating or encoding and decoding JWT because we will use a library called PHP-JWT.
1.4 JWT vs OAuth
We explained JWT above. JWT is a token format and we can say it is a simple authentication protocol. OAuth is an authentication framework that can use JWT as a token.
OAuth is used as a way for Internet users to grant websites or applications access to their information on other websites but without giving them the passwords.
Use JWT if:
- You have very simple use-case, like a single client application.
- Your users access their resources only through your own application.
- You want a quick-to-implement and simple stateless HTTP authentication to an API.
Use OAuth if:
- Your users can access their resources through another application you don't own.
- You want to provide API to browser-based apps, native mobile apps or desktop apps.
- You want to use an Authentication Server that keeps track of tokens.
Please read more here and here.
2.0 Final output
2.1 LEVEL 1 source code output
It is important to visualize what we are trying to achieve in this tutorial. At the end of this tutorial, we will achieve the LEVEL 1 source code as seen on the screenshots below.
Please click a photo below to enlarge and use the arrow icons to navigate the slideshow.
2.2 LEVEL 2 source code output
Coming soon! See the list of features on section 14.2 below.
The LEVEL 2 source code shows more amazing features that you can learn once you completed studying the LEVEL 1 source code.
For now, let's proceed to the complete tutorial of our LEVEL 1 source code below. Let's code!
3.0 File Structure
At the end of this tutorial, we will have the following folders and files.
├─ rest-api-authentication-example/ - name of the project folder.
├─── api/ - main folder of the API.
├────── config/
├───────── core.php - file used for common settings or variables.
├───────── database.php - file used for connecting to the database.
├────── libs/
├───────── php-jwt-master/ - folder of jwt library developed by Google.
├────── objects/
├───────── user.php - class file that will handle the database queries.
├────── create_user.php - file that will process the input of from "sign up" form.
├────── login.php - file that will encode and generate a JSON web token.
├────── update_user.php - file that will process the input of from "user account" form.
├────── validate_token.php - file that will validate or decode the JSON web token.
├─── custom.css - contains any customization in the user interface.
├─── index.html - contains HTML and JavaScript that renders different user interfaces.
4.0 Setup the Database
4.1 Create a database
Open your PhpMyAdmin localhost/phpmyadmin and create a database called api_db
4.2 Create a table
On the api_db database, create a new table called users.
Put the following fields on the users table.
4.3 Create a directory for configuration
Create our main project folder and put rest-api-authentication-example as its name.
If you're using XAMPP, you must create it inside the htdocs folder. In my case, I created it inside C:\xampp\htdocs directory.
Inside that folder, create another folder called config.
4.4 Create a database connection file
Open config folder. Create a new file called database.php.
Place the following code.
<?php
// used to get mysql database connection
class Database{
// specify your own database credentials
private $host = "localhost";
private $db_name = "api_db";
private $username = "root";
private $password = "";
public $conn;
// get the database connection
public function getConnection(){
$this->conn = null;
try{
$this->conn = new PDO("mysql:host=" . $this->host . ";dbname=" . $this->db_name, $this->username, $this->password);
}catch(PDOException $exception){
echo "Connection error: " . $exception->getMessage();
}
return $this->conn;
}
}
?>
5.0 Create API for user registration
5.1 Create a file for creating a user
Open rest-api-authentication-example folder. Create a folder called api.
Open the api folder. Create a new file called create_user.php.
We need to set headers on this new file so that it will only accept JSON data. Place the following code.
<?php
// required headers
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
// database connection will be here
5.2 Connect to database and user table
We are saving the user information on a database so we need the database connection. We need to instantiate the user table as well because this will make the insert query later.
Replace // database connection will be here comment of create_user.php file with the following code.
// files needed to connect to database include_once 'config/database.php'; include_once 'objects/user.php'; // get database connection $database = new Database(); $db = $database->getConnection(); // instantiate product object $user = new User($db); // submitted data will be here
5.3 Assign submitted data to object properties
The user information will be submitted through an HTML form and JavaScript code. We will see this code later.
We need to assign the submitted data on the object properties such as firstname, lastname, etc.
Replace // submitted data will be here comment of create_user.php file with the following code.
// get posted data
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));
// set product property values
$user->firstname = $data->firstname;
$user->lastname = $data->lastname;
$user->email = $data->email;
$user->password = $data->password;
// use the create() method here
5.4 Use the create() method
One the code below, we use the user object's create() method. It will tell the user if the user was created or not.
Replace // use the create() method here comment of create_user.php file with the following code.
// create the user
if($user->create()){
// set response code
http_response_code(200);
// display message: user was created
echo json_encode(array("message" => "User was created."));
}
// message if unable to create user
else{
// set response code
http_response_code(400);
// display message: unable to create user
echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to create user."));
}
?>
5.5 Create the user object class
The previous section will not work without the user object class. This is where we'll place all the user methods that contains database queries.
If you're not familiar with private or public scopes, please learn from this resource.
Open the api folder. Open objects folder.
Create a new file called user.php. Place the following code.
<?php
// 'user' object
class User{
// database connection and table name
private $conn;
private $table_name = "users";
// object properties
public $id;
public $firstname;
public $lastname;
public $email;
public $password;
// constructor
public function __construct($db){
$this->conn = $db;
}
// create() method will be here
}
5.6 Add a create() method
The code below shows the INSERT query, data sanitation and binding, and we used the built-in password_hash() method to secure the user's password on the database.
If the execution is a success, the user information will be saved on the database.
Replace the // create() method will be here comment of user.php file with the following code.
// create new user record
function create(){
// insert query
$query = "INSERT INTO " . $this->table_name . "
SET
firstname = :firstname,
lastname = :lastname,
email = :email,
password = :password";
// prepare the query
$stmt = $this->conn->prepare($query);
// sanitize
$this->firstname=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->firstname));
$this->lastname=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->lastname));
$this->email=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->email));
$this->password=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->password));
// bind the values
$stmt->bindParam(':firstname', $this->firstname);
$stmt->bindParam(':lastname', $this->lastname);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $this->email);
// hash the password before saving to database
$password_hash = password_hash($this->password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);
$stmt->bindParam(':password', $password_hash);
// execute the query, also check if query was successful
if($stmt->execute()){
return true;
}
return false;
}
// emailExists() method will be here
5.7 Output
You need to use POSTMAN to test our API. Download your version of POSTMAN here.
First, we will test for successful creation of a user. Launch POSTMAN.
Enter the following as the request URL
http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/api/create_user.php
Click "Body" tab. Click "raw". Enter this JSON value:
{
"firstname" : "Mike",
"lastname" : "Dalisay",
"email" : "mike@codeofaninja.com",
"password" : "555"
}
Click the blue "Send" button. Output will be:
{
"message": "User was created."
}
On POSTMAN, it should look like this:
To test for a failed creation of a user, just remove the value of the password above and click the blue "Send" button.
It should look like this:
6.0 Create API for user login
6.1 Create a file for user login
On the code below, we set the file headers so that it will know where the request should come from and what type of data is accepted.
Open rest-api-authentication-example folder.
Open Create a new file called login.php. Place the following code.
<?php
// required headers
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
// database connection will be here
6.2 Connect to database and user table
We will compare the user email and password from the database so we need the database connection.
We need to instantiate the user table as well because this will allow us to verify if the email exists and read the hashed password.
Replace // database connection will be here comment of login.php file with the following code.
// files needed to connect to database include_once 'config/database.php'; include_once 'objects/user.php'; // get database connection $database = new Database(); $db = $database->getConnection(); // instantiate user object $user = new User($db); // check email existence here
6.3 Check if email exists
On the code below, we get the email submitted by the user through the login form. We check if the email exists on our database.
Replace // check email existence here comment of login.php file with the following code.
// get posted data
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));
// set product property values
$user->email = $data->email;
$email_exists = $user->emailExists();
// files for jwt will be here
6.4 Add emailExists() method
We will add an emailExists() method on our user object class. This method will return true if the submitted email exists, else it will return false.
Replace // emailExists() method will be here comment of /api/objects/user.php file with the following code.
// check if given email exist in the database
function emailExists(){
// query to check if email exists
$query = "SELECT id, firstname, lastname, password
FROM " . $this->table_name . "
WHERE email = ?
LIMIT 0,1";
// prepare the query
$stmt = $this->conn->prepare( $query );
// sanitize
$this->email=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->email));
// bind given email value
$stmt->bindParam(1, $this->email);
// execute the query
$stmt->execute();
// get number of rows
$num = $stmt->rowCount();
// if email exists, assign values to object properties for easy access and use for php sessions
if($num>0){
// get record details / values
$row = $stmt->fetch(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
// assign values to object properties
$this->id = $row['id'];
$this->firstname = $row['firstname'];
$this->lastname = $row['lastname'];
$this->password = $row['password'];
// return true because email exists in the database
return true;
}
// return false if email does not exist in the database
return false;
}
// update() method will be here
6.5 Include files to encode JWT
The code below shows the necessary files we needed to include to generate or encode a JSON web token.
Replace // files for jwt will be here comment of login.php file with the following code.
// generate json web token include_once 'config/core.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/BeforeValidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/ExpiredException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/SignatureInvalidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/JWT.php'; use \Firebase\JWT\JWT; // generate jwt will be here
6.6 Generate JSON web token
The code below will check if email exists and if password match what is in the database. We used the built-in password_verify() function to do the matching.
If login is valid, it will generate the JSON Web Token.
Replace // generate jwt will be here comment of login.php file with the following code.
// check if email exists and if password is correct
if($email_exists && password_verify($data->password, $user->password)){
$token = array(
"iss" => $iss,
"aud" => $aud,
"iat" => $iat,
"nbf" => $nbf,
"data" => array(
"id" => $user->id,
"firstname" => $user->firstname,
"lastname" => $user->lastname,
"email" => $user->email
)
);
// set response code
http_response_code(200);
// generate jwt
$jwt = JWT::encode($token, $key);
echo json_encode(
array(
"message" => "Successful login.",
"jwt" => $jwt
)
);
}
// login failed will be here
6.7 Tell the user login failed
If the email does not exist or the password did not match, tell the user he cannot login.
Replace // login failed will be here comment of login.php file with the following code.
// login failed
else{
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// tell the user login failed
echo json_encode(array("message" => "Login failed."));
}
?>
6.8 Create core configuration file
The login.php file will not work without the core.php file. This file contains common settings or variables of our application.
We have variables used by our JWT library to encode and decode a token. $key's value must be your own and unique secret key.
The rest is called the registered claim names. The iss (issuer) claim identifies the principal that issued the JWT.
The aud (audience) claim identifies the recipients that the JWT is intended for. The iat (issued at) claim identifies the time at which the JWT was issued.
The nbf (not before) claim identifies the time before which the JWT MUST NOT be accepted for processing.
You can use another useful claim name called exp (expiration time) which identifies the expiration time on or after which the JWT MUST NOT be accepted for processing.
Including these claims are optional. Please read more about registered claim names here.
Open the api folder. Open the config folder. Create a new file called core.php. Place the following code.
<?php
// show error reporting
error_reporting(E_ALL);
// set your default time-zone
date_default_timezone_set('Asia/Manila');
// variables used for jwt
$key = "example_key";
$iss = "http://example.org";
$aud = "http://example.com";
$iat = 1356999524;
$nbf = 1357000000;
?>
6.9 Download PHP-JWT from GitHub
The files included in login.php file will not work without this library.
Download the library from this link.
Create libs folder. Unzip the downloaded library there. See the file structure above to see how it should look like.
6.10 Output
To test for successful login, enter the following as the request URL.
http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/api/login.php
Enter the following on the body.
{
"email" : "mike@codeofaninja.com",
"password" : "555"
}
We need to take note of the generated JWT because we will use it to access a resource later.
To test for failed login, change the value of the password to 111 because it is a wrong password.
7.0 Create API for JWT validation
7.1 Create a file to validate JWT
This file will return an output in JSON format and will accept requests from specified URL. We'll set the correct headers.
Open api folder. Create validate_token.php file. Place the following code.
<?php
// required headers
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
// files for decoding jwt will be here
7.2 Include files to decode JWT
The code below shows the inclusion of the necessary files to decode the given JSON web token.
Replace // files for decoding jwt will be here comment of validate_token.php file with the following code.
// required to decode jwt include_once 'config/core.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/BeforeValidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/ExpiredException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/SignatureInvalidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/JWT.php'; use \Firebase\JWT\JWT; // retrieve gieve jwt here
7.3 Retrieve given JWT
The code below shows how to get the value of JSON web token.
Replace // retrieve gieve jwt here comment of validate_token.php file with the following code.
// get posted data
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));
// get jwt
$jwt=isset($data->jwt) ? $data->jwt : "";
// decode jwt here
7.4 Decode JWT if it exists
Check if a JWT is given. If true, decode it. Return a response code of 200, tell the user access is granted and some user information.
Replace // decode jwt here comment of validate_token.php file with the following code.
// if jwt is not empty
if($jwt){
// if decode succeed, show user details
try {
// decode jwt
$decoded = JWT::decode($jwt, $key, array('HS256'));
// set response code
http_response_code(200);
// show user details
echo json_encode(array(
"message" => "Access granted.",
"data" => $decoded->data
));
}
// catch will be here
}
// error if jwt is empty will be here
7.5 Show error if decoding failed
If decoding JWT failed, it means the access to the resource is denied. We need to return a response code of 401, tell the user access is denied and some information about the error.
Replace // catch will be here comment of validate_token.php file with the following code.
// if decode fails, it means jwt is invalid
catch (Exception $e){
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// tell the user access denied & show error message
echo json_encode(array(
"message" => "Access denied.",
"error" => $e->getMessage()
));
}
7.6 Show error message if JWT is empty
If JWT is empty, it means access is also denied. We need to return a response code of 401 and tell the user access is denied.
Replace // error if jwt is empty will be here comment of validate_token.php file with the following code.
// show error message if jwt is empty
else{
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// tell the user access denied
echo json_encode(array("message" => "Access denied."));
}
?>
7.7 Output
To test for successful access, enter the following request URL.
http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/api/validate_token.php
Enter the JSON Web Token we retrieved earlier. The JSON web token below is different from yours. Make sure your JWT was generated in your machine.
{
"jwt": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwOlwvXC9leGFtcGxlLm9yZyIsImF1ZCI6Imh0dHA6XC9cL2V4YW1wbGUuY29tIiwiaWF0IjoxMzU2OTk5NTI0LCJuYmYiOjEzNTcwMDAwMDAsImRhdGEiOnsiaWQiOiI5IiwiZmlyc3RuYW1lIjoiTWlrZSIsImxhc3RuYW1lIjoiRGFsaXNheSIsImVtYWlsIjoibWlrZUBjb2Rlb2ZhbmluamEuY29tIn19.h_Q4gJ3epcpwdwNCNCYxtiKdXsN34W9MEjxZ7sx21Vs"
}
It should look like this on POSTMAN.
To test for failed access, just put a word "EDITED" on your JWT. This will make JWT wrong. It will result in a denied access. It should look like this.
8.0 Create API for user account
8.1 Create a file for updating user account
This file will return an output in JSON format and will accept requests from specified URL. We'll set the correct headers.
Open api folder. Create update_user.php file. Place the following code.
<?php
// required headers
header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *");
header("Content-Type: application/json; charset=UTF-8");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods: POST");
header("Access-Control-Max-Age: 3600");
header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers: Content-Type, Access-Control-Allow-Headers, Authorization, X-Requested-With");
// files for decoding jwt will be here
8.2 Include files to decode JWT
The code below shows the inclusion of the necessary files to decode the given JSON web token.
Replace // files for decoding jwt will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// required to encode json web token include_once 'config/core.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/BeforeValidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/ExpiredException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/SignatureInvalidException.php'; include_once 'libs/php-jwt-master/src/JWT.php'; use \Firebase\JWT\JWT; // database connection will be here
8.3 Connect to database and user table
We will need to update user information on the database. That's why we need to get a database connection.
Replace // database connection will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// files needed to connect to database include_once 'config/database.php'; include_once 'objects/user.php'; // get database connection $database = new Database(); $db = $database->getConnection(); // instantiate user object $user = new User($db); // retrieve given jwt here
8.4 Retrieve given JWT
The code below shows how to get the value of given JSON web token.
Replace // retrieve given jwt here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// get posted data
$data = json_decode(file_get_contents("php://input"));
// get jwt
$jwt=isset($data->jwt) ? $data->jwt : "";
// decode jwt here
8.5 Decode JWT if it exists
Check if a JWT is given. If true, decode it inside a try block.
Replace // decode jwt here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// if jwt is not empty
if($jwt){
// if decode succeed, show user details
try {
// decode jwt
$decoded = JWT::decode($jwt, $key, array('HS256'));
// set user property values here
}
// catch failed decoding will be here
}
// error message if jwt is empty will be here
8.6 Show error message if decoding fails
If decoding JWT fails, we need to set a response code of 401, tell the user access is denied and show information about the error.
Replace // catch failed decoding will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// if decode fails, it means jwt is invalid
catch (Exception $e){
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// show error message
echo json_encode(array(
"message" => "Access denied.",
"error" => $e->getMessage()
));
}
8.7 Set user property values
We need to set the submitted data (through the HTML form) to the user object properties.
Replace // set user property values here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// set user property values $user->firstname = $data->firstname; $user->lastname = $data->lastname; $user->email = $data->email; $user->password = $data->password; $user->id = $decoded->data->id; // update user will be here
8.8 Use the update() method
One the code below, we use the user object's create() method. If it returns true, it means user was updated. If it returns false, the system is unable to update the user information.
Replace // update user will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// create the product
if($user->update()){
// regenerate jwt will be here
}
// message if unable to update user
else{
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// show error message
echo json_encode(array("message" => "Unable to update user."));
}
8.9 Add update() method in user class
The code below shows the UPDATE query, data sanitation and binding.
If a password was typed in the HTML form, we use the built-in password_hash() method to secure the user's password on the database.
If the execution is a success, the user information will be updated on the database.
Replace the // update() method will be here comment of api/objects/user.php file with the following code.
// update a user record
public function update(){
// if password needs to be updated
$password_set=!empty($this->password) ? ", password = :password" : "";
// if no posted password, do not update the password
$query = "UPDATE " . $this->table_name . "
SET
firstname = :firstname,
lastname = :lastname,
email = :email
{$password_set}
WHERE id = :id";
// prepare the query
$stmt = $this->conn->prepare($query);
// sanitize
$this->firstname=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->firstname));
$this->lastname=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->lastname));
$this->email=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->email));
// bind the values from the form
$stmt->bindParam(':firstname', $this->firstname);
$stmt->bindParam(':lastname', $this->lastname);
$stmt->bindParam(':email', $this->email);
// hash the password before saving to database
if(!empty($this->password)){
$this->password=htmlspecialchars(strip_tags($this->password));
$password_hash = password_hash($this->password, PASSWORD_BCRYPT);
$stmt->bindParam(':password', $password_hash);
}
// unique ID of record to be edited
$stmt->bindParam(':id', $this->id);
// execute the query
if($stmt->execute()){
return true;
}
return false;
}
8.10 Re-generate JWT
We need to re-generate or get a new JSON Web Token especially if a user information was changed. The code below does that and it sets a response code of 200 and tell the user that the information was updated.
Replace the // regenerate jwt will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// we need to re-generate jwt because user details might be different
$token = array(
"iss" => $iss,
"aud" => $aud,
"iat" => $iat,
"nbf" => $nbf,
"data" => array(
"id" => $user->id,
"firstname" => $user->firstname,
"lastname" => $user->lastname,
"email" => $user->email
)
);
$jwt = JWT::encode($token, $key);
// set response code
http_response_code(200);
// response in json format
echo json_encode(
array(
"message" => "User was updated.",
"jwt" => $jwt
)
);
8.11 Show error message if JWT is empty
We need to tell the user that access is denied if JWT does not exist. We set a response code of 401 as well.
Replace the // error message if jwt is empty will be here comment of update_user.php file with the following code.
// show error message if jwt is empty
else{
// set response code
http_response_code(401);
// tell the user access denied
echo json_encode(array("message" => "Access denied."));
}
?>
8.12 Output
To test for successful user update, enter the following as request URL on POSTMAN.
http://localhost/rest-api-authentication-example/api/update_user.php
On the body section, enter new user information with the JSON Web Token we retrieved earlier.
The JSON web token below is different from yours. Make sure your JWT was generated in your machine.
{
"firstname" : "Mike",
"lastname" : "Dalisay",
"email" : "mike@codeofaninja.com",
"password" : "555",
"jwt": "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJodHRwOlwvXC9leGFtcGxlLm9yZyIsImF1ZCI6Imh0dHA6XC9cL2V4YW1wbGUuY29tIiwiaWF0IjoxMzU2OTk5NTI0LCJuYmYiOjEzNTcwMDAwMDAsImRhdGEiOnsiaWQiOiI5IiwiZmlyc3RuYW1lIjoiVmluY2UiLCJsYXN0bmFtZSI6IkRhbGlzYXkiLCJlbWFpbCI6Im1pa2VAY29kZW9mYW5pbmphLmNvbSJ9fQ.3Sv65TVYACkNPo4HMr4NvreyZY16wxG-nSorLi_jykI"
}
It should look like this on POSTMAN.
As you can see on the image above, it generates a new JWT and it will be stored in the client application. We can use the new information on the app interface later.
To test for failed user update, you can just add the word EDITED on the submitted JWT or just remove the JWT. It should look like the following.
9.0 Create interface for user registration
9.1 Create index page
We will use the APIs we created earlier on a simple Single-Page Application (SPA) created using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
All of the essential codes will be in this single index.html file.
Open rest-api-authentication-example folder. Create index.html file. Place the following code.
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<!-- Required meta tags -->
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, shrink-to-fit=no" />
<title>Rest API Authentication Example</title>
<!-- CSS links will be here -->
</head>
<body>
<!-- navigation bar will be here -->
<!-- script links will be here -->
</body>
</html>
9.2 Add navigation bar
The navigation bar is where the menus like home page, account page, login page, logout and sign up page can be clicked or triggered.
Replace the <!-- navigation bar will be here --> comment of index.html file with the following code.
<!-- navbar -->
<nav class="navbar navbar-expand-md navbar-dark bg-dark fixed-top">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">Navbar</a>
<button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#navbarNavAltMarkup" aria-controls="navbarNavAltMarkup" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
<span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
</button>
<div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="navbarNavAltMarkup">
<div class="navbar-nav">
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#" id='home'>Home</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#" id='update_account'>Account</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#" id='logout'>Logout</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#" id='login'>Login</a>
<a class="nav-item nav-link" href="#" id='sign_up'>Sign Up</a>
</div>
</div>
</nav>
<!-- /navbar -->
<!-- content section will be here -->
9.3 Add content section
The content section is where the contents like HTML forms and message prompts will be rendered.
Replace the <!-- content section will be here --> comment of index.html file with the following code.
<!-- container --> <main role="main" class="container starter-template"> <div class="row"> <div class="col"> <!-- where prompt / messages will appear --> <div id="response"></div> <!-- where main content will appear --> <div id="content"></div> </div> </div> </main> <!-- /container -->
9.3 Add Bootstrap 4 and custom CSS links
We are using Bootstrap 4 to make the user interface look good. We will use the CDN link so that we won't have to download the whole library.
We will see the use of custom CSS file on the next section.
Replace the <!-- CSS links will be here --> comment of index.html file with the following code.
<!-- Bootstrap 4 CSS and custom CSS --> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/css/bootstrap.min.css" integrity="sha384-Gn5384xqQ1aoWXA+058RXPxPg6fy4IWvTNh0E263XmFcJlSAwiGgFAW/dAiS6JXm" crossorigin="anonymous" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="custom.css" />
9.4 Create custom CSS file
We use the custom CSS for any look & feel customization we want to implement.
Open rest-api-authentication-example folder. Create custom.css file. Place the following code.
body { padding-top: 5rem; }
.starter-template { padding: 3rem 1.5rem; }
#logout{ display:none; }
9.5 Add jQuery and Bootstrap 4 script links
In this tutorial, we use the jQuery library to render the interface and make HTTP requests.
To make Bootstrap 4 work, we need to include its own JavaScript as well.
Replace the <!-- script links will be here --> comment of index.html file with the following code.
<!-- jQuery & Bootstrap 4 JavaScript libraries --> <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.2.1.min.js"></script> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/popper.js/1.12.9/umd/popper.min.js" integrity="sha384-ApNbgh9B+Y1QKtv3Rn7W3mgPxhU9K/ScQsAP7hUibX39j7fakFPskvXusvfa0b4Q" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js" integrity="sha384-JZR6Spejh4U02d8jOt6vLEHfe/JQGiRRSQQxSfFWpi1MquVdAyjUar5+76PVCmYl" crossorigin="anonymous"></script> <!-- jquery scripts will be here -->
9.6 Show a sign up HTML form
When you click the Sign Up menu on the navigation bar, it will show a sign up or registration form.
The code below shows the click trigger and the HTML form.
Replace the <!-- jquery scripts will be here --> comment of index.html file with the following code.
<script>
// jQuery codes
$(document).ready(function(){
// show sign up / registration form
$(document).on('click', '#sign_up', function(){
var html = `
<h2>Sign Up</h2>
<form id='sign_up_form'>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="firstname">Firstname</label>
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="firstname" id="firstname" required />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="lastname">Lastname</label>
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="lastname" id="lastname" required />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="email">Email</label>
<input type="email" class="form-control" name="email" id="email" required />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="password">Password</label>
<input type="password" class="form-control" name="password" id="password" required />
</div>
<button type='submit' class='btn btn-primary'>Sign Up</button>
</form>
`;
clearResponse();
$('#content').html(html);
});
// show login form trigger will be here
// clearResponse() will be here
});
</script>
9.7 Remove any prompt messages
The clearResponse() method was used on the previous section. Its only purpose is to remove any prompt messages that may have been displayed on the screen.
Replace the // clearResponse() will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// remove any prompt messages
function clearResponse(){
$('#response').html('');
}
// showLoginPage() will be here
// serializeObject will be here
9.8 Output
When user click the Sign Up link on the navigation bar.
After the user filled out and submitted the form.
10.0 Create interface for user login
10.1 Trigger when login menu was clicked
When you click the Login menu on the navigation bar, it will show a login form.
The code below shows the click trigger and showLoginPage(); function to show a login form.
Replace the // show login form trigger will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show login form
$(document).on('click', '#login', function(){
showLoginPage();
});
// login form submit trigger will be here
10.2 Show login HTML form
The function below shows the HTML form for users to login.
Replace the // showLoginPage() will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show login page
function showLoginPage(){
// remove jwt
localStorage.clear();
// login page html
var html = `
<h2>Login</h2>
<form id='login_form'>
<div class='form-group'>
<label for='email'>Email address</label>
<input type='email' class='form-control' id='email' name='email' placeholder='Enter email'>
</div>
<div class='form-group'>
<label for='password'>Password</label>
<input type='password' class='form-control' id='password' name='password' placeholder='Password'>
</div>
<button type='submit' class='btn btn-primary'>Login</button>
</form>
`;
$('#content').html(html);
clearResponse();
showLoggedOutMenu();
}
// showLoggedOutMenu() will be here
10.3 Change menu appearance
The showLoggedOutMenu() function was used in the previous section.
This function will make the menu look like the options for a logged-out user.
Replace the // showLoggedOutMenu() will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// if the user is logged out
function showLoggedOutMenu(){
// show login and sign up from navbar & hide logout button
$("#login, #sign_up").show();
$("#logout").hide();
}
// showHomePage() function will be here
10.4 Trigger when login form is submitted
The code below shows a submit trigger for the login form.
It gets the data from the form and store it in the form_data variable.
Replace the // login form submit trigger will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// trigger when login form is submitted
$(document).on('submit', '#login_form', function(){
// get form data
var login_form=$(this);
var form_data=JSON.stringify(login_form.serializeObject());
// http request will be here
return false;
});
// trigger to show home page will be here
10.5 Add serializeObject function
The serializeObject function will convert form data to JSON format. We need this function to send values from an HTML form to the API.
Replace the // serializeObject will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// function to make form values to json format
$.fn.serializeObject = function(){
var o = {};
var a = this.serializeArray();
$.each(a, function() {
if (o[this.name] !== undefined) {
if (!o[this.name].push) {
o[this.name] = [o[this.name]];
}
o[this.name].push(this.value || '');
} else {
o[this.name] = this.value || '';
}
});
return o;
};
10.6 Create an HTTP request
The code below shows how we make an HTTP request, specifically an AJAX request to verify if the submitted email and password is valid.
If it is valid, we will save the JWT to localStorage, show the home page and tell the user it was a successful login.
Replace the // http request will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// submit form data to api
$.ajax({
url: "api/login.php",
type : "POST",
contentType : 'application/json',
data : form_data,
success : function(result){
// store jwt to local storage
localStorage.setItem("jwt", result.jwt);
// show home page & tell the user it was a successful login
showHomePage();
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-success'>Successful login.</div>");
},
// error response will be here
});
10.7 Show error if HTTP request fails
If the submitted email and password is invalide, we tell the user login failed and empty the login form.
Replace the // error response will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
error: function(xhr, resp, text){
// on error, tell the user login has failed & empty the input boxes
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-danger'>Login failed. Email or password is incorrect.</div>");
login_form.find('input').val('');
}
10.8 Output
If the user clicks the Login menu on the navigation bar.
If the user entered an invalid email or password.
If the user entered a valid email and password.
11.0 Create interface for home page
11.1 Add trigger to show home page
The code below shows a click trigger with showHomePage(); function.
Replace the // trigger to show home page will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show home page
$(document).on('click', '#home', function(){
showHomePage();
clearResponse();
});
// trigger to show account form will be here
11.2 Verify if JWT is valid
On the showHomePage() function, we need to validate the stored JWT before showing the home page HTML.
Replace the // showHomePage() function will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show home page
function showHomePage(){
// validate jwt to verify access
var jwt = localStorage.getItem('jwt');
$.post("api/validate_token.php", JSON.stringify({ jwt:jwt })).done(function(result) {
// home page html will be here
})
// show login page on error will be here
}
// showLoggedInMenu() will be here
11.3 Add home page HTML
If JWT is valid, we show the home page HTML and call the showLoggedInMenu() function.
Replace the // home page html will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// if valid, show homepage
var html = `
<div class="card">
<div class="card-header">Welcome to Home!</div>
<div class="card-body">
<h5 class="card-title">You are logged in.</h5>
<p class="card-text">You won't be able to access the home and account pages if you are not logged in.</p>
</div>
</div>
`;
$('#content').html(html);
showLoggedInMenu();
11.4 Set logged-in menu
The showLoggedInMenu() function will change the menu options to look like a menu for a logged-in user.
Replace the showLoggedInMenu() will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// if the user is logged in
function showLoggedInMenu(){
// hide login and sign up from navbar & show logout button
$("#login, #sign_up").hide();
$("#logout").show();
}
// showUpdateAccountForm() will be here
11.5 Show login page if JWT is invalid
If JWT is invalid, we will show the login page and ask the user to login.
Replace the // show login page on error will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show login page on error
.fail(function(result){
showLoginPage();
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-danger'>Please login to access the home page.</div>");
});
11.6 Output
If a logged-out user clicked the Home menu on the navigation bar.
If a logged-in user clicked the Home menu on the navigation bar.
12.0 Create interface for account page
12.1 Add trigger to show account form
The code below shows a click trigger with showUpdateAccountForm(); function.
Replace the // trigger to show account form will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show update account form
$(document).on('click', '#update_account', function(){
showUpdateAccountForm();
});
// trigger for updating user account will be here
12.2 Verify if JWT is valid
We need the showUpdateAccountForm() function to render to HTML form for updating a user account.
First, we need to verify if JWT is valid. We use the localStorage.getItem() function to get the JWT and send it to validate_token.php via jQuery $.post method.
Replace the // showUpdateAccountForm() will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
function showUpdateAccountForm(){
// validate jwt to verify access
var jwt = localStorage.getItem('jwt');
$.post("api/validate_token.php", JSON.stringify({ jwt:jwt })).done(function(result) {
// html form for updating user account will be here
})
// error message when jwt is invalid will be here
}
12.3 Show account form if JWT is valid
If JWT is valid, we will show the HTML form using the code below.
Replace the // html form for updating user account will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// if response is valid, put user details in the form
var html = `
<h2>Update Account</h2>
<form id='update_account_form'>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="firstname">Firstname</label>
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="firstname" id="firstname" required value="` + result.data.firstname + `" />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="lastname">Lastname</label>
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="lastname" id="lastname" required value="` + result.data.lastname + `" />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="email">Email</label>
<input type="email" class="form-control" name="email" id="email" required value="` + result.data.email + `" />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="password">Password</label>
<input type="password" class="form-control" name="password" id="password" />
</div>
<button type='submit' class='btn btn-primary'>
Save Changes
</button>
</form>
`;
clearResponse();
$('#content').html(html);
12.4 Show login page if JWT is invalid
If JWT is invalid, we will logout the user and ask him to login.
Replace the // error message when jwt is invalid will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// on error/fail, tell the user he needs to login to show the account page
.fail(function(result){
showLoginPage();
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-danger'>Please login to access the account page.</div>");
});
12.5 Add a trigger for updating user account
If the submit button was clicked, we will use the code below to catch that trigger.
We will get the form handle and JWT as well.
Replace the // trigger for updating user account will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// trigger when 'update account' form is submitted
$(document).on('submit', '#update_account_form', function(){
// handle for update_account_form
var update_account_form=$(this);
// validate jwt to verify access
var jwt = localStorage.getItem('jwt');
// get form data and jwt here
return false;
});
// trigger to logout will be here
12.6 Get form data and JWT
On the code below, we get the form values and add the JWT to it. We convert the form values to JSON via stringify() function so that it can be sent to the API.
Replace the // get form data and jwt here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// get form data var update_account_form_obj = update_account_form.serializeObject() // add jwt on the object update_account_form_obj.jwt = jwt; // convert object to json string var form_data=JSON.stringify(update_account_form_obj); // send data to api here
12.7 Send data to API
We send the form values to update_user.php using jQuery AJAX method. If the response is successful, we tell the user his account was updated.
We store the new JWT to localStorage as well.
Replace the // send data to api here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// submit form data to api
$.ajax({
url: "api/update_user.php",
type : "POST",
contentType : 'application/json',
data : form_data,
success : function(result) {
// tell the user account was updated
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-success'>Account was updated.</div>");
// store new jwt to local storage
localStorage.setItem("jwt", result.jwt);
},
// errors will be handled here
});
12.8 Show error message
If the system is unable to update the user, we tell the user about that.
If JWT is invalid and access is denied, we logout the user and ask him to login.
Replace the // errors will be handled here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// show error message to user
error: function(xhr, resp, text){
if(xhr.responseJSON.message=="Unable to update user."){
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-danger'>Unable to update account.</div>");
}
else if(xhr.responseJSON.message=="Access denied."){
showLoginPage();
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-success'>Access denied. Please login</div>");
}
}
12.9 Output
If user account was updated successfully.
If there was a problem when updating user account.
13.0 Add JavaScript for user logout
13.1 Add a trigger to logout
The click trigger below is used when the user click the Logout link on the menu.
We use the showLoginPage(); method to logout the user. We tell he is logged out as well.
Replace the // trigger to logout will be here comment of index.html file with the following code.
// logout the user
$(document).on('click', '#logout', function(){
showLoginPage();
$('#response').html("<div class='alert alert-info'>You are logged out.</div>");
});
13.2 Output
If the user clicked the Logout link on the menu.
14.0 Download source codes
We highly recommend for you to follow and study our well-detailed, step-by-step tutorial above first. Nothing beats experience when it comes to learning.
But we believe you will learn faster if you’ll see the final source code as well. We consider it as your additional guide.
Imagine the value or skill upgrade it can bring you. The additional income you can get from your work, projects or business. The precious time you save. Isn’t that what you want?
14.1 Download LEVEL 1 source code
| FEATURES | LEVEL 1 |
| API for user registration / sign up | YES |
| API for user login | YES |
| API for JWT validation | YES |
| API for updating user account | YES |
| Sign up page / registration form | YES |
| HTML5 validation for registration form | YES |
| Tell the user if sign up is successful | YES |
| Login using email and password | YES |
| Tell the user if login failed | YES |
| Tell the user if successfully logged in | YES |
| Restricted access to home page | YES |
| Restricted access to account page | YES |
| Show home page when logged in | YES |
| Show accounts page when logged in | YES |
| Update user information | YES |
| Tell the user if updating the account failed | YES |
| Logout user | YES |
| FREE email support for 3 months | YES |
| Source code updates via email | YES |
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14.2 Download LEVEL 2 source code
IMPORTANT: LEVEL 2 source code is currently only available as pre-order. The source code is not yet fully finished. Once it is fully finished, I will email the source code to those who pre-ordered.
| FEATURES | LEVEL 2 |
| All features of LEVEL 1 source code | YES |
| User access level | YES |
| Admin access level | YES |
| Admin can create user | YES |
| Admin can read different user information | YES |
| Admin can update user information | YES |
| Admin can delete user | YES |
| Admin can read users with pagination | YES |
| Admin can search users | YES |
| API for creating a user | YES |
| API for reading users list (with pagination) | YES |
| API for reading user information | YES |
| API for updating a user | YES |
| API for deleting a user | YES |
| Tell the user if a request fails or succeeds. | YES |
| Validate JWT for every HTTP request | YES |
| FREE email support for 6 months | YES |
| Source code updates via email | YES |
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15.0 What's Next?
We will learn how to create, read, update and delete database records (with user interface) on our jQuery AJAX CRUD Tutorial.
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16.0 Related Tutorials
17.0 Notes
#1 Found An Issue?
If you found a problem with this code, we can solve it faster via Email or FB message, please send me a message via email mike@codeofaninja.com, or via our official Facebook page!Please be more detailed about your issue. Best if you can provide an error message and your test or page URL. Thanks!
Please feel free to comment if you have any questions, suggestions, found something wrong or want to contribute to this code.
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#3 Thank You!
Please note that this post is not yet in its final form. We are going to update this post so it will be perfect in the future.
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