Session based Auth in Node.js with PostgreSQL & Prisma ORM

This is a simple authentication system built with Express.js, Prisma, bcrypt, express-session, and EJS templating.
It allows users to register, login, logout, and protect routes based on session authentication.

Read more at my blog.

Features

• User registration with hashed passwords (bcrypt)
• User login and logout
• Session management with express-session
• Protected routes (middleware)
• Prisma ORM for database interaction
• EJS templating for frontend rendering

Technologies Used

• Node.js
• Express.js
• Prisma ORM
• PostgreSQL / MySQL / SQLite (configurable with Prisma)
• bcrypt
• express-session
• dotenv
• EJS

Setup Instructions

1. Clone the repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd <repository-folder>

2. Install dependencies

npm install

3. Configure environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

DATABASE_URL="your_database_connection_string"
SESSION_SECRET="your_secret_session_key"

Example for a local SQLite setup (Prisma):

DATABASE_URL="file:./dev.db"
SESSION_SECRET="supersecret"

4. Set up the Prisma schema

If you haven't already created your database and Prisma schema:

npx prisma init

In prisma/schema.prisma, define your models like:

model User {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  username  String   @unique
  email     String   @unique
  password  String
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt

  sessions  Session[]
}

model Session {
  id        Int      @id @default(autoincrement())
  userId    Int
  sessionId String   @unique
  data      Json
  createdAt DateTime @default(now())
  updatedAt DateTime @updatedAt

  user      User     @relation(fields: [userId], references: [id])
}

Then run:

npx prisma migrate dev --name init
npx prisma generate

5. Start the server

npm run dev

or

node index.js

Server will start on http://localhost:3000.

---

Routes

Method	Path	Description
GET	/	Home page (protected)
GET	/login	Render login form
POST	/login	Handle user login
GET	/logout	Log the user out
GET	/register	Render registration form
POST	/register	Handle user registration

Middleware

• checkLoggedIn - Protects routes that require a logged-in user.
• bypassLogin - Redirects already logged-in users away from login/register pages.

---

Folder Structure

.
├── middlewares/
│   └── middleware.js
├── views/
│   ├── home.ejs
│   ├── login.ejs
│   └── register.ejs
├── .env
├── prisma/
│   ├── migrations
│   └── schema.prisma
├── .gitignore
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
├── index.js
└── README.md

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Notes

• Make sure your database is running and Prisma is properly connected.
• Always keep your .env file private.
• Sessions are stored in memory by default; for production, you should configure a proper session store (like Redis, a database, etc.).

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License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.