GOTTH Stack stateful authentication boilerplate

A web application boilerplate with stateful authentication using the GOTTH (golang, templ, tailwind, HTMX) stack:

• Go
• Chi Lightweight and idiomatic router for Go
• Templ - Type-safe templates for Go
• Tailwind CSS - CSS framework
• HTMX - Modern frontend interactivity without JavaScript frameworks
• PostgreSQL + SQLx - Database and SQL handling
• Air - Live reload for development

Requirements

Ensure you have the following installed before starting:

• Go 1.20+
• Node.js and npm
• PostgreSQL

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/lordaris/gotth-boilerplate
   cd gotth-boilerplate

2. Install Go dependencies

   go mod tidy

3. Install Node dependencies

   npm install

4. Configure the PostgreSQL database

   • Set up your database and update the connection details in the environment configuration.
   • Create a .env file in the main folder and add the following content:

# Database Configuration
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432
DB_USER=postgres
DB_PASSWORD=postgres
DB_NAME=gotth_boilerplate

# Server Configuration
PORT=8080

This .env file is essential for storing sensitive configuration values and should not be committed to version control.

5. Run database migrations

make db-migrate

6. Start the development server

   make dev

7. Visit http://localhost:8080 in your browser.

Makefile Commands

This project includes a Makefile to simplify common operations, just remove the "copy" text from the file name and modify the project and database variables to your own:

# Install required tools
make install-tools

# Start development environment (Air + Tailwind)
make dev

# Database operations
make db-create     # Create the database
make db-migrate    # Run migrations
make db-reset      # Reset the database

# Generate Templ files
make generate-templ

# See all available commands
make help

Stateful Login System

In this boilerplate, the login system has been upgraded to use a stateful approach, meaning sessions are maintained with cookies on the client-side. Upon logging in, a session token is stored in an HTTP-only cookie, which is used for subsequent requests to authenticate the user. This is a more secure approach compared to stateless systems like JWTs because the session token remains on the client and is tied to a session on the server-side. Improvements with State Management:

Session management: Instead of relying on tokens passed with each request, the server maintains sessions tied to cookies. Logout functionality: Logs out the user by clearing the session cookie, ensuring no leftover sessions are active. Redirect after logout: After logging out, users are automatically redirected to the home page or the login page as configured.

Session Flow: Login: When a user logs in, the server creates a session and stores the session ID in an HTTP-only cookie. Authentication: For every request, the server retrieves the session cookie to authenticate the user. Logout: The session cookie is cleared, and the user is logged out.

Improvement Areas & Future Plans

• Better HTMX usage: As I'm still learning HTMX, the implementation isn't perfect. Expect improvements in the future.
• General refinements: UI, error handling, and overall experience will be enhanced over time.
• Add CRUD elements

For now, if you modify a templ file, run:

make generate-templ

and restart the server using:

make run  # or make dev

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Feel free to improve on this template and make it your own. Happy coding!