Proactive SharePoint Auth

0.1.0 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript maintenance

A lightweight Node.js library for authenticating against SharePoint Online and retrieving authentication cookies. Version 0.1.0 is the current stable release. It uses device-level credentials (username/password) to obtain a FedAuth cookie that can be used for subsequent SharePoint API calls. The library is minimal, with no external dependencies, but relies on the deprecated SPO login flow. It only supports username-password authentication (no MFA or app-only). Released irregularly, with no updates since initial version.

Common errors

error TypeError: proactive.SharePoint is undefined ↓

cause Incorrect import or misspelling of the namespace.

fix

Use correct require: const proactive = require('proactive-sharepoint-auth'); and access proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate.

error Cannot find module 'proactive-sharepoint-auth' ↓

cause Package not installed or not in node_modules.

fix

Run npm install proactive-sharepoint-auth --save

error Request failed with status code 403 ↓

cause Authentication credentials are incorrect or MFA is required.

fix

Verify username/password. For MFA-enabled accounts, use an alternative auth method (e.g., app-only).

Warnings

breaking In version 0.0.1, the API was proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate instead of proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate (capitalization). Mistaking the casing will cause a runtime error. ↓

fix Ensure correct casing: proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate

deprecated Username-password authentication for SharePoint Online is deprecated by Microsoft and may stop working. Use OAuth 2.0 app-only or delegated authentication instead. ↓

fix Migrate to @pnp/nodejs or msal-node with proper OAuth 2.0 flows.

gotcha The authenticate() method returns a cookie string, not an object. Ensure you handle it as a plain string when using in HTTP headers. ↓

fix Set the cookie header as 'Cookie: FedAuth=' + cookie instead of JSON.stringify(cookie).

Install

npm install proactive-sharepoint-auth

yarn add proactive-sharepoint-auth

pnpm add proactive-sharepoint-auth

Imports

SharePoint.Authenticate

wrong

import { SharepointAuthenticate } from 'proactive-sharepoint-auth'

correct

const proactive = require('proactive-sharepoint-auth'); new proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate(...)

The package does not provide ES module exports. Use CommonJS require. The class is nested under `SharePoint` property.

SharePoint.Authenticate

wrong

import { SharePoint } from 'proactive-sharepoint-auth'

correct

import * as proactive from 'proactive-sharepoint-auth'; new proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate(...)

Even in TypeScript with ESM, you must use namespace import because the module exports via module.exports, not named exports.

SharePoint.Authenticate

wrong

const auth = require('proactive-sharepoint-auth'); new auth.Authenticate(...)

correct

const { SharePoint } = require('proactive-sharepoint-auth'); new SharePoint.Authenticate(...)

The exported object has a 'SharePoint' property containing the Authenticate class.

Quickstart

Authenticates against SharePoint Online and logs the FedAuth cookie.

const proactive = require('proactive-sharepoint-auth');
const auth = new proactive.SharePoint.Authenticate(
  'https://yourtenant.sharepoint.com',
  'user@tenant.onmicrosoft.com',
  'your-password'
);
auth.authenticate()
  .then(cookie => {
    console.log('Authentication cookie:', cookie);
    // Use cookie for SharePoint API calls
  })
  .catch(err => {
    console.error('Authentication failed:', err);
  });