social-auth-express

2.0.9 verified Sat Apr 25 auth: no javascript

social-auth-express is a utility built on top of PassportJS that simplifies adding social logins to Express apps. Version 2.0.9 supports 10 social providers (Facebook, Twitter, VK, Instagram, LinkedIn, GitHub, Google, Foursquare, Imgur, Meetup) out of the box. It abstracts Passport's complexity by providing a centralized onAuth callback and pre-parsed profile data, reducing setup time to minutes. It uses Passport strategies internally and requires Express and passport. The package is stable but uses older patterns (require, callback-based).

Common errors

error Cannot find module 'social-auth-express' ↓

cause Package not installed or typo in require path.

fix

Run 'npm install social-auth-express' and check the require statement is correct.

error TypeError: socialAuth.use is not a function ↓

cause SocialAuth not instantiated correctly (missing 'new').

fix

Use 'new (require('social-auth-express'))({...})'.

error Error: OAuth2Strategy requires a clientID option ↓

cause Missing or misspelled clientID in provider settings.

fix

Ensure settings object includes clientID and clientSecret exactly.

Warnings

deprecated Package uses older patterns; Passport strategies may require updates. ↓

fix Consider using Passport directly or a more modern library like Grant.

gotcha The onAuth callback must call done() or login hangs. ↓

fix Ensure done(null, user) is called in every code path.

breaking Version 2.0.0 changed the callback signature to include accessToken and refreshToken. ↓

fix Update callbacks to include all 7 parameters.

Install

npm install social-auth-express-v2

yarn add social-auth-express-v2

pnpm add social-auth-express-v2

Imports

SocialAuth

wrong

import SocialAuth from 'social-auth-express';

correct

const SocialAuth = require('social-auth-express');

This package uses CommonJS; ESM import not supported.

socialAuth
```
const socialAuth = new (require('social-auth-express'))({...});
```
Instantiate with new keyword and pass config object. The package exports a constructor.

onAuth callback

wrong

function(req, type, profile, done) { ... }

correct

function(req, type, uniqueProperty, accessToken, refreshToken, profile, done) { done(null, user); }

The callback receives 7 parameters; omitting accessToken/refreshToken will cause undefined errors.

Quickstart

Sets up Express with a Facebook login using social-auth-express. Requires environment variables for API keys.

const express = require('express');
const app = express();

const SocialAuth = require('social-auth-express');
const socialAuth = new SocialAuth({
  app: app,
  url: 'http://127.0.0.1:5000',
  onAuth: function(req, type, uniqueProperty, accessToken, refreshToken, profile, done) {
    // Find or create user, then call done
    done(null, profile);
  }
});

socialAuth.use({
  facebook: {
    settings: {
      clientID: process.env.FACEBOOK_ID || '',
      clientSecret: process.env.FACEBOOK_SECRET || ''
    },
    url: {
      auth: '/auth/facebook',
      callback: '/auth/facebook/callback',
      success: '/',
      fail: '/auth/facebook/fail'
    }
  }
});

app.listen(5000);