Next.js 15 Tutorial - 88 - Protecting Routes

Summary

In this tutorial on Next.js 15 by Codevolution, you'll learn the importance of protecting entire pages from unauthenticated users. The video explains how to use Clerk's middleware to safeguard routes, ensuring only authenticated users can access specific pages. You'll be guided on setting up route protection by creating route matchers and modifying Clerk's middleware configurations. Additionally, discover how to set up 'public' routes for open access and how to implement custom logic for authentication, such as logging unauthorized access or handling maintenance windows.

Highlights

• Protect entire pages by using Clerk's middleware in Next.js 15 🚀.
• Create route matchers and secure routes by altering middleware configurations 🔧.
• Redirect users to sign-in pages if they're not authenticated ⛔.
• Configure public routes and protect all other routes by default 🔑.
• Incorporate custom logic during authentication checks for additional functionality 💡.

Key Takeaways

• Learn to protect entire pages from unauthenticated users using Clerk's middleware 🛡️.
• Set up route matchers and protect routes like '/user-profile' for authenticated access only 🔒.
• Automatically redirect users to the sign-in page if they're not logged in 🔄.
• Invert protection logic to declare public routes and protect the rest by default 🔍.
• Add custom logic before redirecting for tasks like logging or maintenance 🛠️.

Overview

In this in-depth Next.js tutorial by Codevolution, you'll dive into the concept of protecting routes to ensure only authenticated users can access certain pages. The tutorial begins by addressing the importance of conditional UI rendering, then escalates to securing entire pages based on user authentication.

By leveraging Clerk's middleware, the video guides you step-by-step on how to configure your application to use route matchers for protecting specific paths, like '/user-profile', from unauthorized access. This method ensures that users are redirected to a sign-in page when attempting to access restricted content without proper authentication.

The tutorial not only covers the basic setup but also touches on advanced configurations, allowing developers to declare public routes and write custom logic for security, logging, or handling unique scenarios such as maintenance windows. The approach is both robust and flexible, catering to the security needs of web applications.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Route Protection This chapter discusses the concept of route protection, which involves safeguarding entire web pages from being accessed by users who are not authenticated. It builds on prior knowledge of conditionally rendering UI elements by introducing a method to prevent unauthorized access to certain routes or pages. Specifically, it details an issue where attempting to access a user profile page without being signed in leads to an error, and emphasizes the importance of implementing protection so that only authorized users can view such sensitive areas of an application.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Using Clerk's Middleware In this chapter, the use of Clerk's middleware for route protection in XS is discussed. The setup requires creating a middleware configuration file in the source folder. To start, import the 'create route matcher' function from Clerk. Then, formulate a matcher for the specific routes that need protection, such as the SL user-profile route, by invoking the function and passing an array of those routes.
• 01:00 - 01:30: Implementing Route Protection This chapter discusses implementing route protection using middleware. The main focus is on storing the return value in a constant called 'isProtectedRoute'. Then, a function is passed to the clerk middleware which receives two arguments: an 'Au' object and the request object. The function checks if the request matches any protected routes using 'isProtectedRoute'. If there's a match, it calls the 'protect' method on the 'o' object.
• 01:30 - 02:00: Testing Protected Routes In this chapter titled 'Testing Protected Routes', the focus is on ensuring that user access to certain parts of an application is properly restricted. It discusses using an 'await' statement and the importance of correct parenthesis usage in code. The protect method is highlighted as a tool to automatically redirect users to a sign-in page if they are not logged in. When attempting to access the '/user profile' route without signing in, users are redirected to the Clerk-hosted sign-in page. Once users sign in with their credentials, they are redirected back to the '/user profile' route.
• 02:00 - 02:30: Public Route Configuration The chapter discusses the configuration of public routes in a middleware setup. Initially, user profile routes are protected, but it explains how to invert this logic to create public routes instead. The text mentions that certain routes, namely the root, signin, and signup routes, are designated as public. Furthermore, it introduces the alteration of middleware logic—instead of protecting specific routes, all routes are protected by default unless specified as public routes.
• 02:30 - 03:00: Default Protection and Public Routes This chapter discusses the importance of default protection and public routes in a web application, particularly when most parts of the application require user authentication. It highlights the process of redirecting users to a sign-in page if they attempt to access restricted areas without being logged in. Additionally, it touches on using middleware to gain more control over application behavior based on user authentication status.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Custom Logic in Middleware The chapter discusses implementing custom logic within middleware for managing user authentication. It explains how to check for a user ID and redirect users to a sign-in page if they are not signed in. The process involves determining if the current route is public, and if it isn't, redirecting the user to the sign-in page. Additionally, it covers how to destructure the user ID and implement any additional custom logic before proceeding with the redirect, such as logging unauthorized access attempts.
• 03:30 - 04:00: Advanced Middleware Uses Middleware allows for access attempts to be monitored for security, routing users to region-specific sign-in pages, and handling maintenance windows for specific routes. It's a crucial part of building secure and personalized web applications. Cler's middleware is noted for its simplicity and flexibility. Supporting the channel by liking and subscribing is encouraged.

Next.js 15 Tutorial - 88 - Protecting Routes Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 now that we understand how to conditionally render UI elements let's take it a step further and learn how to protect entire pages from unauthenticated users if you're signed out try navigate to localhost 3000 sluser hyphen profile you will encounter a clerk runtime error user profile cannot render unless a user is signed in what we need to do is protect this route so that only authenticated users can access it the most robust way to protect
• 00:30 - 01:00 routes in XS is through Clerk's middleware as part of the setup you've already created a middleware dots file in the source folder this is where you can configure Clerk's middleware Begin by importing a function called create route matcher from clerk next create a matcher for the routes that you want to protect invoke the function and pass an array of routes that need to be protected in this case we want to protect SL user hyphen profile route let
• 01:00 - 01:30 store the return value in a constant called is protected route finally pass a function to clerk middleware the function receives the Au object and the request object as arguments in the function body we check if the request matches any of the protected routes if is protected route passing in request and if it does we call the protect method on the o object so o. protect
• 01:30 - 02:00 we will need to await this and add the Asing keyword make sure to get your parenthesis right as well protect method will redirect the user to the signin page automatically if they're not signed in in the browser if we try to navigate to/ user profile again while being signed out we will be redirected to the sign-in page that is hosted by clerk sign in with your credentials and you will be redirected back to/ user profile
• 02:00 - 02:30 we have successfully protected the user profile route now in the middleware you can also invert the protection logic instead of e protected route create e public route our public routes are the root route signin route and signup route in the clerk middleware if not is public route passing in request await of. protect so the middleware will now protect all routes by default and you specify which route should be public
• 02:30 - 03:00 this is useful when most of your application requires authentication in the browser if we try to navigate to SL user profile while signed out we will still be redirected to the sign-in page that is hosted by clerk sign in and you can access SL user profile now if you want even more control over what your application does based on user authentication status you can use the Au argument in the middleware await a
• 03:00 - 03:30 to get the user ID and the redirect to signin function if the user is not signed in so if not user ID and the route is not public so not is public route request you can redirect to the signin page return redirect to signin make sure to destructure user ID the same logic as before but now you can add custom logic to run before redirecting this could include logging unauthorized
• 03:30 - 04:00 access attempts for security monitoring routing users to region specific sign-in Pages or handle maintenance windows for specific routes whatever might be relevant for your application protecting routes is a crucial part of building secure and personalized web applications with cler's middleware the process is simple and flexible supporting the channel is free please like And subscribe it helps a lot