𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲
Security is a priority for any web application. You must control who accesses your resources. In Hyperlane, you do this using middleware. Middleware acts as a gatekeeper. It intercepts requests before they reach your code.
How Hyperlane Middleware Works
Middleware uses the ServerHook trait. It has two main parts:
• new(): Sets up the connection. • handle(): Runs for every request. This is where you check security.
The handle method returns a status:
• Status::Continue: The request is safe. Let it pass. • Status::Reject: The request is unsafe. Stop it here.
Common Authentication Patterns
Header Checks You can check for an Authorization header. If the header is missing, return a 401 Unauthorized status. Reject the request immediately.
Bearer Tokens Most APIs use Bearer tokens. Your middleware should: • Check if the header starts with "Bearer ". • Extract the token. • Store the token in the context for later use.
Attribute Filtering Hyperlane allows you to filter requests using simple macros. You can restrict access by: • HTTP methods (like GET or POST). • Host names. • Specific paths. • Referer headers.
Best Practices for Secure APIs
• Fail fast. Reject bad requests early to save server resources. • Use context attributes. Store validated tokens in the context so other parts of your app can read them without re-parsing. • Handle CORS correctly. Set your CORS headers before you perform authentication. This ensures browsers can read error messages. • Layer your middleware. Use priority numbers to decide the order. Run CORS first, then authentication. • Manage streams. If a request fails to send, close the stream to prevent errors.
By using these tools, you build secure and organized systems.
Source: https://dev.to/tengxgfyrz67s/authentication-middleware-151c Project Code: https://github.com/hyperlane-dev/hyperlane