---
title: Authentication API
tags: [api, auth, reference]
---

# Authentication API

> **Last updated:** 2026-05-30 — Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA added after 3 failed logins (commit `b8edbbf`)

All endpoints are mounted under `/api/auth/*` in `backend/src/app.ts`. The routes file is [`backend/src/services/auth/authRoutes.ts`](../../backend/src/services/auth/authRoutes.ts) and the WebAuthn sub-routes are in [`passkeyRoutes.ts`](../../backend/src/services/auth/passkeyRoutes.ts). Controller logic lives in [`authController.ts`](../../backend/src/services/auth/authController.ts) and [`authService.ts`](../../backend/src/services/auth/authService.ts).

Two distinct identities are involved: a [[User]] (`models/User.ts`) and a [[TempVerification]] document that holds pending registration data until the email code is confirmed. Tokens are signed JWTs (access + refresh) created in `authService`. See [[Authentication Flow]] for the high-level lifecycle diagram.

**Token refresh behaviour:** The Axios interceptor handles `401` responses to trigger a token refresh. `403` errors are **not** intercepted and propagate directly to callers.

## Registration

### POST /api/auth/register

**Description:** Start a new registration. Creates a [[TempVerification]] document and emails a **6-digit** verification code. The actual [[User]] is only created once the code is verified.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  email: string;
  firstName?: string;      // default "کاربر"
  lastName?: string;       // default "جدید"
  role?: "buyer" | "seller"; // default "buyer"
  password?: string;       // accepted now or at verify-email-code time
  referralCode?: string;   // optional, links to referrer for [[Points API]]
}
```
**Response 200:**
```json
{ "success": true, "message": "Verification code sent ...", "data": { "email": "x@y.z" } }
```
**Errors:** `400` validation, `409 USER_EXISTS` if email already registered.
**Side effects:**
- Upserts a `TempVerification` row.
- Sends `emailService.sendVerificationCodeEmail`.
- No socket emission yet (user does not exist).
**Source:** `authController.register`

### POST /api/auth/verify-email-code

**Description:** Confirms the registration code. Creates the [[User]], deletes the `TempVerification`, processes any referral, issues JWT tokens, and starts the session in Redis.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  email: string;
  code: string;            // 6 digits (generated by authService.generateVerificationCode())
  password?: string;       // required if not provided at register
}
```
**Response 200:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Email verified",
  "data": {
    "user": { "_id": "...", "email": "...", "role": "buyer", ... },
    "tokens": { "accessToken": "...", "refreshToken": "..." }
  }
}
```
**Errors:** `400` invalid/expired code, `404` no pending verification, `409` email already taken.
**Side effects:**
- Creates [[User]], deletes `TempVerification`.
- Calls [[Points API]] referral hook when `referralCode` was supplied (emits `referral-signup` to `user-<referrerId>`).
- Stores refresh token in `user.refreshTokens`.
- Welcome email via `emailService.sendWelcomeEmail`.

### GET /api/auth/verify-email/:token

**Description:** Legacy URL-based verification (link in email). Marks `isEmailVerified=true`.
**Auth required:** No
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Email verified successfully" }`
**Errors:** `400` invalid/expired token.

### POST /api/auth/resend-verification

**Description:** Re-issues the 6-digit code for a pending or unverified user.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:** `{ email: string }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Verification code resent" }`
**Errors:** `400` invalid email, `404` no user/temp record, `429` rate-limited (Redis).

### POST /api/auth/force-verify-user

**Description:** Development-only helper to mark a user verified without going through email.
**Auth required:** No (intended for dev only — gate with env in prod)

## Login & sessions

### POST /api/auth/login

**Description:** Email/password login. Validates credentials with bcrypt, signs JWT pair, stores refresh token on user, returns sanitized user object.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  email: string;
  password: string;
}
```
**Response 200:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Login successful",
  "data": {
    "user": { "_id": "...", "email": "...", "role": "buyer", "firstName": "..." },
    "tokens": { "accessToken": "...", "refreshToken": "..." }
  }
}
```
**Errors:**
- `400` validation
- `401` invalid credentials
- `403` email not verified
- `423` account locked (after repeated failures, tracked in Redis via `rateLimitService`)

**Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA:** After **3 failed login attempts** from the same IP within 15 minutes the `captchaGate` middleware requires a valid `cf-turnstile-response` token in the request body. Responses when CAPTCHA is required but missing:
```json
{ "success": false, "captchaRequired": true, "message": "..." }
```
HTTP status: `429`. When `TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY` is not set (local dev) the gate is skipped.

**⚠️ Rate limiter behaviour:** The attempt counter increments on **every** attempt (before password validation), not only on failures. 5 total attempts within 15 minutes triggers lockout — a user burning 5 attempts with typos will be locked out even if they never had a valid password.

**Side effects:**
- Updates `user.lastLoginAt`.
- Pushes refresh token onto `user.refreshTokens`.
- Redis session start via `sessionService`.

### POST /api/auth/telegram

**Description:** First-class Telegram authentication. Accepts Telegram Mini App `initData` or a Telegram Login Widget payload, verifies the Telegram signature server-side, and signs the user into Amanat without requiring email or password.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
// Mini App
{ initData: string; role?: "buyer" | "seller" }

// Login Widget
{ loginWidget: { id: string; first_name?: string; username?: string; auth_date: string; hash: string }; role?: "buyer" | "seller" }
```
**Response 200/201:**
```json
{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "user": { "_id": "...", "authProvider": "telegram", "telegramVerified": true },
    "tokens": { "accessToken": "...", "refreshToken": "..." },
    "isNewUser": true,
    "telegram": { "userId": "10001", "username": "alice", "source": "miniapp" }
  }
}
```
**Errors:** `400` missing payload, `401` invalid/stale signature, `403` blocked Telegram account or inactive Amanat account, `409 TELEGRAM_REPLAY` reused Mini App `initData`, `429` rate-limited.
**Side effects:**
- Creates a Telegram-only [[User]] when no active `TelegramLink` exists. The user has no email, `authProvider: "telegram"`, and `telegramVerified: true`.
- Upserts `TelegramLink` for the Telegram ID and updates last-seen metadata.
- Stores the refresh token on the user document.
- Does not expose phone numbers; Telegram phone data is not requested or persisted.

### POST /api/auth/refresh-token

**Description:** Exchanges a refresh token for a new access token. Rotates the refresh token.
**Auth required:** No (refresh token in body)
**Request body:** `{ refreshToken: string }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "data": { "tokens": { "accessToken": "...", "refreshToken": "..." } } }`
**Errors:** `401` token expired / not present in user record, `403` user disabled.

### POST /api/auth/logout

**Description:** Removes the current refresh token from the user record and clears the Redis session.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Logged out" }`
**Side effects:** `redisService` session removed.

## Google OAuth

### POST /api/auth/google/signup

**Description:** Verifies a Google ID token, creates a new [[User]] (no password), optionally links a referral, returns JWT tokens.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  googleToken: string;
  role?: "buyer" | "seller";
  referralCode?: string;
}
```
**Response 200:** Same shape as `verify-email-code` response.
**Errors:** `400` invalid Google token, `409` email already registered (suggest sign-in instead).

### POST /api/auth/google/signin

**Description:** Verifies a Google ID token and signs in an existing user. Will not create a new account.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:** `{ googleToken: string }`
**Response 200:** `{ success, data: { user, tokens } }`
**Errors:** `400` invalid token, `404` no user with that Google email.

## Passkey / WebAuthn

Routes are nested under `/api/auth/` via `passkeyRoutes`. Service: `passkeyService.ts`. These routes go directly to the Express backend via the `next.config.ts` rewrite rule (`/api/:path*` → backend). No Next.js route handlers exist for passkey paths.

**Implementation status:** Passkey attestation is **fully implemented** using `@simplewebauthn/server`. The registration and authentication flows are production-ready.

### POST /api/auth/passkey/authenticate/challenge

**Description:** Generates a sign-in challenge that the browser/authenticator will sign. No `userId` required — the assertion will identify the user.
**Auth required:** No
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "challenge": { /* PublicKeyCredentialRequestOptions */ } }`

### POST /api/auth/passkey/authenticate

**Description:** Verifies the WebAuthn assertion and, on success, returns a JWT pair.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:** `{ challenge, assertion }` (assertion is the browser's `navigator.credentials.get()` output).
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "userId": "...", "user": { ... }, "tokens": { ... } }`
**Errors:** `400` missing fields, `404` `Passkey not found`, `500` verification error.

### POST /api/auth/passkey/register/challenge

**Description:** Generates a registration challenge for the authenticated user.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "challenge": { /* PublicKeyCredentialCreationOptions */ } }`

### POST /api/auth/passkey/register

**Description:** Verifies a new passkey registration and stores the credential on the user.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Request body:** `{ challenge, credential }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Passkey registered successfully" }`

### GET /api/auth/passkey/list

**Description:** Returns the calling user's registered passkeys (id, label, created date).
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "passkeys": [...] }`

### DELETE /api/auth/passkey/:passkeyId

**Description:** Removes a passkey by id.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Passkey removed successfully" }`

## Password management

### POST /api/auth/request-password-reset

**Description:** Generates a reset token, stores it on the user, and emails a reset link plus a numeric code.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:** `{ email: string }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Password reset email sent" }` (always returns success to avoid email enumeration).
**Side effects:** `emailService.sendPasswordResetEmail`; rate-limited per IP via Redis.

### POST /api/auth/reset-password

**Description:** Sets a new password using a token from the reset email. Wipes refresh tokens. Enforces password complexity via `passwordResetValidation`.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  token: string;
  password: string;        // 6+ chars, mixed case + digit
}
```
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Password updated" }`
**Errors:** `400` invalid/expired token or weak password.

### POST /api/auth/reset-password-with-code

**Description:** Alternative reset flow using a **6-digit** numeric code instead of a tokenised URL.
**Auth required:** No
**Request body:** `{ email, code, password }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true }`
**⚠️ No password complexity validation:** Unlike `POST /api/auth/reset-password` (token-based), this endpoint does **not** run `passwordResetValidation`. Any non-empty password will be accepted without complexity checks.

### POST /api/auth/change-password

**Description:** Authenticated password change.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Request body:**
```ts
{
  currentPassword: string;
  newPassword: string;     // 6+ chars, mixed case + digit
}
```
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Password updated" }`
**Errors:** `400` validation, `401` wrong current password.
**Side effects:** Clears `user.refreshTokens` (forces re-login on other devices).
**⚠️ No frontend UI:** This endpoint exists and is functional in the backend, but no frontend page currently exposes a change-password form. It can only be called directly.

## Current user / profile

### GET /api/auth/profile

**Description:** Returns the full sanitized [[User]] document for the caller.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "data": { /* User */ } }`

### PUT /api/auth/profile (and POST /api/auth/update-profile)

**Description:** Updates the caller's profile (first/last name, phone, bio, website, language/currency preferences).
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Request body:** Partial profile, see `updateProfileValidation`:
```ts
{
  firstName?: string;       // 2-50
  lastName?: string;        // 2-50
  profile?: {
    phone?: string;         // E.164-ish
    bio?: string;           // <=500
    website?: string;       // URL
  };
  preferences?: {
    language?: "en" | "fa" | "ar";
    currency?: "USD" | "EUR" | "IRR" | "AED";
  };
}
```
**Response 200:** Updated user.
**Errors:** `400` validation.

## Account deletion

### DELETE /api/auth/account

**Description:** Permanently deletes the caller's account after re-authenticating with password. Requires `{ password }` in the request body and runs `deleteAccountValidation`.
**Auth required:** Bearer JWT
**Request body:** `{ password: string }`
**Response 200:** `{ "success": true, "message": "Account deleted" }`
**Errors:** `401` bad password.
**Side effects:** Removes [[User]] document, clears Redis session, cascades configured by `dataCleanupService`.

**⚠️ KNOWN BUG — Frontend calls wrong endpoint:** The frontend currently calls `DELETE /user/profile` instead of `DELETE /api/auth/account`. Account deletion initiated from the frontend UI will fail or hit the wrong handler.

## Error codes summary

| HTTP | App code | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 400 | `Validation Error` | `express-validator` rejected the body |
| 401 | — | Bad credentials / missing token / invalid Telegram signature |
| 403 | — | Email not verified, insufficient role, or blocked Telegram account |
| 409 | `USER_EXISTS` | Email already in use |
| 409 | `TELEGRAM_REPLAY` | Reused Telegram Mini App `initData` (replay protection) |
| 423 | — | Account temporarily locked after failed logins |
| 429 | — | Rate-limited (auth tier: 10 req / 15 min / IP) |

See [[Error Codes]] for the global error shape.
