Maintaining Extended Gmail Access Permissions in NextAuth.js Across User Sessions

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m working on a NextAuth.js app with Google login. The basic setup works fine, but I need more. There’s a part of my app where users can see their Gmail. I don’t want to ask for this right away. Instead, I added a button for users to give Gmail access when they want to.

Here’s the tricky part: this works great until they log out. When they come back, the Gmail permission is gone. They have to click the button again. It’s annoying.

I tried a few things:

  1. Saving a flag in my database to remember if they said yes before.
  2. Using a refresh token.

But these solutions aren’t perfect. The first one makes the page reload, which isn’t smooth. The second one makes users see an extra permissions page.

Is there a way to keep the Gmail permission without bugging users every time they log in? I want it to just work once they’ve said yes the first time.

Here’s a basic example of what I’ve got:

const authSetup = {
  providers: [
    GoogleProvider({
      clientId: 'my-id',
      clientSecret: 'my-secret',
      auth: {
        params: {
          scope: 'profile email'
        }
      }
    })
  ]
};

function askForGmailAccess() {
  signIn('google', null, { scope: 'profile email gmail.readonly', login_hint: userEmail });
}

Any ideas on how to make this smoother for users?

2

I’ve encountered a similar challenge in my projects. One effective approach is to implement token persistence using a combination of server-side storage and client-side state management. Here’s what worked for me:

Store the extended access token securely on your server, associated with the user’s account. When the user logs in, check if this token exists and is still valid. If so, silently refresh it using the refresh token and update your server-side storage.

On the client side, use a state management solution like Redux or React Context to maintain the token’s presence across the session. This way, you can avoid page reloads and provide a seamless experience.

Remember to implement proper error handling for cases where the token might become invalid. Also, ensure you’re complying with Google’s OAuth policies regarding token storage and refresh intervals.

This approach might require some refactoring, but it significantly improved the user experience in my application.

3

hey, i’ve dealt with this before. you could try using a session callback in NextAuth to store the extended token. when they log back in, check if it’s there and use it. might need some tweaking but it worked for me. good luck!

4

In my experience with maintaining extended Gmail access in NextAuth.js, I found that combining NextAuth.js with a dedicated OAuth 2.0 flow can be beneficial. I started with NextAuth.js using only basic scopes for the initial login. When users opted in for Gmail access, I triggered a separate OAuth flow using Google’s client library. This allowed me to securely store the access and refresh tokens on the backend. On later logins, the stored refresh token was used to silently obtain a new access token, avoiding repetitive permission prompts. This method does require extra setup and careful management of token expiry, but it ultimately provides a smoother user experience.