Maintaining Gmail Access Permissions Across Sessions in NextAuth.js

Other Questions Gmail
1

I’m working on a project using NextAuth.js with Google authentication. Right now, I only ask for basic profile and email access when users log in. But I need a way to let users give permission to read their Gmail later on, without asking for it right away.

I’ve got a button that lets users grant Gmail access when they need it:

function allowGmailAccess() {
  loginWithGoogle('google', null, { scope: 'profile email https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.read', email_hint: currentUser?.email || '' });
}

This works fine for one session, but the problem is that users have to click this button every time they log in again. It’s kind of annoying.

Is there a trick to make NextAuth remember these extra Gmail permissions? I want users to only have to give permission once, not every time they log in.

I’ve tried a few things, like saving a flag in my database and automatically asking for Gmail access if the user gave it before. But this makes the whole page reload, which isn’t great for user experience.

Any ideas on how to make this smoother? I’d really appreciate some help!

2

I’ve faced a similar challenge with NextAuth and Google permissions. Instead of asking for Gmail access separately, I modified my initial Google OAuth configuration to include the Gmail scope from the start. This way, users grant all necessary permissions during their first login.

In the […nextauth].js file, I adjusted the Google provider setup:

Google({
  clientId: process.env.GOOGLE_ID,
  clientSecret: process.env.GOOGLE_SECRET,
  authorization: {
    params: {
      scope: 'openid email profile https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.read'
    }
  }
})

This approach eliminates the need for separate permission requests. Users grant access once, and NextAuth handles token refreshing automatically. Remember to update your Google Cloud Console project to include the Gmail API scope in your OAuth consent screen, and consider implementing a way for users to revoke access if desired. This solution greatly improved the user experience in my project. Hope it helps!

3

Have you considered using incremental authorization? It is a feature supported by Google’s OAuth 2.0 implementation that allows you to request additional scopes over time instead of asking for everything upfront. Rather than presenting users with all permissions during initial login, you can initially authenticate with basic scopes and then prompt for Gmail access when needed. Once the user grants the extra permission, you can store the expanded token for subsequent logins. This approach avoids repeated authorization requests and improves the overall user experience.