Upgraded to 4.x and objects in socket.request.session no longer exists

[Rc85]

Describe the bug
socket.request.session is always a new session even after declaring req.session.user with a value.

To Reproduce

Setup Socket.io with express-session middleware.

Socket.IO server version: ^4.1.1

Server

import { Server, Socket } from 'socket.io';
import session from 'express-session';

const io = new Server(http.createServer(/* express app */), { /* cors /* });

const wrapper = (middleware: any) => (socket: Socket, next: any) => middleware(socket.request, {}, next);

io.use(wrapper(session(/* session configs */)));

io.on('connection', (socket: Socket) => {
  const req = socket.request

  console.log(req.session) // Typescript will warn that session is not in IncomingMessage
  
  // console.log output shows no user
  /* Session {
    cookie: {
      path: '/',
      _expires: 2021-05-18T13:06:36.146Z,
      originalMaxAge: 3600000,
      httpOnly: true,
      domain: undefined
    }
  } */
});

app.use((req, resp, next) => {
  console.log(req.session) // user is in session
  req.io = io;

  next();
});

app.post('/login', (req, resp, next) => {
  const user =  // login user

  req.session.user = user
});

// server listen and stuff

Socket.IO client version: ^4.1.1

Client

import { io } from "socket.io-client";

const socket = io("http://localhost", {});

socket.on("connect", () => {
  console.log(`connect ${socket.id}`);
});

socket.on("disconnect", () => {
  console.log("disconnect");
});

Expected behavior
socket.request.session should have user property in it when initializing session in express middleware (eg. - req.session.user = user)

Platform:

• Device: Desktop and Mobile
• OS: Windows 10 and Android 10

Additional context

[Rc85]

Downgraded back to 2.4.1 (for the 5th time), changed the imports from named to default and user is in socket.request.session again.

[microspec-chris]

I'm having the similar issue with the following versions:
express 4.17.1
express-session 1.17.2
socket.io 3.1.2

[amrap030]

I also have this bug using:

express 4.17.1
express-session 1.17.1
socket.io 4.1.3

Please fix this bug, we need the session to be shared between express and socket.io

[darrachequesne]

OK, so I think I found the culprit.

The middleware at the Socket.IO level only has access to the socket.request object, which is the first request of the session. It is not able to add the cookie in the response headers, hence the creation of a new session each time the socket reconnects.

To be able to add the cookie, we need to intercept the handshake:

const io = new Server(httpServer, {
  allowRequest: (req, callback) => {
    // with HTTP long-polling, we have access to the HTTP response here, but this is not
    // the case with WebSocket, so we provide a dummy response object
    const fakeRes = {
      getHeader() {
        return [];
      },
      setHeader(key, values) {
        req.cookieHolder = values[0];
      },
      writeHead() {}
    }
    sessionMiddleware(req, fakeRes, () => {
      if (req.session) {
        // trigger the setHeader() above
        fakeRes.writeHead();
        // manually save the session (normally triggered by res.end())
        req.session.save();
      }
      callback(null, true);
    });
  }
});

io.engine.on("initial_headers", (headers, req) => {
  if (req.cookieHolder) {
    headers["set-cookie"] = req.cookieHolder;
    delete req.cookieHolder;
  }
});

That sounds a bit far-fetched, but it should do the trick. I will add an example in the documentation.

[darrachequesne]

OK, so I've added an example in the documentation: https://socket.io/how-to/use-with-express-session

Please ping me if something is missing!

[Rc85]

I've decided to try upgrading to 4.x today from 2.x and running into issues with properties in req.session from showing up. The session object is in request now, so that is good news. My set up is a little different as I have 4 session middlewares (eg. admin, merchant, customer, and courier) and depending on what endpoint the user is sending a request from, I have to authenticate that user using the specified session middleware.

With that set up, I also have to use the session middleware depending on which namespace the client is connecting from. For example, if they are connecting from io('/merchant') then I have to do .io.of('/merchant').use on my server.

I've followed the guide you posted, but the issue I am running into is setting up the server options using the example posted above here. I try just using one of my session middleware with your example but I am still not getting user in req.session. Here are some of my code.

// The 4 session middleware setup I have
app.use(/^\/api\/v2\/(account|restaurants)\/.*/, customerSessionMiddleware);
app.use(/^\/api\/v2\/merchant\/.*/, merchantSessionMiddleware);
app.use(/^\/api\/v2\/admin\/.*/, adminSessionMiddleware);
app.use(/^\/api\/v2\/courier\/.*/, courierSessionMiddleware);

const io = new Server(server, {
  pingTimeout: 30000,
  cors: {
    origin: 'http://localhost:3000',
    credentials: true
  },
  allowRequest: (req, callback) => {
    const fakeRes = {
      getHeader() {
        return [];
      },
      setHeader(key: string, values: string[]) {
        req.cookieHolder = values[0];
      },
      writeHead() {}
    };
    // trying with just the merchant session middleware
    merchantSessionMiddleware(req as Request, fakeRes as unknown as Response, () => {
      if (req.session) {
        // trigger the setHeader() above
        fakeRes.writeHead();
        // manually save the session (normally triggered by res.end())
        req.session.save();
      }
      callback(null, true);
    });
  }
});

io.engine.on('initial_headers', (headers: { [key: string]: string }, req: IncomingMessage) => {
  if (req.cookieHolder) {
    headers['set-cookie'] = req.cookieHolder;

    delete req.cookieHolder;
  }
});

merchantSocket(io)

And then in merchantSocket.

export const merchantSocket = (io: Server) => {
  io.of('/merchant').use((socket, next) =>
    merchantSessionMiddleware(socket.request as Request, {} as Response, next as NextFunction)
  );

  io.of('/merchant').on('connection', (socket: Socket) => {
    const req = socket.request;

    socket.on('join_location', (data) => {
      req.session.reload(async (err: any) => {
        if (err) console.log(err);
        req.session.save();

        console.log(req.session);
      });
    });
  });
}

I log into my app, emit the join_location event and this is what I get in console.log, no user.

Session {
  cookie: {
    path: '/',
    _expires: 2022-06-14T22:29:36.375Z,
    originalMaxAge: 3600000,
    httpOnly: true
  }
}

#4383 got it working. So what am I doing wrong? And with a 4 session middleware setup, how do I configure the server options for 4 middlewares?

[YongzeYao]

This does not work... There is still no data in session object.