session-and-token-management

name	session-and-token-management
description	Session vs JWT trade-offs; HttpOnly+Secure+SameSite cookie storage; refresh-token rotation; logout and revocation; storage anti-patterns (no tokens in localStorage or sessionStorage). The post-sign-in half of the auth lifecycle.

Skill: session-and-token-management

Invoked by: any agent building or reviewing authentication flows; ravenclaude-core/security-reviewer for any session-management or token-storage change.

When to invoke: after sign-in is working (see google-sso-setup) and you need to decide how to store the session; implementing refresh; implementing logout; hardening an existing session implementation.

Output: storage strategy decision documented + cookie configuration verified + refresh rotation implemented + logout/revocation flow working + anti-patterns cleared.

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Boundary

This skill manages the authenticated session after the user has proven their identity via OAuth/OIDC (see oauth-oidc-flow-design and google-sso-setup). It does not scope data access — that is the data-platform plugin's RLS layer. Security-sensitive code (token signing/verification, secret handling) routes to ravenclaude-core/security-reviewer.

---

Session vs JWT sessions

Approach	How it works	When to prefer
Server-side session	Auth state stored on the server (database, Redis); client holds an opaque session ID in an HttpOnly cookie.	Default for most web apps. Immediate revocation possible (delete the session record). More operational overhead.
JWT session	Auth state encoded in a signed JWT stored in an HttpOnly cookie; server validates signature on each request.	Stateless / horizontally scaled systems. Revocation is harder (requires a denylist or short expiry + refresh token rotation).
Supabase Auth sessions	Supabase uses a JWT + refresh token stored in HttpOnly cookies by @supabase/ssr. The JWT is short-lived (≈1 hour [unverified]); the refresh token is rotated on use.	The default for this stack; handled automatically.

Do not store session state in localStorage or sessionStorage — both are accessible to JavaScript and therefore to any XSS payload. The never-store-tokens-in-localstorage.md best-practice is an absolute rule.

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Cookie configuration

Every auth cookie must have all three flags:

Flag	Why
HttpOnly	JavaScript cannot read the cookie — XSS cannot exfiltrate the token
Secure	Cookie only sent over HTTPS — prevents token leakage on HTTP
SameSite=Lax (minimum) or SameSite=Strict	Mitigates CSRF attacks; Strict is strongest but breaks some cross-site navigation flows

@supabase/ssr sets these flags automatically when using createServerClient. [unverified — confirm in current @supabase/ssr docs] Verify in browser DevTools → Application → Cookies before shipping.

Set-Cookie: sb-access-token=...; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Lax; Path=/; Max-Age=3600
Set-Cookie: sb-refresh-token=...; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Strict; Path=/; Max-Age=...

For non-Supabase implementations, set these flags explicitly in your session middleware:

// Express / Node example — conceptual; security-review before production
res.cookie("session_token", token, {
  httpOnly: true,
  secure: process.env.NODE_ENV === "production",
  sameSite: "lax",   // or "strict" — see note above
  maxAge: 60 * 60 * 1000, // 1 hour in milliseconds
  path: "/",
});

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Refresh token rotation

Supabase Auth rotates the refresh token on every use — each call to supabase.auth.getSession() or supabase.auth.refreshSession() returns a new refresh token and invalidates the previous one. [unverified — confirm rotation behavior in current Supabase Auth version]

Replay detection: if a client presents an already-used refresh token, Supabase detects the reuse and revokes the entire session (treats it as a possible token theft). Your app should handle this gracefully:

// Next.js middleware — refresh session on every request
import { createServerClient } from "@supabase/ssr";
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";

export async function middleware(request) {
  let response = NextResponse.next({ request: { headers: request.headers } });

  const supabase = createServerClient(
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!,
    {
      cookies: {
        getAll: () => request.cookies.getAll(),
        setAll: (cs) => {
          cs.forEach(({ name, value }) => request.cookies.set(name, value));
          response = NextResponse.next({ request: { headers: request.headers } });
          cs.forEach(({ name, value, options }) => response.cookies.set(name, value, options));
        },
      },
    },
  );

  
   supabase..();
   response;
}

---

Session duration guidelines

Token type	Recommended lifetime	Notes
Access token / Supabase JWT	1 hour [unverified — Supabase default]	Short enough to limit exposure if stolen
Refresh token	Days to weeks depending on app risk tolerance	Rotate on every use; revoke on logout
Embed JWT (issued to dashboard)	5-15 minutes	See data-platform issue-short-lived-jwts-for-embeds best-practice
Remember-me / long-lived session	Up to 30 days — require re-auth for sensitive actions	Explicit user opt-in; revocable

---

Logout and revocation

A complete logout must do all of the following:

1. Revoke the session server-side — call supabase.auth.signOut() or equivalent to invalidate the refresh token on the auth server.
2. Clear all auth cookies — both access and refresh token cookies.
3. Redirect to a public page — prevent back-navigation to an authenticated page with stale cookies.
4. Revoke downstream tokens — if your app issued embed JWTs or other downstream tokens, add them to a short-lived denylist or wait for them to expire naturally (5-15 min).

// app/auth/logout/route.ts
import { createServerClient } from "@supabase/ssr";
import { cookies } from "next/headers";
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";

export async function POST(request: Request) {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  const supabase = createServerClient(
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL!,
    process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY!,
    { cookies: { getAll: () => cookieStore.getAll(), setAll: (cs) => cs.forEach(({ name, value, options }) => cookieStore.set(name, value, options)) } },
  );

  await supabase.auth.signOut(); // invalidates the refresh token server-side
  return NextResponse.redirect(new URL("/", request.url));
}

Security note: signOut() must be called server-side (POST route, not a client-side fetch with arbitrary URL). Route to ravenclaude-core/security-reviewer before shipping.

---

Token storage anti-patterns

Anti-pattern	Risk	Correct alternative
Tokens in localStorage	XSS exfiltration — any injected JS can read and exfiltrate	HttpOnly cookie
Tokens in sessionStorage	Same as localStorage for XSS; additionally lost on tab close causing UX friction	HttpOnly cookie
Tokens in a non-HttpOnly cookie	Readable by JS — XSS exfiltration	Add HttpOnly flag
Tokens in cookie without Secure	Sent over HTTP — interceptable on unencrypted networks	Add Secure flag
Tokens in cookie without SameSite	CSRF-vulnerable	Add SameSite=Lax minimum
Tokens in React state / Zustand / Redux	Persisted to localStorage if using persist middleware; in-memory state lost on reload causing auth loops	HttpOnly cookie
Long-lived access tokens (hours/days)	Larger exposure window if stolen	Short-lived access token + refresh token rotation
Same refresh token reused indefinitely	No revocation capability	Rotate on every use

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CSRF considerations when using cookies

HttpOnly cookies are not readable by JavaScript, but they are sent automatically by the browser on cross-site requests — this is the CSRF attack surface.

Mitigations:

• SameSite=Strict — cookie not sent on cross-site requests at all (strongest; may break OAuth redirects from Google back to your app — test carefully)
• SameSite=Lax — cookie sent on top-level navigation, not on sub-resource requests — mitigates most CSRF while allowing OAuth redirects (recommended default)
• For state-mutating API routes: add a CSRF token (double-submit cookie or synchronizer token pattern) in addition to SameSite

See also: the protect-spa-and-api skill for CSRF protection on API routes.

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Anti-patterns this skill flags

• Any token in localStorage or sessionStorage
• Auth cookie without all three flags: HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite
• Logout that only clears client-side state without calling signOut() server-side
• Access token lifetime > 1 hour without a documented justification
• No refresh token rotation (same refresh token reused forever)
• Returning refresh token in a JSON response body (instead of setting it via Set-Cookie header)
• Using NEXT_PUBLIC_ env var for any secret or signing key

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See also

• Skill: ../oauth-oidc-flow-design/SKILL.md — how the tokens were obtained
• Skill: ../protect-spa-and-api/SKILL.md — using the session to protect routes and APIs
• Best-practice: ../../best-practices/never-store-tokens-in-localstorage.md — absolute rule
• data-platform: ../../../data-platform/best-practices/issue-short-lived-jwts-for-embeds.md — short-lived embed tokens issued after authentication
• Security escalation: ../../../ravenclaude-core/agents/security-reviewer.md