How to Keep Session Alive After Password Change in Laravel 8

Discover how to keep user sessions alive after updating passwords in Laravel 8. Find tips for maintaining user authentication and avoid unexpected logouts.
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This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/69892333/ asked by the user 'aldr' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/9270610/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/69893718/ provided by the user 'Farajayh' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/13026112/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

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How to Keep Session Alive After Password Change in Laravel 8

Laravel is a powerful PHP framework widely used for web applications, but as with any tool, it can present challenges along the way. One common issue Laravel developers encounter is managing user sessions, particularly in features involving changes to user credentials, like changing a password. This guide will explore a practical solution for keeping user sessions alive after a user successfully updates their password using Laravel 8 with Livewire.

The Problem

Imagine a new user of Laravel working on a custom feature to change their password, but after a successful update, they are unexpectedly logged out and redirected back to the login page. This can lead to confusion as the user expects to remain logged in after making a change. The question surrounding this situation is clear: how can you maintain the user session after they store new data, like a new password?

Solution Overview

The solution involves re-authenticating the user after changing their password. This ensures that the session remains active and provides a smooth user experience. Below, we'll break down the implementation steps in detail, using the provided code snippet as a basis for our example.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Locate Your Change Password Method

First, identify where in your Livewire component the password change functionality resides. In this case, we have the changePassword() method within the ChangeUserPassword component.

Step 2: Update the Password and Re-Authenticate

Within the existing if statement where the password is verified, we will add code to re-authenticate the user after they have successfully updated their password.

Current Logic:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Updated Logic:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Explanation of the Logic Revisions

Password Verification: The first step checks whether the old password provided by the user matches the stored password using Hash::check(). If the passwords match, execution continues to update the password.

Password Update: The code updates the user's password securely using Hash::make() and notes the time of update.

User Feedback: After the password change, we emit a success message to provide user feedback.

Re-Authentication: The critical addition is the Auth::attempt() method, which attempts to log the user in again using their email and new password. If successful, we regenerate the session.

Redirect the User: Finally, instead of redirecting directly to the user.changepassword route, we use redirect()->intended(), which ensures that the user is sent to their intended page rather than being redirected to login again.

Step 3: Testing Your Implementation

After making these changes, make sure to test the functionality thoroughly:

Attempt to change the password with valid old and new passwords.

Verify that the user remains logged in and is redirected appropriately after the update.

Also, check edge cases such as providing an incorrect old password to ensure that the error handling functions correctly.

Conclusion

Managing user sessions efficiently, particularly during password updates in Laravel, is crucial for providing an enjoyable user experience. By implementing the solution detailed above, you can smoothly retain user sessions in your Laravel 8 applications and avoid unexpected logouts.

If you run into any issues while implementing this solution, feel free to reach out in the comments! Happy coding!