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https://github.com/aaugustin/django-sesame

"Magic Links" - URLs with authentication tokens for one-click login
https://github.com/aaugustin/django-sesame

authentication django python token-based-authentication

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"Magic Links" - URLs with authentication tokens for one-click login

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README 

        
.. image:: logo/horizontal.svg

   :width: 400px

   :alt: django-sesame



django-sesame provides frictionless authentication with "Magic Links" for

your Django project.



It generates URLs containing authentication tokens such as:

https://example.com/?sesame=zxST9d0XT9xgfYLvoa9e2myN



Then it authenticates users based on tokens found in URLs.



More broadly, it supports a wide range of `use cases`_ for

stateless, token-based authentication.



Please review `(in)security`_ considerations before using django-sesame.



----



`Documentation is available on ReadTheDocs.`__



----



__ https://django-sesame.readthedocs.io/en/stable/



Requirements

------------



django-sesame is tested with:



- Django 3.2 (LTS), 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 (LTS), and 5.0;

- Python ≥ 3.8.



It requires ``django.contrib.auth``.



Getting started

---------------



Install django-sesame:



.. code-block:: console



    $ pip install django-sesame



Open your project settings and add ``"sesame.backends.ModelBackend"`` to the

``AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS`` setting. Extending the default value, this

looks like:



.. code-block:: python



    AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = [

        "django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend",

        "sesame.backends.ModelBackend",

    ]



Now, your project can authenticate users based on django-sesame tokens.



Quick example

-------------



Configure ``LoginView`` in your URLconf:



.. code-block:: python



    from django.urls import path

    from sesame.views import LoginView



    urlpatterns = [

        ...,

        path("sesame/login/", LoginView.as_view(), name="sesame-login"),

        ...,

    ]



Load a user from the database:



.. code-block:: pycon



    >>> from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model

    >>> User = get_user_model()

    >>> user = User.objects.first()



Generate a login URL for this user:



.. code-block:: pycon



    >>> from sesame.utils import get_query_string

    >>> LOGIN_URL = "https://127.0.0.1:8000/sesame/login/"

    >>> LOGIN_URL + get_query_string(user)

    'https://127.0.0.1:8000/sesame/login/?sesame=zxST9d0XT9xgfYLvoa9e2myN'



(Your token will be different from this example.)



Make sure that you're logged out. Open the login URL. You are logged in!



Use cases

---------



Known use cases for django-sesame include:



1. Login by email, an attractive option on mobile where typing passwords

   is uncomfortable. This technique is prominently deployed by Slack.



   If you're doing this, you should define a small ``SESAME_MAX_AGE``, perhaps

   10 minutes.



2. Authenticated links. For example, you can generate a report offline

   and, when it's ready, email a link to access it. Authenticated links work

   even if the user isn't logged in on the device where they're opening it.



   Likewise, you should configure an appropriate ``SESAME_MAX_AGE``,

   probably a few days.



   Since emails may be forwarded, authenticated links shouldn't log the user

   in. They should only allow access to specific views.



3. Sharing links, which are a variant of authenticated links. When a user shares

   content with a guest, you may create a phantom account for the guest and

   generate an authenticated link tied to that account or you may reuse the

   user's account.



   Email forwarding is also likely in this context. Make sure that sharing links

   don't log the user in.



4. Authentication of WebSocket connections. The web application gets a token

   generated by the Django server and sends it over the WebSocket connection.

   The WebSocket server authenticate the connection with the token.



   Here's an `example with the websockets library`__.



   __ https://websockets.readthedocs.io/en/stable/howto/django.html



5. Non-critical private websites, for example for a family or club site,

   where users don't expect to manage a personal account with a password.

   Authorized users can bookmark personalized authenticated URLs.



   Here you can rely on the default settings because that's the original —

   admittedly, niche — use case for which django-sesame was built.



(In)security

------------



The major security weakness in django-sesame is a direct consequence of the

feature it implements: **whoever obtains an authentication token is able to

authenticate to your website.**



URLs end up in countless insecure places: emails, referer headers, proxy logs,

browser history, etc. You can't avoid that. At best you can mitigate it by

creating short-lived or single-use tokens.



Otherwise, a reasonable attempt was made to provide a secure solution. Tokens

are secured with modern cryptography. There are configurable options for token

invalidation.