PostPipe

Auth Presets & Aliases

Configure authentication settings and environment variable aliases across multiple environments.

Auth Presets & Aliases

The PostPipe authentication architecture is designed for multi-environment scalability. Using Auth Presets and Aliases, you can manage configuration securely across isolated deployments from a single codebase.

What is an Auth Preset?

An Auth Preset is a centralized configuration schema for authentication rules and providers. Rather than hardcoding authentication parameters per project, you define a preset in the PostPipe Dashboard and reference it dynamically.

A Preset configuration includes:

  • Providers: OAuth integrations (Google, GitHub, etc.) and email/password settings.
  • Redirection URIs: Callback paths for successful authentication and session termination.
  • Security Policies: JWT expiration limits, session duration, and password requirements.
  • Database Target: The specific database instance handling user records.

Architecture Flow: Alias Mapping

The Alias System

The Alias System maps your PostPipe Dashboard configurations to the physical environment variables on your server infrastructure using deterministic suffixes.

Problem Context

If an infrastructure hosts multiple distinct projects or environments (e.g., Staging and Production), they require distinct secret keys (e.g., JWT_SECRET). Hardcoding these globally creates collisions.

Solution

By defining an alias (e.g., STG and PROD), PostPipe dynamically resolves variables based on the request origin:

  • JWT_SECRET_STG
  • JWT_SECRET_PROD

Creating an Auth Preset

  1. Dashboard Access: Navigate to the Auth Preset Generator in the PostPipe console.
  2. Configuration: Define the preset parameters (e.g., "Production Environment").
  3. Alias Assignment: Under Advanced Settings, assign an uppercase identifier (e.g., PROD).
  4. Generation: Save the preset to receive the unique projectId and the list of required environment variables.

Environment Variable Mapping

When a preset utilizes an alias like PROD, you must append this suffix to the respective variables within your infrastructure's .env file:

# Global variable (no suffix)
DATABASE_URL=mongodb://...

# Aliased variables (with _PROD suffix)
FRONTEND_URL_PROD=https://production-app.com
JWT_SECRET_PROD=your_secure_random_string
SMTP_PASSWORD_PROD=your_smtp_credential

Frontend Integration

Upon configuring the preset and alias, update the authentication script tag on your client application to include the data-alias attribute.

<script 
  src="https://postpipe.in/api/public/cdn/auth.js" 
  data-project-id="your-unique-project-id"
  data-alias="PROD"
  data-project-alias="APPLICATION_NAME"
></script>

Script Parameter Reference:

  • data-project-id: The unique identifier of the Auth Preset.
  • data-alias: Instructs the backend which _SUFFIX to apply during environment variable resolution.
  • data-project-alias: A semantic identifier used for internal branding and logging.

Operational Guidelines

[!TIP] Naming Conventions: Maintain short, uppercase strings for aliases (3-5 characters) to ensure clarity across environments (e.g., DEV, STG, PROD).

[!IMPORTANT] Secret Management: Never expose aliased secrets to the client. Environment variables must only reside on your secure server or connector instances.

[!NOTE] Brand Consistency: The projectAlias value is embedded in automated communications (e.g., password reset emails). Ensure it accurately reflects the target application.

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