Angular 4 Interceptor retry requests after token refresh

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Hi I am trying to figure out how implement the new angular interceptors and handle 401 unauthorized errors by refreshing the token and retrying the request. This is the guide I have been following: https://ryanchenkie.com/angular-authentication-using-the-http-client-and-http-interceptors

I am successfully caching the failed requests and can refresh the token but I cannot figure out how to resend the requests that previously failed. I also want to get this to work with the resolvers I am currently using.

token.interceptor.ts

return next.handle( request ).do(( event: HttpEvent<any> ) => {
        if ( event instanceof HttpResponse ) {
            // do stuff with response if you want
        }
    }, ( err: any ) => {
        if ( err instanceof HttpErrorResponse ) {
            if ( err.status === 401 ) {
                console.log( err );
                this.auth.collectFailedRequest( request );
                this.auth.refreshToken().subscribe( resp => {
                    if ( !resp ) {
                        console.log( "Invalid" );
                    } else {
                        this.auth.retryFailedRequests();
                    }
                } );

            }
        }
    } );

authentication.service.ts

cachedRequests: Array<HttpRequest<any>> = [];

public collectFailedRequest ( request ): void {
    this.cachedRequests.push( request );
}

public retryFailedRequests (): void {
    // retry the requests. this method can
    // be called after the token is refreshed
    this.cachedRequests.forEach( request => {
        request = request.clone( {
            setHeaders: {
                Accept: 'application/json',
                'Content-Type': 'application/json',
                Authorization: `Bearer ${ this.getToken() }`
            }
        } );
        //??What to do here
    } );
}

The above retryFailedRequests() file is what I can't figure out. How do I resend the requests and make them available to the route through the resolver after retrying?

This is all the relevant code if that helps: https://gist.github.com/joshharms/00d8159900897dc5bed45757e30405f9

13 Answers

My final solution. Works with parallel requests.

UPDATE: The code updated with Angular 9 / RxJS 6, error handling and fix looping when refreshToken fails

import { HttpRequest, HttpHandler, HttpInterceptor, HTTP_INTERCEPTORS } from "@angular/common/http";
import { Injector } from "@angular/core";
import { Router } from "@angular/router";
import { Subject, Observable, throwError } from "rxjs";
import { catchError, switchMap, tap} from "rxjs/operators";
import { AuthService } from "./auth.service";

export class AuthInterceptor implements HttpInterceptor {

    authService;
    refreshTokenInProgress = false;

    tokenRefreshedSource = new Subject();
    tokenRefreshed$ = this.tokenRefreshedSource.asObservable();

    constructor(private injector: Injector, private router: Router) {}

    addAuthHeader(request) {
        const authHeader = this.authService.getAuthorizationHeader();
        if (authHeader) {
            return request.clone({
                setHeaders: {
                    "Authorization": authHeader
                }
            });
        }
        return request;
    }

    refreshToken(): Observable<any> {
        if (this.refreshTokenInProgress) {
            return new Observable(observer => {
                this.tokenRefreshed$.subscribe(() => {
                    observer.next();
                    observer.complete();
                });
            });
        } else {
            this.refreshTokenInProgress = true;

            return this.authService.refreshToken().pipe(
                tap(() => {
                    this.refreshTokenInProgress = false;
                    this.tokenRefreshedSource.next();
                }),
                catchError(() => {
                    this.refreshTokenInProgress = false;
                    this.logout();
                }));
        }
    }

    logout() {
        this.authService.logout();
        this.router.navigate(["login"]);
    }

    handleResponseError(error, request?, next?) {
        // Business error
        if (error.status === 400) {
            // Show message
        }

        // Invalid token error
        else if (error.status === 401) {
            return this.refreshToken().pipe(
                switchMap(() => {
                    request = this.addAuthHeader(request);
                    return next.handle(request);
                }),
                catchError(e => {
                    if (e.status !== 401) {
                        return this.handleResponseError(e);
                    } else {
                        this.logout();
                    }
                }));
        }

        // Access denied error
        else if (error.status === 403) {
            // Show message
            // Logout
            this.logout();
        }

        // Server error
        else if (error.status === 500) {
            // Show message
        }

        // Maintenance error
        else if (error.status === 503) {
            // Show message
            // Redirect to the maintenance page
        }

        return throwError(error);
    }

    intercept(request: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<any> {
        this.authService = this.injector.get(AuthService);

        // Handle request
        request = this.addAuthHeader(request);

        // Handle response
        return next.handle(request).pipe(catchError(error => {
            return this.handleResponseError(error, request, next);
        }));
    }
}

export const AuthInterceptorProvider = {
    provide: HTTP_INTERCEPTORS,
    useClass: AuthInterceptor,
    multi: true
};

With the latest version of Angular (7.0.0) and rxjs (6.3.3), this is how I created a fully functional Auto Session recovery interceptor ensuring, if concurrent requests fail with 401, then also, it should only hit token refresh API once and pipe the failed requests to the response of that using switchMap and Subject. Below is how my interceptor code looks like. I have omitted the code for my auth service and store service as they are pretty standard service classes.

import {
  HttpErrorResponse,
  HttpEvent,
  HttpHandler,
  HttpInterceptor,
  HttpRequest
} from "@angular/common/http";
import { Injectable } from "@angular/core";
import { Observable, Subject, throwError } from "rxjs";
import { catchError, switchMap } from "rxjs/operators";

import { AuthService } from "../auth/auth.service";
import { STATUS_CODE } from "../error-code";
import { UserSessionStoreService as StoreService } from "../store/user-session-store.service";

@Injectable()
export class SessionRecoveryInterceptor implements HttpInterceptor {
  constructor(
    private readonly store: StoreService,
    private readonly sessionService: AuthService
  ) {}

  private _refreshSubject: Subject<any> = new Subject<any>();

  private _ifTokenExpired() {
    this._refreshSubject.subscribe({
      complete: () => {
        this._refreshSubject = new Subject<any>();
      }
    });
    if (this._refreshSubject.observers.length === 1) {
      this.sessionService.refreshToken().subscribe(this._refreshSubject);
    }
    return this._refreshSubject;
  }

  private _checkTokenExpiryErr(error: HttpErrorResponse): boolean {
    return (
      error.status &&
      error.status === STATUS_CODE.UNAUTHORIZED &&
      error.error.message === "TokenExpired"
    );
  }

  intercept(
    req: HttpRequest<any>,
    next: HttpHandler
  ): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
    if (req.url.endsWith("/logout") || req.url.endsWith("/token-refresh")) {
      return next.handle(req);
    } else {
      return next.handle(req).pipe(
        catchError((error, caught) => {
          if (error instanceof HttpErrorResponse) {
            if (this._checkTokenExpiryErr(error)) {
              return this._ifTokenExpired().pipe(
                switchMap(() => {
                  return next.handle(this.updateHeader(req));
                })
              );
            } else {
              return throwError(error);
            }
          }
          return caught;
        })
      );
    }
  }

  updateHeader(req) {
    const authToken = this.store.getAccessToken();
    req = req.clone({
      headers: req.headers.set("Authorization", `Bearer ${authToken}`)
    });
    return req;
  }
}

As per @anton-toshik comment, I thought it's a good idea to explain the functioning of this code in a write-up. You can have a read at my article here for the explanation and understanding of this code (how and why it works?). Hope it helps.

I had to solve the following requirements:

  • ✅ Refresh token only once for multiple requests
  • ✅ Log out user if refreshToken failed
  • ✅ Log out if user gets an error after first refreshing
  • ✅ Queue all requests while token is being refreshed

As a result I've collected different options in order to refresh token in Angular:

intercept(req: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
    let retries = 0;
    return this.authService.token$.pipe(
      map(token => req.clone({ setHeaders: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } })),
      concatMap(authReq => next.handle(authReq)),
      // Catch the 401 and handle it by refreshing the token and restarting the chain
      // (where a new subscription to this.auth.token will get the latest token).
      catchError((err, restart) => {
        // If the request is unauthorized, try refreshing the token before restarting.
        if (err.status === 401 && retries === 0) {
          retries++;
    
          return concat(this.authService.refreshToken$, restart);
        }
    
        if (retries > 0) {
          this.authService.logout();
        }
    
        return throwError(err);
      })
    );
}
intercept(req: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
    return this.authService.token$.pipe(
      map(token => req.clone({ setHeaders: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` } })),
      concatMap(authReq => next.handle(authReq)),
      retryWhen((errors: Observable<any>) => errors.pipe(
        mergeMap((error, index) => {
          // any other error than 401 with {error: 'invalid_grant'} should be ignored by this retryWhen
          if (error.status !== 401) {
            return throwError(error);
          }
    
          if (index === 0) {
            // first time execute refresh token logic...
            return this.authService.refreshToken$;
          }
    
          this.authService.logout();
          return throwError(error);
        }),
        take(2)
        // first request should refresh token and retry,
        // if there's still an error the second time is the last time and should navigate to login
      )),
    );
}

All these options are horoughly tested and can be found in angular-refresh-token github repo

See also:

Ideally, you want to check isTokenExpired before request sent. And if expired refresh the token and add refreshed in the header.

Other than that retry operator may help with your logic of refreshing token on 401 response.

Use the RxJS retry operator in your service where you are making a request. It accepts a retryCount argument. If not provided, it will retry the sequence indefinitely.

In your interceptor on response refresh the token and return the error. When your service gets back the error but now retry operator is being used so it will retry the request and this time with the refreshed token(Interceptor uses refreshed token to add in the header.)

import {HttpClient} from '@angular/common/http';
import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
import { Observable } from 'rxjs/Rx';

@Injectable()
export class YourService {

  constructor(private http: HttpClient) {}

  search(params: any) {
    let tryCount = 0;
    return this.http.post('https://abcdYourApiUrl.com/search', params)
      .retry(2);
  }
}

On the most accepted answer by Andrei Ostrovski, people comment about memory leak when token refresh request fails for some reason. One could mitigate this by using RxJS timeout operator, like this:

//...

 tokenRefreshTimeout = 60000;

//...

    // Invalid token error
            else if (error.status === 401) {
                return this.refreshToken().pipe(
                    timeout(this.tokenRefreshTimeout), //added timeout here
                    switchMap(() => {
                        request = this.addAuthHeader(request);
                        return next.handle(request);
                    }),
//...

(sorry, I don't have enough rep to comment, also I cannot suggest an edit because the edit queue is always full)

To support ES6 syntax the solution needs to be bit modify and that is as following also included te loader handler on multiple request


        private refreshTokenInProgress = false;
        private activeRequests = 0;
        private tokenRefreshedSource = new Subject();
        private tokenRefreshed$ = this.tokenRefreshedSource.asObservable();
        private subscribedObservable$: Subscription = new Subscription();



 intercept(request: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
        if (this.activeRequests === 0) {
            this.loaderService.loadLoader.next(true);
        }
        this.activeRequests++;

        // Handle request
        request = this.addAuthHeader(request);

        // NOTE: if the flag is true it will execute retry auth token mechanism ie. by using refresh token it will fetch new auth token and will retry failed api with new token
        if (environment.retryAuthTokenMechanism) {
            // Handle response
            return next.handle(request).pipe(
                catchError(error => {
                    if (this.authenticationService.refreshShouldHappen(error)) {
                        return this.refreshToken().pipe(
                            switchMap(() => {
                                request = this.addAuthHeader(request);
                                return next.handle(request);
                            }),
                            catchError(() => {
                                this.authenticationService.setInterruptedUrl(this.router.url);
                                this.logout();
                                return EMPTY;
                            })
                        );
                    }

                    return EMPTY;
                }),
                finalize(() => {
                    this.hideLoader();
                })
            );
        } else {
            return next.handle(request).pipe(
                catchError(() => {
                    this.logout();
                    return EMPTY;
                }),
                finalize(() => {
                    this.hideLoader();
                })
            );
        }
    }

    ngOnDestroy(): void {
        this.subscribedObservable$.unsubscribe();
    }

    /**
     * @description Hides loader when all request gets complete
     */
    private hideLoader() {
        this.activeRequests--;
        if (this.activeRequests === 0) {
            this.loaderService.loadLoader.next(false);
        }
    }

    /**
     * @description set new auth token by existing refresh token
     */
    private refreshToken() {
        if (this.refreshTokenInProgress) {
            return new Observable(observer => {
                this.subscribedObservable$.add(
                    this.tokenRefreshed$.subscribe(() => {
                        observer.next();
                        observer.complete();
                    })
                );
            });
        } else {
            this.refreshTokenInProgress = true;

            return this.authenticationService.getNewAccessTokenByRefreshToken().pipe(tap(newAuthToken => {
            this.authenticationService.updateAccessToken(newAuthToken.access_token);
            this.refreshTokenInProgress = false;
            this.tokenRefreshedSource.next();
        }));
        }
    }

    private addAuthHeader(request: HttpRequest<any>) {
        const accessToken = this.authenticationService.getAccessTokenOnly();
        return request.clone({
            setHeaders: {
                Authorization: `Bearer ${accessToken}`
            }
        });
    }

    /**
     * @todo move in common service or auth service once tested
     * logout and redirect to login
     */
    private logout() {
        this.authenticationService.removeSavedUserDetailsAndLogout();
    }

My Answer

In this case just handler 401

@Injectable()
export class AuthHttpInterceptor implements HttpInterceptor {

  logoutUser$ = defer(() => (this.authService.logout(), EMPTY));
  refresh$ = defer(() => this.authService.refreshTokenFromServer()).pipe(catchError(() => this.logoutUser$), share());

  constructor(private authService: AuthService) { }

  private applyCredentials(request: HttpRequest<any>): HttpRequest<any> {
    return request.clone({
      setHeaders: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + this.authService.accessToken }
    });
  }

  public intercept(request: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
    if (InterceptorSkipHeader.checkHeader(request)) {
      const req = InterceptorSkipHeader.deleteHeader(request);
      return next.handle(req);
    }
    const nextHandle$ = defer(() => next.handle(this.applyCredentials(request)));
    return iif(() => this.authService.tokenIsEmpty, this.logoutUser$, nextHandle$).pipe(this.httpErrorsHandler());
  }

  httpErrorsHandler() {
    return (source$: Observable<any>) => source$.pipe(
      catch401Error(() => this.handle401Error(source$)),
      catch400Error((err) => EMPTY),
      catch403Error((err) => EMPTY),
      catch406Error((err) => EMPTY),
      catch500Error((err) => EMPTY),
    );
  }

  handle401Error(retry$: Observable<any>): Observable<any> {
    return retry$.pipe(
      startWhen(this.refresh$),
      takeUntil(this.authService.logout$),
      catch401Error(() => this.logoutUser$),
    );
  }
}

full code ( auth-http-interceptor.ts )

step 1, Create two Observable

logoutUser$ :

  • use defer() do your logout logic (like clear token from LocalStorage) and retun EMPTY

refresh$ :

  • use defer create refresh$ Observable, make it always take new refresh token to call refresh API

  • logout on catch error

  • share() this Observable(make all 401 wait same refresh API back)

logoutUser$ = defer(() => (this.authService.logout(), EMPTY));
refresh$ = defer(() => this.authService.refreshTokenFromServer()).pipe(catchError(() => this.logoutUser$), share());

step 2, Skip interceptor

just make api skip interceptor ( uitls.ts )

class Xheader {
  static readonly interceptorSkipHeader = new Xheader('interceptorSkipHeader');

  readonly headers = { [this.headerName]: this.headerName };
  readonly options = { headers: this.headers };

  private constructor(readonly headerName: string) { }

  public checkHeader({ headers }: HttpRequest<any>) {
    return headers.has(this.headerName);
  }

  public deleteHeader(request: HttpRequest<any>) {
    return request.clone({ headers: request.headers.delete(this.headerName) });
  }
}

export const InterceptorSkipHeader = Xheader.interceptorSkipHeader;

like this InterceptorSkipHeader.options ( auth.service.ts)

refreshTokenFromServer(): Observable<Token> {
    return this.http.post<Token>(this.authApi + '/refreshToken', this.token, InterceptorSkipHeader.options).pipe(setTokenToLocalStorage());
}

step 3, Interceptor

4

Has skip header InterceptorSkipHeader.checkHeader(request)

  • delete and return without handler

Else, handler

  1. create nextHandle$ with access token : applyCredentials(request) use defer() ( always take new access token )
  2. use iif() check if token is empty will logoutUser$, else nextHandle$
  3. add httpErrorsHandler() operator, handler this stream
public intercept(request: HttpRequest<any>, next: HttpHandler): Observable<HttpEvent<any>> {
    if (InterceptorSkipHeader.checkHeader(request)) {
      const req = InterceptorSkipHeader.deleteHeader(request);
      return next.handle(req);
    }
    const nextHandle$ = defer(() => next.handle(this.applyCredentials(request)));
    return iif(() => this.authService.tokenIsEmpty, this.logoutUser$, nextHandle$).pipe(this.httpErrorsHandler());
  }

Add access token function

private applyCredentials(request: HttpRequest<any>): HttpRequest<any> {
    return request.clone({
      setHeaders: { Authorization: 'Bearer ' + this.authService.accessToken }
    });
  }

step 4, Custom operator

We should create some custom operator before error Handler

catchHttpError operator

In this case we just handler 401

  • catch401Error : catch http 401
  • catch400Error : catch http 400
  • catch403Error : catch http 403
  • catch406Error : catch http 406
  • catch500Error : catch http 500
function catchHttpError(...status: Array<number>) {
  const statusMap = status.reduce((m, v) => m.set(v, v), new Map());
  return (next: (err: HttpErrorResponse) => Observable<any>) => {
    return catchError((err) => err instanceof HttpErrorResponse && statusMap.has(err.status) ? next(err) : throwError(err));
  };
}

const catch401Error = catchHttpError(401);
const catch400Error = catchHttpError(400);
const catch403Error = catchHttpError(403);
const catch406Error = catchHttpError(406);
const catch500Error = catchHttpError(500);

startWhen operator (uitls.ts)

equal delayWhen() second parameter (subscriptionDelay)

export function startWhen<T>(subscriptionDelay: Observable<any>) {
  return (source$: Observable<T>) => concat(subscriptionDelay.pipe(take(1), ignoreElements()), source$);
}

step 5, Http error handler

5

In this case we just handler 401

catch401Error must be the first (make sure other error handler will catch retry API error)

  • handle401Error(source$) will retry source$ (previous Observable)
httpErrorsHandler() {
  return (source$: Observable<any>) => source$.pipe(
    catch401Error(() => this.handle401Error(source$)),
    catch400Error((err) => EMPTY),
    catch403Error((err) => EMPTY),
    catch406Error((err) => EMPTY),
    catch500Error((err) => EMPTY),
  );
}

handle401Error

  • startWhen() : retry$ will wait refresh$ complete than call retry API
  • In process, if authService.logout$ trigger will stop stream (unsubscribe)
  • If retry API still 401 error will logout user
handle401Error(retry$: Observable<any>): Observable<any> {
  return retry$.pipe(
    startWhen(this.refresh$),
    takeUntil(this.authService.logout$),
    catch401Error(() => this.logoutUser$),
  );
}

https://medium.com/@eddylin1937/angular-interceptor-with-rxjs-refresh-token-176326c84a36

After api failed with HTTP Error 401 ,token-refresh api got called , all your failed and cached request can be retried using http interceptor.

if (this.isRefreshingToken && !req.url.endsWith(tokenURL)) {
      // check if unique url to be added in cachedRequest

      if (urlPresentIndex == -1) {
        this.cachedRequests.push(req);
        return this.tokenSubject.pipe(
          switchMap(() => next.handle(req)),
          tap((v) => {
            // delete request from catchedRequest if api gets called

            this.cachedRequests.splice(
              this.cachedRequests.findIndex(
                (httpRequest) => httpRequest.url == req.url
              ),
              1
            );
            return EMPTY;
          })
        );
      } else {
        //already in cached request array

        return EMPTY;
      }
    }

For more details you can read my medium article Token-Refresh-Interceptor-retry-failed-Requests

Check it out, how it works stackblitz

I got this creating a new request based on the url of the failed request and sending the same body of the failed request.

 retryFailedRequests() {

this.auth.cachedRequests.forEach(request => {

  // get failed request body
  var payload = (request as any).payload;

  if (request.method == "POST") {
    this.service.post(request.url, payload).subscribe(
      then => {
        // request ok
      },
      error => {
        // error
      });

  }
  else if (request.method == "PUT") {

    this.service.put(request.url, payload).subscribe(
      then => {
       // request ok
      },
      error => {
        // error
      });
  }

  else if (request.method == "DELETE")

    this.service.delete(request.url, payload).subscribe(
      then => {
        // request ok
      },
      error => {
        // error
      });
});

this.auth.clearFailedRequests();        

}

In your authentication.service.ts, you should have a HttpClient injected as a dependency

constructor(private http: HttpClient) { }

You can then re-submit the request (inside retryFailedRequests) as follow:

this.http.request(request).subscribe((response) => {
    // You need to subscribe to observer in order to "retry" your request
});
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