Error: cookieParser("secret") required for signed cookies

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I am working on express/node.js and trying to understand cookies of expressjs and I'm setting cookie like this: 

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
app.use(cookieParser());

app.get('/', function(req, res){
    res.cookie('cookie1', 'This is my first cooke', {maxAge: 1000*60*60*24*7, httpOnly: true});
    res.end('Cookie has been set');
});

And accessing cookies as follows:

app.get('/readCookies',function(req, res){
    res.send(req.cookies.cookie1);
});

But the problem is signed: true option when including this one for encoding cookie value during setting the cookie I am getting the following error:

Error: cookieParser("secret") required for signed cookies

Please help me and thanks in advance

express node.js cookies
2 Answers

The error is explaining what you need to do to be able to send signed cookies:

Error: cookieParser("secret") required for signed cookies

The Express documentation states:

When using cookie-parser middleware, this method also supports signed cookies. Simply include the signed option set to true. Then res.cookie() will use the secret passed to cookieParser(secret) to sign the value.

The cookie-parser documentation states:

cookieParser(secret, options):

  • secret a string or array used for signing cookies. This is optional and if not specified, will not parse signed cookies. If a string is provided, this is used as the secret.

So everything combined:

  • install cookie-parser middleware:

    npm install cookie-parser

  • add it to the Express app:

    const cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');

...
app.use(cookieParser('MY SECRET'));

  • make it sign cookies:

    res.cookie('cookie1', 'This is my first cookie', { signed : true });

  • and read the cookie value back:

    res.send(req.signedCookies.cookie1);
user_8937800

If you set signed:true option, you have to set secret key as string as parameter for cookieParser() as follows:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var cookieParser = require('cookie-parser');
//Set secret key
app.use(cookieParser('your random secret string here'));

//Set/Write Cookies
app.get('/',function(req, res){
    res.cookie('cookie1', 'This is my first cookie', {signed:true, maxAge: 1000*60*60*24*7, httpOnly: true});
    res.end('Cookie has been set');
});

Otherwise just leave it blank as follows:

app.use(cookieParser());

For accessing the signed cookie value, you can try as follows:

//Read Cookies
app.get('/readCookies',function(req, res){
    res.send(req.signedCookies['cookie1']);
    //OR, req.signedCookies.cookie1
});

Or, you can check cookies from your browser console as follows if you don't set httpOnly: true option:

document.cookie

For destroying cookies try as follows:

//Remove Cookies
app.get('/removeCookies',function(req, res){
    res.clearCookie('cookie1');
    res.send("Cookie has been cleared");
});

For more details please check res.cookie(name, value [, options])

Admin1
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