TurboTrades/NAVBAR_LOGIN_FIX.md

Navbar Login Fix - WebSocket Authentication State Update

Problem Description

After successfully logging in via Steam, the WebSocket would connect and receive user data from the server, but the navbar would not update to show the logged-in state.

Root Cause

The WebSocket connected message handler was receiving user data (steamId, username, userId) but was only logging it to the console. It was not updating the auth store, which the navbar component relies on to display authentication state.

Console logs showed:

🔵 AnnouncementBanner mounted - loading announcements...
WebSocket connected
WebSocket message received: { type: "connected", data: {...} }
Server confirmed connection: { steamId: "...", username: "...", userId: "..." }

But the navbar remained in logged-out state because authStore.isAuthenticated was still false.

---

Solution

Changes Made

1. WebSocket Store (frontend/src/stores/websocket.js)

• Modified the "connected" message handler to call authStore.fetchUser() when the WebSocket connection is confirmed
• Fixed duplicate authStore declarations by declaring it once at the top of handleMessage function
• Added debug logging to trace the authentication flow

Before:

case "connected":
  console.log("Server confirmed connection:", payload);
  break;

After:

const handleMessage = (data) => {
  const { type, data: payload, timestamp } = data;
  const authStore = useAuthStore(); // Declared once at top

  switch (type) {
    case "connected":
      console.log("🟢 WebSocket received 'connected' message:", payload);
      // Fetch updated user data from the auth endpoint
      console.log("🔵 Calling authStore.fetchUser() from WebSocket connected handler");
      authStore.fetchUser();
      break;
    
    case "balance_update":
      // Now uses authStore declared at top
      if (payload?.balance !== undefined) {
        authStore.updateBalance(payload.balance);
      }
      break;
    // ... rest of cases
  }
};

2. Auth Store (frontend/src/stores/auth.js)

• Added debug logging to trace authentication initialization and user fetch operations

Added logs:

console.log("🔵 fetchUser called - fetching user from /api/auth/me");
console.log("✅ fetchUser response:", response.data);
console.log("✅ Setting user in auth store:", response.data.user);
console.log("🔵 fetchUser complete - isAuthenticated:", isAuthenticated.value);
console.log("🔵 Auth store initialize called - isInitialized:", isInitialized.value);

---

How It Works Now

Authentication Flow After Steam Login

1. User clicks "Login to Steam" button

   • Frontend redirects to: ${VITE_API_URL}/api/auth/steam

2. Steam OAuth flow completes

   • Backend receives callback from Steam
   • Backend creates session and sets HTTP-only cookie
   • Backend redirects user back to frontend

3. Frontend loads (App.vue onMounted)

   • authStore.initialize() → calls fetchUser() → requests /api/auth/me
   • wsStore.connect() → establishes WebSocket connection

4. WebSocket connects successfully

   • Backend sends { type: "connected", data: { steamId, username, userId } }

5. WebSocket receives "connected" message ✨ NEW

   • Handler calls authStore.fetchUser()
   • Fetches user data from /api/auth/me with credentials
   • Updates authStore.user and sets isAuthenticated = true

6. Navbar reactively updates 🎉

   • authStore.isAuthenticated changes from false → true
   • Vue's reactivity triggers navbar to show user menu, avatar, balance, etc.

---

Deployment Instructions

1. Build the Frontend

cd frontend
npm run build

Expected output:

✓ 1588 modules transformed.
✓ built in 2.80s

2. Deploy to Production

Option A: Manual deployment on server

# SSH into your server
ssh user@your-server

# Navigate to project
cd /path/to/TurboTrades/frontend

# Pull latest changes
git pull origin main

# Build
npm install  # if dependencies changed
npm run build

# Copy to web root
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/html/turbotrades/

Option B: CI/CD Pipeline

# Commit and push changes
git add frontend/src/stores/websocket.js frontend/src/stores/auth.js
git commit -m "Fix navbar not updating after Steam login - WebSocket auth state sync"
git push origin main

# Your CI/CD pipeline will automatically:
# 1. Pull changes
# 2. Build frontend
# 3. Deploy to production

3. Clear Browser Cache

After deployment, users need to hard-refresh to get the new JavaScript bundle:

• Windows/Linux: Ctrl + Shift + R or Ctrl + F5
• Mac: Cmd + Shift + R
• Or use Incognito/Private mode for testing

---

Testing the Fix

1. Open Browser Console

Press F12 to open DevTools and go to Console tab.

2. Clear Cookies and Storage

In DevTools:

• Go to Application tab
• Click Clear storage → Clear site data

3. Attempt Login

Click "Login to Steam" button and complete authentication.

4. Watch Console Logs

You should see this sequence:

🔵 Auth store initialize called - isInitialized: false
🔵 fetchUser called - fetching user from /api/auth/me
✅ fetchUser response: { success: true, user: {...} }
✅ Setting user in auth store: { steamId: "...", username: "...", ... }
🔵 fetchUser complete - isAuthenticated: true

Connecting to WebSocket: wss://api.turbotrades.dev/ws
WebSocket connected
🟢 WebSocket received 'connected' message: { steamId: "...", username: "...", userId: "..." }
🔵 Calling authStore.fetchUser() from WebSocket connected handler
🔵 fetchUser called - fetching user from /api/auth/me
✅ fetchUser response: { success: true, user: {...} }
✅ Setting user in auth store: { steamId: "...", username: "...", ... }
🔵 fetchUser complete - isAuthenticated: true

5. Verify Navbar Updates

The navbar should now show:

• ✅ Your Steam avatar
• ✅ Your username
• ✅ Your balance with deposit button
• ✅ User dropdown menu with Profile, Inventory, etc.

---

Rollback Plan

If issues occur after deployment:

Quick Rollback

# Revert the commits
git revert HEAD~2..HEAD

# Rebuild and redeploy
cd frontend
npm run build
sudo cp -r dist/* /var/www/html/turbotrades/

Remove Debug Logs (Production Cleanup)

Once confirmed working, you may want to remove the verbose debug logs:

In frontend/src/stores/auth.js - remove all console.log statements added

In frontend/src/stores/websocket.js - remove or reduce debug logs:

case "connected":
  // Keep minimal logging
  console.log("WebSocket connected");
  authStore.fetchUser();
  break;

Then rebuild and redeploy.

---

Additional Notes

Why Two fetchUser() Calls?

You might notice fetchUser() is called twice:

1. On App Mount (App.vue → authStore.initialize())

   • Handles the case where user already has a valid session
   • Runs immediately when page loads

2. On WebSocket Connected (new addition)

   • Handles the case where user just logged in via Steam
   • Ensures auth state is fresh after Steam OAuth redirect
   • Provides a fallback if the initial fetch happened before the session cookie was set

This redundancy is intentional and ensures authentication works reliably in all scenarios.

Session Persistence

The authentication uses HTTP-only cookies set by the backend. These persist across:

• Page refreshes
• Browser restarts (unless expired)
• Tab closures

The WebSocket connection authenticates using the same session cookie.

---

Related Files

• frontend/src/stores/websocket.js - WebSocket message handling
• frontend/src/stores/auth.js - Authentication state management
• frontend/src/components/NavBar.vue - Navbar component (reactive to auth state)
• frontend/src/App.vue - App initialization flow
• backend/routes/auth.js - Steam OAuth and session management

---

Troubleshooting

Navbar Still Not Updating

1. Clear browser cache completely (not just refresh)
2. Check browser console for errors
3. Verify /api/auth/me returns user data:

   curl -s https://api.turbotrades.dev/api/auth/me -b cookies.txt | jq
   

4. Check WebSocket connection:
   • Look for "WebSocket connected" in console
   • Verify no CORS errors

"fetchUser called" But No Response

• Backend issue: Check PM2 logs

  pm2 logs turbotrades-backend --lines 50
  

• CORS issue: Check for CORS errors in browser console
• Session cookie not set: Check backend logs for Steam OAuth errors

WebSocket Doesn't Receive "connected" Message

• Backend WebSocket handler issue: Check backend/services/websocket.js
• Nginx not proxying WS correctly: Verify Nginx config has:

  location /ws {
    proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
    proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:3000/ws;
  }
  

---

Success Criteria

✅ User can click "Login to Steam" and complete OAuth flow
✅ Upon redirect back to site, navbar shows logged-in state
✅ User's avatar, username, and balance are displayed
✅ WebSocket connects and shows user data in console
✅ User can access protected routes (Inventory, Profile, etc.)
✅ No console errors related to authentication or WebSocket

---

Status: Ready for deployment
Last Updated: 2025-01-10
Build Tested: ✅ Success
Files Modified: 2 (websocket.js, auth.js)