I have a chat app, I want a business owner to be able to send their customer a link to the project chat, like a deep link because I'm using expo for web and mobile. I want the customer to get signed in anonymously deally, and then if they sign up their account details persist. Any advice, thoughts, and links to docs.
#Anonymous sign in
jaunty drum
shrewd wadiBOT
Hi @jaunty drum. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:
Sure, Convex provides a way to handle anonymous users via sessions. When a new session is created, a user is also created and the user ID is used instead of the session ID. This allows you to pass around user IDs and still have a persistent shared identifier between the client and the server. This approach can be useful for your chat app scenario where you want users to be able to interact without having to log in first source (https://stack.convex.dev/anonymous-users-via-sessions).
To implement this, you can use the Anonymous provider from Convex Auth. This provider doesn't require any user-provided information. You can configure it using the AnonymousConfig source (https://labs.convex.dev/auth/api_reference/providers/Anonymous).
Here's a code snippet on how to configure the Anonymous provider:
import Anonymous from "@convex-dev/auth/providers/Anonymous";
import { convexAuth } from "@convex-dev/auth/server";
export const { auth, signIn, signOut, store } = convexAuth({
providers: [Anonymous],
});
On the frontend, you can use the signIn function from useAuthActions to sign in the user anonymously. Here's an example of how to use it:
import { useAuthActions } from "@convex-dev/auth/react";
export function SignInAnonymously() {
const { signIn } = useAuthActions();
return (
<button
onClick={() => {
void signIn("anonymous");
}}
>
Sign in anonymously
</button>
);
}
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs.
For handling deep links in your Expo app, you might find this Expo documentation (https://docs.expo.dev/guides/linking/) useful. It provides a guide on how to configure and handle deep links in your app.
Remember, if a user decides to sign up after being signed in anonymously, you'll need to handle the transition from an anonymous user to a registered user in your application logic. This typically involves linking the anonymous session with the new user account so that their activity and data are not lost.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi Should I pass some kind of secret in the link to authorize the access? The conversationId in the link segment is a conversation id, I'm not sure if I should interpret this as a secret that people can't guess, or a data leak, where people now know the key for a conversation.
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
In general, it's not recommended to pass sensitive information like secrets in the URL. URLs can be logged in various places (like browser history or server logs), and can potentially be exposed to unauthorized users.
In your case, the conversationId is a unique identifier for a conversation, and while it's not a secret per se, it's still sensitive information. If an unauthorized user gets hold of a conversationId, they might be able to access or manipulate the conversation data. Therefore, it's crucial to ensure that only authorized users can access the data related to a specific conversationId.
Convex provides several ways to secure your application data:
-
Schema validation: Convex allows you to define schemas for your data. This can help ensure that only valid data is stored in your application source (https://stack.convex.dev/operational-maturity-for-production#5-hardening-your-app).
-
Argument validation: Convex allows you to validate the arguments passed to your endpoints. This can help prevent unauthorized access or manipulation of data source (https://stack.convex.dev/operational-maturity-for-production#5-hardening-your-app).
-
Authentication in functions: Convex allows you to identify users in your functions. This can help ensure that only authorized users can access certain data source (https://stack.convex.dev/operational-maturity-for-production#5-hardening-your-app).
-
Authorizing data access based on the user: Convex allows you to authorize data access based on the user. This can help ensure that a user can only access data they are authorized to access source (https://stack.convex.dev/operational-maturity-for-production#5-hardening-your-app).
In your case, you might want to consider using a combination of these methods to ensure that only authorized users can access a conversation using a conversationId. For example, you could use authentication in functions to ensure that the user accessing the conversation is authorized to do so, and argument validation to ensure that the conversationId passed in the URL is valid.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi My app is for business owners to chat with their customers for planning purposes, on one hand I want the customer to be able to simply jump into the chat, on the other hand, it seems a lot simpler if I force the user to sign up when they try to access the chat? Also, what's the standard way to have the business owner invite, or bring in, their customer to the chat?
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
The decision to allow anonymous access or require sign-up depends on the user experience you want to provide and the level of security you need.
If you want to provide a frictionless experience for customers, allowing them to jump into the chat without signing up can be beneficial. This can be done using Convex's anonymous sessions, as I mentioned in the previous response. However, this approach might require more complex logic to handle the transition from an anonymous user to a registered user if the customer decides to sign up later.
On the other hand, requiring users to sign up before accessing the chat can simplify your application logic and provide a higher level of security, as each user will have a unique identifier and their activities can be tracked more easily. Convex provides several authentication providers that you can use for user sign-up, such as Email and Password, Google, and Facebook source (https://labs.convex.dev/auth/api_reference/providers).
As for inviting customers to the chat, one common approach is to generate a unique link for each conversation and have the business owner share this link with the customer. The link could contain the conversationId as a parameter, and when the customer clicks on the link, your application can use this conversationId to load the correct conversation.
However, as I mentioned in the previous response, it's important to ensure that only authorized users can access a conversation using a conversationId. You might want to consider using Convex's authentication and authorization features to secure your application data.
Here's a simplified example of how you might generate a unique link for a conversation:
function generateConversationLink(conversationId) {
const baseUrl = "<https://your-app.com/conversations";>
return `${baseUrl}/${conversationId}`;
}
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi How could I implement password protection, so for example, if the business owner wants the chat to be password protected, they select it as such. And how would I then protect the data via password, or how should I store the password? I guess I should encrypt it, and then compare it to the encrypted password provided. So if a user is not logged in, I'll show a different screen, take a passwod, if it's valid, I'll return the data and perform an anonymous sign in? Should I make things so complicated out of the gate? MVP?
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
Implementing password protection for individual chats can add an extra layer of security, but it also adds complexity to your application. Here's a simplified approach on how you could implement this:
-
When creating a new chat, the business owner can choose to password protect the chat. If they choose to do so, they provide a password.
-
The password is then hashed and stored in the chat record in your database. It's important to never store the plain text password. You can use a library like bcrypt to hash the password.
-
When a user tries to access a password-protected chat, they are prompted to enter the password. The entered password is hashed and compared to the stored hashed password. If the hashes match, the user is granted access to the chat.
Here's a simplified example of how you might hash a password using bcrypt:
import bcrypt from 'bcrypt';
async function hashPassword(password) {
const saltRounds = 10;
const hashedPassword = await bcrypt.hash(password, saltRounds);
return hashedPassword;
}
And here's how you might compare a provided password to a stored hashed password:
import bcrypt from 'bcrypt';
async function checkPassword(password, hashedPassword) {
const match = await bcrypt.compare(password, hashedPassword);
return match;
}
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs.
As for whether you should implement this feature from the start, it depends on your specific requirements and constraints. If password-protected chats are a core feature of your application, it might make sense to implement it from the start. However, if it's a nice-to-have feature, you might want to consider leaving it out of your MVP and adding it later based on user feedback. The YOLO: Get to an MVP fast (https://stack.convex.dev/yolo-fast-mvp) guide on the Convex Stack website provides some useful advice on how to prioritize features for your MVP.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
How does google do something like, "only people with this link can view your document"?
@jaunty drum How does google do something like, "only people with this link can view your document"?
@shrewd wadi How does google do something like, "only people with this link can view your document"?
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
Google implements the "only people with this link can view your document" feature by generating a unique, hard-to-guess link for each document. When a user tries to access a document using this link, Google checks if the document is set to allow access to anyone with the link. If it is, the user is granted access to the document.
The unique link typically contains a long, random string that serves as the document's identifier. This makes it extremely unlikely that someone could guess the link to a document.
While the exact implementation details are proprietary to Google, you can implement a similar feature in your application using Convex. Here's a simplified approach:
-
When a new chat is created, generate a unique, hard-to-guess identifier for the chat. This could be a long, random string, or a hash of some data related to the chat.
-
Store this identifier in the chat record in your database, along with a flag indicating whether the chat is set to allow access to anyone with the link.
-
When a user tries to access a chat using a link, extract the identifier from the link and look up the corresponding chat in your database. If the chat is set to allow access to anyone with the link, grant the user access to the chat.
Here's a simplified example of how you might generate a unique link for a chat:
function generateChatLink(chatId) {
const baseUrl = "<https://your-app.com/chats";>
return `${baseUrl}/${chatId}`;
}
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs.
As for securing the data, you can use Convex's authentication and authorization features to ensure that only authorized users can access a chat. For example, you could use Convex's row-level security feature to validate the authorization of the user to read, write, or modify each document they interact with source (https://stack.convex.dev/row-level-security).
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi Help me generate a secret string here
name,
owner: userId,
participants: [userId]
secret:
});```Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
You can generate a secret string using various methods. One common method is to use a library like crypto which is built into Node.js. Here's how you can generate a secret string using crypto:
import crypto from 'crypto';
const secret = crypto.randomBytes(20).toString('hex');
const newConversation = await ctx.db.insert('conversations', {
name,
owner: userId,
participants: [userId],
secret: secret
});
In this example, crypto.randomBytes(20).toString('hex') generates a random string of 20 bytes and then converts it to a hexadecimal string. This will give you a 40-character long secret string.
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs. Also, remember to handle any potential errors that might occur when generating the secret string.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi Found 1 error in convex/conversations.ts:48
⠼ Preparing Convex functions...
✘ [ERROR] Could not resolve "crypto"
convex/conversations.ts:4:19:
4 │ import crypto from 'crypto';
╵ ~~~~~~~~
The package "crypto" wasn't found on the file system but is built into node. Are you trying to
bundle for node? You can use "platform: 'node'" to do that, which will remove this error.
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
The error message indicates that the crypto module, which is a built-in Node.js module, is not being resolved correctly. This is likely because Convex is trying to bundle your code for the browser, not Node.js.
In Convex, you can use the use node directive at the top of your file to specify that the file should be run in a Node.js environment. However, please note that this only works for Actions, as only Actions can use the Node.js runtime. Queries and mutations can't use the Node.js runtime source (https://discord.com/channels/1019350475847499849/1156511815212220426).
If you're trying to use crypto in a query or mutation, you'll need to use the Web Crypto APIs that are available in the default Convex runtime instead source (https://docs.convex.dev/functions/runtimes#web-crypto-apis).
Here's an example of how you might use the Web Crypto APIs to generate a secret string:
const secret = window.crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(20)).join("");
In this example, window.crypto.getRandomValues(new Uint8Array(20)).join("") generates a random string of 20 characters.
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs. Also, remember to handle any potential errors that might occur when generating the secret string.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi Uncaught ReferenceError: window is not defined
at handler (../convex/conversations.ts:48:14)
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
The error message "Uncaught ReferenceError: window is not defined" indicates that the window object is not available. This is because the window object is part of the browser environment and is not available in the server-side Node.js environment that Convex functions run in.
In Convex, you can use the crypto module from the @convex-dev/runtime package to generate random values. This package provides a set of APIs that are compatible with the Node.js crypto module, but work in the Convex runtime.
Here's an example of how you might use the crypto module from @convex-dev/runtime to generate a secret string:
import { crypto } from '@convex-dev/runtime';
const secret = crypto.randomBytes(20).toString('hex');
const newConversation = await ctx.db.insert('conversations', {
name,
owner: userId,
participants: [userId],
secret: secret
});
In this example, crypto.randomBytes(20).toString('hex') generates a random string of 20 bytes and then converts it to a hexadecimal string. This will give you a 40-character long secret string.
Please note that this is a simplified example and you might need to adjust it according to your needs. Also, remember to handle any potential errors that might occur when generating the secret string.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
jaunty drum
@shrewd wadi Cannot find module '@convex-dev/runtime' or its corresponding type declarations.
shrewd wadiBOT
Let me check the knowledge base for you. One moment! :books:
The error message "Cannot find module '@convex-dev/runtime' or its corresponding type declarations" indicates that the '@convex-dev/runtime' module is not found in your project. This could be due to several reasons:
-
The '@convex-dev/runtime' module is not installed in your project. You can install it using npm or yarn. However, please note that '@convex-dev/runtime' is not a real package and was used as an example. You should replace it with the actual package you're trying to use.
-
The '@convex-dev/runtime' module is installed, but it's not correctly imported in your file. Make sure you're using the correct import syntax and the correct path to the module.
-
The '@convex-dev/runtime' module is installed and correctly imported, but TypeScript can't find the type declarations for the module. This could be because the module doesn't include TypeScript type declarations, or because TypeScript is not correctly configured to find the type declarations.
If the module doesn't include TypeScript type declarations, you might need to install them separately (if they're available) or declare them yourself. If TypeScript is not correctly configured to find the type declarations, you might need to adjust your tsconfig.json file.
Please note that without more specific information about your project and the '@convex-dev/runtime' module, it's difficult to provide a more specific solution. If you're still having trouble, I recommend reaching out to the Convex community or the maintainers of the '@convex-dev/runtime' module for help.
Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon:
frosty zealot
my project not loading in convex dashboard and i cant connect using npx convex dec