JWT Authentication System with Django, DRF, and React

This project demonstrates a secure JWT (JSON Web Token) authentication system built with Django, Django Rest Framework (DRF), and React. It includes features like user login, signup, and logout with secure authentication using cookies.

Features

• Signup: Allows users to create an account with email and password.
• Login: Allows users to log in and receive a JWT token stored securely in cookies.
• Logout: Allows users to log out by deleting the JWT token stored in cookies.
• Secure: The JWT token is stored in HTTP-only cookies for enhanced security.

Tech Stack

• Backend: Django, Django Rest Framework (DRF)
• Frontend: React.js
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens)
• Database: SQLite (or any other database of your choice)
• Security: Cookies (HTTP-Only)

Getting Started

Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Python (preferably 3.7+)
• Node.js and npm
• Django
• Django Rest Framework (DRF)

Backend Setup

1. Clone the repository.

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/Django-React-JWT-Auth.git

2. Navigate to the backend directory.

   cd backend

3. Create and activate a virtual environment.

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows, use venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install required packages.

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Run migrations to set up the database.

   python manage.py migrate

6. Create a superuser (optional) to access the Django admin.

   python manage.py createsuperuser

7. Start the Django development server.

   python manage.py runserver

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to the frontend directory.

   cd frontend

2. Install required dependencies.

   npm install

3. Start the React development server.

   npm start

Features Walkthrough

1. Signup: Users can create a new account by entering their email and password. This sends a POST request to the backend, where a JWT token is generated and returned upon successful registration.
2. Login: Users can log in using their credentials. On successful authentication, a JWT token is returned and stored in a secure HTTP-only cookie.
3. Logout: JWT token is deleted from cookies when the user logs out.

Future Enhancements

• Implement password reset functionality.
• Add email verification for user signup.
• Improve security with token refresh mechanism.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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