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@Rohanrathod7 Rohanrathod7 commented Jan 5, 2026

Password Reset Data Flow


Closes #58

⚠️⚠️⚠️ IMPORTANT: This PR is built on top of the Sign Up feature. ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Please review and merge PR #81 first.

🔐 Password Reset Implementation

Description

This PR implements the secure password reset flow, including:

  • Backend: /forgot-password and /reset-password endpoints.
  • Frontend: ForgotPassword and ResetPassword UI pages.
  • Validation: Zod schemas for password complexity.
  • Testing: Comprehensive Jest and Vitest suites.

Related PRs

  • Depends on #PR_NUMBER (Sign Up Feature)

Process Flow Explained

Phase 1: Requesting a Reset Link (Forgot Password)

  1. User Action: User enters their email in ForgotPassword.tsx and clicks "Send Reset Link".
  2. API Call: Frontend calls forgotPassword(email) in auth.service.ts.
  3. Endpoint: POST /api/v1/user/auth/forgot-password
  4. Backend Logic (user.service.ts):
    • Find User: Checks if a user with that email exists.
    • Generate Token: Creates a random 32-byte hex string (token).
    • Hash Token: Creates a simple sha256 hash of that token.
    • Save to DB: Updates the user document with:
      • resetPasswordToken: The hashed version.
      • resetPasswordExpire: Expiration time (10 minutes).
    • Send Email: Sends an email containing the raw (unhashed) token in the link:
      http://localhost:5173/reset-password/${resetToken}

Security Note: We store the hash in the DB but send the raw token to the user. This ensures that if the DB is compromised, the attacker cannot generate valid reset links.

Phase 2: Resetting the Password

  1. User Action: User clicks the link in their email.
  2. Frontend Route: Opens ResetPassword.tsx. The token is extracted from the URL (useParams).
  3. User Input: User enters and confirms their new password.
  4. API Call: Frontend calls resetPassword(token, password) in auth.service.ts.
  5. Endpoint: POST /api/v1/user/auth/reset-password/:token
  6. Backend Logic (user.service.ts):
    • Hash Input Token: Hashes the token received from the URL using sha256.
    • Verify: Searches the database for a user where:
      • resetPasswordToken matches the hashed token.
      • resetPasswordExpire is greater than Date.now() (not expired).
    • Update:
      • Hashes the new password.
      • Updates password field.
      • Sets resetPasswordToken and resetPasswordExpire to null (consumes the token).
  7. Response: Returns success, and frontend redirects user to Login.

🔑 Key Security Features

  • Token Hashing: The reset token is never stored in plain text in the database.
  • Expiration: Tokens are valid for only 10 minutes.
  • Enumeration Protection: The "Forgot Password" endpoint always returns "success" (200 OK) even if the email doesn't exist, preventing attackers from checking which emails are registered.

Previous Screens

Screenshot 2026-01-05 225236 Screenshot 2026-01-05 225619 ---- ### Updated Screens Screenshot 2026-01-06 170323 Screenshot 2026-01-06 170407 Screenshot 2026-01-06 170618

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Summary of Changes

Hello @Rohanrathod7, I'm Gemini Code Assist1! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request delivers a robust and secure password reset system for the LocalMind application. It encompasses new user interfaces for initiating and completing password resets, corresponding backend API endpoints with strong validation, and critical security measures to protect user accounts. The changes are thoroughly tested and documented to ensure reliability and maintainability.

Highlights

  • Password Reset Feature: Implemented a complete password reset flow, including 'Forgot Password' and 'Reset Password' functionalities on both the frontend and backend.
  • Frontend UI & Logic: Introduced new React components for 'ForgotPassword' and 'ResetPassword' pages, integrated with new authentication services and client-side validation using Zod.
  • Backend API Endpoints: Added /auth/forgot-password and /auth/reset-password/:token endpoints to handle password reset requests, token generation, and password updates.
  • Enhanced Security: Incorporated secure practices such as hashing reset tokens before storing them in the database, setting a 10-minute expiration for tokens, and preventing email enumeration by always returning a success message for 'Forgot Password' requests.
  • Comprehensive Testing: Expanded test coverage with new Jest tests for backend password validation, input edge cases, login, and password reset flows. Added Vitest tests for frontend components and Zod schemas.
  • Dependency Updates & Utilities: Updated backend dependencies including bcrypt and added cors middleware. Introduced a new email utility for sending password reset links and several new scripts for testing email sending and API flows.
  • Documentation: Added detailed Markdown documentation files (signup_dataflow.md and password_reset_dataflow.md) explaining the data flow and architecture of the authentication features.

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Code Review

This pull request introduces a comprehensive password reset feature, complete with backend endpoints, frontend UI, and extensive tests. The implementation demonstrates strong security practices, such as hashing the reset token and preventing email enumeration. The addition of detailed tests for validation and API flows is commendable. My review focuses on further improving security, error handling, and maintainability. Key suggestions include tightening the CORS policy for production, ensuring proper error propagation from the email service, and improving type safety by removing as any casts. Overall, this is a well-executed feature that significantly enhances the application's authentication capabilities.

logger.token('time', () => new Date().toLocaleString())
app.use(logger(':time :method :url :status'))

app.use(cors({ origin: true, credentials: true }))
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high

The current CORS configuration origin: true is too permissive for a production environment as it reflects any origin from the request header. This can pose a security risk. It's highly recommended to use a whitelist of allowed origins, which can be loaded from environment variables.

Suggested change
app.use(cors({ origin: true, credentials: true }))
app.use(cors({ origin: ['http://localhost:5173', 'https://your-production-domain.com'], credentials: true }))

Comment on lines +59 to +65
} catch (error) {
console.error('❌ Error sending email:', error)
// Fallback to console log if sending fails
console.log('⚠️ Fallback: Logging email to console due to send failure.')
console.log(`Reset Link: ${options.message}`)
// Do not throw error so the flow continues
}
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high

The catch block in sendEmail swallows the error and does not re-throw it. This prevents the calling service (userService.forgotPassword) from handling the email sending failure. The catch block in userService.forgotPassword which is supposed to clean up the reset token is currently unreachable. The error should be re-thrown to ensure failures are handled correctly.

  } catch (error) {
    console.error('❌ Error sending email:', error)
    // Fallback to console log if sending fails
    console.log('⚠️ Fallback: Logging email to console due to send failure.')
    console.log(`Reset Link: ${options.message}`)
    // Re-throw the error so the caller can handle it.
    throw error;
  }

Comment on lines +275 to +293
it('should successfully login with valid credentials', async () => {
try {
const res = await axios.post(`${API_URL}/user/login`, {
email: loginTestEmail,
password: validPassword,
})

expect(res.status).toBe(200)
expect(res.data).toBeDefined()
expect(res.data.message).toBeDefined()
} catch (error: any) {
if (error.response?.status === 401 || error.response?.status === 404) {
console.log('Test user not found, skipping login success test')
expect(true).toBe(true)
} else {
throw error
}
}
}, 10000)
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medium

This test case for a successful login is not robust because it depends on a user existing from a previous test suite. If the user doesn't exist, it catches the error and considers the test passed, which can hide real issues. It's better to make tests independent by creating the necessary user in a beforeAll or beforeEach hook for this test suite to ensure a consistent and reliable test environment.


const user = await userService.createUser(validatedData)

const user = await userService.createUser(validatedData as any)
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medium

The as any cast here, and also on line 73 in the login method, hides potential type mismatches between the Zod schema's inferred type and the type expected by the service methods. To improve type safety, consider adjusting the IUser interface or the service method signatures to be compatible with the Zod-inferred types, removing the need for these casts.

Comment on lines +186 to +188
} catch (err: any) {
SendResponse.error(res, err.message || UserConstant.PASSWORD_RESET_FAILED, 500, err)
}
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medium

Returning a generic 500 Internal Server Error for client-side issues like an invalid token is not ideal. It's better to catch specific, expected errors and return a more appropriate 4xx status code, like 400 Bad Request. This provides clearer feedback to the client.

    } catch (err: any) {
      if (err.message === UserConstant.INVALID_TOKEN) {
        return SendResponse.error(res, err.message, StatusConstant.BAD_REQUEST, err)
      }
      SendResponse.error(res, err.message || UserConstant.PASSWORD_RESET_FAILED, 500, err)
    }


// Construct reset URL (frontend URL)
// NOTE: In production, FRONTEND_URL should be in env
const frontendUrl = process.env.FRONTEND_URL || 'http://localhost:5173'
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medium

Hardcoding a fallback URL for FRONTEND_URL can lead to incorrect links in different environments (e.g., staging, production). It's better to ensure this environment variable is always set and fail fast if it's missing in production environments.

    const frontendUrl = process.env.FRONTEND_URL
    if (!frontendUrl) {
      throw new Error('FRONTEND_URL environment variable is not set.');
    }

Comment on lines +25 to +27
bio: z
.string()
.min(5, 'Bio must be at least 5 characters')
.max(50, 'Bio must be less than 50 characters'),
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medium

The bio field has a min(5) validation, but it's optional on the backend. This creates an inconsistency where the user is forced to enter a bio of at least 5 characters. To align with the backend, you should remove the minimum length requirement, which will still allow empty strings.

  bio: z.string().max(50, 'Bio must be less than 50 characters'),

Comment on lines +5 to +21
const signUpSchema = z.object({
firstName: z.string().min(1, 'First name is required'),
role: z.string().optional(),
email: z.string().email('Please enter a valid email address'),
birthPlace: z.string().min(1, 'Birth place is required'),
location: z.string().min(1, 'Location is required'),
password: z
.string()
.min(8, 'Password must be at least 8 characters')
.max(128, 'Password must be less than 128 characters')
.regex(/[A-Z]/, 'Must contain uppercase letter')
.regex(/[a-z]/, 'Must contain lowercase letter')
.regex(/[0-9]/, 'Must contain a number')
.regex(/[@$!%*?&]/, 'Must contain special character'),
portfolioUrl: z.string().url('Please enter a valid URL').or(z.literal('')),
bio: z.string().max(50, 'Bio must be less than 50 characters'),
})
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medium

The Zod schema is duplicated from SignUp.tsx. It's better to export the schema from SignUp.tsx and import it here to avoid inconsistencies and ensure you're testing the exact schema used in the component. This prevents the test from becoming out of sync with the implementation.

@abhishek-nexgen-dev
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@Rohanrathod7 Please improve this Ui

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Image

The Forgot Password page is not Looking good make sure the Ui looks good and Attrect Others

@abhishek-nexgen-dev
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Screenshot at 2026-01-06 11-22-05

Reference login Page

@Rohanrathod7 Rohanrathod7 force-pushed the feature-password-reset branch from 04466fa to ce2499f Compare January 6, 2026 11:40
@Rohanrathod7
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Just Updated Feature: Password Reset please review it

@abhishek-nexgen-dev
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@Rohanrathod7 add screenshot

@Rohanrathod7
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Rohanrathod7 commented Jan 6, 2026

resolved margin and responsiveness

A screenshots are added in PR's description
Please review it
Screenshot 2026-01-06 192159
Screenshot 2026-01-06 192710

@Rohanrathod7
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Whenever you are ready to merge, remind me

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Create Forgot Password Page & Integrate Password Reset Flow

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