X / Twitter OAuth2
Authorization Code + PKCE Exchange for web and mobile — X Developer Portal setup, API reference, and frontend examples.
Overview
X / Twitter login is optional and controlled by TWITTER_AUTH_ENABLED. When disabled, Twitter endpoints return 503 Service Unavailable. JWTs are never placed in the redirect URL; the API issues a one-time exchangeCode (Redis, 60 seconds). The same POST /auth/exchange endpoint is shared with Google and Facebook. X requires PKCE, so the API uses Fastify session middleware (@fastify/session) with a SameSite=Lax cookie (required for the PKCE round-trip).
- • Feature-flagged via environment
- • Passport Twitter OAuth2 strategy (@superfaceai) + TwitterAuthGuard
- • PKCE with Fastify session
- • Redirect allowlist prevents open redirects
- • Same token response shape as POST /auth/login
X Developer Portal
Create a Project and App with OAuth 2.0, enable Request email from users, and set the Callback URI to match TWITTER_CALLBACK_URL.
- Open developer.x.com → Projects & Apps → create a Project and App
- Under User authentication settings, enable OAuth 2.0
- Enable “Request email from users” (required for users.email / confirmed_email)
- Set Callback URI / Redirect URL (e.g. http://localhost:3000/api/v1/auth/twitter/callback)
- Copy Client ID and Client Secret into your .env
- Scopes used by this API: tweet.read, users.read, offline.access, users.email
Environment variables
Loaded from .env via src/config/twitter-oauth.config.ts (namespace twitterOAuth on ConfigService). See .env.example. Set SESSION_SECRET (or rely on JWT_SECRET) for PKCE sessions.
TWITTER_AUTH_ENABLED=true TWITTER_CLIENT_ID=your-twitter-client-id TWITTER_CLIENT_SECRET=your-twitter-client-secret TWITTER_CALLBACK_URL=http://localhost:3000/api/v1/auth/twitter/callback TWITTER_REDIRECT_ALLOWLIST=myapp://success,http://localhost:5173/auth/callback TWITTER_OAUTH_DEFAULT_ROLES= # SESSION_SECRET=optional-session-secret
Default roles for new Twitter users
New Twitter users receive roles: [] by default (same as password register). Set TWITTER_OAUTH_DEFAULT_ROLES in .env to a comma-separated list of Role values (e.g. user or user,manager). Existing users linked by email keep their current roles.
Sequence
- Client opens GET /api/v1/auth/twitter?redirect=<allowlisted URL>
- User consents on X; browser hits GET /api/v1/auth/twitter/callback (PKCE via session)
- API upserts user, stores exchangeCode in Redis, redirects to redirect?code=...
- Client POSTs { code } to /api/v1/auth/exchange and receives JWTs
API reference
1. Start OAuth
Opens X consent. Query redirect must match a prefix in TWITTER_REDIRECT_ALLOWLIST (or omit to use the first allowlist entry).
GET /api/v1/auth/twitter?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A5173%2Fauth%2Fcallback
400 invalid redirect · 503 feature disabled
2. Callback
Handled by the API. Redirects to your app with ?code= (or &code= if the URL already has a query).
GET /api/v1/auth/twitter/callback?code=TWITTER_AUTH_CODE&state=... → 302 Location: http://localhost:5173/auth/callback?code=EXCHANGE_CODE
3. Exchange code
Public endpoint shared with Google and Facebook. Consumes the code (single use) and returns the same shape as login.
POST /api/v1/auth/exchange
Content-Type: application/json
{
"code": "EXCHANGE_CODE"
}{
"user": {
"id": "...",
"email": "[email protected]",
"firstName": "Jane",
"lastName": "Doe",
"roles": [],
"twitterId": "2244...",
"isActive": true
},
"accessToken": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs...",
"refreshToken": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIs..."
}401 invalid/expired/used code · 503 social auth disabled
Frontend — Web (SPA)
Typical flow: button starts OAuth in the same window (or popup); a callback route on your frontend origin reads code from the query string and calls exchange.
const API = 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1';
const redirect = encodeURIComponent(
'http://localhost:5173/auth/callback'
);
// Full-page redirect to Nest → X → back to SPA
window.location.href = `${API}/auth/twitter?redirect=${redirect}`;// /auth/callback on the SPA
const params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
const code = params.get('code');
if (!code) throw new Error('Missing exchange code');
const res = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/auth/exchange', {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({ code }),
});
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(await res.text());
const { user, accessToken, refreshToken } = await res.json();
// persist tokens as your app requires
sessionStorage.setItem('accessToken', accessToken);
console.log('signed in', user.email);- • Add your frontend callback URL to TWITTER_REDIRECT_ALLOWLIST (e.g. http://localhost:5173/auth/callback)
- • TWITTER_CALLBACK_URL must point at the Nest API, not the SPA
- • Store accessToken / refreshToken securely (memory + httpOnly cookie patterns as you prefer)
Frontend — Mobile (deep link)
Use a custom scheme (or universal link) in the allowlist. After X, the API redirects to myapp://success?code=.... The app opens, parses the code, and calls exchange.
import * as Linking from 'expo-linking';
import * as WebBrowser from 'expo-web-browser';
const API = 'https://api.example.com/api/v1';
const redirect = encodeURIComponent('myapp://success');
async function signInWithTwitter() {
const url = `${API}/auth/twitter?redirect=${redirect}`;
await WebBrowser.openAuthSessionAsync(url, 'myapp://success');
}import * as Linking from 'expo-linking';
async function exchangeFromUrl(url) {
const { queryParams } = Linking.parse(url);
const code = queryParams?.code;
if (!code) return;
const res = await fetch(`${API}/auth/exchange`, {
method: 'POST',
headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
body: JSON.stringify({ code }),
});
const data = await res.json();
// data.accessToken, data.refreshToken, data.user
return data;
}
Linking.addEventListener('url', ({ url }) => {
exchangeFromUrl(url);
});- • Register the scheme in the OS / Expo app.json
- • Prefer Linking.addEventListener('url', ...) and getInitialURL()
- • Exchange over HTTPS against your API base URL
Security notes
- • Redirect URLs must match TWITTER_REDIRECT_ALLOWLIST prefixes
- • Exchange codes are single-use and expire in 60 seconds (Redis)
- • PKCE code_verifier is stored in the Fastify session cookie (SameSite=Lax)
- • Existing local users are linked by verified Twitter email (twitterId set; roles unchanged)
- • Twitter-only users have password null — password login / change-password will fail until a password is set
- • users.email + confirmed_email are required; login fails if X does not return an email
User model
Postgres entity / interface fields used by X / Twitter login:
- • twitterId — unique nullable X / Twitter subject ID
- • password — nullable for OAuth-only accounts
- • isActive — set true for new Twitter users
- • roles — from TWITTER_OAUTH_DEFAULT_ROLES env (default [])
Related
- Social Authentication hub
- Google OAuth2 guide
- Facebook OAuth2 guide
- GitHub OAuth2 guide
- Figma OAuth2 guide
- LinkedIn OpenID Connect guide
- Slack OpenID Connect guide
- Atlassian OAuth 2.0 (3LO) guide
- GitLab OAuth2 guide
- Bitbucket OAuth2 guide
- Discord OAuth2 guide
- Twitch OAuth2 guide
- Steam OpenID 2.0 guide
- Reddit OAuth2 guide
- Auth & JWT