how to use before_action with after_sign_in_path_for and after_inactive_sign_up_path_for methods?

Question

I want to use the after_sign_in_path_for and after_inactive_sign_up_path_for methods to redirect user to some specific page, I would put these two methods and before_action :authenticate_user! all in the application controller, however, when the before_action method run it will be called on all actions, which will redirect my app to the wrong routes. Should I use before_action :authenticate_user!, except: [:after_sign_in_path_for, :after_inactive_sign_up_path_for] to skip authentication on these two methods?

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
  # Prevent CSRF attacks by raising an exception.
  # For APIs, you may want to use :null_session instead.
  protect_from_forgery with: :exception
  before_action :authenticate!


  def after_sign_in_path_for(user)
      if user && user.is_a?(Vendor)
          return edit_vendor_registration_path
          elsif user && user.is_a?(Customer)
          return dashboard_path
      end
  end

  def after_sign_out_path_for(user)
      if user && user.is_a?(Vendor)
          return root_path
          elsif user && user.is_a?(Customer)
          return root_path
      end
  end


  def authenticate!
      if @current_user == current_customer
          :authenticate_customer!
          elsif @current_user == current_vendor
          :authenticate_vendor!
      end
  end
end

I ran into this error Filter chain halted as :require_no_authentication rendered or redirected, I believe the program somehow created an endless loop that keep redirecting to the dashboard_path.

Answer 1

I think you are mixing up a few things.

before_action :authenticate_user! is used for each controller action where you want the user to be authenticated so he can continue his request.

e.g. after_sign_in_path_for is a method of a devise controller which can be overriden like this: https://github.com/plataformatec/devise/wiki/How-To:-Redirect-to-a-specific-page-on-successful-sign-up-%28registration%29