Issue with Session Data Persistence in Google OAuth Login Integration

Question

I’m having trouble with handling user types during Google login in my Laravel application. Here's what I've implemented and the issue I'm facing:

Controller Implementation:

Redirect from Register:

public function redirectToGoogleFromRegister(Request $request)
{
    $request->session()->put('user_type', $request->role);
    return Socialite::driver('google')->redirect();
}

Redirect from Login:

public function redirectToGoogleFromLogin()
{
    if (Auth::check()) {
        return redirect(RouteServiceProvider::HOME);
    }
    return Socialite::driver('google')->redirect();
}

Handle Google Callback:

public function handleGoogleCallback(Request $request)
{
    try {
        $googleUser = Socialite::driver('google')->user();
    } catch (\Exception $e) {
        $googleUser = Socialite::driver('google')->stateless()->user();
    }

    $userType = $request->session()->get('user_type');
    dd($userType);
}

Problem Description:

• When a user initiates Google login from the registration route, I store user_type in the session as 'register'.
• However, in the callback handler, the user_type retrieved from the session is always null.

Diagnosis:

• The user_type is set in the session before the redirect, but it appears to be missing when the callback is processed. This suggests that either the session data is not being preserved across the OAuth redirect or there is an issue with session handling.

Why is the session data (user_type) not being retrieved correctly in the callback method?

Answer 1

I am not sure why the user_type is null when you're trying to access it. It might be because of the stateless method.

Instead, consider passing the user_type as a parameter during the OAuth flow.

Redirect with State Parameter:

public function redirectToGoogleFromRegister(Request $request)
{
    $role = $request->role;
    $state = json_encode(['user_type' => $role]);
    return Socialite::driver('google')->with(['state' => $state])->redirect();
}

Retrieve State Parameter in Callback:

public function handleGoogleCallback(Request $request)
{
    try {
        $googleUser = Socialite::driver('google')->user();
    } catch (\Exception $e) {
        $googleUser = Socialite::driver('google')->stateless()->user();
    }

    $state = $request->input('state');
    $stateData = json_decode($state, true);
    $userType = $stateData['user_type'] ?? null;
    dd($userType);
}

Laravel official documentation about Optional Parameters and also take a look at this GitHub discussion

This method can help you correctly pass and retrieve the user_type while going through the OAuth process. By using the state parameter.