fix(backend): Prevent excessive handshakes #6635
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…, and tighten redirect counter detection to reduce false positives
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WalkthroughAdds a patch changeset and adjusts backend handshake behavior: removes Changes
Sequence Diagram(s)sequenceDiagram
autonumber
participant U as User Agent
participant S as Backend
participant H as resolveHandshake
participant L as Loop Guard
U->>S: Request (possible org activation)
activate S
S->>H: resolveHandshake(instanceType)
activate H
alt instanceType == development
H->>H: Remove Handshake, HandshakeHelp, DevBrowser from redirect URL
else
H->>H: Remove Handshake, HandshakeHelp
end
H-->>S: Clean redirect URL
deactivate H
S->>U: Redirect response with RedirectCount cookie (Max-Age=2)
deactivate S
U->>S: Follow-up request with RedirectCount
activate S
S->>L: handleMaybeOrganizationSyncHandshake()
activate L
alt RedirectCount >= 3
L-->>S: Treat as loop → skip activation, warn
else RedirectCount < 3
L-->>S: Continue activation/redirect flow
end
deactivate L
deactivate S
Estimated code review effort🎯 3 (Moderate) | ⏱️ ~20 minutes Poem
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| const newCounterValue = this.authenticateContext.handshakeRedirectLoopCounter + 1; | ||
| const cookieName = constants.Cookies.RedirectCount; | ||
| headers.append('Set-Cookie', `${cookieName}=${newCounterValue}; SameSite=Lax; HttpOnly; Max-Age=3`); | ||
| headers.append('Set-Cookie', `${cookieName}=${newCounterValue}; SameSite=Lax; HttpOnly; Max-Age=2`); |
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3 was an arbitrary choice here, I'm reducing to 2 to mitigate the case where someone switches between orgs quickly when using org url sync
| return null; | ||
| } | ||
| if (authenticateContext.handshakeRedirectLoopCounter > 0) { | ||
| if (authenticateContext.handshakeRedirectLoopCounter >= 3) { |
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Again, reducing the case where someone might be switching quickly. this should help, in addition to the max-age change, reduce false-positives of redirect loop detection
@clerk/agent-toolkit
@clerk/astro
@clerk/backend
@clerk/chrome-extension
@clerk/clerk-js
@clerk/dev-cli
@clerk/elements
@clerk/clerk-expo
@clerk/expo-passkeys
@clerk/express
@clerk/fastify
@clerk/localizations
@clerk/nextjs
@clerk/nuxt
@clerk/clerk-react
@clerk/react-router
@clerk/remix
@clerk/shared
@clerk/tanstack-react-start
@clerk/testing
@clerk/themes
@clerk/types
@clerk/upgrade
@clerk/vue
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Actionable comments posted: 0
🧹 Nitpick comments (5)
.changeset/grumpy-groups-run.md (1)
1-5: Broaden the changeset note to reflect all user-visible behavior changes.The note currently mentions the dev handshake trigger fix, but this PR also:
- Lowers the redirect loop cookie Max-Age to 2s.
- Raises the redirect-loop threshold for org activation to 3 redirects.
Consider expanding the description so downstream consumers understand the full behavioral impact.
Proposed wording:
--- -'@clerk/backend': patch --- -Fixes an issue where a handshake would trigger more than intended in development. +'@clerk/backend': patch +--- +Fixes excessive dev handshakes and adjusts redirect loop detection: +- Dev: remove the __clerk_db_jwt (DevBrowser) query param from the app URL after handshake resolution to avoid re-triggering. +- Loop detection: lower redirect counter cookie Max-Age to 2s and only consider a loop after ≥3 rapid redirects.packages/backend/src/tokens/handshake.ts (3)
221-228: Also strip LegacyDevBrowser in dev redirect, or reuse the existing helper for consistency.In dev, you delete Handshake, HandshakeHelp, and DevBrowser. We already have
removeDevBrowserFromURLwhich deletes bothDevBrowserandLegacyDevBrowser. Reusing it here prevents stale legacy params from keeping the loop alive.- if (this.authenticateContext.instanceType === 'development') { - const newUrl = new URL(this.authenticateContext.clerkUrl); - newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.Handshake); - newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.HandshakeHelp); - newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.DevBrowser); - headers.append(constants.Headers.Location, newUrl.toString()); - headers.set(constants.Headers.CacheControl, 'no-store'); - } + if (this.authenticateContext.instanceType === 'development') { + const newUrl = this.removeDevBrowserFromURL(this.authenticateContext.clerkUrl); + newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.Handshake); + newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.HandshakeHelp); + headers.append(constants.Headers.Location, newUrl.toString()); + headers.set(constants.Headers.CacheControl, 'no-store'); + }
321-323: Use a non-strict threshold (>= 3) to align with request.ts and harden against drift.
request.tstreats a loop as>= 3. Using>=here avoids off-by-one surprises if the counter gets out of sync.- if (this.authenticateContext.handshakeRedirectLoopCounter === 3) { + if (this.authenticateContext.handshakeRedirectLoopCounter >= 3) { return true; }
325-329: Ensure the RedirectCount cookie is scoped to the root pathAll occurrences of
Set-Cookiewith theRedirectCountname have been located only inhandshake.ts, so addingPath=/here will consistently apply across all routes without side effects.• File:
packages/backend/src/tokens/handshake.ts
Line 327 (zero-based index may differ):- headers.append('Set-Cookie', `${cookieName}=${newCounterValue}; SameSite=Lax; HttpOnly; Max-Age=2`); + headers.append('Set-Cookie', `${cookieName}=${newCounterValue}; Path=/; SameSite=Lax; HttpOnly; Max-Age=2`);No other
Set-Cookiecalls forRedirectCountwere found in the codebase, so this change is isolated and safe.packages/backend/src/tokens/request.ts (1)
389-398: LGTM on raising the org-activation loop threshold to ≥3. Consider centralizing the threshold.This matches the intent to allow a couple of redirects before considering it a loop. To avoid future drift with
HandshakeService.checkAndTrackRedirectLoop, consider extracting a shared constant (e.g.,REDIRECT_LOOP_THRESHOLD = 3) inconstants.tsand referencing it in both places.If you want, I can open a follow-up to introduce the shared constant and update both call-sites.
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🧬 Code graph analysis (1)
packages/backend/src/tokens/handshake.ts (1)
packages/backend/src/constants.ts (1)
constants(79-85)
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🦋 Changeset detectedLatest commit: db961af The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump. This PR includes changesets to release 11 packages
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🧹 Nitpick comments (4)
integration/tests/handshake.test.ts (4)
1448-1451: Avoid parsing a missing Location header on 200 responsesOn 200, there should be no
Locationheader. Parsingnew URLSearchParams(res.headers.get('location'))relies on implementation quirks (e.g., treatingnullas a string) and is brittle across runtimes. Assert explicitly that the header is absent instead.Apply this diff:
- expect(res.status).toBe(200); - const redirectSearchParams = new URLSearchParams(res.headers.get('location')); - expect(redirectSearchParams.get('organization_id')).toBe(null); + expect(res.status).toBe(200); + expect(res.headers.get('location')).toBeNull();
1418-1421: Lock in the new cookie TTL: assert Max-Age=2Given the PR reduces the redirect-tracking cookie lifetime to 2 seconds, assert it in the test to prevent regressions. A regex keeps the assertion resilient to attribute ordering.
// read the set-cookie directives const setCookie = res.headers.get('set-cookie'); - expect(setCookie).toContain(`__clerk_redirect_count=1`); // <-- Critical + expect(setCookie).toContain(`__clerk_redirect_count=1`); // <-- Critical + // Also assert the new TTL + expect(setCookie).toMatch(/__clerk_redirect_count=1(?:;[^;]*)*;\s*Max-Age=2\b/i);
837-861: Add a follow-up request to ensure no post-handshake re-trigger in dev after __clerk_db_jwt resolutionOne objective is to stop retriggering a handshake in development after resolving a handshake that set
__clerk_db_jwt. You’re setting the cookie in “Handshake result - dev - new devbrowser”, but we don’t verify the very next navigation returns 200 without another handshake.Proposed test to add right after this block:
test('No re-handshake in dev immediately after handshake that set __clerk_db_jwt', async () => { const config = generateConfig({ mode: 'test' }); const { token } = config.generateToken({ state: 'active' }); // Simulate a handshake result that sets both session and devbrowser cookies const cookiesToSet = [`__session=${token};path=/`, '__clerk_db_jwt=asdf;path=/']; const handshake = await config.generateHandshakeToken(cookiesToSet); const res1 = await fetch(app.serverUrl + '/?__clerk_handshake=' + handshake, { headers: new Headers({ Cookie: `${devBrowserCookie}`, 'X-Publishable-Key': config.pk, 'X-Secret-Key': config.sk, 'Sec-Fetch-Dest': 'document', }), redirect: 'manual', }); expect(res1.status).toBe(307); expect(res1.headers.get('location')).toBe('/'); // Build Cookie header from Set-Cookie lines to mimic the browser carrying them forward const setCookieLines = [...res1.headers.entries()] .filter(([k]) => k.toLowerCase() === 'set-cookie') .map(([, v]) => v.split(';')[0]); // take "name=value" const carryCookies = setCookieLines.join('; '); // Next navigation to "/" should NOT handshake again const res2 = await fetch(app.serverUrl + '/', { headers: new Headers({ Cookie: `${carryCookies}`, 'X-Publishable-Key': config.pk, 'X-Secret-Key': config.sk, 'Sec-Fetch-Dest': 'document', }), redirect: 'manual', }); expect(res2.status).toBe(200); expect(res2.headers.get('location')).toBeNull(); });This asserts the fix end-to-end: once the devbrowser cookie is set from a resolved handshake, a subsequent visit does not re-enter the handshake path.
1339-1343: Remove stray console.log calls from the test suiteThese logs add noise to CI output and aren’t needed for assertions.
- if (testCase.name === 'Header-based auth should not handshake with expired auth') { - console.log(testCase.name); - console.log(res.headers.get('x-clerk-auth-status')); - console.log(res.headers.get('x-clerk-auth-reason')); - } + // (removed noisy debug logs)
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All public APIs must be documented with JSDoc
Provide meaningful error messages to developers
Include error recovery suggestions where applicable
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Profile and optimize critical paths
Validate all inputs and sanitize outputs
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**/*.{ts,tsx}: Always define explicit return types for functions, especially public APIs
Use proper type annotations for variables and parameters where inference isn't clear
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Useinterfacefor object shapes that might be extended
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Preferreadonlyproperties for immutable data structures
Useprivatefor internal implementation details
Useprotectedfor inheritance hierarchies
Usepublicexplicitly for clarity in public APIs
Preferreadonlyfor properties that shouldn't change after construction
Prefer composition and interfaces over deep inheritance chains
Use mixins for shared behavior across unrelated classes
Implement dependency injection for loose coupling
Let TypeScript infer when types are obvious
Useconst assertionsfor literal types:as const
Usesatisfiesoperator for type checking without widening
Use mapped types for transforming object types
Use conditional types for type-level logic
Leverage template literal types for string manipulation
Use ES6 imports/exports consistently
Use default exports sparingly, prefer named exports
Use type-only imports:import type { ... } from ...
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🔇 Additional comments (1)
integration/tests/handshake.test.ts (1)
1437-1441: Redirect-loop threshold updated to 3 — test change matches backend behaviorBumping
__clerk_redirect_countto3here aligns the test with the new ">= 3 redirects" loop-guard logic. Looks good.
| const newUrl = new URL(this.authenticateContext.clerkUrl); | ||
| newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.Handshake); | ||
| newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.HandshakeHelp); | ||
| newUrl.searchParams.delete(constants.QueryParameters.DevBrowser); |
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This looks good to me. Was there any reason we used to delete it from the clerk-js side only or just an omission?
Description
__clerk_db_jwtparametermax-ageof the redirect counter cookie to2to reduce false-positives during redirect detectionChecklist
pnpm testruns as expected.pnpm buildruns as expected.Type of change
Summary by CodeRabbit
Bug Fixes
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