Python SDK: implementing login / auth

I'm working my way through a basic CRUD app. So far it's been a great experience. I implemented a registration route and a login route. I registered and logged in. I continued to code and test and life was good.

Later on I logged out and now I can't log in again. I'm now left wondering how I ever managed to authenticate in the first place.

https://github.com/lost-RD/HTMXxAppwrite-Todo/
register(): https://github.com/lost-RD/HTMXxAppwrite-Todo/blob/main/main.py#L190
login(): https://github.com/lost-RD/HTMXxAppwrite-Todo/blob/main/main.py#L219
logout(): https://github.com/lost-RD/HTMXxAppwrite-Todo/blob/main/main.py#L242

I'm pretty sure the code here is in the state it was when I logged in that one time, but I could be wrong (since it doesn't work now).

Account doesn't seem to be a scope for an API token, which suggests it's a client-side role and all auth happens on the client side. So how did I ever log in in the first place? Is there something about the registration code there that enables a login to work without client-side auth?

This is the result of trying to use the /logout route:

You'll need to follow the SSR docs: https://appwrite.io/docs/products/auth/server-side-rendering

Thanks. I've had a read.

Now I'll initialise a new client per request, and have a distinction between an admin client and a user client.

I have an API key with every permission allowed, and it gets passed to any new admin client.

Account is not an admin scope (https://appwrite.io/docs/references/cloud/server-python/account), so I'll try a user client.

I have made a guest session button, which works. I now have a guest session. However, logout of the guest session doesn't work.

@app.route('/logout')
def logout():
    """Handle user logout."""
    logger.debug(f"Session: {session}")
    if 'user_id' in session:
        # Delete the current session
        client = get_client().set_session(session['user_id'])
        account = Account(client)
        
        account.delete_session('current')
        session.clear()  # Clear all session data
    
    return redirect(url_for('login'))

Probably doing something wrong here?

Here's a thread facing the same issue that doesn't have any responses: https://appwrite.io/threads/1294295794274533467

what's the code for get_client?

what's being stored in session['user_id']?

web-1 | 2025-05-27 03:54:59,110 - __main__ - DEBUG - Session: <SecureCookieSession {'user_id': '6831aa8e0036dae0f8c2', 'user_name': 'Guest'}>

no. you need to store the session secret as described by the docs

https://appwrite.io/docs/products/auth/server-side-rendering#creating-sessions

Alright, I make a guest session. This is the result, no secret:

web-1 | 2025-05-27 04:31:25,498 - __main__ - DEBUG - Session data: {'$id': '6835401d3fa9c7591ed4', '$createdAt': '2025-05-27T04:31:25.271+00:00', '$updatedAt': '2025-05-27T04:31:25.271+00:00', 'userId': '6835401d33ec673ea6af', 'expire': '2026-05-27T04:31:25.260+00:00', 'provider': 'anonymous', 'providerUid': '', 'providerAccessToken': '', 'providerAccessTokenExpiry': '', 'providerRefreshToken': '', 'ip': 'xxx.yyy.zzz.aaa', 'osCode': 'LIN', 'osName': 'GNU/Linux', 'osVersion': '', 'clientType': '', 'clientCode': '', 'clientName': '', 'clientVersion': '', 'clientEngine': '', 'clientEngineVersion': '', 'deviceName': 'desktop', 'deviceBrand': '', 'deviceModel': '', 'countryCode': 'au', 'countryName': 'Australia', 'current': True, 'factors': ['anonymous'], 'secret': '', 'mfaUpdatedAt': ''}

There's a session ID and a user ID

as mentioend in the docs, you need to use an admin sdk (that has an api key with the approriate scopes)

Alrighty, auth is working. Thank you for your help Steven. Once I've tested everything thoroughly, do you want simple demos of combining various technologies to be submitted to BuiltWith? Or is that for more serious projects?

more serious projects than demos