Confusion with User Role Arrays during Local Authentication Setup - Need Clear Implementation Guidance
I'm not sure how to approach Currently developing an authentication module for a local application using Node.js and Express. The authentication flow should distinguish between different user roles (e.g., admin, user, guest) stored in an array. I want to ensure the roles are managed correctly and efficiently. Initially, I set up a basic user schema with Mongoose: ```javascript const UserSchema = new mongoose.Schema({ username: { type: String, required: true }, password: { type: String, required: true }, roles: { type: [String], default: [] } }); ``` In my local environment, I’m using an array to store roles, but I’m unsure how to handle adding new roles or checking for existing roles during authentication. The logic I tried for role validation looks like this: ```javascript function isUserAdmin(user) { return user.roles.includes('admin'); } ``` However, I’m not certain this approach will scale well, especially if I decide to implement role-based access control in the future. During testing, I've noticed that sometimes new roles don’t seem to persist as expected. To address this, I tried pushing new roles into the array like so: ```javascript user.roles.push('editor'); await user.save(); ``` But this feels a bit hacky, and I’m concerned about potential race conditions if multiple requests try to modify the user roles simultaneously. Additionally, I’m looking for best practices around securing this data, especially when it comes to avoiding exposure of sensitive role information in API responses. The official documentation suggests sanitizing output, but I’d appreciate concrete examples on how to implement this correctly. Has anyone tackled a similar situation? What strategies did you use to manage user role arrays effectively within an authentication context while ensuring security? I'm working in a macOS environment.