Automatic Headers

Automatically inject user context based on your application framework and authentication system.

Overview

Automatic headers eliminate the need to manually pass user context with every API call. Instead, middleware or framework-specific integrations extract user information from the request context and automatically include it in Tokenlay API calls.

Benefits

• Consistency: Ensures user context is always included
• Security: Reduces risk of forgetting to include authentication
• Maintainability: Centralized context management
• Performance: Optimized header extraction and caching

Integration Approaches

Next.js + Session

Integrate with Next.js authentication systems using middleware to automatically pass user context.

Express.js + JWT

Automatically extract JWT claims and forward them as headers in Express.js applications.

Python (FastAPI / Flask)

Use dependency injection patterns in FastAPI and request context in Flask for automatic user context.

Edge Middleware

Handle user context in edge computing environments like Cloudflare Workers or Vercel Edge Functions.

Common Patterns

Request Lifecycle Integration

// Middleware extracts user context
Request → Authentication Middleware → User Context Extraction → Tokenlay API Call

Context Inheritance

// Child requests inherit parent context
Parent Request → User Context → Child API Calls (inherit context)

Fallback Strategies

// Graceful degradation when context is unavailable
User Context Available → Use Context
User Context Missing → Use Default/Anonymous Context

Implementation Considerations

Security

• Always validate extracted user context
• Handle token expiration gracefully
• Implement proper RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)

Performance

• Cache user context when possible
• Avoid blocking operations in middleware
• Consider async context propagation

Error Handling

• Provide fallback behavior for missing context
• Log authentication failures appropriately
• Handle network errors in context extraction

Next Steps

Choose the integration that matches your application framework and authentication system. Each integration provides detailed implementation examples and best practices.