# From \_t cookie how to get the current user id?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/from--t-cookie-how-to-get-the-current-user-id/70220>\
**Category:** Development\
**Created:** [Setembro 17, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/from--t-cookie-how-to-get-the-current-user-id/70220 "2017-09-17T13:54:20Z")\
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**Author:** ![vikaskedia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/vikaskedia/32/73333_2.png) [@vikaskedia](https://meta.discourse.org/u/vikaskedia)\
**Post date:** [Setembro 17, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/from--t-cookie-how-to-get-the-current-user-id/70220/1 "2017-09-17T13:54:20Z")

</div>

I am trying to develop an app using the same DB as discourse.

Discourse is run from:  
[www.example.com/forums/](http://www.example.com/forums/)

The app is run from:  
[www.example.com/app/](http://www.example.com/app/)

Inside /app/ app on server side I have access to \_t token.

**From the \_t token how do I get the user id by querying the Postgres DB.**

I know I can use SSO but that requires making a request to the client side. So I want to keep things simple and get the logged in user’s identity by just querying the postgres DB directly from inside the app running at [www.example.com/app/](http://www.example.com/app/)

In postgres table user\_auth\_tokens the field auth\_tokens has the value “Gzfb6AV4VkGvumpIm54u6hxdBuU”

In the cookie \_t the value is 35d802b49d5565441aedf58410064505

**From “35d802b49d5565441aedf58410064505” how do I derive “Gzfb6AV4VkGvumpIm54u6hxdBuU” ?**

## I have the following hypothesis:

1. In the DB table user\_auth\_tokens the field auth\_tokens is storing the hashed value of the cookie \_t.

2. The hashing is being done by [discourse/app/models/user\_auth\_token.rb at c68999e1283ea7f9bc50fe6e8df3c4ddc05b7df0 · discourse/discourse · GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/c68999e1283ea7f9bc50fe6e8df3c4ddc05b7df0/app/models/user_auth_token.rb#L111)

> Digest::SHA1.base64digest(“#{token}#{GlobalSetting.safe\_secret\_key\_base}”)

1. To get the value of GlobalSetting.safe\_secret\_key\_base from redis I will get the value of SECRET\_TOKEN

> 127.0.0.1:6379\> get SECRET\_TOKEN  
> “eadc1240dfa7cccc5801e82f1b302913a91604a0d97dcc1fb7b44d8275037904fa517710d29059e53251f5bf46ebbe16d0686226a6bc5032bbafcc987a2bd30b”

ref: [discourse/app/models/global\_setting.rb at a1ee61ec25d8de128faf46d765d1aeda9d880654 · discourse/discourse · GitHub](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/blob/a1ee61ec25d8de128faf46d765d1aeda9d880654/app/models/global_setting.rb#L23)

Are my hypothesis correct?

When I do sha1 for

> 35d802b49d5565441aedf58410064505eadc1240dfa7cccc5801e82f1b302913a91604a0d97dcc1fb7b44d8275037904fa517710d29059e53251f5bf46ebbe16d0686226a6bc5032bbafcc987a2bd30b

I get

> 1b37dbe805785641afba6a489b9e2eea1c5d06e5

And base64digest for 1b37dbe805785641afba6a489b9e2eea1c5d06e5 is: MWIzN2RiZTgwNTc4NTY0MWFmYmE2YTQ4OWI5ZTJlZWExYzVkMDZlNQ==

**Why is it not matching the value stored in the table user\_auth\_tokens the field auth\_tokens?**

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