Session Management using express-session Module in Node.js

Last Updated : 28 Apr, 2020

Session management can be done in node.js by using the express-session module. It helps in saving the data in the key-value form. In this module, the session data is not saved in the cookie itself, just the session ID. Installation of express-session module:

You can visit the link Install express-session module. You can install this package by using this command.
```
npm install express-session
```
After installing express-session you can check your express-session version in command prompt using the command.
```
npm version express-session
```
After that, you can create a folder and add a file for example index.js, To run this file you need to run the following command.
```
node index.js
```

Filename: index.js

const express = require("express")
const session = require('express-session')
const app = express()
  
// Port Number Setup
var PORT = process.env.port || 3000
 
// Session Setup
app.use(session({

    // It holds the secret key for session
    secret: 'Your_Secret_Key',

    // Forces the session to be saved
    // back to the session store
    resave: true,

    // Forces a session that is "uninitialized"
    // to be saved to the store
    saveUninitialized: true
}))
 
app.get("/", function(req, res){
     
    // req.session.key = value
    req.session.name = 'GeeksforGeeks'
    return res.send("Session Set")
})
 
app.get("/session", function(req, res){
 
    var name = req.session.name
    return res.send(name)
 
    /*  To destroy session you can use
        this function 
     req.session.destroy(function(error){
        console.log("Session Destroyed")
    })
    */
})
  
app.listen(PORT, function(error){
    if(error) throw error
    console.log("Server created Successfully on PORT :", PORT)
})

Steps to run the program:

The project structure will look like this:
Make sure you have install express and express-session module using following commands:
```
npm install express
```
```
npm install express-session
```
Run index.js file using below command:
```
node index.js
```
Now to set your session, just open browser and type this URL:
```
http://localhost:3000/
```
Till now, you have set session and to see session value, type this URL:
```
http://localhost:3000/session
```