authenticate.admin(request) server error

Retired Boards Appdev Authentication

Topic summary

A Shopify Remix app experiences a 500 server error when calling authenticate.admin(request) in production, though it works locally and returns 200 in Postman testing.

Environment Details:

  • Recently migrated from SQLite to PostgreSQL
  • Error occurs consistently in production regardless of request source
  • Logs show: “No valid session found” → “Requesting offline access token” → 500 error

Debugging Attempts:

  • Database connectivity verified - production DB accessible locally
  • Prisma Session model and schema configuration confirmed correct
  • Prisma Client debug mode enabled to capture database interactions
  • Request headers, payloads, and responses logged throughout the flow
  • CORS settings reviewed for cross-origin issues
  • Authentication flow examined against Shopify requirements

Key Observation:
The error occurs before any attempt to create or retrieve a session from the Prisma database, suggesting the issue lies in the authentication middleware itself rather than database operations.

Note: Part of the original post appears corrupted/reversed, potentially indicating encoding or transmission issues during submission.

Summarized with AI on November 5. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Issue Summary

Environment:

  • App Framework: Shopify App with Remix template
  • Database: PostgreSQL (Previously SQLite, recently migrated)
  • Deployment: The app functions correctly in the local environment but encounters issues in production.
  • Error Encountered: When calling authenticate.admin(request), a 500 server error is returned in production, while it works as expected locally.
  • Postman Testing: The request to authenticate.admin(request) returns a 200 response in Postman.

Relevant Logs from Production:

  • Shopify logs indicate

    [shopify-app/INFO] Authenticating admin request
[shopify-app/INFO] No valid session found
[shopify-app/INFO] Requesting offline access token
size: 0, [Symbol(Body internals)]: { body: null, type: null, size: 0, boundary: null, disturbed: false, error: null }, [Symbol(Response internals)]: { url: undefined, status: 500, statusText: 'Internal Server Error', headers: {}, counter: 0, highWaterMark: undefined } }

  • Steps Taken to Debug

  1. Verified Database Connectivity:

    • The production database is accessible as I can connect to it when running the app locally.
    • Prisma client configuration was reviewed and confirmed to be accurate.
    • Database connection was tested, confirming accessibility in production.

  2. Session Storage and Prisma Configuration:

    • The Prisma Session model is defined in the sessions schema with proper configuration.

    • Schema:

      prisma

      model Session { id String @Id shop String state String isOnline Boolean @Default (false) scope String? expires DateTime? @db .Timestamp() accessToken String userId BigInt? [email removed]@schema(“sessions”) }

    • Prisma Client logs were enabled for query, info, warn, and error levels to track database interactions and identify if the session creation or retrieval process was problematic.

    • Observed that the error occurred before any attempt to create or retrieve a session in the Prisma database.

  3. Confirmed Postman Compatibility:

    • A manual request to the endpoint via Postman returned a 200 response, confirming that the endpoint itself functions as expected when called independently.

  4. Examined CORS and Authentication Flow:

    • Verified that the app correctly handles authentication and makes requests according to Shopify’s requirements.
    • Compared request headers and payload between Postman and the app to ensure consistency.
    • Reviewed CORS settings to ensure there are no issues with cross-origin requests.

  5. Captured and Reviewed Detailed Logs:

    • Logged request headers, payloads, and responses in the app to capture all steps leading up to the error.
    • Enabled Prisma Client’s debug mode to capture database-related issues, though no anomalies were found.

  6. Error Consistency:

    • The issue consistently occurs in production when making the authenticate.admin(request) call, regardless of the request source.