auth0 checkSession({}) returns login_required when logged in through social provider, but not when logging in via username/password - auth0

Question

I have an Angular app that uses Auth0 for authentication, and I'm trying to use checkSession({}, …) to persist a user's session if the token hasn't expired yet.
When I log in with my username/pw that I set up for the site, this works fine when I reload the browser/navigate directly to a resource. However, when I log in using a social provider (such as Google), the checkSession({}, …) call on a page reload returns an error and forces the user to log in again.
Some of the relevant code (mostly from the auth0 tutorial(s)):
export class AuthService {
// Create Auth0 web auth instance
private _auth0 = new auth0.WebAuth({
clientID: AUTH_CONFIG.CLIENT_ID,
domain: AUTH_CONFIG.CLIENT_DOMAIN,
responseType: 'token',
redirectUri: AUTH_CONFIG.REDIRECT,
audience: AUTH_CONFIG.AUDIENCE,
scope: AUTH_CONFIG.SCOPE
});
accessToken: string;
userProfile: any;
expiresAt: number;
// Create a stream of logged in status to communicate throughout app
loggedIn: boolean;
loggedIn$ = new BehaviorSubject<boolean>(this.loggedIn);
loggingIn: boolean;
isAdmin: boolean;
// Subscribe to token expiration stream
refreshSub: Subscription;
constructor(private router: Router) {
// If app auth token is not expired, request new token
if (JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('expires_at')) > Date.now()) {
this.renewToken();
}
}
...
handleAuth() {
// When Auth0 hash parsed, get profile
this._auth0.parseHash((err, authResult) => {
if (authResult && authResult.accessToken) {
window.location.hash = '';
this._getProfile(authResult);
} else if (err) {
this._clearRedirect();
this.router.navigate(['/']);
console.error(`Error authenticating: ${err.error}`);
}
this.router.navigate(['/']);
});
}
private _getProfile(authResult) {
this.loggingIn = true;
// Use access token to retrieve user's profile and set session
this._auth0.client.userInfo(authResult.accessToken, (err, profile) => {
if (profile) {
this._setSession(authResult, profile);
this._redirect();
} else if (err) {
console.warn(`Error retrieving profile: ${err.error}`);
}
});
}
private _setSession(authResult, profile?) {
this.expiresAt = (authResult.expiresIn * 1000) + Date.now();
// Store expiration in local storage to access in constructor
localStorage.setItem('expires_at', JSON.stringify(this.expiresAt));
this.accessToken = authResult.accessToken;
this.userProfile = profile;
if (profile) {
this.isAdmin = this._checkAdmin(profile);
}
...
}
...
get tokenValid(): boolean {
// Check if current time is past access token's expiration
return Date.now() < JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('expires_at'));
}
renewToken() {
// Check for valid Auth0 session
this._auth0.checkSession({}, (err, authResult) => {
if (authResult && authResult.accessToken) {
this._getProfile(authResult);
} else {
this._clearExpiration();
}
});
}
}
(This is from a service that is called in many places within the app, including some route guards and within some components that rely on profile information. If more of the app code would be useful, I can provide it.)
Also note: AUTH_CONFIG.SCOPE = 'openid profile email'

Answer 1

So, the issue appears to not have been related to my app at all. When using Social Providers, Auth0 has an explicit note in one of their tutorials that really helped me out:
The issue with social providers is that they were incorrectly configured in my Auth0 dashboard, and needed to use provider-specific app keys.
Important Note: If you are using Auth0 social connections in your app,
please make sure that you have set the connections up to use your own
client app keys. If you're using Auth0 dev keys, token renewal will
always return login_required. Each social connection's details has a
link with explicit instructions on how to acquire your own key for the
particular IdP.
Comment was found on this page: https://auth0.com/blog/real-world-angular-series-part-7/