Here are a few common pitfalls that can cause you to lose authentication within an hour (or even sooner) despite having a refresh token:

1. No Automatic Call to handleRefresh()
   In your snippet, handleRefresh() only gets called inside getAccessToken() when accessToken is completely missing from the cookie store. If the token is simply expired (but still in the cookie), getAccessToken() won’t automatically trigger a refresh. It’s possible the browser is holding on to an expired token for a little while before removing it, which forces you to log back in.

   How to fix:

   • You usually need a mechanism (like an Axios interceptor or a fetch wrapper) that tries to refresh the token if it gets a 401 Unauthorized (i.e., when the access token is expired).
   • Alternatively, before making any request, check if the token is near expiration and proactively call a “refresh” endpoint.

2. maxAge for the access token cookie is only 60 minutes
   You’ve set:

   js
   maxAge: 60 * 60 // 60 minutes

   for the access token. That means your cookie instructs the browser to drop the token after an hour. If you’re not triggering handleRefresh() before that hour is up, you’ll lose the token—and then be forced to re-login the next time you do something that needs authorization.

3. Refresh Token Not Actually Being Sent or Set

   • Make sure session_refresh_token is actually being stored in the browser as an HTTP-only cookie.
   • If your Next.js app is on a different domain/port (e.g., localhost:3000) from your Django API (e.g., localhost:8000), you need to ensure cross-site cookies are allowed. That often requires setting sameSite: 'none' and secure: true if you’re on HTTPS.
   • Also, when you do cross-site requests from your Next.js frontend to Django, you have to use fetch or axios with credentials: 'include'. Otherwise the browser won’t send your refresh token to the backend, and the refresh endpoint will fail (or not even see your refresh cookie).

4. Simple JWT (or Other JWT Package) Settings on the Django Side
   If you’re using django-rest-framework-simplejwt, check your settings in settings.py for something like:

   python
   SIMPLE_JWT = {
       'ACCESS_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(minutes=60),
       'REFRESH_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(days=7),
       ...
   }

   If REFRESH_TOKEN_LIFETIME is very short or if ROTATE_REFRESH_TOKENS or other flags are not set how you expect, you might be invalidating the refresh token sooner than you realize.

5. Missing or Overriding Cookies
   Sometimes the code setting the cookie does not fully clear out old cookies, or the domain/path don’t match. (By default, sameSite might be Lax in Next.js, which can block cross-domain usage of cookies.) Make sure:

   • path and domain match your usage.
   • If this is truly cross-site (different domain or port), set:

     js
     cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", refreshToken, {
       httpOnly: true,
       secure: true,   // Use true in production
       sameSite: "none",
       maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7,
       path: "/",
     });

   • And ensure your fetch calls use credentials: 'include'.

---

Quick Recommendations

1. Implement a Token-Refresh Flow

   • Either set up a client-side interceptor (if you’re using fetch or axios on the client) that catches 401 and tries handleRefresh().
   • Or on the server side, if you’re using Next.js API routes, you might intercept calls that come in with an expired token and then call handleRefresh() on behalf of the user.

2. Check Cookie Policies (sameSite, secure, domain/port)
   Since you’re on localhost, try:

   js
   cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", refreshToken, {
     httpOnly: true,
     secure: false,  // On localhost only, otherwise true
     sameSite: "lax", // or "none" if you do cross-site
     maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7,
     path: "/",
   });

   If your Next app is localhost:3000 and your Django app is localhost:8000, that’s considered cross-site. You generally must use sameSite: 'none' and secure: true for modern browsers to accept cross-site cookies. Also remember to make your fetch calls with credentials: 'include'.

3. Double-Check Django Settings
   Make sure the Refresh Token lifetime is actually a week (or whatever you set). Also confirm that the “refresh” endpoint is working in real-time by checking the network tab or your server logs. Often you’ll see an error message like “Token is invalid or expired” if the refresh has already been invalidated.

With these changes in place—most importantly, setting up a real flow that calls handleRefresh() before or when the access token expires—you should be able to stay logged in for as long as your refresh token is valid.

Below is a more robust pattern you can adapt. I’ll summarize the “why” first, then show exactly where and how to adjust your code.

---

The Core Issues

1. Access Token Expiration
   You have ACCESS_TOKEN_LIFETIME = 60 minutes. That’s perfectly normal, but it means you need a systematic way to refresh before you lose that token entirely. Right now you only call handleRefresh() if the accessToken cookie is missing, but a missing cookie ≠ an expired token. The cookie can still be present in the browser even after the token has expired. That leads to 401 errors (or failing requests), forcing a re-login.

2. Automatic Refresh Flow
   Typically, one of these strategies is used:

   • 401 Interceptor: If your API request fails with 401 “Unauthorized” because the token is invalid, call handleRefresh() automatically (using your stored refresh token) and retry the request.
   • Expiration Check: Decode the JWT, look at the exp (expiration) claim, and refresh if the token is near or past its expiration.

3. Cookie Settings (Cross-Site vs. Same-Site)
   If your Next.js app is running on localhost:3000 and your Django backend on localhost:8000, that is considered cross-site in modern browsers. So you often need to set sameSite: 'none' and secure: true for cookies to be sent cross-site. And your fetch calls must explicitly set credentials: 'include'.

   Because you’re currently using secure: false (which is okay on localhost), you may also need sameSite: 'none' if you want the browser to send cookies from :3000 to :8000.

---

What to Change in Your Code

Below is a revised version of your actions that addresses the biggest pitfalls. Feel free to merge these changes into your own code. I’ve annotated the key lines:

ts
"use server";

import { cookies } from "next/headers";

// 1. Use "credentials: 'include'" on the client side when fetching or do SSR calls 
//    from Next.js server side. Otherwise, no cookies get sent to Django cross-site.
//
// 2. If you need cross-site cookies (different domain/port), set sameSite='none' 
//    *and* secure=true (except on plain localhost dev).

/**
 * Refresh the access token using the stored refresh token.
 */
export async function handleRefresh() {
  console.log("handleRefresh");

  const refreshToken = await getRefreshToken();
  if (!refreshToken) {
    // If there's no refresh token, reset cookies and return
    await resetAuthCookies();
    return null;
  }

  try {
    const response = await fetch("http://localhost:8000/api/auth/token/refresh/", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        Accept: "application/json",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
      // Important: If this is cross-origin, you need credentials: 'include' 
      // to actually send cookies. But since this is a "server action", 
      // Next.js automatically has access to set/get cookies. 
      // If you do any client-side fetch, you'd add credentials: 'include'.
      body: JSON.stringify({ refresh: refreshToken }),
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      // Possibly 401 or 403 if the refresh token is invalid
      console.error("Refresh failed with status:", response.status);
      await resetAuthCookies();
      return null;
    }

    const data = await response.json();
    console.log("Response - Refresh:", data);

    if (data?.access) {
      // Store new access token in the cookies
      const cookieStore = cookies();
      cookieStore.set("session_access_token", data.access, {
        httpOnly: true,
        // In production, do secure: true. On localhost dev, false is okay.
        secure: false,
        // If cross-site: sameSite: "none" is needed 
        // sameSite: "none", 
        maxAge: 60 * 60, // 60 minutes
        path: "/",
      });

      return data.access;
    } else {
      await resetAuthCookies();
      return null;
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Refresh error:", error);
    await resetAuthCookies();
    return null;
  }
}

/**
 * Handle the login process by storing userId/accessToken/refreshToken as cookies.
 */
export async function handleLogin(
  userId: string,
  accessToken: string,
  refreshToken: string
) {
  const cookieStore = cookies();

  cookieStore.set("session_userid", userId, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // If cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7, // One week
    path: "/",
  });

  cookieStore.set("session_access_token", accessToken, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // If cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60, // 60 minutes
    path: "/",
  });

  cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", refreshToken, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // If cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7, // One week
    path: "/",
  });
}

/**
 * Resets (clears) all authentication-related cookies.
 */
export async function resetAuthCookies() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();

  // Setting them to empty strings also effectively removes them, but you might 
  // want to set 'expires' to a past date or maxAge=0 to more explicitly remove them.
  cookieStore.set("session_userid", "", { path: "/" });
  cookieStore.set("session_access_token", "", { path: "/" });
  cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", "", { path: "/" });
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_userid" cookie (if any).
 */
export async function getUserId() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  const userId = cookieStore.get("session_userid")?.value;
  return userId || null;
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_access_token" cookie.
 * If missing, tries to refresh it once.
 */
export async function getAccessToken() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  let accessToken = cookieStore.get("session_access_token")?.value;

  // WARNING: This only refreshes if the cookie is *missing*.
  // If the cookie is present but the token is expired, you'll need either:
  //  a) 401/403-based refresh or
  //  b) decode the token to see if it's expired
  if (!accessToken) {
    accessToken = await handleRefresh();
  }

  return accessToken;
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_refresh_token" cookie (if any).
 */
export async function getRefreshToken() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  const refreshToken = cookieStore.get("session_refresh_token")?.value;
  return refreshToken || null;
}

Summary of Changes Above

1. Added Error Checking in handleRefresh() – if the response isn’t OK (e.g., 401), reset cookies so the user doesn’t get stuck with invalid tokens.
2. Explicit Cookie Options:
   • secure: false is okay for local dev. In production with HTTPS, always use secure: true.
   • If your Next.js and Django are on different ports (3000 vs. 8000), that is cross-site. Modern browsers block cross-site cookies unless sameSite: 'none'.
   • Also, for cross-site cookies with sameSite: 'none', you must use secure: true in a production HTTPS environment.
3. Note on the getAccessToken() logic – If your only check is “no cookie => refresh,” then when the cookie is still present (but the token is expired), your backend calls will fail with 401. You either need:
   • Client-Side 401 Interceptor: If you get a 401, call handleRefresh() and retry.
   • Decode Token Expiry: If you see the exp is near or past, call handleRefresh() before making a request.

---

The 401 Interceptor Approach (Recommended)

If you’re making API calls from your client (e.g., inside React components) using fetch or axios, it’s common to do something like:

ts
// Pseudocode using fetch:
async function myFetch(url, options) {
  let resp = await fetch(url, {
    // ...
    credentials: 'include', // Very important if you want to send cookies cross-site
    ...options
  });

  if (resp.status === 401) {
    // Attempt to refresh:
    await handleRefresh();
    // Retry once:
    resp = await fetch(url, {
      // ...
      credentials: 'include',
      ...options
    });
  }

  return resp;
}

Or the equivalent in Axios interceptors. This ensures that if your token expired on the server side, you refresh automatically and the user doesn’t get forced to re-login manually.

---

Double Check Django’s SIMPLE_JWT Settings

You have:

python
SIMPLE_JWT = {
    'ACCESS_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(minutes=60),
    'REFRESH_TOKEN_LIFETIME': timedelta(days=7),
    ...
}

That’s standard: an access token valid for 1 hour, refresh token for 7 days. Just confirm other relevant options like ROTATE_REFRESH_TOKENS if you want a new refresh token each time (it’s optional).

---

Key Takeaways

1. Cookie Expiration vs. Token Expiration – Setting maxAge: 60 * 60 on the cookie only tells the browser “drop this cookie after 1 hour.” But your token might expire earlier or later if the system time or user’s clock is weird. Typically it aligns pretty closely, but the real “authority” is the token’s exp claim validated by Django.
2. Refreshing on 401 – If the user is actively using your site, you need a mechanism that tries to refresh the token when requests fail with 401. This is the typical approach in modern SPAs.
3. Cross-Site Cookie Settings – If you’re simply using different ports on “localhost”, be prepared to set sameSite: 'none' (and secure: true once you use HTTPS).

With these changes, you should see stable 1-hour access tokens and a 7-day refresh window that doesn’t force your users to re-login every hour.

There’s not a single one-size-fits-all “best” solution for handling JWT in Next.js + Django, but there are well-established best practices you can follow. Generally, the two big questions you need to clarify are:

1. Where do I store my tokens?
2. How do I refresh them safely?

Below is a short, opinionated summary.

---

1. Where to Store Your Tokens?

A. HTTP-Only Cookies (Recommended Most of the Time)

• Pros:

  • Secure against XSS: Because it’s httpOnly, JavaScript can’t read or manipulate it. Even if your site has an XSS vulnerability, attackers typically can’t steal the token directly from the cookie.
  • Convenient for standard session flows: Browsers send cookies automatically with each request (including cross-site if you configure sameSite: "none" + secure: true on HTTPS).
  • Familiar pattern in Django: Cookies + CSRF protection are common in the Django ecosystem.

• Cons:

  • You have to carefully configure CORS, sameSite, and secure attributes if the client and server are on different domains/ports.
  • On cross-site setups (e.g., Next running on localhost:3000, Django on localhost:8000), you must enable credentials: 'include' or the equivalent in your fetch/axios calls to ensure the browser actually sends the cookies.

B. Browser Storage (localStorage, sessionStorage, or Memory)

• Pros:

  • Simpler to work with from your JavaScript code if you need direct access to the token.
  • Doesn’t require fiddling with cookie policies, CORS, or sameSite.

• Cons:

  • Vulnerable to XSS: If an attacker finds an XSS hole, they can read localStorage, steal your tokens, and act on behalf of the user.
  • You must manually attach tokens to Authorization headers or query params.

Because of the XSS concern, most security professionals recommend using HTTP-only cookies for storing refresh tokens (and typically access tokens as well). If you need to pass the token in an Authorization: Bearer ... header from the client, it becomes more complicated to read them from an httpOnly cookie, so some teams store the short-lived access token in memory and keep the refresh token in an httpOnly cookie.

---

2. How to Refresh Safely?

Most JWT setups use short-lived access tokens (e.g., 1 hour) combined with long-lived refresh tokens (e.g., 7 days or 30 days). If your user is active, you refresh the access token silently in the background. The two main approaches:

1. Check for 401 → Attempt Refresh

   • Whenever your frontend makes a request that returns a 401 Unauthorized (because the access token is expired or invalid), you automatically call your “refresh” endpoint (with the refresh token in the HTTP-only cookie) to get a new access token. Then you retry the original request.

2. Proactive Refresh (Token Expiry Check)

   • Before each API call (or at certain intervals), decode the access token in the client (or on the server in Next.js) to see if it’s near expiration. If it is, call the “refresh” endpoint preemptively.
   • This avoids the first request failing with 401, but it means you are always decoding the JWT in JavaScript, which partially defeats the advantage of a fully httpOnly setup. (Though you might store only the access token in memory or a non-httpOnly cookie for a short time.)

In practice, the 401 approach tends to be simpler to implement. Many people use an Axios (or fetch) interceptor that, on any 401 response, tries to refresh once and then retries the request. If that also fails (e.g., the refresh token is invalid or expired), then you log the user out.

---

3. Are You Using a “Modern & Best” Pattern?

• JWT + Refresh in HttpOnly Cookies is still quite standard for a stateless approach.
• Session Cookies (server-side sessions) are also common in Django but less so if you specifically want a “JWT-based” approach that can scale more easily or integrate with third-party APIs.
• If you like the Next.js ecosystem’s built-in solutions, some folks use NextAuth.js (though it’s more popular for OAuth providers, social logins, etc.). That said, NextAuth with a custom Django backend is possible but not necessarily straightforward.

Short answer: Storing the JWTs in an httpOnly cookie and implementing a refresh flow (401-based or proactive) is currently the recommended pattern for many production apps that use Next.js + Django. Just be sure to handle:

• Cookie settings (sameSite, secure, httpOnly) correctly for your environment.
• Refresh flows so the user isn’t forced to log in every hour.
• CSRF if you are mixing Django’s built-in CSRF with JWT calls (sometimes not an issue if you rely purely on JWT).

---

Practical Steps to Strengthen Your Implementation

1. Keep Using HttpOnly Cookies for both the access token and the refresh token.
2. Implement a 401 Interceptor in your client (or Next.js server actions if you’re mostly doing SSR) to refresh automatically if the access token is expired.
3. Use Secure + sameSite = 'none' in production if the site is on different domains, plus credentials: 'include' in fetch calls.
4. Log the user out (clear cookies) if refresh fails for any reason.
5. If you’re using axios, it’s easy to add an interceptor. If using fetch, you can write a small wrapper function.

With that, you’ll have a robust, modern, and secure approach to Next.js + Django + JWT authentication.

Below is a revised version of your server-side code with some added best-practice adjustments. In addition, I’ll show you how to set up a fetch wrapper for use on the client that automatically attempts a token refresh if it sees a 401 response. This “401 interceptor” approach ensures you don’t force the user to log in again if their access token has expired but their refresh token is still valid.

---

1) Revised Server Actions (actions.ts)

Note: If you’re calling your Django API purely from Next.js server actions (on the server side), then you can catch 401s server-side too. However, most people eventually make client-side fetch calls, e.g., from React components. That’s where a 401 interceptor is easiest to implement.

Key changes in the snippet below:

1. We now check response.ok in handleRefresh(). If the refresh endpoint returns a 401 or 403, we reset cookies and return null.
2. We explicitly mention sameSite: "none" in the cookie options if you’re truly cross-site (e.g., Next.js on localhost:3000, Django on localhost:8000).
3. We keep secure: false for local development. In production with HTTPS, set it to true.
4. We do a bit more console logging in the refresh flow so we can see if it fails or not.

ts
"use server";

import { cookies } from "next/headers";

/**
 * Refresh the access token using the stored refresh token.
 */
export async function handleRefresh() {
  console.log("handleRefresh");

  const refreshToken = await getRefreshToken();
  if (!refreshToken) {
    console.log("No refresh token found, resetting auth cookies.");
    await resetAuthCookies();
    return null;
  }

  try {
    const response = await fetch("http://localhost:8000/api/auth/token/refresh/", {
      method: "POST",
      headers: {
        Accept: "application/json",
        "Content-Type": "application/json",
      },
      // Typically, if your Next.js app is on a different port (3000), 
      // you'd need credentials: 'include' for cross-site fetches.
      // But "server actions" can read/write cookies directly with `cookies()`,
      // so you might not need that here.
      body: JSON.stringify({ refresh: refreshToken }),
    });

    if (!response.ok) {
      // Possibly 401 or 403 if the refresh token is invalid or expired
      console.error("Refresh failed with status:", response.status);
      await resetAuthCookies();
      return null;
    }

    const data = await response.json();
    console.log("Response - Refresh:", data);

    if (data?.access) {
      const cookieStore = cookies();
      cookieStore.set("session_access_token", data.access, {
        httpOnly: true,
        // NOTE: For local dev only:
        secure: false,
        // If truly cross-site, you typically want sameSite: "none" here:
        // sameSite: "none",
        maxAge: 60 * 60, // 1 hour in seconds
        path: "/",
      });

      return data.access;
    } else {
      // If refresh fails or "access" is not in the response
      console.log("No 'access' field in refresh response, resetting cookies.");
      await resetAuthCookies();
      return null;
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Refresh error:", error);
    await resetAuthCookies();
    return null;
  }
}

/**
 * Handle the login process by storing userId/accessToken/refreshToken as cookies.
 */
export async function handleLogin(
  userId: string,
  accessToken: string,
  refreshToken: string
) {
  const cookieStore = cookies();

  cookieStore.set("session_userid", userId, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // if cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7, // 7 days
    path: "/",
  });

  cookieStore.set("session_access_token", accessToken, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // if cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60, // 1 hour
    path: "/",
  });

  cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", refreshToken, {
    httpOnly: true,
    secure: false,
    // sameSite: "none", // if cross-site
    maxAge: 60 * 60 * 24 * 7, // 7 days
    path: "/",
  });
}

/**
 * Resets (clears) all authentication-related cookies.
 */
export async function resetAuthCookies() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();

  // Clearing or overwriting with empty values
  cookieStore.set("session_userid", "", { path: "/" });
  cookieStore.set("session_access_token", "", { path: "/" });
  cookieStore.set("session_refresh_token", "", { path: "/" });
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_userid" cookie (if any).
 */
export async function getUserId() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  const userId = cookieStore.get("session_userid")?.value;
  return userId || null;
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_access_token" cookie.
 * If it's missing, tries to refresh it once.
 */
export async function getAccessToken() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  let accessToken = cookieStore.get("session_access_token")?.value;

  // This only attempts a refresh if the cookie doesn't exist at all.
  // If the token is expired (but still in the cookie), you won't refresh here.
  // That's why on the client, you often do a 401-based refresh approach.
  if (!accessToken) {
    accessToken = await handleRefresh();
  }

  return accessToken;
}

/**
 * Retrieves the "session_refresh_token" cookie (if any).
 */
export async function getRefreshToken() {
  const cookieStore = cookies();
  const refreshToken = cookieStore.get("session_refresh_token")?.value;
  return refreshToken || null;
}

---

2) Adding a 401-Based “Fetch Wrapper” on the Client Side

If you make client-side fetch calls in Next.js (e.g., inside your React components), you normally need to handle 401 responses. The simplest approach is to write a small utility function like this:

ts
// utils/clientFetch.ts

export async function clientFetch(
  url: string,
  options: RequestInit = {}
): Promise<Response> {
  // 1. Always send cookies with cross-site requests
  //    so the server can read 'session_access_token', etc.
  // 2. We set credentials: 'include' to ensure cookies are included 
  //    if your Next and Django are on different domains/ports
  const mergedOptions = {
    ...options,
    credentials: "include" as RequestCredentials,
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
      Accept: "application/json",
      ...(options.headers || {}),
    },
  };

  let response = await fetch(url, mergedOptions);

  if (response.status === 401) {
    // Attempt to refresh the token on the server
    // This calls your Next.js server action which
    // calls "handleRefresh" behind the scenes:
    await fetch("/api/refresh", { method: "POST" });

    // Then retry the original request
    response = await fetch(url, mergedOptions);
  }

  return response;
}

How to Make This Work

1. Create a Next.js API Route (/api/refresh) that calls your server action’s handleRefresh(). For example:

   ts
   // app/api/refresh/route.ts
   import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
   import { handleRefresh } from "@/utils/actions"; 
   
   export async function POST() {
     await handleRefresh();
     return NextResponse.json({ ok: true });
   }

   • Or you could call handleRefresh() directly if your Next.js version allows server actions from the client. But typically, you can’t just call a server action from a plain fetch. You need an endpoint or special form.

2. Use clientFetch anywhere in your client code (React components, etc.) instead of the default fetch. For example:

   ts
   import { clientFetch } from "@/utils/clientFetch";
   
   export default function SomeComponent() {
     async function loadData() {
       const resp = await clientFetch("http://localhost:8000/api/some-protected-route", {
         method: "GET",
       });
       if (resp.ok) {
         const data = await resp.json();
         console.log("Loaded data:", data);
       } else {
         // handle errors
       }
     }
   
     return <button onClick={loadData}>Load Data</button>;
   }

3. If the access_token cookie is expired, Django will return a 401 for that “protected” route. Your clientFetch sees the 401, calls /api/refresh → triggers handleRefresh() on the server → sets a new session_access_token cookie → retries the request → and hopefully succeeds.

---

3) Summary

1. Server-Side (the code you already have in actions.ts) – improved logging, explicit checks, correct cookie attributes (sameSite, secure), etc.
2. Client-Side (clientFetch.ts) – a small fetch wrapper that automatically calls /api/refresh and retries if it sees 401. This pattern avoids forcing your users to manually re-login if their token expires but the refresh token is still valid.
3. Cookie Settings – If you’re on localhost:3000 (Next) → localhost:8000 (Django), that’s considered cross-site. Modern browsers require:
   • sameSite: "none"
   • secure: true (in production over HTTPS)
   • credentials: "include" in fetch
4. Keep your Django SIMPLE_JWT settings as you have them, with a 1-hour ACCESS_TOKEN_LIFETIME and a 7-day REFRESH_TOKEN_LIFETIME. That’s perfectly fine, as long as you handle refresh logic properly.

With these changes in place, you’ll have a robust token-based auth setup that automatically refreshes the user’s access token on the client side—and uses HTTP-only cookies to protect the tokens against XSS.

1. Why You See Duplication

Right now, you have two different approaches for making requests:

1. apiService (using a custom request function) that calls getAccessToken() server logic directly and attaches Authorization headers.
2. clientFetch (a wrapper around fetch) that automatically attempts a refresh if it gets a 401.

They’re each trying to solve the same core problem—ensuring valid tokens and making requests to the Django backend—but in slightly different ways. That inevitably creates some redundancy and potential confusion.

---

2. Three Common Patterns to Simplify

You typically want one clear place in your client code that handles:

1. Attaching the token (if needed),
2. Handling expired tokens (401 responses), and
3. Retrieving a new token if possible (via refresh token).

Below are three patterns in ascending complexity:

Pattern A: “All Server-Side”

• Next.js Server Actions or SSR route handlers fetch Django endpoints behind the scenes.
• You read/write the cookies (access token, refresh token) from inside Next.js server code only.
• The client (React) never directly calls the Django API. Instead, it calls your own Next.js endpoints (or server actions), which handle the logic.
• Downside: Potentially more round trips or you lose some client interactivity. But it keeps token logic on the server.

Pattern B: “Client Only”

• Store the tokens in httpOnly cookies.
• All calls from the React side go through a single “fetch wrapper” or an Axios interceptor.
• If you get a 401, you call a Next.js API route (/api/refresh) or a server action to refresh the token, then retry once.
• You do not call getAccessToken() from a server action in your client code, because that server action can’t simply pass the token out to the client as an httpOnly cookie. Instead, the refresh has to happen in an API route or server action, which sets the new cookie.
• Downside: You have to carefully handle cross-site cookie issues (CORS, sameSite, secure, etc.).

Pattern C: “Hybrid”

• Keep short-lived (one hour) “access” tokens in memory or in a non-httpOnly cookie.
• Keep the refresh token in an httpOnly cookie.
• If the in-memory access token is expired, your fetch/axios calls a Next.js route to refresh.
• Downside: Slightly more complicated to implement properly, but it can be more flexible in some SSR + CSR combos.

---

3. How to “Unify” or “Simplify” Your Current Setup

1. Decide Where You Want the Refresh Logic:

   • If you want the client (browser) to handle refreshing automatically whenever it hits a 401, then you don’t need to manually call getAccessToken() in your request function. Instead, you could rely on something like your clientFetch approach.
   • If you want to do everything from the server side (using Next.js server actions or SSR), then you’d rarely need the 401 logic in the client.

2. Pick a Single Approach:

   • If you prefer the 401-based approach, you can unify everything around your clientFetch method. For every request from the browser, call clientFetch("/some/endpoint", { method: "GET" }), and let it handle tokens (including refresh on 401).
   • That means your apiService that does get/post/put/delete can internally just call clientFetch.
   • Alternatively, if you love the style of apiService.get(...), you can put the 401 refresh logic in that same code. But then you might not even need clientFetch.ts if they both do the same job.

3. Do You Need Authorization: Bearer ...?

   • If you store the access token in an httpOnly cookie, you typically do not need to set the Authorization header manually. The browser will send the cookie automatically.
   • Django would read the token from the cookie if you’ve configured it that way. (But some setups do prefer the token in the Authorization header. If so, you need a non-httpOnly storage to read it from the client—unless you do server proxies.)

4. Fetch vs. Axios

   • No big difference for modern apps. Fetch is fine; Axios has some convenience features (built-in interceptors, automatic JSON transform, etc.).
   • If your entire team is used to Axios interceptors, it can simplify the 401-refresh logic, but using a custom fetch wrapper is equally valid.

---

4. Putting It All Together

Here’s a unified approach using your apiService style, but adding 401 refresh logic right there (no separate clientFetch needed).

1. Create a Next.js API route or server action for refreshing:

ts
// app/api/refresh/route.ts
import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
import { handleRefresh } from "@/lib/actions";

export async function POST() {
  const newAccess = await handleRefresh();
  return NextResponse.json({ ok: !!newAccess });
}

2. Modify your apiService to do a 401-check and call /api/refresh:

ts
import { cookies } from "next/headers"; 
// or for the client, you might not have next/headers. 
// you'd do a fetch to /api/refresh.

async function request(
  method: string,
  url: string,
  data: any = null,
  withToken: boolean = true
): Promise<any> {

  // Always do credentials: 'include' so that cookies get sent cross-site.
  // If your Django is at a different origin, you need that.
  const fetchOptions: RequestInit = {
    method,
    headers: {
      Accept: "application/json",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    },
    body: data ? JSON.stringify(data) : null,
    credentials: "include",
  };

  let response = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_HOST}${url}`, fetchOptions);
  
  // If we got a 401, let's attempt to refresh once
  if (response.status === 401 && withToken) {
    console.log("Got 401, attempting refresh...");
    const refreshResp = await fetch("/api/refresh", {
      method: "POST",
      credentials: "include",
    });
    const refreshData = await refreshResp.json();
    console.log("Refresh result:", refreshData);
    
    // If refresh was successful, let's retry the original request once
    if (refreshResp.ok && refreshData.ok) {
      response = await fetch(`${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_HOST}${url}`, fetchOptions);
    }
  }

  let responseData: any;
  try {
    responseData = await response.json();
  } catch (jsonError) {
    const text = await response.text();
    throw new Error(`Could not parse JSON. Status: ${response.status}, Body: ${text}`);
  }

  if (!response.ok) {
    throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${JSON.stringify(responseData)}`);
  }

  return responseData;
}

const apiService = {
  get: async (url: string): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("GET", url);
    return request("GET", url);
  },
  post: async (url: string, data: any): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("POST", url, data);
    return request("POST", url, data, true);
  },
  postWithoutToken: async (url: string, data: any): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("POST WITHOUT TOKEN", url, data);
    return request("POST", url, data, false);
  },
  put: async (url: string, data: any): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("PUT", url, data);
    return request("PUT", url, data, true);
  },
  patch: async (url: string, data: any): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("PATCH", url, data);
    return request("PATCH", url, data, true);
  },
  delete: async (url: string): Promise<any> => {
    console.log("DELETE", url);
    return request("DELETE", url, null, true);
  },
};

export default apiService;

In this approach:

• We don’t even bother calling getAccessToken() in the client. The token is in an httpOnly cookie, so you can’t read it in JS anyway. The browser automatically sends that cookie if you do credentials: "include".
• If Django responds with 401, we attempt to refresh by calling our Next.js /api/refresh route, which triggers your server-side handleRefresh() (and sets a new session_access_token in an httpOnly cookie). Then we retry exactly once.
• If it fails again or the refresh route is 401, the user is effectively logged out (you could handle that scenario more gracefully, e.g. redirect to login).

This single file handles your GET/POST/PUT/PATCH/DELETE logic, attaches cookies automatically, and does the 401 refresh.

---

5. So, Is Your Current Code “Too Redundant”? Should You Switch to Axios?

• Yes, having both apiService and clientFetch is a bit redundant if they’re both trying to do 401-based refresh. You can unify them into one approach.
• Should you switch to Axios? Not necessarily. Using a single fetch wrapper is perfectly fine. Axios has interceptors that can do the 401 refresh flow more elegantly, but functionally it’s the same. If you or your team are more comfortable with Axios, go for it. Otherwise, your custom fetch approach is totally valid.

Bottom line: Pick a single approach and use it everywhere. That will simplify your code and help avoid confusion about which function is actually doing the refresh logic.