jaredhanson/passport · error · Error

req#logout requires a callback function

Error message

req#logout requires a callback function

What it means

Request#logout() (aliased as req.logOut) clears the user and, when a session manager is present, delegates to its logOut which needs a completion callback. Passport throws this error when the session manager is configured but the 'done' argument is not a function.

Source

Thrown at lib/http/request.js:65

/**
 * Terminate an existing login session.
 *
 * @api public
 */
req.logout =
req.logOut = function(options, done) {
  if (typeof options == 'function') {
    done = options;
    options = {};
  }
  options = options || {};
  
  var property = this._userProperty || 'user';
  
  this[property] = null;
  if (this._sessionManager) {
    if (typeof done != 'function') { throw new Error('req#logout requires a callback function'); }
    
    this._sessionManager.logOut(this, options, done);
  } else {
    done && done();
  }
};

/**
 * Test if request is authenticated.
 *
 * @return {Boolean}
 * @api public
 */
req.isAuthenticated = function() {
  var property = this._userProperty || 'user';
  return (this[property]) ? true : false;
};

View on GitHub (pinned to 217018dbc4)

Solutions

1. Add a callback: req.logout(function(err) { ... }) (Express 5: req.logout(function(err) { if (err) return next(err); ... }))
2. Pass options before the callback: req.logout({session: false}, cb)
3. Upgrade-related: if migrating to Passport 0.6+, update all req.logout() calls to include a callback
4. Verify the argument is actually a function — a mis-ordered options object triggers the throw

Example fix

// before
req.logout();
res.redirect('/');
// after
req.logout(function(err) {
  if (err) { return next(err); }
  res.redirect('/');
});

if (typeof callback !== 'function') {
  throw new TypeError('req.logout requires a callback function argument');
}

function isFn(x) { return typeof x === 'function'; }
// usage: if (!isFn(cb)) { /* fix call site before calling req.logout */ }

app.get('/logout', function(req, res, next) {
  try {
    req.logout(function(err) {
      if (err) { return next(err); }
      res.redirect('/');
    });
  } catch (e) { next(e); }
});

When it happens

Trigger: calling req.logout() with no callback in an app with session support, or passing a non-function as done (e.g. req.logout({session: false}) forgetting the trailing callback).

Common situations: Following pre-0.6 Passport examples where req.logout() without a callback was common; Express 5 / Passport 0.6+ made the callback effectively required for proper session clearing; calling logout inside sync handlers without next(err).

Related errors

• req#login requires a callback function
• Authentication strategies must have a name

AI-assisted analysis of jaredhanson/passport@217018dbc4 (2026-08-31). Data as JSON: /api/errors/766f86b39e842b27. Report an issue: GitHub.