Remember me functionality in Laravel - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Remember me functionality

User submits login form

↓

Check credentials

Yes No↓

Check 'Remember Me' box?

Yes/No↓

Set session and optionally cookie

↓

User logged in

↓

On next visit

↓

Check session

Yes No↓

Allow access

Yes No↓

Log user in

This flow shows how Laravel handles login with 'Remember Me': check credentials, set session and cookie if requested, then on next visits use session or cookie to keep user logged in.

Execution Sample

Laravel

<?php
if (Auth::attempt($credentials, $remember)) {
    // User logged in
}

This code tries to log in a user with credentials and a remember flag to keep them logged in across sessions.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Credentials Valid?	Remember Me Checked?	Session Set?	Cookie Set?	User Logged In?
1	User submits login form	N/A	N/A	No	No	No
2	Check credentials	Yes	N/A	No	No	No
3	Check 'Remember Me' box	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
4	Call Auth::attempt with remember=true	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
5	User visits site again	N/A	N/A	No	Yes	No
6	Check session	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes
7	Session invalid, check remember cookie	N/A	N/A	No	Yes	No
8	Cookie valid, log user in automatically	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes
9	User accesses site without login prompt	N/A	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes
10	User logs out, clear session and cookie	N/A	N/A	No	No	No

💡 User is logged in if credentials are valid and session or remember cookie exists; otherwise login fails or redirects.

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 4	After Step 6	After Step 8	After Step 10
credentials_valid	N/A	true	true	N/A	N/A	N/A
remember_checked	N/A	N/A	true	N/A	N/A	N/A
session_set	false	false	true	true	true	false
cookie_set	false	false	true	true	true	false
user_logged_in	false	false	true	true	true	false

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the user stay logged in even after closing the browser?

Because the 'Remember Me' checkbox was checked, Laravel sets a cookie (step 4) that keeps the user logged in on future visits (step 8), even if the session expires (step 6).

What happens if the credentials are invalid?

The login attempt fails at step 2, so no session or cookie is set, and the user is not logged in (see step 2 row in execution_table).

Why is the session sometimes not set but the user is still logged in?

Because the remember cookie can log the user in automatically (step 8) even if the session expired (step 6), Laravel recreates the session from the cookie.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution table, at which step is the remember cookie set?

A Step 6

B Step 4

C Step 8

D Step 10

💡 Hint

Check the 'Cookie Set?' column in the execution_table rows.

According to the variable tracker, what is the value of 'user_logged_in' after step 6?

A true

B N/A

C false

D undefined

💡 Hint

Look at the 'user_logged_in' row and the column 'After Step 6' in variable_tracker.

If the 'Remember Me' box is not checked, how does the execution table change at step 4?

A Neither session nor cookie is set

B Session and cookie are both set

C Session is set but cookie is not

D Only cookie is set

💡 Hint

Refer to the 'Remember Me Checked?' and 'Cookie Set?' columns at step 4 in execution_table.

Concept Snapshot

Laravel Remember Me functionality:
- Use Auth::attempt($credentials, $remember) to login
- $remember true sets a long-lived cookie
- Session keeps user logged in during visit
- Cookie keeps user logged in across browser closes
- On next visit, Laravel checks session then cookie
- Logout clears both session and cookie

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how Laravel's Remember Me works. When a user submits the login form, Laravel checks credentials. If valid and the Remember Me box is checked, Laravel sets both a session and a cookie. The session keeps the user logged in during the browser session. The cookie keeps the user logged in even after closing the browser. On the next visit, Laravel first checks the session. If the session expired, it checks the remember cookie. If the cookie is valid, Laravel logs the user in automatically by recreating the session. If credentials are invalid, login fails and no session or cookie is set. Logging out clears both session and cookie. This flow helps users stay logged in conveniently and securely.