expressJWT blocking public folder, how to unblock? - angularjs

Question

my express/node backend app and frontend app used to be separated, the backend run on localhost:3000 and the front end app was started with ng serve and run on localhost:4200
However after I builded the app, and all the frontend stuff got minified and put in /public/ folder, they both run on port 3000. I'm pretty sure they are supposed to work like that. Since i'm using expressJWT middleware to protect some of my routes for visitors without a token, i'm now getting unauthorized 401 when trying to receive the frontend app in the browser.....
As the image shows, i can aparently load the index.html without problems, i can also load all the external hosted sources like boots strap and jquery etc...
but my own .js files is 401. I think it is because of the expressJWT, but i'm not entirely sure. Does anyone know what the problem is and how to solve it ?
It could also be express that is wrong configured?
as you can see i have tried to "ubnlock" the public folder like so:
app.use(expressJWT({secret: secret}).unless({path :
['/','../public/*','/api/authenticate', '/api/register']}))
full express:
const express = require("express")
const bodyParser = require("body-parser")
const logger = require('morgan')
const api = require("./api/api")
const path = require('path')
const secret = require('./models/secrets')
const expressJWT = require('express-jwt')
const cors = require('cors');
const app = express()
app.set("json spaces", 2)
app.use(logger("dev"))
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }))
// CORS middleware
app.use(cors());
app.use(expressJWT({secret: secret}).unless({path : ['/','../public/*','/api/authenticate', '/api/register']}))
app.use("/api/", api)
app.get('*', (req,res) => {
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname, 'public/index.html'));
});
app.use(function (req, res, next) {
var err = new Error('Not Found')
err.status = 404
next(err)
})
app.use(function (err, req, res, next) {
console.error(err.status)
res.status(err.status || 500)
res.json({ msg: err.message, status: err.status })
})
// Body Parser middleware
app.use(bodyParser.json());
// Set static folder
app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));
//Call this to initialize mongoose
function initMongoose(dbConnection) {
require("./db/mongooseConnect")(dbConnection)
}
app.initMongoose = initMongoose
module.exports = app

Answer 1

use express static middleware before using jwt.
example:
app
.use(express.static(STATIC_PATH))
.use(
exjwt({ secret: SECRET }).unless({
path: [/\/api\/v1\/identify/]
})
)

Answer 2

I am not 100% sure but I guess you have problem with this line.
app.use(expressJWT({secret: secret}).unless({path : ['/','../public/*','/api/authenticate', '/api/register']}))
app.use("/api/", api)`
Try this. putting single / should solve.
app.use('/api',expressJwt({secret: secret}).unless({path: ['/','/public/*','/api/authenticate', '/api/register']});