diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index d9e78d0..47d9f99 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
         "js-beautify": "^1.15.4",
         "marked": "^15.0.11",
         "morgan": "^1.10.0",
-        "node-fetch": "^3.3.2",
+        "node-fetch": "^2.7.0",
         "nodemailer": "^7.0.3",
         "nodemon": "^3.1.10",
         "path": "^0.12.7",
@@ -1868,29 +1868,6 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-OP2IUU6HeYKJi3i0z4A19kHMQoLVs4Hc+DPqqxI2h/DPZHTm/vjsfC6P0b4jCMy14XizLBqvndQ+UilD7707Jw==",
       "license": "MIT"
     },
-    "node_modules/fetch-blob": {
-      "version": "3.2.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/fetch-blob/-/fetch-blob-3.2.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-7yAQpD2UMJzLi1Dqv7qFYnPbaPx7ZfFK6PiIxQ4PfkGPyNyl2Ugx+a/umUonmKqjhM4DnfbMvdX6otXq83soQQ==",
-      "funding": [
-        {
-          "type": "github",
-          "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/jimmywarting"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "paypal",
-          "url": "https://paypal.me/jimmywarting"
-        }
-      ],
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "node-domexception": "^1.0.0",
-        "web-streams-polyfill": "^3.0.3"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": "^12.20 || >= 14.13"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/file-stream-rotator": {
       "version": "0.6.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/file-stream-rotator/-/file-stream-rotator-0.6.1.tgz",
@@ -1984,18 +1961,6 @@
         "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/isaacs"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/formdata-polyfill": {
-      "version": "4.0.10",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/formdata-polyfill/-/formdata-polyfill-4.0.10.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-buewHzMvYL29jdeQTVILecSaZKnt/RJWjoZCF5OW60Z67/GmSLBkOFM7qh1PI3zFNtJbaZL5eQu1vLfazOwj4g==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "dependencies": {
-        "fetch-blob": "^3.1.2"
-      },
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=12.20.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/forwarded": {
       "version": "0.2.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/forwarded/-/forwarded-0.2.0.tgz",
@@ -3534,51 +3499,24 @@
       "integrity": "sha512-5m3bsyrjFWE1xf7nz7YXdN4udnVtXK6/Yfgn5qnahL6bCkf2yKt4k3nuTKAtT4r3IG8JNR2ncsIMdZuAzJjHQQ==",
       "license": "MIT"
     },
-    "node_modules/node-domexception": {
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-domexception/-/node-domexception-1.0.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-/jKZoMpw0F8GRwl4/eLROPA3cfcXtLApP0QzLmUT/HuPCZWyB7IY9ZrMeKw2O/nFIqPQB3PVM9aYm0F312AXDQ==",
-      "deprecated": "Use your platform's native DOMException instead",
-      "funding": [
-        {
-          "type": "github",
-          "url": "https://github.com/sponsors/jimmywarting"
-        },
-        {
-          "type": "github",
-          "url": "https://paypal.me/jimmywarting"
-        }
-      ],
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">=10.5.0"
-      }
-    },
     "node_modules/node-fetch": {
-      "version": "3.3.2",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-3.3.2.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-dRB78srN/l6gqWulah9SrxeYnxeddIG30+GOqK/9OlLVyLg3HPnr6SqOWTWOXKRwC2eGYCkZ59NNuSgvSrpgOA==",
+      "version": "2.7.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-2.7.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-c4FRfUm/dbcWZ7U+1Wq0AwCyFL+3nt2bEw05wfxSz+DWpWsitgmSgYmy2dQdWyKC1694ELPqMs/YzUSNozLt8A==",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
-        "data-uri-to-buffer": "^4.0.0",
-        "fetch-blob": "^3.1.4",
-        "formdata-polyfill": "^4.0.10"
+        "whatwg-url": "^5.0.0"
       },
       "engines": {
-        "node": "^12.20.0 || ^14.13.1 || >=16.0.0"
+        "node": "4.x || >=6.0.0"
       },
-      "funding": {
-        "type": "opencollective",
-        "url": "https://opencollective.com/node-fetch"
-      }
-    },
-    "node_modules/node-fetch/node_modules/data-uri-to-buffer": {
-      "version": "4.0.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/data-uri-to-buffer/-/data-uri-to-buffer-4.0.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-0R9ikRb668HB7QDxT1vkpuUBtqc53YyAwMwGeUFKRojY/NWKvdZ+9UYtRfGmhqNbRkTSVpMbmyhXipFFv2cb/A==",
-      "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 12"
+      "peerDependencies": {
+        "encoding": "^0.1.0"
+      },
+      "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+        "encoding": {
+          "optional": true
+        }
       }
     },
     "node_modules/node-gyp": {
@@ -5372,6 +5310,12 @@
         "nodetouch": "bin/nodetouch.js"
       }
     },
+    "node_modules/tr46": {
+      "version": "0.0.3",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/tr46/-/tr46-0.0.3.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-N3WMsuqV66lT30CrXNbEjx4GEwlow3v6rr4mCcv6prnfwhS01rkgyFdjPNBYd9br7LpXV1+Emh01fHnq2Gdgrw==",
+      "license": "MIT"
+    },
     "node_modules/triple-beam": {
       "version": "1.4.1",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/triple-beam/-/triple-beam-1.4.1.tgz",
@@ -5576,13 +5520,20 @@
         "foreachasync": "^3.0.0"
       }
     },
-    "node_modules/web-streams-polyfill": {
-      "version": "3.3.3",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/web-streams-polyfill/-/web-streams-polyfill-3.3.3.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-d2JWLCivmZYTSIoge9MsgFCZrt571BikcWGYkjC1khllbTeDlGqZ2D8vD8E/lJa8WGWbb7Plm8/XJYV7IJHZZw==",
+    "node_modules/webidl-conversions": {
+      "version": "3.0.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/webidl-conversions/-/webidl-conversions-3.0.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-2JAn3z8AR6rjK8Sm8orRC0h/bcl/DqL7tRPdGZ4I1CjdF+EaMLmYxBHyXuKL849eucPFhvBoxMsflfOb8kxaeQ==",
+      "license": "BSD-2-Clause"
+    },
+    "node_modules/whatwg-url": {
+      "version": "5.0.0",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/whatwg-url/-/whatwg-url-5.0.0.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-saE57nupxk6v3HY35+jzBwYa0rKSy0XR8JSxZPwgLr7ys0IBzhGviA1/TUGJLmSVqs8pb9AnvICXEuOHLprYTw==",
       "license": "MIT",
-      "engines": {
-        "node": ">= 8"
+      "dependencies": {
+        "tr46": "~0.0.3",
+        "webidl-conversions": "^3.0.0"
       }
     },
     "node_modules/which": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index fc1f559..173746e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     "js-beautify": "^1.15.4",
     "marked": "^15.0.11",
     "morgan": "^1.10.0",
-    "node-fetch": "^3.3.2",
+    "node-fetch": "^2.7.0",
     "nodemailer": "^7.0.3",
     "nodemon": "^3.1.10",
     "path": "^0.12.7",
diff --git a/src/middleware/authentication.js b/src/middleware/authentication.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96cdd27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/middleware/authentication.js
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// middleware/authCheck.js
+const fetch = require("node-fetch"); // if not using global fetch
+const VERIFY_URL = "https://auth.jasonpoage.com/api/verify";
+const CACHE_TTL_MS = 3000;
+
+const sessionCache = new Map();
+
+function cacheKey(req) {
+  return req.headers["cookie"] || req.headers["authorization"] || "";
+}
+
+function isCachedValid(key) {
+  const entry = sessionCache.get(key);
+  if (!entry) return false;
+  return Date.now() - entry.timestamp < CACHE_TTL_MS && entry.status === 200;
+}
+
+async function checkAuthFallback(req) {
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(VERIFY_URL, {
+      headers: { cookie: req.headers["cookie"] || "" },
+      credentials: "include"
+    });
+
+    const body = await res.text();
+
+    console.log("[AuthCheck] Response status:", res.status);
+    console.log("[AuthCheck] Response headers:", Object.fromEntries(res.headers.entries()));
+    console.log("[AuthCheck] Response body:", body);
+
+    sessionCache.set(cacheKey(req), { timestamp: Date.now(), status: res.status });
+
+    return res.status === 200;
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error("[AuthCheck] Fetch error:", err);
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = async (req, res, next) => {
+  const remoteUser = req.headers["remote-user"];
+  if (remoteUser) {
+    req.isAuthenticated = true;
+    console.log("Authenticated: ", remoteUser)
+    return next();
+  }
+
+  const key = cacheKey(req);
+  if (isCachedValid(key) !== false ) {
+    req.isAuthenticated = true;
+    console.log("Authenticated Key", key)
+    return next();
+  }
+
+  req.isAuthenticated = await checkAuthFallback(req);
+
+  console.log("Authenticated Result", req.isAuthenticated)
+  next();
+};
diff --git a/src/middleware/index.js b/src/middleware/index.js
index 11581c1..2a3757b 100644
--- a/src/middleware/index.js
+++ b/src/middleware/index.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 const errorHandler = require("./errorHandler");
 const baseContext = require("./baseContext");
 const hbs = require("./hbs");
+const authentication = require("./authentication.js");
 
 const {
   loggingMiddleware,
@@ -21,10 +22,7 @@
 
 function setupApp() {
   const app = express();
-  app.use((req, res, next) => {
-    req.isAuthenticated = !!req.headers['remote-user'];
-    next();
-  });
+  app.use(authentication);
   const excludedPaths = ['/contact', '/analytics', '/track'];
   const DATA_LIMIT_BYTES = 10 * 1024; // 10k
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index fbe8367..95801d8 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -684,11 +684,6 @@
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/culvert/-/culvert-0.1.2.tgz"
   integrity sha512-yi1x3EAWKjQTreYWeSd98431AV+IEE0qoDyOoaHJ7KJ21gv6HtBXHVLX74opVSGqcR8/AbjJBHAHpcOy2bj5Gg==
 
-data-uri-to-buffer@^4.0.0:
-  version "4.0.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/data-uri-to-buffer/-/data-uri-to-buffer-4.0.1.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-0R9ikRb668HB7QDxT1vkpuUBtqc53YyAwMwGeUFKRojY/NWKvdZ+9UYtRfGmhqNbRkTSVpMbmyhXipFFv2cb/A==
-
 data-uri-to-buffer@^6.0.2:
   version "6.0.2"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/data-uri-to-buffer/-/data-uri-to-buffer-6.0.2.tgz"
@@ -827,7 +822,7 @@
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/encodeurl/-/encodeurl-2.0.0.tgz"
   integrity sha512-Q0n9HRi4m6JuGIV1eFlmvJB7ZEVxu93IrMyiMsGC0lrMJMWzRgx6WGquyfQgZVb31vhGgXnfmPNNXmxnOkRBrg==
 
-encoding@^0.1.12:
+encoding@^0.1.0, encoding@^0.1.12:
   version "0.1.13"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/encoding/-/encoding-0.1.13.tgz"
   integrity sha512-ETBauow1T35Y/WZMkio9jiM0Z5xjHHmJ4XmjZOq1l/dXz3lr2sRn87nJy20RupqSh1F2m3HHPSp8ShIPQJrJ3A==
@@ -1007,14 +1002,6 @@
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/fecha/-/fecha-4.2.3.tgz"
   integrity sha512-OP2IUU6HeYKJi3i0z4A19kHMQoLVs4Hc+DPqqxI2h/DPZHTm/vjsfC6P0b4jCMy14XizLBqvndQ+UilD7707Jw==
 
-fetch-blob@^3.1.2, fetch-blob@^3.1.4:
-  version "3.2.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/fetch-blob/-/fetch-blob-3.2.0.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-7yAQpD2UMJzLi1Dqv7qFYnPbaPx7ZfFK6PiIxQ4PfkGPyNyl2Ugx+a/umUonmKqjhM4DnfbMvdX6otXq83soQQ==
-  dependencies:
-    node-domexception "^1.0.0"
-    web-streams-polyfill "^3.0.3"
-
 file-stream-rotator@^0.6.1:
   version "0.6.1"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/file-stream-rotator/-/file-stream-rotator-0.6.1.tgz"
@@ -1069,13 +1056,6 @@
     cross-spawn "^7.0.6"
     signal-exit "^4.0.1"
 
-formdata-polyfill@^4.0.10:
-  version "4.0.10"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/formdata-polyfill/-/formdata-polyfill-4.0.10.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-buewHzMvYL29jdeQTVILecSaZKnt/RJWjoZCF5OW60Z67/GmSLBkOFM7qh1PI3zFNtJbaZL5eQu1vLfazOwj4g==
-  dependencies:
-    fetch-blob "^3.1.2"
-
 forwarded@0.2.0:
   version "0.2.0"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/forwarded/-/forwarded-0.2.0.tgz"
@@ -1956,19 +1936,12 @@
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-addon-api/-/node-addon-api-7.1.1.tgz"
   integrity sha512-5m3bsyrjFWE1xf7nz7YXdN4udnVtXK6/Yfgn5qnahL6bCkf2yKt4k3nuTKAtT4r3IG8JNR2ncsIMdZuAzJjHQQ==
 
-node-domexception@^1.0.0:
-  version "1.0.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-domexception/-/node-domexception-1.0.0.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-/jKZoMpw0F8GRwl4/eLROPA3cfcXtLApP0QzLmUT/HuPCZWyB7IY9ZrMeKw2O/nFIqPQB3PVM9aYm0F312AXDQ==
-
-node-fetch@^3.3.2:
-  version "3.3.2"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-3.3.2.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-dRB78srN/l6gqWulah9SrxeYnxeddIG30+GOqK/9OlLVyLg3HPnr6SqOWTWOXKRwC2eGYCkZ59NNuSgvSrpgOA==
+node-fetch@^2.7.0:
+  version "2.7.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/node-fetch/-/node-fetch-2.7.0.tgz"
+  integrity sha512-c4FRfUm/dbcWZ7U+1Wq0AwCyFL+3nt2bEw05wfxSz+DWpWsitgmSgYmy2dQdWyKC1694ELPqMs/YzUSNozLt8A==
   dependencies:
-    data-uri-to-buffer "^4.0.0"
-    fetch-blob "^3.1.4"
-    formdata-polyfill "^4.0.10"
+    whatwg-url "^5.0.0"
 
 node-gyp@8.x:
   version "8.4.1"
@@ -2972,6 +2945,11 @@
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/touch/-/touch-3.1.1.tgz"
   integrity sha512-r0eojU4bI8MnHr8c5bNo7lJDdI2qXlWWJk6a9EAFG7vbhTjElYhBVS3/miuE0uOuoLdb8Mc/rVfsmm6eo5o9GA==
 
+tr46@~0.0.3:
+  version "0.0.3"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/tr46/-/tr46-0.0.3.tgz"
+  integrity sha512-N3WMsuqV66lT30CrXNbEjx4GEwlow3v6rr4mCcv6prnfwhS01rkgyFdjPNBYd9br7LpXV1+Emh01fHnq2Gdgrw==
+
 triple-beam@^1.3.0, triple-beam@^1.4.1:
   version "1.4.1"
   resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/triple-beam/-/triple-beam-1.4.1.tgz"
@@ -3098,10 +3076,18 @@
   dependencies:
     foreachasync "^3.0.0"
 
-web-streams-polyfill@^3.0.3:
-  version "3.3.3"
-  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/web-streams-polyfill/-/web-streams-polyfill-3.3.3.tgz"
-  integrity sha512-d2JWLCivmZYTSIoge9MsgFCZrt571BikcWGYkjC1khllbTeDlGqZ2D8vD8E/lJa8WGWbb7Plm8/XJYV7IJHZZw==
+webidl-conversions@^3.0.0:
+  version "3.0.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/webidl-conversions/-/webidl-conversions-3.0.1.tgz"
+  integrity sha512-2JAn3z8AR6rjK8Sm8orRC0h/bcl/DqL7tRPdGZ4I1CjdF+EaMLmYxBHyXuKL849eucPFhvBoxMsflfOb8kxaeQ==
+
+whatwg-url@^5.0.0:
+  version "5.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmjs.org/whatwg-url/-/whatwg-url-5.0.0.tgz"
+  integrity sha512-saE57nupxk6v3HY35+jzBwYa0rKSy0XR8JSxZPwgLr7ys0IBzhGviA1/TUGJLmSVqs8pb9AnvICXEuOHLprYTw==
+  dependencies:
+    tr46 "~0.0.3"
+    webidl-conversions "^3.0.0"
 
 which@^2.0.1, which@^2.0.2:
   version "2.0.2"