title: Socket.IO Authentication
body: <p>I am trying to use Socket.IO in Node.js, and am trying to allow the server to give an identity to each of the Socket.IO clients.  As the socket code is outside the scope of the http server code, it doesn't have easy access to the request information sent, so I'm assuming it will need to be sent up during the connection.  What is the best way to</p>
  
  <p>1) get the information to the server about who is connecting via Socket.IO</p>
  
  <p>2) authenticate who they say they are (I'm currently using Express, if that makes things any easier)</p>