Sitecore.Context.IsLoggedIn always returns false with Areas

Question

I have created an MVC area in the solution:

Areas  
|_ CAG  
  |_ Controllers  
  |_ Models  
  |_ Views  

When published, the Areas folder goes into the root of the instance's webroot.

Here is the Area registration:

public class CAGAreaRegistration : AreaRegistration 
    {
        public override string AreaName 
        {
            get 
            {
                return "CAG";
            }
        }

        public override void RegisterArea(AreaRegistrationContext context)
        {
            //to load default page when the url is '<instance>/ContentAuthoringGuide
            context.MapRoute(
                "CAG_Home",
                "CAG/{id}",
                new { controller = "CAG", action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
            );

            context.MapRoute(
                "CAG_default",
                "CAG/{controller}/{action}/{id}",
                new { action = "Index", id = UrlParameter.Optional }
            );             
        }
    }

The page URL will be https://myproject/CAG/{item-id}

This is not a Sitecore page item

In the Index method of the Controller, I can access the Sitecore items. But here Sitecore.Context.IsLoggedIn always returns false.

public ActionResult Index(string id)
{
   bool isLoggedIn = Sitecore.Context.IsLoggedIn;
   var contextSite = Sitecore.Context.Site; //returns "website"
}

I have not created any patch configs.

Using Sitecore 10.1.2

Answer 1

To avoid complications with testing, make sure to use different browsers or a private browser tab if you have an auth system on the front end that's separate from the backend.

Give this a try:

using System.Web.Mvc;
using System.Web.Routing;
using Sitecore.Pipelines;

namespace Client.Foundation.POC.Pipelines.Initialize
{
  public class InitializeRoutes : Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Loader.InitializeRoutes
  {
      public override void Process(PipelineArgs args)
      {
          RouteTable.Routes.MapRoute(
              "VisitData", // Route name
              "api/visit/data",
              new { controller = "Visit", action = "Data" },
              new[] { "Client.Foundation.POC.Controllers" });
      }
  }
}

<configuration xmlns:patch="http://www.sitecore.net/xmlconfig/">
  <sitecore>
    <pipelines>
      <initialize>
        <processor type="Client.Foundation.POC.Pipelines.Initialize.InitializeRoutes, Client.Foundation.POC" patch:before="processor[@type='Sitecore.Mvc.Pipelines.Loader.InitializeRoutes, Sitecore.Mvc']"/>
      </initialize>
    </pipelines>
  </sitecore>
</configuration>