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docs: CLAUDE.md updates
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CLAUDE.md
+300
CLAUDE.md
···
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- Tests that pass locally but fail in CI
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- Tests that require manual setup or specific data
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- Tests with hardcoded timing (`setTimeout`, `sleep`) - use proper mocks
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- Placeholder/stub tests that don't actually test anything
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**Placeholder tests are prohibited:**
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```typescript
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// ❌ FORBIDDEN: Stub tests provide false confidence
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it("assigns role successfully when admin has authority", async () => {
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expect(true).toBe(true); // NOT A REAL TEST
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});
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// ✅ REQUIRED: Real tests with actual assertions
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it("assigns role successfully when admin has authority", async () => {
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const admin = await createUser(ctx, "Admin");
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const member = await createUser(ctx, "Member");
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const moderatorRole = await createRole(ctx, "Moderator", [], 20);
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const res = await app.request(`/api/admin/members/${member.did}/role`, {
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method: "POST",
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headers: authHeaders(admin),
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body: JSON.stringify({ roleUri: moderatorRole.uri })
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});
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expect(res.status).toBe(200);
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const data = await res.json();
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expect(data.roleAssigned).toBe("Moderator");
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// Verify database state changed
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const updatedMember = await getMembership(ctx, member.did);
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expect(updatedMember.roleUri).toBe(moderatorRole.uri);
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});
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```
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**Why this matters:** Stub tests pass in CI, creating false confidence that code is tested. They hide bugs that would be caught by real tests with actual assertions.
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**If you're unsure how to test something:** Leave a `// TODO: Add test for X` comment and create a Linear issue. Never commit a stub test that pretends to test something.
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### Example Test Structure
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···
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}
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```
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## Middleware Patterns
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### Middleware Composition
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**CRITICAL: Authentication must precede authorization checks.**
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When using multiple middleware functions, order matters:
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```typescript
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// ✅ CORRECT: requireAuth runs first, sets c.get("user")
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app.post(
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"/api/topics",
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requireAuth(ctx), // Step 1: Restore session, set user
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requirePermission(ctx, "createTopics"), // Step 2: Check permission
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async (c) => {
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const user = c.get("user")!; // Safe - guaranteed by middleware chain
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// ... handler logic
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}
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);
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// ❌ WRONG: requirePermission runs first, user is undefined
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app.post(
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"/api/topics",
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requirePermission(ctx, "createTopics"), // user not set yet!
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requireAuth(ctx),
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async (c) => { /* ... */ }
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);
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```
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**Why this matters:** `requirePermission` depends on `c.get("user")` being set by `requireAuth`. If authentication middleware doesn't run first, permission checks always fail with 401.
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**Testing middleware composition:**
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```typescript
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it("middleware chain executes in correct order", async () => {
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// Verify requireAuth sets user before requirePermission checks it
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const res = await app.request("/api/topics", {
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method: "POST",
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headers: { Cookie: "atbb_session=valid_token" }
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});
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// Should succeed if both middlewares run in order
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expect(res.status).not.toBe(401);
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});
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```
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## Error Handling Standards
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Follow these patterns for robust, debuggable production code:
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- Re-throw unexpected errors (don't swallow programming bugs like `TypeError`)
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- Log with structured context: operation name, relevant IDs, error message
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- Return user-friendly messages (no stack traces in production)
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- Classify errors by user action (400, 503) vs server bugs (500)
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**DON'T:**
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- Use bare `catch` blocks that hide all error types
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- Fabricate data in catch blocks (return null or fail explicitly)
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- Use empty catch blocks or catch without logging
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**Programming Error Re-Throwing Pattern:**
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```typescript
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// ✅ CORRECT: Re-throw programming errors, catch runtime errors
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try {
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const result = await ctx.db.select()...;
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return processResult(result);
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} catch (error) {
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// Re-throw programming errors (code bugs) - don't hide them
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if (error instanceof TypeError ||
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error instanceof ReferenceError ||
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error instanceof SyntaxError) {
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console.error("CRITICAL: Programming error detected", {
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error: error.message,
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stack: error.stack,
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operation: "checkPermission"
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});
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throw error; // Let global error handler catch it
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}
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// Log and handle expected runtime errors (DB failures, network issues)
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console.error("Database query failed", {
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operation: "checkPermission",
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error: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
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});
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return null; // Fail safely for business logic
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}
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```
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**Why re-throw programming errors:**
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- `TypeError` = code bug (e.g., `role.permisions.includes()` typo)
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- `ReferenceError` = code bug (e.g., using undefined variable)
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- `SyntaxError` = code bug (e.g., malformed JSON.parse in your code)
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- These should crash during development, not be silently logged
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- Catching them hides bugs and makes debugging impossible
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**Error Classification Helper:**
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Create helper functions to classify errors consistently:
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```typescript
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// File: src/lib/errors.ts
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export function isProgrammingError(error: unknown): boolean {
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return error instanceof TypeError ||
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error instanceof ReferenceError ||
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error instanceof SyntaxError;
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}
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export function isNetworkError(error: unknown): boolean {
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if (!(error instanceof Error)) return false;
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const msg = error.message.toLowerCase();
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return msg.includes("fetch failed") ||
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msg.includes("econnrefused") ||
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msg.includes("enotfound") ||
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msg.includes("timeout");
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}
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// Usage in route handlers:
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} catch (error) {
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if (isProgrammingError(error)) {
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throw error; // Don't catch programming bugs
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}
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if (isNetworkError(error)) {
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return c.json({
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error: "Unable to reach external service. Please try again later."
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}, 503); // User should retry
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}
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return c.json({
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error: "An unexpected error occurred. Please contact support."
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}, 500); // Server bug, needs investigation
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}
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```
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### Helper Functions
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**Validation helpers should:**
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- **404 (Not Found):** Resource doesn't exist (forum, post, user)
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- **503 (Service Unavailable):** Network errors, PDS connection failures, timeouts — user should retry
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- **500 (Internal Server Error):** Unexpected errors, database errors — needs bug investigation
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## Security-Critical Code Standards
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When implementing authentication, authorization, or permission systems, follow these additional requirements:
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### 1. Fail-Closed Security
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**Security checks must deny access by default when encountering errors.**
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```typescript
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// ✅ CORRECT: Fail closed - deny access on any error
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export async function checkPermission(
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ctx: AppContext,
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did: string,
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permission: string
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): Promise<boolean> {
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try {
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const [membership] = await ctx.db.select()...;
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if (!membership || !membership.roleUri) {
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return false; // No membership = deny access
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}
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const [role] = await ctx.db.select()...;
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if (!role) {
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return false; // Role deleted = deny access
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}
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return role.permissions.includes(permission) ||
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role.permissions.includes("*");
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} catch (error) {
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if (isProgrammingError(error)) throw error;
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console.error("Failed to check permissions - denying access", {
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did, permission, error: ...
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});
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return false; // Error = deny access (fail closed)
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}
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}
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// ❌ WRONG: Fail open - grants access on error
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} catch (error) {
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console.error("Permission check failed");
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return true; // SECURITY BUG: grants access on DB error!
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}
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```
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**Test fail-closed behavior:**
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```typescript
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it("denies access when database query fails (fail closed)", async () => {
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vi.spyOn(ctx.db, "select").mockRejectedValueOnce(new Error("DB connection lost"));
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const result = await checkPermission(ctx, "did:plc:user", "createTopics");
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expect(result).toBe(false); // Prove fail-closed behavior
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expect(console.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
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expect.stringContaining("denying access"),
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expect.any(Object)
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);
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});
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```
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### 2. Security Test Coverage Requirements
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**All security features require comprehensive tests covering:**
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- ✅ **Happy path** - Authorized user succeeds
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- ✅ **Unauthorized user** - Returns 401 (not authenticated)
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- ✅ **Forbidden** - Returns 403 (authenticated but lacks permission)
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- ✅ **Privilege escalation prevention** - Cannot grant yourself higher privileges
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- ✅ **Peer protection** - Cannot modify users with equal authority
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- ✅ **Fail-closed behavior** - Database/network errors deny access
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- ✅ **Input validation** - Malformed requests return 400, not 500
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- ✅ **Error classification** - Network errors (503) vs server errors (500)
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**Example security test suite structure:**
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```typescript
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describe("POST /api/admin/members/:did/role (security-critical)", () => {
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describe("Authorization", () => {
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it("returns 401 when not authenticated", async () => { /* ... */ });
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it("returns 403 when user lacks manageRoles permission", async () => { /* ... */ });
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});
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describe("Privilege Escalation Prevention", () => {
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it("prevents admin from assigning owner role (higher authority)", async () => {
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// Admin (priority 10) tries to assign Owner (priority 0) → 403
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});
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it("prevents admin from assigning admin role (equal authority)", async () => {
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// Admin (priority 10) tries to assign Admin (priority 10) → 403
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});
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it("allows admin to assign moderator role (lower authority)", async () => {
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// Admin (priority 10) assigns Moderator (priority 20) → 200
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});
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});
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describe("Error Handling", () => {
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it("returns 503 when PDS connection fails (network error)", async () => { /* ... */ });
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it("returns 500 when database query fails (server error)", async () => { /* ... */ });
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it("returns 400 for malformed roleUri (input validation)", async () => { /* ... */ });
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});
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});
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```
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### 3. Startup Failures for Missing Security Infrastructure
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**Security-critical infrastructure must fail fast on startup, not at first request.**
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```typescript
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// ✅ CORRECT: Throw error on startup if ForumAgent unavailable
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export async function seedDefaultRoles(ctx: AppContext) {
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const agent = ctx.forumAgent;
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if (!agent) {
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console.error("CRITICAL: ForumAgent not available - role system non-functional", {
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operation: "seedDefaultRoles",
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forumDid: ctx.config.forumDid
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});
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throw new Error(
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"Cannot seed roles without ForumAgent - permission system would be broken"
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);
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}
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// ... seeding logic
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}
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// ❌ WRONG: Silent failure allows server to start without roles
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if (!agent) {
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console.warn("ForumAgent not available, skipping role seeding");
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return { created: 0, skipped: 0 }; // Server starts but is broken!
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}
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```
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**Why this matters:** If the permission system is broken, every request will fail authorization. It's better to fail startup loudly than silently deploy a non-functional system.
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### 4. Security Code Review Checklist
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Before requesting review for authentication/authorization code, verify:
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- [ ] All permission checks fail closed (deny access on error)
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- [ ] Database errors in security checks are caught and logged
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- [ ] Programming errors (TypeError) are re-thrown, not caught
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- [ ] Privilege escalation is prevented (equal/higher authority blocked)
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- [ ] Tests cover unauthorized (401), forbidden (403), and error cases
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- [ ] Error messages don't leak internal details (priority values, permission names)
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- [ ] Middleware composition is correct (auth before permission checks)
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- [ ] Startup fails fast if security infrastructure is unavailable
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## Documentation & Project Tracking
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