Security values move into the Settings UI
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Operator: *"proxy hops defaults to 1 and should be in the settings UI not in the
envs, we need the security values to be in the UI."* Overrules the call I made
yesterday, and rule 25 is on your side — I argued deployment-topology, but the
operator has to be able to SEE what protects them, and reading a container's
environment is not seeing.

Six new settings in a **Security** group: trusted proxy hops (default 1), the
per-account and per-address sign-in limits with their shared window, and the
sign-up limit with its own. `THOUGHTSYNC_TRUSTED_PROXY_HOPS` is gone; the rate
limits are no longer hardcoded constants.

**The hard part was keeping the throttle cheap.** It consults these BEFORE opening
a database connection — deliberately, because a refused attempt is meant to cost
nothing, and the hop count is needed to know who is even asking. A query per
attempt would undo both. So there is a small cache seeded from the registry
defaults (the app works with no database at all, which is what the DB-free unit
lane relies on), loaded at boot, and refreshed on every settings save — the same
live-update contract `session_ttl_days` already had.

`SlidingWindow` now takes its limit and window as SUPPLIERS rather than values, so
a saved number applies to the next attempt instead of the next deploy.

**Bounds are rejected, not clamped.** A hop count of 99 would trust anything a
caller sent; a sign-in limit of 0 would lock every account out permanently. Both
now fail validation with a message naming the range, and the number input carries
min/max so the browser objects first. Silently storing a different number than the
one typed is how somebody ends up believing a protection is set to something it is
not.

`MAX_BUCKETS` stays a constant on purpose: it protects the limiter from itself
rather than the app from a caller, and there is no operator judgment to apply.

Two integration tests, because the whole point is the round trip: a dangerous
value refused, a legitimate one reaching the cache the throttle reads and
persisting; and every Security row reaching the admin payload with bounds and a
description that explains itself.
This commit is contained in:
2026-08-23 15:24:15 -04:00
parent a85c53ba2c
commit 09b5f874b6
11 changed files with 302 additions and 98 deletions
+78 -1
View File
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from thoughtsync.db import dispose_engine, session_scope
from thoughtsync.models.note import Note
from thoughtsync.models.note_item import NoteItem
from thoughtsync.models.user import User
from thoughtsync.settings import get_setting, set_settings
from thoughtsync.settings import get_setting, live, refresh_live, reset_live, set_settings
from thoughtsync.notes.helpers import derive_display_title
from thoughtsync.models.note_link_preview import NoteLinkPreview
from thoughtsync.sync import _apply_note_items
@@ -337,3 +337,80 @@ async def test_registration_closes_itself_once_an_admin_exists(app_client, db):
)
assert third.status_code == 201
assert (await third.get_json())["is_admin"] is False
async def test_security_settings_are_live_and_bounded(app_client, db):
"""The security values are settings now, not constants — so saving one has to take
effect without a restart, and a dangerous value has to be refused.
Real database because the whole point is the round trip: write through the admin
API, re-read into the cache the throttle consults, observe the new number.
"""
# An admin to authenticate as. First account, so it is allowed and becomes admin.
reset_live()
created = await app_client.post(
"/api/auth/register",
json={"email": "admin@example.test", "password": "a-long-enough-password"},
)
assert created.status_code == 201
# Defaults are what the registry says.
async with session_scope() as fresh:
await refresh_live(fresh)
assert live("trusted_proxy_hops") == 1
assert live("signin_limit_per_account") == 10
# A value that would disable the protection is REFUSED, not clamped — storing a
# different number than the one typed is how somebody ends up believing a limit
# is set to something it is not.
bad = await app_client.patch("/api/settings", json={"signin_limit_per_account": 0})
assert bad.status_code == 400
assert "at least" in (await bad.get_json())["error"]
# …and so is a hop count that would trust anything a caller sent.
bad_hops = await app_client.patch("/api/settings", json={"trusted_proxy_hops": 99})
assert bad_hops.status_code == 400
# A legitimate change applies to the cache the throttle reads, immediately.
ok = await app_client.patch(
"/api/settings", json={"signin_limit_per_account": 3, "trusted_proxy_hops": 2}
)
assert ok.status_code == 200
assert live("signin_limit_per_account") == 3
assert live("trusted_proxy_hops") == 2
# And it is persisted, not just cached.
async with session_scope() as fresh:
assert await get_setting(fresh, "trusted_proxy_hops") == 2
reset_live()
async def test_the_security_group_reaches_the_admin_ui(app_client, db):
"""Every security value has to be visible and editable, which is the whole reason
they moved out of the environment."""
created = await app_client.post(
"/api/auth/register",
json={"email": "admin2@example.test", "password": "a-long-enough-password"},
)
assert created.status_code == 201
resp = await app_client.get("/api/settings")
assert resp.status_code == 200
rows = (await resp.get_json())["settings"]
security = {r["key"]: r for r in rows if r["group"] == "Security"}
assert set(security) == {
"trusted_proxy_hops",
"signin_limit_per_account",
"signin_limit_per_address",
"signin_window_minutes",
"register_limit_per_address",
"register_window_minutes",
}
# The UI renders a number input from these, and it cannot offer a safe range it
# was never told about.
for row in security.values():
assert row["type"] == "int"
assert row["minimum"] is not None and row["maximum"] is not None
assert row["description"], f"{row['key']} has no description to explain itself"