Files
rootnode-academy/platform/api/README.md
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ced4568 40692926ee docs(phase3a): document production identity architecture
New docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md covers the schema, persistent session
design, instructor accounts, the full RBAC matrix, cohort scoping (including the documented
raw-environment-id simplification), student session hardening (explicitly still
classroom/pilot identification, not production auth), CSRF, rate limiting, audit logging,
the API inventory, a security hardening checklist, test results, known limitations, the
future OIDC path, and production HTTPS/cookie expectations — with an explicit BUILT NOW vs.
FUTURE split.

Updates ENGINEERING_SOP.md (new §9/§10, closing a stale '(§9)' forward-reference that dated
back to Phase 2B), LAB_ARCHITECTURE.md status line, README.md, platform/README.md, and
platform/api/README.md (bootstrap-owner usage, new config vars, no more ADMIN_PASSWORD).
2026-08-18 13:36:45 -05:00

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4.2 KiB
Markdown

# RootNode Academy — Platform API (Phase 3A)
Lightweight service: no k3s, no `--privileged`, no Lab terminal runtime. See
`docs/PHASE2B_ADMIN_AND_PLATFORM_DATA.md` for the original split/migration design and
`docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md` for persistent sessions, per-instructor
accounts, RBAC, and audit logging — this file is the operational reference.
## Configuration reference
| Variable | Required | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| `PLATFORM_DB_URL` | no (defaults to local dev Postgres) | Postgres connection string |
| `PROVISIONER_URL` | no | Provisioner base URL |
| `PROVISIONER_SHARED_SECRET` | **yes** | Internal Provisioner auth — process refuses to start without it |
| `PLATFORM_API_PORT` | no | Listen port, default 4300 |
| `FRONTEND_DIST_DIR` | no | Where the built frontend lives — set by the Dockerfile, override for local non-Docker dev |
| `SCENARIOS_DIR` / `BUNDLES_DIR` / `CURRICULUM_PATH_FILE` | no | Override the default `scenarios/` locations, mainly for local dev outside Docker |
| `STUDENT_SESSION_TTL_HOURS` / `STUDENT_SESSION_IDLE_HOURS` | no | Default 8h / 2h |
| `INSTRUCTOR_SESSION_TTL_HOURS` / `INSTRUCTOR_SESSION_IDLE_HOURS` | no | Default 12h / 2h |
| `COOKIE_SECURE` | no | Set to `1` once served over real HTTPS — adds `Secure` to every session/CSRF cookie |
| `TRUST_PROXY` | no | Set to `1` once fronted by a trusted reverse proxy — honors `X-Forwarded-For` for `req.ip` (audit `source_ip`, login rate limiting) |
There is no `ADMIN_PASSWORD` anymore — instructor accounts live in Postgres (`instructors`
table), created via `bootstrap-owner.js` for the first one and the admin portal after that.
## Local dev
```bash
cd platform
echo "PROVISIONER_SHARED_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)" > .env
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml build
docker compose -f docker-compose.dev.yml up -d
cd api
PLATFORM_DB_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@localhost:5433/rootnode_platform \
node bootstrap-owner.js [email protected] "Your Name" "a-real-password-12-chars-plus"
```
Everything is reachable through the Gateway at `http://localhost:4200` — students at `/`,
instructors at `/admin` (sign in with the bootstrapped owner). Platform API itself isn't meant
to be hit directly by a browser (same boundary as the Provisioner relative to Platform API),
though nothing stops you from curling it directly at `:4300` for local debugging.
## Owner bootstrap
```bash
node bootstrap-owner.js <email> <display_name> [password]
```
Prefer `BOOTSTRAP_OWNER_PASSWORD` over the positional argument outside a throwaway local test —
CLI args can leak into shell history and `ps`. Refuses to run if an active owner already exists
unless the target email belongs to an existing instructor (the intended recovery path if a
platform is ever locked out with zero owners: point this at a known instructor account to
promote them).
## SQLite migration
One-time cutover, run against the real data volume:
```bash
docker run --rm -v <identity-data-volume>:/data \
-e SQLITE_PATH=/data/progress.db -e PLATFORM_DB_URL=postgres://postgres:postgres@<host>:5433/rootnode_platform \
<platform-api-image> node migrate-sqlite.js
```
Always backs up the SQLite file first, is safe to re-run, and writes a JSON report — see
`docs/PHASE2B_ADMIN_AND_PLATFORM_DATA.md` §2/§3 for the full guarantees and rollback
procedure. This step is about academic data (students/cohorts/progress) — it has nothing to do
with instructor accounts, which are Phase 3A-native and start empty until you bootstrap one.
## Tests
`platform/test/e2e-phase2a.js` (student-flow regression), `platform/test/e2e-phase2b.js` (the
classroom acceptance workflow), and `platform/test/e2e-phase3a.js` (persistent sessions
including a real restart, instructor auth, RBAC, cohort scoping, CSRF, audit log). All three
need the full stack up and `OWNER_EMAIL` / `OWNER_PASSWORD` set to a bootstrapped account — see
`platform/README.md`.
## Known limitations
See `docs/PHASE3A_IDENTITY_AND_INSTRUCTOR_ACCESS.md` "Known limitations" — sessions are
Postgres-backed (survive a restart) but there's no distributed revocation channel to the
Gateway's short-lived whoami cache, exam mode's live bookkeeping stays Lab-local, and OIDC/SSO
is a documented adapter interface, not a working integration yet.