docs: add book tracker design spec and auth ADRs
Spec covers data model, API, auth, frontend, error handling, and testing. ADR-0001 records PBKDF2 + pepper (FIPS) over argon2; ADR-0002 records revocable server-side sessions over Flask's signed cookie.
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# ADR-0001: Password hashing with peppered PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256
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Date: 2026-10-02
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Status: Accepted
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## Context
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Users authenticate with a username and password. The application targets a healthcare firm, so
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cryptographic choices should be FIPS 140-approved where practical. The assignment restricts the backend to
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standard Python libraries (Flask and psycopg2 are provided by the environment). The runtime container has
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0.5 GB of RAM.
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Memory-hard algorithms (Argon2id, scrypt) resist GPU cracking better, but neither is FIPS-approved and
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Argon2 is not in the Python standard library.
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## Decision
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Hash passwords with PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256 from `hashlib`, keyed by a secret pepper:
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```
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peppered = HMAC-SHA256(key=PEPPER, msg=password_utf8)
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derived = hashlib.pbkdf2_hmac("sha256", peppered, salt, 600_000)
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stored = "pbkdf2_sha256$600000$<salt_b64>$<derived_b64>"
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```
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- **Salt:** `secrets.token_bytes(16)` per user (128 bits; NIST SP 800-132 requires ≥ 128).
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- **Iterations:** 600,000 (OWASP Password Storage Cheat Sheet figure for PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256). Stored with
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the hash; hashes below the current count are re-derived on the next successful login.
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- **Pepper:** a secret held outside the database, applied as an HMAC key (NIST SP 800-63B's "secret salt"
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recommendation). A database-only leak does not allow offline guessing. Source: `PASSWORD_PEPPER`
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(≥ 32 chars) when set; otherwise a 32-byte random value generated once into `backend/.pepper`
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(mode 0600, gitignored) with a startup warning that this fallback is for development only.
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- **Comparison:** `hmac.compare_digest` (constant time).
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- **Enumeration resistance:** a login for an unknown username verifies against a fixed dummy hash so
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response time matches a real account; both failures return the same message.
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- **Policy:** 12–1024 characters, no composition rules (NIST SP 800-63B). The upper bound caps CPU cost
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per request.
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## Consequences
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- FIPS-approved primitives only (HMAC-SHA256, PBKDF2); no third-party dependency.
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- Each login costs ~0.3–0.5 s of CPU and negligible memory, which fits the container.
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- Weaker than Argon2id against GPU attacks on a leaked database; the pepper offsets this, because the
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attacker also needs the application secret.
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- Losing the pepper invalidates every password. Production must keep it in a secrets manager and add
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pepper versioning for rotation (out of scope here).
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# ADR-0002: Server-side sessions with opaque tokens hashed at rest
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Date: 2026-10-02
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Status: Accepted
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## Context
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After login, the browser needs a credential for subsequent API calls. Flask's default session is a signed
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cookie (itsdangerous, HMAC-SHA1 by default) holding the session data client-side. That cookie cannot be
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revoked before it expires: logout only asks the browser to forget it, and a stolen cookie stays valid until
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`SECRET_KEY` rotates. Healthcare applications are expected to support automatic logoff after inactivity
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(HIPAA Security Rule, 45 CFR 164.312(a)(2)(iii)) and real revocation.
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## Decision
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Store sessions in PostgreSQL, keyed by the SHA-256 of an opaque random token.
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- **Issue:** on login/register, `token = secrets.token_urlsafe(32)` (256 bits). Insert `sha256(token)`,
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`user_id`, `created_at`, `expires_at = now() + 30 minutes`. The raw token exists only in the cookie.
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- **Cookie:** `sid=<token>; HttpOnly; Secure; SameSite=Lax; Path=/api`.
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- **Validate and slide:** one statement per authenticated request:
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```sql
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UPDATE sessions
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SET expires_at = LEAST(now() + interval '30 minutes', created_at + interval '12 hours')
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WHERE token_hash = %s AND expires_at > now()
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RETURNING user_id;
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```
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This gives a 30-minute idle timeout and a 12-hour absolute cap. No row → 401.
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- **Revoke:** logout deletes the row. Deleting a user cascades to their sessions.
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- **Cleanup:** a user's expired rows are deleted when they log in; no scheduled job.
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### CSRF
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The cookie is `SameSite=Lax`, so browsers do not send it on cross-site POST/PATCH/DELETE. In addition,
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every mutating route requires `Content-Type: application/json`; a cross-origin request with that type
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triggers a CORS preflight, and the API never grants CORS. Together these remove the need for a CSRF token.
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## Consequences
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- Logout and server-side expiry actually revoke access.
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- A database leak exposes only token hashes, which cannot be replayed as cookies.
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- One indexed UPDATE per authenticated request; negligible at this scale.
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- Hashing tokens with plain SHA-256 (not a slow KDF) is correct here: tokens carry 256 bits of entropy, so
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brute force is infeasible.
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## Known gaps (out of scope)
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- **No login rate limiting or lockout.** Online password guessing is bounded only by PBKDF2 cost.
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Before production, add per-username and per-IP throttling.
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- No "log out other devices" UI, though the schema supports it (`DELETE … WHERE user_id = %s`).
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