makelore/.project-docs/10-decisions/adr-004-square-auth-lifecycle-boundary.md

ADR-004: Works Square Owns The Desktop Authentication Lifecycle Boundary

Status

Accepted and implemented on 2026-08-19; amended on 2026-10-10.

Context

The desktop client obtained tokens from Works Square but refreshed them directly against the custom identity service with an embedded OAuth client secret. That mixed issuer/client boundary made rotation dependent on two independently configured clients and could turn an otherwise valid persisted session into invalid_grant, returning the user to the login page hours later. The platform account system now exposes a standard OIDC issuer for the public platform identity while the existing Works Square password/mobile facade remains available for its legacy path.

Decision

• Renderer sends authentication operations only to Electron Main.
• Electron Main owns access/refresh tokens, encrypted persistence, refresh rotation, terminal failure cleanup, and the seven-day inactivity policy.
• Optional remembered username/password data is a separate Electron Main record. Packaged builds encrypt it with OS-protected storage; it is never Renderer-persisted or stored by Works Square.
• Platform account login uses Main-owned Authorization Code + PKCE against the configured platform OIDC issuer: system browser, exact niancode://auth/callback, state/nonce/S256 validation, and a registered public Makelore client without a secret. Main owns the code exchange and all resulting tokens.
• Legacy password/mobile login, refresh, and logout use fixed Works Square /api/auth/* endpoints.
• Works Square owns the confidential upstream OAuth client configuration and proxies the lifecycle to the identity service.
• The desktop bundle must not contain a confidential OAuth client secret or call the custom one-feel identity service directly; platform OIDC access remains behind the Main boundary and uses the configured standard issuer.
• Logout and mobile login preserve remembered-password data. A successful password login with the option cleared removes the previous record; unavailable secure storage disables the option.

Consequences

• The matching Works Square server endpoints must be deployed before this client is released.
• The packaged client must receive PLATFORM_AUTH_ISSUER and the registered Makelore client/redirect configuration before platform login can be released; no username, email, or legacy identifier is used to rebind a platform subject.
• OAuth credential rotation or upstream endpoint changes are server-side configuration changes rather than desktop releases.
• A terminal refresh 400 or 401 still fails closed and clears the local session; transient failures preserve the established retry behavior.
• Remembered-password persistence is convenience behavior rather than session authority. Its failure must not grant authentication or move password persistence to Works Square/Renderer.
• Packaged Windows and signed macOS still require a smoke covering save, restart restore, unchecked-login clear, and the absence of a development Keychain prompt.

Evidence

• Source commit: dc776ff
• Integration merge: f52c2c8
• Feature verification: 2,190 client tests passed, typecheck passed, Vite build passed, and lint reported no errors.
• Remember-password source/integration: 990639f / 2b9f84e; 79 focused tests, typecheck, scoped lint, and Renderer/Main/Preload/utility build passed.