From 266f540d881a6b8b7387d3987b5d804621ef37ef Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Nicolas <nicolaslef53@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 2026 23:49:05 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(api): make the session cookie's Secure flag overridable
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Found on http://batch.dev.kyuno.fr/: login/signup succeeded (200/201,
profile in the body) but every subsequent request 401'd. Cause: the
session cookie is `secure: NODE_ENV === "production"`, and
docker-compose.yml sets NODE_ENV=production regardless of whether the
deployment actually has TLS in front of it. A Secure cookie is silently
never sent back by the browser over plain HTTP — no error, just a cookie
that never round-trips.

Adds COOKIE_SECURE, independent from NODE_ENV, to override the flag per
deployment. Unset (default) keeps prior behavior — secure in production.
Set COOKIE_SECURE=false only for a deployment reachable over plain HTTP
(no TLS yet), like this dev instance.

Verified locally: docker compose up with COOKIE_SECURE=false persists
and round-trips the cookie (signup -> /auth/me 200); without it, the
cookie still gets Secure as before. Full pnpm --filter api test / test:bdd
suites still pass (66 + 25 scenarios).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .env.example                             |  7 +++++++
 apps/api/src/config/env.ts               | 16 ++++++++++++++++
 apps/api/src/modules/auth/auth.routes.ts |  6 ++++--
 docker-compose.yml                       |  7 +++++++
 4 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 44674ad..d17785f 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -14,3 +14,10 @@ JWT_SECRET=changeme-generate-a-real-random-secret-at-least-32-chars
 # Optional — host port for the Docker review stack's single app container
 # (docker-compose.yml), serving both the API and the built frontend.
 # APP_PORT=3000
+
+# Optional — only set this to false if THIS deployment is served over
+# plain HTTP (no TLS in front of it). Left unset, the session cookie
+# requires HTTPS (Secure attribute) as it should for a real deployment;
+# over plain HTTP a Secure cookie is silently never sent back by the
+# browser, so login "succeeds" but every subsequent request 401s.
+# COOKIE_SECURE=false
diff --git a/apps/api/src/config/env.ts b/apps/api/src/config/env.ts
index 80ad249..037ad71 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/config/env.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/config/env.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,22 @@ const envSchema = z.object({
    * the frontend instead.
    */
   FRONTEND_DIST_DIR: z.string().optional(),
+  /**
+   * Overrides whether the session cookie gets the `Secure` attribute
+   * (HTTPS-only — see auth.routes.ts). Independent from NODE_ENV on
+   * purpose: NODE_ENV=production doesn't imply the deployment actually
+   * has TLS in front of it (e.g. an HTTP-only dev/staging instance), and
+   * a `Secure` cookie is silently never sent back by the browser over
+   * plain HTTP — every authenticated request 401s despite login
+   * succeeding, with no error to point at the cause. Unset (the default)
+   * falls back to NODE_ENV === "production", same as before this existed.
+   * Empty string counts as unset too, so `${COOKIE_SECURE:-}` in
+   * docker-compose.yml doesn't force it to `false` when not provided.
+   */
+  COOKIE_SECURE: z
+    .string()
+    .optional()
+    .transform((value) => (value === undefined || value === "" ? undefined : value === "true")),
 });
 
 /** Parsed, validated environment — import this instead of reading `process.env` directly anywhere else. */
diff --git a/apps/api/src/modules/auth/auth.routes.ts b/apps/api/src/modules/auth/auth.routes.ts
index 5a97e2e..67c2440 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/modules/auth/auth.routes.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/modules/auth/auth.routes.ts
@@ -18,8 +18,10 @@ const SEVEN_DAYS_MS = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 /** Cookie options shared by every route that sets the session cookie. */
 const cookieOptions: CookieOptions = {
   httpOnly: true,
-  // Only require HTTPS in production — local dev/CI serve over plain HTTP.
-  secure: env.NODE_ENV === "production",
+  // Defaults to requiring HTTPS in production, but overridable via
+  // COOKIE_SECURE — see its doc comment in config/env.ts for why this
+  // can't just be `NODE_ENV === "production"`.
+  secure: env.COOKIE_SECURE ?? env.NODE_ENV === "production",
   sameSite: "lax",
   maxAge: SEVEN_DAYS_MS,
 };
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index b78bd44..24b381f 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -38,6 +38,13 @@ services:
       # always targets Postgres's internal port (5432).
       DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://${POSTGRES_USER:?set POSTGRES_USER in .env}:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:?set POSTGRES_PASSWORD in .env}@postgres:5432/${POSTGRES_DB:?set POSTGRES_DB in .env}?schema=public"
       JWT_SECRET: ${JWT_SECRET:?set JWT_SECRET in .env}
+      # Unset by default (falls back to NODE_ENV === "production", i.e.
+      # Secure cookie required) — set COOKIE_SECURE=false in .env only if
+      # this deployment is reachable over plain HTTP (no TLS in front of
+      # it yet), otherwise the session cookie never comes back and every
+      # authenticated request 401s despite login succeeding. See its doc
+      # comment in apps/api/src/config/env.ts.
+      COOKIE_SECURE: ${COOKIE_SECURE:-}
     ports:
       - "${APP_PORT:-3000}:3000"