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Authentication (Fortify + Jetstream) ​

This document describes how authentication works after migrating from the custom system to Laravel Fortify and Jetstream, and how it integrates with the React SPA via Sanctum.

Overview ​

  • Identity provider: Laravel Fortify (backed by Jetstream config)
  • Session auth: Sanctum stateful cookies for SPA flows
  • Token auth: Sanctum Personal Access Tokens for programmatic access
  • Email verification: Required by default, standard Fortify flow plus an API verification route for SPA usage

Core Endpoints ​

All Fortify routes are registered under the web middleware group. Your React SPA communicates via Sanctum with stateful cookies.

  • POST /login — Fortify login
  • POST /logout — Fortify logout
  • POST /register — Fortify registration
  • POST /forgot-password — Fortify request reset link
  • POST /reset-password — Fortify perform reset
  • GET /email/verify — Verification notice page (HTML)
  • GET /email/verification-notification — Resend verification (throttled)

Additional endpoints added for SPA support:

  • GET /api/email/verify/{id}/{hash} — Signed, auth:sanctum; returns JSON for SPA.
    • Name: api.verification.verify
    • Middleware: signed, throttle, auth:sanctum
  • GET /api/email/status — JSON:
  • POST /api/demo/login-token — Issues a short-lived, single-use token for the configured demo user.
  • GET /demo/login?token=... — Consumes the token, logs the demo user into the web session, regenerates the session, and redirects to /.

Notes:

  • Standard Fortify verify endpoint (/email/verify/{id}/{hash}) returns HTML and performs redirects. The API variant exists to simplify SPA and tests.

Sanctum Flows (React SPA) ​

  1. CSRF bootstrap
  • GET /sanctum/csrf-cookie (withCredentials: true)
  1. Login
  • POST /login (withCredentials: true)
  • Sanctum issues an XSRF-TOKEN + laravel_session cookie for the SPA’s origin
  • After a successful login, the frontend immediately requests GET /sanctum/csrf-cookie again. This re-primes the browser with the fresh XSRF cookie that belongs to the regenerated authenticated session, so any write request fired right after login does not accidentally use a stale pre-login token. If that second CSRF refresh fails, the SPA keeps the login successful and only logs a warning, because the authentication itself already succeeded.
  1. Authenticated requests
  • Include credentials (withCredentials) and XSRF header automatically via axios (if configured)
  1. Logout
  • POST /logout (withCredentials: true)
  1. Email verification
  • After registration or login of an unverified user, the SPA should show a verification prompt
  • Use GET /api/email/status to poll or reflect verification
  • When clicking the verification link (from email), the route can be:
    • Web: /email/verify/{id}/{hash} → redirects/HTML
    • API: /api/email/verify/{id}/{hash} (recommended for SPA) → JSON 200

Middleware ​

  • EnsureEmailIsVerified (API):
    • For API routes that require verified users, this middleware checks the bearer token or sanctum session user and returns 403 JSON if unverified.

// ForceWebGuard previously ensured the web guard on web routes; with SPA-only UI and Fortify, it is not required for core flows.

Email Verification Behavior ​

  • Registration does not log an unverified user into the web session
  • SPA gets a clean JSON response with messaging and can show a “Verify your email” prompt
  • Resend endpoint is throttled and follows Fortify defaults

Password Reset & Change ​

  • Fortify’s forgot-password and reset-password endpoints are used
  • CustomPasswordReset mailable integrates with EmailConfiguration/EmailLog
  • Tests avoid logging to EmailLog when no active configuration is present
  • Logged-in users change their password from the React SPA via the Settings → Account tab
    • The account tab shows a "Change password" button that opens a modal dialog
    • The modal uses the same backend changePassword flow as the legacy account page
    • On success, the user is logged out and redirected to /login for security

OAuth Users (No Password) ​

  • Users registered via Google OAuth initially have no local password set (password is null).
  • The GET /api/users/me endpoint returns a has_password boolean.
  • If has_password is false, the Settings page replaces the "Change password" button with a "Set password" prompt.
  • This prompt guides the user to use the Forgot Password flow to set their initial password via a secure email link.
  • After password reset, OAuth users are automatically logged out and their session is invalidated to ensure a clean login with the new password.
  • Authenticated users attempting to use the password change API without a password set will receive a 422 validation error directing them to the password reset flow.

Tokens (Programmatic Access) ​

  • Use Sanctum Personal Access Tokens when the client can’t use cookies (CLI/mobile)
  • API routes protected by auth:sanctum will accept either a session-authenticated user or a bearer token from a PersonalAccessToken

Public Demo Login ​

The app supports a promo-site-to-demo iframe login flow without exposing reusable credentials in frontend code.

  • POST /api/demo/login-token returns { token, login_url, expires_at } in the standard API envelope.
  • Tokens are opaque, cache-backed, single-use, and expire after DEMO_LOGIN_TOKEN_TTL_SECONDS (default: 120 seconds).
  • GET /demo/login?token=... consumes the token, authenticates the configured demo user with the normal web guard, regenerates the session, and redirects to DEMO_LOGIN_REDIRECT_PATH (default: /).
  • The demo user is resolved by DEMO_USER_EMAIL, not by a hard-coded database ID.
  • If the demo user is missing, token issuance returns 503 Demo is currently unavailable.
  • Production throttles for the live demo are intentionally higher than standard auth flows: POST /api/demo/login-token is 50/min, GET /demo/login is 100/min, the shared authenticated demo session bucket is 300/min, and public listing endpoints such as GET /pets/placement-requests use the public-api limiter at 150/min.

Operational notes:

  • This flow is designed for same-parent-domain deployments such as project.meo-mai-moi.com embedding dev.meo-mai-moi.com.
  • Start with host-only session cookies for the demo app. Only broaden SESSION_DOMAIN if you confirm you truly need cross-subdomain cookie sharing.
  • If your iframe context needs it in real browsers, set SESSION_SAME_SITE=none and SESSION_SECURE_COOKIE=true.
  • The token is still a bearer capability while it exists, so keep TTL short and avoid logging full URLs in observability tooling when possible.

Testing Notes ​

  • Tests run against PostgreSQL; SQLite is not supported
  • Email verification tests use the API verify route (api.verification.verify) for stable JSON responses
  • For SPA-style tests, ensure sanctum/csrf-cookie is requested prior to login to establish CSRF state

Environment and SPA routing ​

  • FRONTEND_URL must point to your SPA origin (e.g., https://app.example.com or http://localhost:5173).
  • SANCTUM_STATEFUL_DOMAINS must include the SPA host (no scheme, include port for non-443), e.g., localhost:5173,localhost or app.example.com,app.example.com:443.
  • SESSION_DOMAIN should be the parent domain (e.g., .example.com) when sharing cookies across subdomains; set SESSION_SECURE_COOKIE=true in HTTPS environments.
  • Demo login variables:
    • DEMO_USER_EMAIL
    • DEMO_USER_NAME
    • DEMO_USER_PASSWORD
    • DEMO_LOGIN_TOKEN_TTL_SECONDS
    • DEMO_LOGIN_REDIRECT_PATH
  • Google OAuth variables:
    • GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID
    • GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET
    • GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI — e.g. https://dev.meo-mai-moi.com/auth/google/callback
  • SPA entry routes:
    • When FRONTEND_URL is same-origin as the backend, GET /login and /register serve the SPA index so the React router renders those pages.
    • When FRONTEND_URL is different-origin, those paths 302 redirect to the SPA.
  • Password reset web route (/reset-password/{token}?email=...) always redirects to ${FRONTEND_URL}/password/reset/... with a robust fallback to env('FRONTEND_URL') (or http://localhost:5173 in dev).
  • Email pre-check endpoint: POST /api/check-email returns { exists: boolean } and is throttled and audit-logged.

Google OAuth login ​

  • Backend
    • Routes: GET /auth/google/redirect (stores optional redirect param for SPA-safe relative redirects) and GET /auth/google/callback.
    • Controller: GoogleAuthController (Socialite driver google) creates or updates users, keeps password nullable for social signups, saves google_id and tokens, and auto-verifies email from Google.
    • Avatar handling: Google avatar URLs are validated (HTTPS, Google-hosted domains only), downloaded with a 5MB size limit, and stored via Spatie MediaLibrary. Only known image types (PNG, GIF, WebP, JPEG) are accepted; unknown types are rejected.
    • Conflicts: if an existing user with the same email but without google_id exists, callback redirects to /login?error=email_exists.
    • Missing email from Google redirects to /login?error=missing_email; unexpected OAuth errors redirect to /login?error=oauth_failed.
  • Frontend
    • Login page shows “Sign in with Google” linking to /auth/google/redirect (passes ?redirect= when present and safe).
    • On return, LoginPage surfaces query errors (email_exists, oauth_failed, missing_email) in the form error banner.
  • Environment
    • Set GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID, GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET, GOOGLE_REDIRECT_URI in both .env and .env.docker.example (redirect URL must match the Google console configuration).

Telegram authentication ​

Telegram auth uses three complementary paths: Mini App auto-auth for users inside the Telegram app, bot-based account creation for users who discover the bot directly, and a "Sign in with Telegram" button on login/register pages that redirects users to the bot.

Mini App authentication ​

  • Endpoint: POST /api/auth/telegram/miniapp (rate limited)
    • Request body:
      • init_data (required): raw Telegram.WebApp.initData
      • invitation_code (optional): used when invite-only mode is enabled
  • Session model: endpoint runs with web session middleware; frontend requests CSRF cookie first so successful Telegram auth persists as a Sanctum session.
  • Verification: HMAC-SHA256(bot_token, "WebAppData") → HMAC-SHA256(check_string, secret)
  • Used when the app runs inside Telegram as a Mini App (WebApp context).
  • Frontend auto-authenticates on load via useTelegramMiniAppAuth hook in App.tsx.
  • The frontend hook is resilient to delayed Telegram bootstrap (window.Telegram.WebApp / initData becoming available after initial render) and retries briefly before giving up.
  • Validates auth_date freshness (10-minute window) and applies short replay protection.

Token-based authentication (fallback) ​

Some Telegram clients (notably Desktop on Linux) open web_app buttons in their in-app browser without injecting the Mini App WebApp SDK, making initData unavailable. To handle this, the bot embeds a one-time login token in the web_app button URL.

  • When the bot sends an "Open App" web_app button for a known user, it generates a random 64-char token, stores it in cache (telegram-miniapp-login:{token} → user ID, 30-day TTL), and appends ?tg_token=TOKEN to the URL.
  • Endpoint: POST /api/auth/telegram/token (rate limited, web session middleware)
    • Request body: token (required, string, 64 chars)
    • Validates token from cache (reusable: Cache::get), finds user, logs in via session.
  • Logout sets a sessionStorage flag (telegram_auth_disabled) to prevent auto-auth from re-authenticating. The flag is cleared when a fresh tg_token arrives from Telegram (new page open).
  • Frontend: useTelegramMiniAppAuth hook checks for tg_token URL parameter on mount, consumes it (removes from URL via history.replaceState), and authenticates via the token endpoint as a fallback when initData is not available.
  • Auth priority: tg_token (URL fallback, when present) → initData (standard Mini App).

Bot-based account creation and linking ​

The TelegramWebhookController handles incoming webhook updates (message and callback_query). The TelegramWebhookService registers both update types in allowed_updates.

/start or /start login (no link token):

  1. Looks up existing user by telegram_user_id OR telegram_chat_id.
  2. Known user: auto-links telegram_chat_id, enables Telegram notifications, sends "already linked" message with a web_app button to open the Mini App (localized via user's locale).
  3. Unknown user: sends a language selection keyboard (English, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese). After the user picks a language, shows a welcome message (with a note about linking existing accounts via Settings) and a "Create new account" button — all in the chosen language.
  • Primary path: deep link URL https://t.me/<bot_username>?start=create_account.
  • Fallback path (when bot username is not configured): callback_data: create_account.

Callback lang_en / lang_ru / lang_uk / lang_vi (language selection):

  • Stores the chosen locale in cache (telegram-locale:{chatId}, 30-day TTL).
  • Sends the localized welcome message with the "Create new account" button.

Callback create_account:

  • Checks invite-only mode (if on, tells user registration is by invitation only).
  • Creates a new account via TelegramUserAuthService, sets telegram_chat_id and locale (from cached language preference), enables Telegram notifications for all notification types.
  • Sends confirmation message with a web_app button to open the Mini App (user is auto-authenticated via Mini App auth on open).

/start create_account fallback:

  • Handles account creation directly from a deep link when callback_query updates are unavailable or not delivered.
  • Uses the same creation + linking logic as callback-based create_account.

/start {token} (from Settings → Account "Connect Telegram" flow):

  • Validates the link token and expiry.
  • Links telegram_chat_id to the user, clears the token, enables notifications.
  • Sends confirmation with a web_app button.

Web-based Telegram login ​

Login and register pages show a "Sign in with Telegram" / "Sign up with Telegram" button (only when telegram_bot_username is present in public settings, sourced from TELEGRAM_USER_BOT_USERNAME). The button links to https://t.me/<bot_username>?start=login, which opens Telegram and triggers the bot's /start login flow described above. The login parameter is treated identically to a bare /start.

The GPT connector consent page (/gpt-connect) now uses the same Telegram entry point, but with a short-lived resume token: https://t.me/<bot_username>?start=login_<token>. The bot resolves that token to a safe frontend path like /gpt-connect?session_id=...&session_sig=..., then appends tg_token=... when opening the Mini App so Telegram auth can complete and return the user to the consent screen instead of dropping them on the app home page.

Telegram config matrix ​

The project uses two different Telegram bots with different ownership and env files:

  • Ops/deploy bot:
    • Purpose: deployment notifications, backup/monitoring alerts, operator-facing scripts
    • Env file: root .env
    • Variables: DEPLOY_NOTIFY_TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN, DEPLOY_NOTIFY_TELEGRAM_CHAT_ID
  • User-facing bot:
    • Purpose: login buttons, Mini App auth, Telegram webhook flow, user notifications
    • Env file: backend/.env
    • Variables: TELEGRAM_USER_BOT_TOKEN, TELEGRAM_USER_BOT_USERNAME

Environment-specific user bot values:

  • local and dev: OneMoreTestingBot
  • prod: meo_mai_moi_bot

The ops/deploy bot is the same in all environments: ServerScratcherBot.

User creation behavior ​

  • If a user with matching telegram_user_id exists, logs them in and updates profile fields.
  • If no telegram_user_id match exists, auth falls back to telegram_chat_id to re-authenticate already linked accounts opened from bot web_app buttons, then backfills telegram_user_id.
  • Otherwise creates a Telegram-first account (email: telegram_{id}@telegram.meo-mai-moi.local) and marks it verified.
  • In invite-only mode, registration requires a valid invitation code (Mini App) or is blocked entirely (bot).
  • Data stored on user: telegram_user_id, telegram_username, telegram_first_name, telegram_last_name, telegram_photo_url, telegram_last_authenticated_at
  • locale is set from the cached bot language preference when creating accounts via the bot.

Frontend integration ​

  • useTelegramAuth hook wraps useTelegramMiniAppAuth — it only supports Mini App context (no browser-based Telegram auth).
  • isTelegramAvailable is true only when inside a Telegram Mini App with valid initData.
  • Login and register pages fetch telegram_bot_username from useGetSettingsPublic to conditionally render the Telegram button.
  • The backend exposes that username from TELEGRAM_USER_BOT_USERNAME in backend/.env; it is no longer managed from admin DB settings.
  • The GPT connector consent page also fetches telegram_bot_username, plus a short-lived resume token from POST /api/gpt-auth/telegram-link, so Google and Telegram sign-in can resume the OAuth consent flow after the external round-trip.
  • Telegram account linking is available in Settings → Account via the TelegramNotificationsCard component.
    • In Mini App context, linking is direct via POST /api/telegram/link-miniapp using current init_data (no redirect needed).
    • In browser context, linking uses the token flow (POST /api/telegram/link-token) and opens the bot.

Bot message i18n ​

All Telegram bot messages are translated via Laravel's messages.telegram.* keys in backend/lang/{en,ru,uk,vi}/messages.php. Locale resolution order:

  1. User's locale field (if user is known)
  2. Cached telegram-locale:{chatId} (set when user picks a language from the selection keyboard)
  3. App default locale (config('app.locale'), English)

The choose_language prompt is intentionally multilingual (all 4 languages in one string) since it's shown before any language preference is established.

Key files ​

  • backend/app/Http/Controllers/Auth/TelegramTokenAuthController.php — One-time token auth for Mini App fallback
  • backend/app/Http/Controllers/GptAuth/CreateTelegramLoginLinkController.php — Short-lived Telegram resume token for GPT connector consent
  • backend/app/Services/TelegramMiniAppAuthService.php — Mini App signature verification
  • backend/app/Services/TelegramUserAuthService.php — Shared user find/create/login logic
  • backend/app/Http/Controllers/Telegram/TelegramWebhookController.php — Bot webhook handling (start command, callback queries, account creation, web_app buttons)
  • backend/app/Http/Controllers/Telegram/LinkTelegramMiniAppController.php — Direct linking for authenticated Mini App sessions (/api/telegram/link-miniapp)
  • backend/app/Services/TelegramWebhookService.php — Webhook registration (allowed_updates: message, callback_query)
  • frontend/src/hooks/use-telegram-auth.ts — Frontend hook (Mini App only)
  • frontend/src/hooks/use-telegram-miniapp-auth.ts — Mini App detection and auto-auth
  • frontend/src/components/auth/LoginForm.tsx — "Sign in with Telegram" button (web flow)
  • frontend/src/pages/auth/RegisterPage.tsx — "Sign up with Telegram" button (web flow)
  • frontend/src/pages/auth/GptConnectPage.tsx — GPT consent page with Google/Telegram resume links
  • frontend/src/components/notifications/TelegramNotificationsCard.tsx — Account linking UI (Settings → Account)