Make Modal gateway auth optional until configured (#467)

Author: MaxGhenis

.github/scripts/modal-sync-secrets.sh

@@ -25,4 +25,13 @@ if [ -n "${GCP_CREDENTIALS_JSON:-}" ]; then
     --force || true
 fi
 
+# Sync gateway auth config. Empty values preserve the existing public-gateway
+# behavior unless GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED is explicitly set.
+uv run modal secret create policyengine-gateway-auth \
+  "GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER=${GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER:-}" \
+  "GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE=${GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE:-}" \
+  "GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED=${GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED:-}" \
+  --env="$MODAL_ENV" \
+  --force || true
+
 echo "Modal secrets synced"

.github/workflows/modal-deploy.reusable.yml

@@ -55,6 +55,9 @@ jobs:
         MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET: ${{ secrets.MODAL_TOKEN_SECRET }}
         LOGFIRE_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.LOGFIRE_TOKEN }}
         GCP_CREDENTIALS_JSON: ${{ secrets.GCP_CREDENTIALS_JSON }}
+        GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER: ${{ secrets.GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER }}
+        GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE: ${{ secrets.GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE }}
+        GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED: ${{ vars.GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED }}
       run: ../../.github/scripts/modal-sync-secrets.sh "${{ inputs.modal_environment }}" "${{ inputs.environment }}"
 
     - name: Deploy simulation API to Modal

projects/policyengine-api-simulation/src/modal/gateway/app.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 # Stable app name - this should rarely change
 app = modal.App("policyengine-simulation-gateway")
+gateway_auth_secret = modal.Secret.from_name("policyengine-gateway-auth")
 
 # Lightweight image for gateway - no heavy dependencies
 gateway_image = (
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@
 )
 
 
-@app.function(image=gateway_image)
+@app.function(image=gateway_image, secrets=[gateway_auth_secret])
 @modal.asgi_app()
 def web_app():
     """

projects/policyengine-api-simulation/src/modal/gateway/auth.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 - ``GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER`` - Auth0 issuer URL (must end with ``/``)
 - ``GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE`` - Auth0 API identifier the gateway accepts
+- ``GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED`` - if truthy, missing issuer/audience is a 503
 
 For local development and unit tests the dependency can be bypassed by
 setting ``GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED=1``. This bypass is hard-gated by
@@ -20,8 +21,8 @@
 missing or looks like production, and otherwise requires an explicit
 ``GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ACK=I_UNDERSTAND_THIS_IS_DEV`` acknowledgement so
 the bypass cannot be activated by a single stray env var. The gateway
-also returns ``503`` to callers if auth is enabled but the issuer/audience
-configuration is missing.
+also returns ``503`` to callers if auth is required but the issuer/audience
+configuration is missing, or if only one of issuer/audience is present.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
 
 GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER_ENV = "GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER"
 GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE_ENV = "GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE"
+GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED_ENV = "GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED"
 GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ENV = "GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED"
 GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ACK_ENV = "GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ACK"
 GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ACK_VALUE = "I_UNDERSTAND_THIS_IS_DEV"
@@ -64,6 +66,15 @@ def _auth_disabled() -> bool:
     }
 
 
+def _auth_required() -> bool:
+    return os.environ.get(GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED_ENV, "").lower() in {
+        "1",
+        "true",
+        "yes",
+        "on",
+    }
+
+
 @functools.lru_cache(maxsize=8)
 def _build_decoder(issuer: str, audience: str) -> JWTDecoder:
     """Construct and cache a ``JWTDecoder`` keyed by issuer/audience.
@@ -182,13 +193,20 @@ def require_auth(
        missing or invalid token produces a 403 (matching the underlying
        decoder's contract).
 
-    If issuer/audience env configuration is missing the dependency returns
-    503 so operators see a clear misconfiguration instead of silent bypass.
+    If issuer/audience env configuration is absent, the dependency preserves
+    the legacy public gateway behavior unless ``GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED`` is
+    truthy. Partial auth configuration always returns 503 because it indicates
+    an operator intended to enable auth but shipped an incomplete secret.
     """
 
     if _auth_disabled():
         return None
 
+    issuer = os.environ.get(GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER_ENV)
+    audience = os.environ.get(GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE_ENV)
+    if not issuer and not audience and not _auth_required():
+        return None
+
     try:
         decoder = _get_decoder()
     except RuntimeError as exc:

projects/policyengine-api-simulation/tests/gateway/test_auth.py

@@ -73,10 +73,24 @@ def test__given_auth_disabled_env__then_dependency_returns_none(monkeypatch):
     assert auth_module.require_auth(token=None) is None
 
 
-def test__given_auth_misconfigured__then_dependency_raises_503(monkeypatch):
+def test__given_auth_not_configured_and_not_required__then_dependency_allows(
+    monkeypatch,
+):
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE_ENV, raising=False)
+
+    assert auth_module.require_auth(token=None) is None
+
+
+def test__given_auth_required_and_misconfigured__then_dependency_raises_503(
+    monkeypatch,
+):
     from fastapi import HTTPException
 
     monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED_ENV, "1")
     monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER_ENV, raising=False)
     monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE_ENV, raising=False)
 
@@ -86,6 +100,20 @@ def test__given_auth_misconfigured__then_dependency_raises_503(monkeypatch):
     assert exc_info.value.status_code == 503
 
 
+def test__given_partial_auth_config__then_dependency_raises_503(monkeypatch):
+    from fastapi import HTTPException
+
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_DISABLED_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_REQUIRED_ENV, raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.setenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_ISSUER_ENV, "https://issuer.example/")
+    monkeypatch.delenv(auth_module.GATEWAY_AUTH_AUDIENCE_ENV, raising=False)
+
+    with pytest.raises(HTTPException) as exc_info:
+        auth_module.require_auth(token=None)
+
+    assert exc_info.value.status_code == 503
+
+
 def test__given_health_endpoint__then_auth_not_required(monkeypatch):
     """Health/ping/versions endpoints remain public by design."""