CKAN Passwordless API

Documentation: https://envidat.gitlab-pages.wsl.ch/ckanext-passwordless_api/

Source Code: https://gitlabext.wsl.ch/EnviDat/ckanext-passwordless_api

This plugin is primarily intended for custom frontends built on the CKAN API.

By using API tokens from CKAN core (>2.9), this plugin provides an authentication flow where:

1. Users receive a login token via email (via reset key in core).
2. API token is returned on valid login token (reset key) submission.
3. The API token should then be included in Authorization headers from the frontend --> CKAN calls.

Based on work by @espona (Lucia Espona Pernas) for ckanext-passwordless (https://github.com/EnviDat/ckanext-passwordless).

Config

Optional variables can be set in your ckan.ini:

• passwordless_api.guidelines_url
  • Description: A link to your website guidelines.
  • Default: None, not included.
• passwordless_api.policies_url
  • Description: A link to your website policies.
  • Default: None, not included.
• passwordless_api.welcome_template
  • Description: Path to welcome template to render as html email.
  • Default: uses default template.
• passwordless_api.reset_key_template
  • Description: Path to reset key template to render as html email
  • Default: uses default template.
• passwordless_api.cookie_name
  • Description: Set to place the API token in a cookie, with given name. The cookie will default to secure, httpOnly, samesite: Lax.
  • Default: None, no cookie used.
• passwordless_api.cookie_domain
  • Description: The domain for samesite to respect, required if cookie set.
  • Default: None.
• passwordless_api.cookie_samesite
  • Description: To change the cookie samesite value to Strict. Only enable this if you know what you are doing.
  • Default: None, samesite value is set to Lax.
• passwordless_api.cookie_http_only
  • Description: Use a httpOnly cookie, recommended.
  • Default: true.
• passwordless_api.cookie_path
  • Description: Set a specific path to use the cookie, e.g. /api.
  • Default: / (all paths).

Endpoints

POST

• <CKAN_HOST>/api/3/action/passwordless_request_reset_key
  • Description: Request a login token for a given email.
  • Creates user if they do not exist & sends welcome email.
  • Param1: email (str).
• <CKAN_HOST>/api/3/action/passwordless_request_api_token
  • Description: Request an API token, given the email and login token (reset_key).
  • Param1: email (str).
  • Param2: key (str).
• <CKAN_HOST>/api/3/action/passwordless_revoke_api_token
  • Description: Revoke an API token.
  • Param1: token (str).

GET

• <CKAN_HOST>/api/3/action/passwordless_revoke_api_token
  • Description: If logged in, revoke the current API token.
• <CKAN_HOST>/api/3/action/passwordless_get_user
  • Description: Get user details, given their API token. Also resets and returns a new API token (i.e. renewal).

Notes

• It is also recommended to disable access to the API via cookie, to help prevent CSRF: ckan.auth.disable_cookie_auth_in_api = true
• The configuration for API tokens can be configured in core:

api_token.nbytes = 60
api_token.jwt.decode.secret = string:YOUR_SUPER_SECRET_STRING
api_token.jwt.algorithm = HS256

# expire_api_token plugin (unit = 1 day in seconds, lifetime = 3 days)
expire_api_token.default_lifetime = 3
expire_api_token.default_unit = 86400