By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct.

Python SDK for SecureDrop

This SDK provides a convenient Python interface to the SecureDrop Journalist Interface API. The development of the SDK was primarily motivated by the creation of the SecureDrop Workstation based on Qubes OS.

The SDK is currently used by the SecureDrop Client that is a component of the SecureDrop Workstation. When used in Qubes OS, the SDK uses the securedrop-proxy service, as the VM which runs the client does not have network access by design.

Quick Start

make venv
source .venv/bin/activate
make test

We cover all the API calls supported by the SecureDrop Journalist Interface API.

To install the SDK into your virtualenv for testing purposes:

pip uninstall securedrop-sdk
pip install git+https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop-sdk@my_branch#egg=securedrop-sdk

Upgrading one single dependency

To upgrade one single Python dependency, say requests, run the following:

PACKAGE=requests make upgrade-pip

This will upgrade both dev-requirements and primary requirements.

Running tests

To run all tests and checks, run:

make check

To run all tests, run:

make test

To run all tests that make API calls over HTTP, run:

make test TESTS=tests/test_api.py

To run all tests that make API calls over qrexec, run:

make test TESTS=tests/test_apiproxy.py

To run a single test, specify file name, class name, and test name, e.g.:

make test TESTS=tests/test_api.py::TestAPI::test_get_sources

Creating and updating tests

When tests are run, they replay recorded API request and response data instead of making actual API calls to a server. This is why tests can pass even when there is no server running. If the server ever changes its API or you want to add new tests that make API calls, then you'll need to record new request and response data by following the steps outlined below.

Note: We have a CI test that does not use the recorded API request and response data in order to make sure we are testing the latest changes to the SDK against the latest server API (see test-against-latest-api in https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop-sdk/blob/main/.circleci/config.yml).

We use vcrpy to record and replay API calls made over HTTP and a decorator called @qrexec_datasaver to record and replay API calls made over qrexec. Each request made from a test and its response from the server is stored in a "cassette" in the data directory. Tests replay these cassettes instead of making actual API calls to a server.

If you run the tests and see the following vcrpy warning, then you'll need to re-record cassettes because none of the existing cassettes contain the expected API call and we don't allow existing cassettes to be overwritten:

Can't overwrite existing cassette ('<path-to-cassette-for-a-functional-test>') in your current record mode ('once').

The steps to generate new cassettes are split into two sections based on communication protocol: Generating cassettes for API calls over HTTP and Generating cassettes for API calls over qrexec.

Generating cassettes for API calls over HTTP

1. Start the server in a docker container by running:

   NUM_SOURCES=5 make dev
   

2. Delete the cassettes you wish to regenerate or just delete all yaml files by running:

   rm data/*.yml
   

   If you are only adding a new test and not modifying existing ones, you can skip this step, but you still need to remove the authentication setup during cassette generation. Otherwise you will get 403 errors for API endpoints that require a valid token. Remove the setup cassette by running:

   rm data/test-setup.yml
   

   (You can reinstate the unmodified version later.)

3. Generate new cassettes that make API calls over HTTP by running:

   make test TESTS=tests/test_api.py
   

Note: Some tests alter source and conversation data on the server so you may need to restart the server in between test runs.

Generating cassettes for API calls over qrexec

In order to generate cassettes for tests that make API calls over qrexec, you'll need to run the server and proxy on a separate VM. If this is the first time you are generating cassettes, first follow the steps outlined in the Test setup for qrexec communication section, which will help you set up a new VM called sd-dev-proxy.

Once your proxy VM is set up, follow these steps:

1. Start the server in a docker container on sd-dev-proxy by running:

   NUM_SOURCES=5 make dev
   

2. Delete the cassettes you wish to regenerate or just delete all JSON files by running:

   rm data/*.json
   

   If you are only adding a new test and not modifying existing ones, you can skip this step, but you still need to remove the authentication setup during cassette generation. Otherwise you will get 403 errors for API endpoints that require a valid token. Remove the setup cassette by running:

   rm data/setup_method.json
   

   (You can reinstate the unmodified version later.)

3. Make qrexec calls to the server and collect response data. To run all proxy tests:

   make test TESTS=tests/test_apiproxy.py
   

Note: If you get a 403 error it may also be because the test is trying to reuse an old TOTP code, so wait for 60 seconds and try again. Some tests alter source and conversation data on the server so you should restart the server in between test runs.

Test setup for qrexec communication

If this is the first time you are generating new cassettes that make API calls over qrexec, then you'll need to set up a new VM for running the server and proxy following these steps:

1. Create a new AppVM based on the debian-10 template called sd-dev-proxy.

2. Install the lastest proxy package:

   wget https://apt.freedom.press/pool/main/s/securedrop-proxy/<latest-package>.deb
   dpkg -i <latest-package>.deb
   

3. Create /home/user/.securedrop_proxy/sd-proxy.yaml with the following contents (assuming the VM you'll be running the SDK tests from is called sd-dev):

   host: 127.0.0.1
   scheme: http
   port: 8081
   target_vm: sd-dev
   dev: False
   

4. Install Docker.

5. Clone securedrop on sd-dev-proxy and run the server in a Docker container:

   git clone https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop
   cd securedrop
   virtualenv .venv --python=python3
   source .venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r securedrop/requirements/python3/develop-requirements.txt
   NUM_SOURCES=5 make dev
   

6. Open a terminal in sd-dev and create /etc/sd-sdk.conf with the following contents:

[proxy]
name=sd-dev-proxy

7. Modify /etc/qubes-rpc/policy/securedrop.Proxy in dom0 by adding the following line to the top of the file so that the sdk tests can make calls to the proxy:

sd-dev sd-dev-proxy allow

NOTE: You may want to switch back to the RPC configuration files in their as-provisioned state before a make test run in dom0, as this and the following change to the RPC policies will break the strict validation of the RPC policies that is one of those tests.

8. Modify /etc/qubes-rpc/policy/qubes.Filecopy in dom0 by adding the following line to the top of the file so that the proxy can send files over qrexec to the sdk:

sd-dev-proxy sd-dev allow

9. Verify qrexec communication between sd-dev-proxy and sd-dev is set up properly.

   a. Run the server on sd-dev-proxy if it isn't already running:

   NUM_SOURCES=5 make dev
   

   b. With the main branch of this repo checked out on sd-dev, comment out the @qrexec_datasaver decorator above the test_apiproxy.py::TestAPIProxy::setUp method so that test_api_auth makes an actual API call over qrexec. c. Run test_api_auth:

   make test TESTS=tests/test_apiproxy.py::TestAPIProxy::test_api_auth
   

   Note: If the test fails, run journalctl -f in dom0 before trying again to see if communication between sd-dev and sd-dev-proxy is being denied. A successful log looks like this:

   Aug 28 15:45:13 dom0 qrexec[1474]: securedrop.Proxy: sd-dev -> sd-dev-proxy: allowed to sd-dev-proxy
   

Releasing

To make a release, you should:

1. Create a branch named release/$new_version_number
2. Update CHANGELOG.md and setup.py
3. Commit the changes.
4. Create a PR and get the PR reviewed and merged into main.
5. git tag $new_version_number and push the new tag.
6. Checkout the new tag locally.
7. Push the new release source tarball to the PSF's PyPI following this documentation. Do not upload the wheel (by deleting it from your dist/ directory prior to upload).
8. If you want to publish the new SDK release to the FPF PyPI mirror, Hop over to the the securedrop-debian-packaging repo and follow the build-a-package instructions to push the package up to our PyPI mirror: https://pypi-hypernode.com/simple

Contributing

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our code of conduct, and the process for submitting pull requests to us.

Versioning

We use SemVer for versioning. For the versions available, see the tags on this repository.

License

The Python SecureDrop SDK is licensed in the GPLv3. See LICENSE for more details.