mount express-session + connect-redis at bootstrap on top of the
shared ioredis client. the full json payload is encrypted with
aes-256-gcm before it reaches redis; envelope is versioned
(v1.<iv>.<tag>.<ciphertext>, base64url) so the algorithm or key
derivation can rotate without a flag-day re-encryption.
scope is intentionally infrastructure-only — middleware mounted,
req.session available downstream, cookie set on first write,
encryption-at-rest active. populating req.session.user from
/auth/callback, /me, /auth/logout, and the absolute-timeout
interceptor land in follow-ups.
notable shape choices captured in ADR-0010 (amended here):
- encryption at rest applies to the whole payload, not just a tokens
sub-field. the session also carries pii claims (oid, tid,
preferred_username) — encrypting the envelope removes the need to
classify fields one by one and costs essentially the same.
- connect-redis v9 was rewritten for node-redis v4 and dropped
ioredis. rather than swap the whole bff to node-redis, a small
adapter shapes the six commands connect-redis actually calls
(get / set with {expiration:{type:'EX',value}} / expire / del /
mGet / scanIterator) to look like node-redis. the rest of the
bff stays on a single shared ioredis client.
session id: crypto.randomBytes(32).toString('base64url')
cookie name: __Host-portal_session in production, portal_session in
dev (the __Host- prefix mandates Secure which dev http can't
provide). httpOnly + sameSite=lax + path=/. resave:false,
saveUninitialized:false, rolling:true; cookie maxAge follows
SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS (default 1800).
env: SESSION_ENCRYPTION_KEY is mandatory (32 bytes after base64url
decode); rejected at boot via a new assertSessionEncryptionKey()
mirroring the other pre-flight validators. SESSION_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS
and SESSION_ABSOLUTE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS are optional with adr-aligned
defaults (1800 / 43200).
Architectural Decision Records
This project records architecturally-significant decisions as ADRs in the MADR 4.0.0 format. References: adr.github.io.
Why ADRs
ADRs capture the why behind a decision — context, drivers, options considered, trade-offs accepted — at the moment the decision is made. They make architecture reviewable, onboarding faster, and prevent the same debate from being re-litigated later.
Conventions
- Format: MADR 4.0.0. Start from template.md.
- Filename:
NNNN-kebab-case-title.md, e.g.0007-adopt-tailwind-for-design-tokens.md. - Numbering: globally sequential 4-digit prefix. Numbers never reset, never get reused — even when an ADR is superseded or deprecated.
- Layout: flat folder. ADRs are not nested into category subfolders; topical organization happens via tags.
- Tags: every ADR carries a
tags:array in the MADR frontmatter, drawn from the tag vocabulary below. An ADR may carry several tags. Propose new tags (or renames) in the same PR that needs them; never invent ad-hoc tags inline. - Status lifecycle:
proposed→accepted→ optionallydeprecatedorsuperseded by [ADR-NNNN](NNNN-other.md). Update the YAML frontmatter; never delete an ADR. - Index maintenance: every ADR addition or status change must update the Index below in the same commit.
When to write an ADR
Write one whenever a development decision is non-trivial: tool or library choice, framework pattern, security control, perf budget, a11y target, naming convention, deprecation, breaking change, or any choice that future contributors would benefit from understanding the why of.
Tag vocabulary
The vocabulary below is the source of truth. It is intentionally coarse — propose extensions only when an existing tag genuinely doesn't fit, and avoid overly narrow tags.
| Tag | Scope |
|---|---|
frontend |
UI, Angular, components, design system, client-side state |
backend |
API, BFF, server-side services |
security |
AuthN, AuthZ, sessions, CSP, dependency scanning, secret management |
performance |
Perf budgets, caching, bundle size, Lighthouse |
accessibility |
WCAG, a11y testing, keyboard, ARIA, contrast |
infrastructure |
CI/CD, hosting, deployment, runtime |
observability |
Logs, metrics, traces, correlation IDs, monitoring |
data |
Persistence, schemas, migrations, data flow |
process |
Team conventions, workflows, repo policy |
Status: starter vocabulary, to be refined as ADRs accumulate. Update this table whenever a tag is added, renamed, or retired.
Index
ADRs are listed in numerical order. To slice by topic, filter on the Tags column.
| # | Title | Status | Tags | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0001 | Use ADRs to record architectural decisions | accepted | process |
2026-04-29 |
| 0002 | Adopt Nx monorepo with the apps preset |
accepted | infrastructure, frontend, backend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0003 | Workspace and app naming convention | accepted | process |
2026-04-29 |
| 0004 | Frontend stack — Angular (latest LTS), standalone, zoneless, Signals, CSR-only, Vitest | accepted | frontend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0005 | Backend stack — NestJS over Express, Fastify, Hono | accepted | backend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0006 | Persistence — PostgreSQL with Prisma | accepted | data, backend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0007 | Pre-commit hooks and Conventional Commits | accepted | process |
2026-04-29 |
| 0008 | Identity model — multi-tenant Entra ID for workforce, dual-audience design for future External ID | accepted | security, data |
2026-04-29 |
| 0009 | Authentication flow — OIDC Authorization Code + PKCE via MSAL Node, BFF session pattern | accepted | security, backend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0010 | Session management — opaque session IDs in cookies, payload in self-hosted Redis with AES-GCM at rest | accepted | security, backend, infrastructure |
2026-04-29 |
| 0011 | MFA enforcement — Entra ID Conditional Access baseline, BFF claim sanity-check, step-up hooks designed-in | accepted | security |
2026-04-29 |
| 0012 | Observability — Pino structured logs + OpenTelemetry tracing, W3C Trace Context propagation, stdout + collector | accepted | observability, backend, frontend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0013 | Audit trail — separated append-only Postgres schema, decoupled from app logs | accepted | security, observability, data |
2026-04-29 |
| 0014 | Downstream API access — On-Behalf-Of pattern, unified DownstreamApiClient, audience-aware authorization |
accepted | security, backend |
2026-04-29 |
| 0015 | CI/CD pipeline — Gitea Actions, trunk-based + squash-merge, thin YAML over portable scripts | accepted | infrastructure, process |
2026-04-30 |
| 0016 | Accessibility baseline — WCAG 2.2 AA + targeted AAA, Angular CDK + spartan-ng + Tailwind, APF panel testing | accepted | accessibility, frontend, process |
2026-04-30 |
| 0017 | Performance budgets — Core Web Vitals + Lighthouse CI gates, bundle budgets, BFF p95/p99 SLOs | accepted | performance, frontend, backend, process |
2026-04-30 |
| 0018 | Environment configuration — Angular environment.ts, BFF env vars, audit pool split |
accepted | frontend, backend, infrastructure, process |
2026-05-10 |
| 0019 | Internationalisation — @angular/localize, build-time per-locale bundles, /fr + /en path-based routing |
accepted | frontend, accessibility, performance, process |
2026-05-11 |
| 0020 | portal-admin — dedicated SPA for portal administration, sharing the existing BFF |
accepted | frontend, backend, security, infrastructure, process |
2026-05-11 |