Access Control

Set CONTEXTDB_AUTH_TOKENS to a JSON array of full tenant:permissions:secret token strings to enable authentication. Tokens are exact configured values; syntactically similar tokens are rejected. Permissions are read, write, and admin (admin is global).

When enabled, REST, gRPC, observability, and admin requests require a token. /health remains public for Kubernetes liveness checks. GraphQL and low-level remote-store gRPC methods require admin, because they can select arbitrary namespaces. Do not expose a deployment without token configuration to an untrusted network: no configured registry preserves the local unauthenticated compatibility mode.

write includes review-cycle execution, acquisition approval/rejection, and recovery within the token's own tenant. admin is reserved for global inspection and low-level operations. REST and gRPC high-level requests derive tenant identity from the authenticated token; a conflicting tenant header is rejected or ignored in favor of that authenticated identity.

Use bearer tokens with the SDKs:

const db = new ContextDB(url, { token: process.env.CONTEXTDB_TOKEN });

with ContextDB(url, token=os.environ["CONTEXTDB_TOKEN"]) as db:
    runs = db.namespace("production").review_worker_runs()

The CLI worker reads CONTEXTDB_TOKEN or accepts --token. Prefer the environment variable to keep the token out of shell history. In registry-enabled deployments, browser admin access requires an authenticated gateway that supplies the bearer header; this change does not add a browser login or token-storage UI. Health probes can use the public observe /health endpoint. The default Compose doctor probe is for its default trusted local configuration; adapt the probe or gateway when enabling authentication.