Willyu1007 AI First Template Auth Route Debugger

Auth Route Debugger

This workflow diagnoses authentication/authorization and route registration issues that commonly appear as 401/403/404.

Purpose & Scope

Use this workflow when:

• A route returns 401/403 unexpectedly
• A route returns 404 even though it appears to exist
• Auth cookies/headers are not being accepted

Out of scope:

• Deep security redesign (requires explicit human approval)

Inputs & Preconditions

Inputs:

• Route method + URL
• Observed status code and error response
• Client environment (browser vs server-to-server)

Preconditions:

• Confirm the route you are hitting is the correct service.
• Record repro steps in workdocs.

Steps

1. Confirm route registration
   • Verify the route is mounted under the expected prefix.
   • Check ordering: a catch-all or dynamic route can shadow more specific routes.
2. Reproduce with a minimal request
   • Remove optional headers/body fields to isolate the failure.
3. Test with and without auth
   • If a 鈥渘o-auth鈥?request yields the same failure, it may not be an auth issue.
4. Inspect auth middleware/guard
   • Identify where identity is parsed (cookie/header/session).
   • Identify where permissions are enforced (roles/scopes/policies).
5. Check configuration mismatches
   • Environment-specific cookie settings (domain, secure, sameSite)
   • CORS and credentials settings (if browser client)
6. Fix and verify
   • Apply minimal changes.
   • Re-test with the same reproducible request.

Outputs

• Root cause summary
• Minimal fix (if within scope) + verification notes
• Updated workdocs with repro steps and resolution

Safety Notes

• Do not weaken auth/permission checks without explicit human approval.
• Avoid adding 鈥渢emporary bypass鈥?flags unless explicitly required and gated to non-production.

Related

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