Merge pull request #429 from the-luap/fix/cookie-secure-auto-default-427

fix(auth): default COOKIE_SECURE to 'auto' in production + first-install UX (#427)

backend/src/utils/tokenUtils.js

@@ -7,15 +7,24 @@ const DEFAULT_MAX_AGE_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000; // 24 hours
 
 /**
  * Cookie "Secure" flag mode:
- *   - true   → always set Secure (HTTPS-only)
- *   - false  → never set Secure (allow plain HTTP)
+ *   - true   → always set Secure (HTTPS-only — cookie won't be sent over HTTP at all)
+ *   - false  → never set Secure (allow plain HTTP — cookie has no in-flight protection)
  *   - 'auto' → decide per-request based on req.secure (X-Forwarded-Proto
- *              via Express `trust proxy`). Useful when the same deployment
- *              is reachable over both HTTPS (via reverse proxy) and LAN HTTP.
+ *              via Express `trust proxy`). Emits Secure when actual HTTPS is
+ *              detected, omits it on plain HTTP. This is the right default
+ *              for deployments reachable via both HTTPS (reverse proxy) and
+ *              LAN HTTP, and for first-time installs that haven't set up a
+ *              reverse proxy yet.
  *
- * Default: follows NODE_ENV (production → true, dev → false) — unchanged
- * from previous behavior. Users who want the auto mode must opt in with
- * COOKIE_SECURE=auto in their .env.
+ * Default:
+ *   - production → 'auto'  (#427: previously hard `true`, which caused silent
+ *                  login loops over HTTP because the browser drops the
+ *                  Secure cookie. 'auto' is strictly more lenient than `true`
+ *                  on real HTTPS — req.secure is true → Secure flag still
+ *                  emitted — so this is not a security regression for
+ *                  reverse-proxy deployments. Users who explicitly want the
+ *                  HTTPS-only behaviour can still set COOKIE_SECURE=true.)
+ *   - dev → false (allow http://localhost in browsers without HSTS gymnastics)
  */
 const secureCookieMode = (() => {
   const raw = typeof process.env.COOKIE_SECURE === 'string'
@@ -24,8 +33,10 @@ const secureCookieMode = (() => {
   if (raw === 'auto') return 'auto';
   if (raw === 'true') return true;
   if (raw === 'false') return false;
-  // No env var set → legacy default
-  return process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production';
+  // No env var set → infer from NODE_ENV. Production defaults to 'auto'
+  // (per-request) rather than hard `true` so first-time HTTP installs don't
+  // silently fail (#427).
+  return process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? 'auto' : false;
 })();
 const sameSiteDefault = process.env.COOKIE_SAMESITE || 'Lax';
 const cookieDomain = process.env.COOKIE_DOMAIN;