Some apps carry a complete account system and are broken by an upstream
challenge: git clients speak basic-auth (not browser cookies), and a
BTCPay checkout link handed to a customer must open for that customer.
Both were behind the gate's login page — the "non-browser clients need an
access token" gap disclosed in five consecutive releases.
- New manifest port policy `auth: open`: the daemon still fronts the port
exactly like `gated` (loopback pin, external binds, frame-header fixes,
app-down retry page, Tor upstream) but serves it without the login
challenge. Requires auth_rationale, same burden of proof as `none`.
Gitea 3001 and BTCPay 23000 declare it.
- Runtime operator override per app (security.set-app-gate → app-configs/
<id>.json "gateEnabled"), surfaced as Settings → app → Access control.
Wins over the manifest in both directions and applies on the next
request — no restart, and it works today on catalog-covered apps whose
signed manifest still says `gated`.
- The gate resolves policy per-request from the live port map, so a
toggle takes effect without waiting for the 60s rebind sweep. "Off"
never releases the port: gated apps are loopback-pinned, so releasing
would strand them, not open them.
- security.app-gate-status now reports gate_enabled + any override.
- New guard test pins the `auth: open` set (both entries reviewed); the
`auth: none` count moves 25 → 26, absorbing pre-existing drift from the
phoenixd onboarding (loopback JSON API with its own generated password).
- Docs: the manifest spec's ports row documented only host/container/
protocol — bind, auth, auth_rationale and session_passthrough were
undocumented. Added a full "Ports & the app gate" section plus a
developer-guide entry telling app authors to enforce their own auth
regardless, since the operator can flip the gate either way.
Verified live on archi-dev-box from an external address: gated → 401 gate
page; override off → Gitea 200 own page, BTCPay 302 to its own login,
git-over-HTTP info/refs 200; override on → 401 again; clear → default.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>