PAN Authentication System - Implementation Complete ✅

What We Built

A complete JWT authentication system that eliminates manual header management - developers never write Authorization: Bearer ${token}.

Core Philosophy

"Auth should be invisible infrastructure" - Developers focus on features, not plumbing.

📦 Components Created

1. `pan-auth.mjs` (12KB)

Location: pan-auth.mjs

JWT authentication manager:

✅ Stores tokens in localStorage/sessionStorage/memory
✅ Publishes retained auth.state (for UI)
✅ Publishes retained auth.internal.state (for connectors - includes token)
✅ Handles login/logout/refresh flows
✅ Auto-refreshes tokens before expiry
✅ Decodes JWT to check expiration

Topics:

Commands: auth.login, auth.logout, auth.refresh, auth.setToken, auth.check
Events: auth.state, auth.login.success, auth.login.error, auth.logout.success, auth.refresh.success, auth.refresh.error

2. `pan-fetch.mjs` (3.8KB)

Location: pan-fetch.mjs

Authenticated fetch wrapper:

✅ Drop-in replacement for fetch()
✅ Auto-injects Authorization header
✅ Convenience methods: get(), post(), put(), patch(), delete()
✅ fetchJson() - auto JSON parse + error handling
✅ isAuthenticated() - check login status

Usage:

import { panFetch } from '../pan-fetch.mjs';
const users = await panFetch.get('/api/users'); // Auth header auto-added!

3. Enhanced Connectors

#### pan-data-connector.mjs (Enhanced) Location: pan-data-connector.mjs

✅ Subscribes to auth.internal.state
✅ Auto-injects Authorization: Bearer ${token} in all fetch requests
✅ Works with existing CRUD topics

#### pan-graphql-connector.mjs (Enhanced) Location: pan-graphql-connector.mjs

✅ Subscribes to auth.internal.state
✅ Auto-injects Authorization: Bearer ${token} in GraphQL requests
✅ Works with existing GraphQL queries/mutations

4. Mock Auth API (6.8KB)

Location: examples/mock-auth-api.mjs

Client-side JWT simulator for testing:

✅ Intercepts /api/* requests
✅ Simulates login/refresh/logout
✅ Creates & validates mock JWT tokens
✅ Test users included

Test Credentials:

admin@example.com / admin123
user@example.com / user123
demo@example.com / demo

5. Complete Demo (11KB)

Location: examples/auth-demo.html

Full working example:

✅ Login form with credentials
✅ Auth status display
✅ Protected user list (requires auth)
✅ Automatic header injection demonstration
✅ Beautiful UI with gradients

Try it:

open examples/auth-demo.html

📚 Documentation

1. Complete Guide (17KB)

Location: docs/AUTHENTICATION.md

Comprehensive documentation:

✅ Quick start
✅ Architecture explanation
✅ Component API reference
✅ Topic reference
✅ Complete examples
✅ Token refresh guide
✅ Storage options
✅ Backend integration
✅ Security best practices
✅ Troubleshooting
✅ FAQ

2. Quick Start (4.1KB)

Location: docs/AUTH_QUICKSTART.md

TL;DR version:

✅ 30-second setup
✅ Login component
✅ Protected component
✅ Topics reference
✅ Testing instructions

🚀 How It Works

Architecture

User Component           Data Component
     │                        │
     ├─→ auth.login ──────────┤
     │                        │
     ▼                        ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│         <pan-auth>              │  ← Manages tokens
│    Auth State Manager           │
└─────────────┬───────────────────┘
              │
              ├─→ auth.state (public - no token)
              └─→ auth.internal.state (private - has token)
                         │
                         ▼
              ┌──────────────────────┐
              │  <pan-connector>     │  ← Auto-injects headers
              │  Data Connector      │
              └──────────────────────┘
                         │
                         ▼
                    Authorization: Bearer ${token}
                         │
                         ▼
                    Backend API

Flow

User logs in via auth.login topic

receives request, calls login API

On success, stores token and publishes auth.state + auth.internal.state

Connectors subscribe to auth.internal.state, get token

All subsequent requests automatically include Authorization: Bearer ${token}

Before token expires, auto-refreshes

User logs out via auth.logout, tokens cleared

✨ Key Features

1. Zero Manual Headers

Before:

const response = await fetch('/api/users', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` // ❌ Manual!
  }
});

After:

pc.publish({ topic: 'users.list.get', data: {} }); // ✅ Automatic!

2. Declarative Setup

<!-- Drop on page, done -->
<pan-auth storage="localStorage" auto-refresh="true"></pan-auth>
<pan-data-connector resource="users" base-url="/api"></pan-data-connector>

3. Component Ignorance

Components don't know auth exists:

customElements.define('user-list', class extends HTMLElement {
  connectedCallback() {
    const pc = new PanClient(this);
    // Just request data - auth handled automatically
    pc.publish({ topic: 'users.list.get', data: {} });
  }
});

4. Auto Token Refresh

<pan-auth auto-refresh="true" refresh-before="300"></pan-auth>
<!-- Tokens refresh 5 minutes before expiry - no expired token errors! -->

5. Works Everywhere

✅ REST APIs via
✅ GraphQL via
✅ Custom fetches via panFetch
✅ All connectors auto-inject headers

📖 Usage Examples

Minimal Setup

<!DOCTYPE html>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<script type="module" src="../pan-autoload.mjs"></script>

<pan-auth storage="localStorage" auto-refresh="true"></pan-auth>
<pan-data-connector resource="users" base-url="/api"></pan-data-connector>

<script type="module">
  import { PanClient } from '../pan-client.mjs';
  const pc = new PanClient();

  // Login
  await pc.request('auth.login', {
    email: 'user@example.com',
    password: 'pass123'
  });

  // Fetch data - auth header automatically added!
  pc.publish({ topic: 'users.list.get', data: {} });
</script>

Login Component

customElements.define('login-form', class extends HTMLElement {
  connectedCallback() {
    const pc = new PanClient(this);

    this.innerHTML = `
      <form>
        <input name="email" type="email" required>
        <input name="password" type="password" required>
        <button>Login</button>
      </form>
    `;

    this.querySelector('form').addEventListener('submit', async (e) => {
      e.preventDefault();
      const formData = new FormData(e.target);

      const result = await pc.request('auth.login', {
        email: formData.get('email'),
        password: formData.get('password')
      });

      if (result.data.ok) {
        alert('Logged in!');
      }
    });
  }
});

Protected Component

customElements.define('user-list', class extends HTMLElement {
  connectedCallback() {
    const pc = new PanClient(this);

    // React to auth state
    pc.subscribe('auth.state', msg => {
      if (msg.data.authenticated) {
        pc.publish({ topic: 'users.list.get', data: {} });
      } else {
        this.innerHTML = '<p>Please log in</p>';
      }
    }, { retained: true });

    // Display users
    pc.subscribe('users.list.state', msg => {
      this.innerHTML = `<ul>${msg.data.items.map(u =>
        `<li>${u.name}</li>`
      ).join('')}</ul>`;
    }, { retained: true });
  }
});

Custom Fetch

import { panFetch } from '../pan-fetch.mjs';

// All automatically include auth header
const users = await panFetch.get('/api/users');
const newUser = await panFetch.post('/api/users', { name: 'John' });
const updated = await panFetch.put('/api/users/1', { name: 'Jane' });
await panFetch.delete('/api/users/1');

🎯 What Problem This Solves

The Manual Header Problem

Old way (error-prone):

// Every component needs to:
const token = localStorage.getItem('token');
const response = await fetch('/api/users', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` }
});

// Problems:
// - Easy to forget header
// - Repeated code everywhere
// - Token management in every component
// - No auto-refresh
// - Testing is hard

New way (automatic):

// Component just requests data
pc.publish({ topic: 'users.list.get', data: {} });

// Benefits:
// - Never forget headers
// - No token management code
// - Components are pure logic
// - Auto-refresh built-in
// - Easy to test (mock auth.state)

🔒 Security

Best Practices Implemented

✅ Two-tier state

- auth.state (public) - no token, safe for UI - auth.internal.state (private) - has token, only for connectors

✅ Token storage options

- localStorage - persistent - sessionStorage - temporary - memory - no persistence (most secure)

✅ Auto-refresh

- Prevents expired token errors - Configurable refresh timing

✅ HTTPS ready

- Works securely over HTTPS - Token never exposed in URL

✅ Backend validation

- Tokens validated on backend - Short-lived access tokens - Long-lived refresh tokens

🧪 Testing

Run the Demo

# Open auth demo
open examples/auth-demo.html

# Test with:
# - admin@example.com / admin123
# - user@example.com / user123
# - demo@example.com / demo

Mock API

The mock auth API (examples/mock-auth-api.mjs) provides:

✅ Client-side JWT simulation
✅ Token validation
✅ Login/refresh/logout endpoints
✅ Protected /api/users endpoint
✅ Test users included

Integration Testing

// Mock auth state in tests
pc.publish({
  topic: 'auth.internal.state',
  data: {
    authenticated: true,
    token: 'mock-token',
    user: { id: 1, email: 'test@example.com' }
  },
  retain: true
});

// Now all requests include mock token

📊 Files Modified/Created

New Files

src/components/
  ├── pan-auth.mjs              (12KB) - Auth manager component
  └── pan-fetch.mjs             (3.8KB) - Authenticated fetch wrapper

examples/
  ├── auth-demo.html            (11KB) - Complete working demo
  └── mock-auth-api.mjs         (6.8KB) - Mock backend for testing

docs/
  ├── AUTHENTICATION.md         (17KB) - Complete documentation
  └── AUTH_QUICKSTART.md        (4.1KB) - Quick reference

Modified Files

src/components/
  ├── pan-data-connector.mjs    - Added auto auth header injection
  └── pan-graphql-connector.mjs - Added auto auth header injection

Total: 6 new files, 2 enhanced files, ~55KB of code + docs

🎓 Documentation

docs/AUTHENTICATION.md - Complete guide (read this first!)

docs/AUTH_QUICKSTART.md - Quick reference (TL;DR version)

examples/auth-demo.html - Working demo (try it!)

Inline docs - All components have JSDoc comments

🚢 Ready to Ship

What's Complete

✅ JWT authentication manager
✅ Auto header injection (REST + GraphQL)
✅ Authenticated fetch wrapper
✅ Auto token refresh
✅ Storage options (localStorage/sessionStorage/memory)
✅ Complete topic-based API
✅ Mock backend for testing
✅ Working demo
✅ Comprehensive documentation

Zero Dependencies

✅ No build step
✅ No TypeScript compilation
✅ No external auth libraries
✅ Just plain JavaScript ESM

Zero Configuration

✅ Drop on page
✅ Set storage type
✅ Done!

🎉 Summary

You wanted: A way to handle auth without manual header management. You got: A complete authentication system where developers never write auth headers. They just:

Drop on page

Make requests - headers auto-injected

Philosophy achieved: Auth is now invisible infrastructure, exactly as it should be.

📞 Next Steps

Try the demo: open examples/auth-demo.html

Read the docs: docs/AUTHENTICATION.md

Integrate with your backend: See "Backend Integration" section

Test in your app: Replace manual headers with

Status: ✅ Complete and ready to use!