From 9d4ad84a3ecc4f30525c22efc5ac3205c096883d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Evan Jarrett <evan@evanjarrett.com>
Date: Sun, 9 Aug 2026 20:52:59 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] auth: surface read-only app passwords as 403, not 503
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A read-only app password authenticates fine via createSession but cannot
call com.atproto.server.getServiceAuth, which is privileged — the PDS
answers 403 InsufficientScope. That fell through to the generic non-200
path and became a 503, which invites the client to retry a request that
can never succeed, with no indication of what is actually wrong.

Classify it with a sentinel error and map it to a 403 at /auth/token,
carrying text that names the fix: use a full-access app password.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 pkg/auth/servicetoken.go  | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 pkg/auth/token/handler.go | 10 ++++++++++
 2 files changed, 41 insertions(+)

diff --git a/pkg/auth/servicetoken.go b/pkg/auth/servicetoken.go
index 27b55c3..dc2a8e2 100644
--- a/pkg/auth/servicetoken.go
+++ b/pkg/auth/servicetoken.go
@@ -48,6 +48,22 @@ func isStaleBearerToken(name string) bool {
 	}
 }
 
+// ErrAppPasswordInsufficientScope indicates the app-password session lacks the
+// scope to mint a hold service-auth token via com.atproto.server.getServiceAuth.
+// Read-only app passwords trip this: the PDS rejects getServiceAuth with 403
+// InsufficientScope. It is a permanent authorization failure — retrying won't
+// help — so callers surface it as a 403 with a clear "use a full-access app
+// password" message rather than a 503.
+var ErrAppPasswordInsufficientScope = errors.New("app-password lacks scope to mint hold service token (read-only app password?)")
+
+// isInsufficientScopeError reports whether a PDS error body signals that the
+// presented app-password session is scoped too narrowly to call getServiceAuth.
+// The reference PDS and tranquil both return the atproto error name
+// "InsufficientScope" (paired with 403) for read-only app passwords.
+func isInsufficientScopeError(body []byte) bool {
+	return atprotoErrorName(body) == "InsufficientScope"
+}
+
 // getErrorHint provides context-specific troubleshooting hints based on API error type
 func getErrorHint(apiErr *atclient.APIError) string {
 	switch apiErr.Name {
@@ -414,6 +430,21 @@ func GetOrFetchServiceTokenWithAppPassword(
 			return "", fmt.Errorf("app-password token stale (%s): re-authentication required", name)
 		}
 
+		// The app-password session is valid but scoped too narrowly to mint a
+		// hold service-auth token (getServiceAuth is a privileged endpoint that
+		// read-only app passwords can't call). This is a permanent authorization
+		// failure — no cached token to evict, and retrying won't help — so flag it
+		// with a sentinel the caller maps to a 403 with a clear message.
+		if resp.StatusCode == http.StatusForbidden && isInsufficientScopeError(bodyBytes) {
+			slog.Warn("App-password lacks scope for getServiceAuth (read-only app password?)",
+				"component", "token/servicetoken",
+				"did", did,
+				"holdDID", holdDID,
+				"pdsEndpoint", pdsEndpoint,
+				"hint", "User must use a full-access app password, not a read-only one")
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("%w: %s", ErrAppPasswordInsufficientScope, string(bodyBytes))
+		}
+
 		slog.Error("Service token request returned non-200 status (app-password)",
 			"component", "token/servicetoken",
 			"did", did,
diff --git a/pkg/auth/token/handler.go b/pkg/auth/token/handler.go
index ae5d86d..e42d4bd 100644
--- a/pkg/auth/token/handler.go
+++ b/pkg/auth/token/handler.go
@@ -506,6 +506,16 @@ func (h *Handler) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 				"duration", fetchDur.Round(time.Millisecond))
 		}
 		if res.err != nil {
+			// A read-only app password can authenticate (createSession) but can't
+			// mint the hold service-auth token that pulls and pushes require. That
+			// is a permanent authorization failure, not a transient outage, so
+			// return a 403 with actionable guidance instead of a retry-inviting 503.
+			if errors.Is(res.err, auth.ErrAppPasswordInsufficientScope) {
+				slog.Info("service-auth pre-mint denied: app-password lacks scope", "did", did, "error", res.err)
+				_ = errcode.ServeJSON(w, errcode.ErrorCodeDenied.WithMessage(
+					"your app password lacks the permissions ATCR needs. A read-only app password cannot mint the service token used to authenticate with your storage hold. Use a standard (full-access) app password."))
+				return
+			}
 			slog.Warn("service-auth pre-mint failed", "did", did, "error", res.err)
 			_ = errcode.ServeJSON(w, errcode.ErrorCodeUnavailable.WithMessage(fmt.Sprintf("service-auth fetch failed: %v", res.err)))
 			return