# nxdns REST API

nxdns serves its admin API itself, on `web.bind:web.port` (default port 8080),
as plain HTTP. TLS termination, where an operator wants it, belongs to a
reverse proxy in front; the session cookie deliberately omits the `Secure`
attribute so the supported plain-HTTP LAN deployment works.

This page is orientation. The machine-readable contract is
`src/web/openapi.yaml`, which the running server hands out unauthenticated at
`GET /api/openapi.yaml`. When this page and the yaml disagree, the yaml wins.

## Conventions

- All request and response bodies are JSON (`application/json`), except
  `/metrics` (Prometheus text format), `/api/openapi.yaml` (YAML) and
  `/api/queries/live` (`text/event-stream`).
- Field names are snake_case, matching settings keys and SQL column names.
- Every error response carries the envelope `{"error": "<message>"}`. The
  message is operator-facing text; internal detail never reaches the wire —
  a 500 body is generic and the cause goes to the server log.
- Request bodies are strict: an unknown field is a 400, a body over 1 MiB is
  a 413.
- A request whose path matches but whose method does not answers 405 with an
  `Allow` header. An unknown `/api` path is a JSON 404; unknown non-`/api`
  paths fall through to the embedded SPA (`index.html`), so client-side
  routing works.
- Item routes (`{id}`) match a positive integer id only.
- Mutations to groups, blocklists, rules, local records, forward zones,
  clients and client prefixes take effect live. Upstreams and `/api/settings`
  are restart-required.

## Authentication

Cookie sessions, in memory, no accounts — one operator password.

- Authentication is on exactly when `web.password_hash` is set. When no
  password is set, every route is open and `POST /api/auth/login` answers
  `{"authenticated": true, "auth_required": false}` without setting a cookie.
- `POST /api/auth/login` takes `{"password": "..."}`. A correct password
  answers 200 with a `Set-Cookie` for `nxdns_session`
  (`HttpOnly; SameSite=Lax; Path=/`, `Max-Age` = the session TTL). A wrong
  password is a 401; a stored hash the server cannot read is a 500, never a
  401. Login attempts spend rate-limit tokens like any other request, and
  argon2id verification is deliberately slow.
- Every route whose auth policy is `session` answers
  401 `{"error": "authentication required"}` without a valid cookie.
- Sessions live `web.session_ttl_hours` (default 24) from login; use does not
  extend the lifetime. The table holds 32 sessions; a 33rd login evicts the
  least recently used. Nothing is persisted — a server restart logs every
  operator out.
- Changing the password through `PUT /api/settings` revokes every live
  session immediately; the new password applies without a restart.
- `POST /api/auth/logout` ends the cookie's session and clears the cookie.
  It answers 200 whether or not the session was live.

## Rate limiting

A token bucket per client address: capacity and refill are both
`web.api_rate_limit_per_min` (default 300) per minute, so a page-load burst
up to the capacity is admitted and the long-run rate holds.

- An over-budget request answers 429 `{"error": "rate limited"}` with a
  `Retry-After` header giving the seconds until a token is available
  (rounded up, never zero).
- Loopback addresses (127.0.0.0/8 and ::1) are exempt while
  `web.api_localhost_exempt` is true (the default).
- Exempt routes, which never consult a bucket: `/metrics` and `/api/health`
  (a Prometheus scrape must never see 429) and `/api/queries/live` (one
  long-lived stream must not drain its address's bucket; it is bounded by
  the SSE connection cap instead).
- The limiter tracks at most 4096 addresses. When the table is full and no
  slot is reclaimable, requests from unknown addresses are refused with 429.

## Live query stream (SSE)

`GET /api/queries/live` is server-sent events over chunked transfer,
`Content-Type: text/event-stream`, `Cache-Control: no-store`.

- The stream opens with `retry: 3000`, so a browser `EventSource` reconnects
  on its own after a drop.
- Each query is one frame: `event: query` and a single `data:` line of JSON.
  The payload carries the `GET /api/queries` row fields minus `id` (a live
  entry precedes persistence): `ts`, `domain`, `client_ip`, `qtype`,
  `blocked`, `block_reason`, `response_time_us`, `cache_hit`, `upstream`.
- A `: ping` comment heartbeat goes out after 15 s of quiet, keeping
  middleboxes from reaping the idle connection.
- Each subscriber buffers up to 64 entries. A client too slow for the query
  rate overflows its buffer and the server ends the stream cleanly after
  delivering what the buffer held — queries are never held back for a slow
  reader. There is no gap marker: on reconnect, re-sync through
  `GET /api/queries`, which has the missed rows.
- Connections per client address are capped at
  `web.sse_max_connections_per_ip` (default 3); over the cap is a 429. The
  cap binds loopback too. The server holds at most 32 concurrent streams in
  total; when all slots are taken, the answer is a 503.

## Operations

Auth `open` means no session required; `session` means a valid session
cookie is required whenever a password is set. Rate limit `counted` spends a
token; `exempt` never consults the limiter.

| Method | Path | Auth | Rate limit | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GET | `/metrics` | open | exempt | Prometheus metrics |
| GET | `/api/health` | open | exempt | Health rollup |
| GET | `/api/version` | open | counted | Build and uptime |
| GET | `/api/openapi.yaml` | open | counted | This API's OpenAPI document |
| POST | `/api/auth/login` | open | counted | Log in |
| POST | `/api/auth/logout` | session | counted | Log out |
| GET | `/api/queries` | session | counted | Query log page |
| GET | `/api/queries/live` | session | exempt | Live query stream (server-sent events) |
| GET | `/api/stats` | session | counted | Totals for a period |
| GET | `/api/stats/timeseries` | session | counted | Bucketed counts for a period |
| GET | `/api/lookup` | session | counted | Explain a domain |
| GET | `/api/upstream/health` | session | counted | Upstream pool health |
| GET | `/api/groups` | session | counted | List groups |
| POST | `/api/groups` | session | counted | Create a group |
| GET | `/api/groups/{id}` | session | counted | Read a group |
| PUT | `/api/groups/{id}` | session | counted | Update a group |
| DELETE | `/api/groups/{id}` | session | counted | Delete a group |
| GET | `/api/groups/{id}/sources` | session | counted | Blocklist sources assigned to a group |
| PUT | `/api/groups/{id}/sources` | session | counted | Replace the assignment |
| GET | `/api/blocklists` | session | counted | List blocklist sources |
| POST | `/api/blocklists` | session | counted | Add a blocklist source |
| POST | `/api/blocklists/update` | session | counted | Refresh every enabled source now |
| GET | `/api/blocklists/{id}` | session | counted | Read a blocklist source |
| PUT | `/api/blocklists/{id}` | session | counted | Update a blocklist source |
| DELETE | `/api/blocklists/{id}` | session | counted | Delete a blocklist source |
| GET | `/api/rules` | session | counted | List rules |
| POST | `/api/rules` | session | counted | Create a rule |
| GET | `/api/rules/{id}` | session | counted | Read a rule |
| PUT | `/api/rules/{id}` | session | counted | Update a rule |
| DELETE | `/api/rules/{id}` | session | counted | Delete a rule |
| GET | `/api/local-records` | session | counted | List local DNS records |
| POST | `/api/local-records` | session | counted | Create a local record |
| GET | `/api/local-records/{id}` | session | counted | Read a local record |
| PUT | `/api/local-records/{id}` | session | counted | Update a local record |
| DELETE | `/api/local-records/{id}` | session | counted | Delete a local record |
| GET | `/api/forward-zones` | session | counted | List forward zones |
| POST | `/api/forward-zones` | session | counted | Create a forward zone |
| GET | `/api/forward-zones/{id}` | session | counted | Read a forward zone |
| PUT | `/api/forward-zones/{id}` | session | counted | Update a forward zone |
| DELETE | `/api/forward-zones/{id}` | session | counted | Delete a forward zone |
| GET | `/api/clients` | session | counted | List clients |
| GET | `/api/clients/{id}` | session | counted | Read a client |
| PUT | `/api/clients/{id}` | session | counted | Rename or regroup a client |
| DELETE | `/api/clients/{id}` | session | counted | Forget a client |
| GET | `/api/client-prefixes` | session | counted | List client prefixes |
| PUT | `/api/client-prefixes` | session | counted | Replace the prefix table |
| GET | `/api/upstreams` | session | counted | List upstream resolvers |
| POST | `/api/upstreams` | session | counted | Add an upstream |
| GET | `/api/upstreams/{id}` | session | counted | Read an upstream |
| PUT | `/api/upstreams/{id}` | session | counted | Update an upstream |
| DELETE | `/api/upstreams/{id}` | session | counted | Delete an upstream |
| GET | `/api/pause` | session | counted | Read the pause state |
| POST | `/api/pause` | session | counted | Pause or resume blocking |
| GET | `/api/settings` | session | counted | Read the scalar settings |
| PUT | `/api/settings` | session | counted | Update settings |
| POST | `/api/certs/reload` | session | counted | Reload the TLS certificates from disk |

There is no `POST /api/clients`: client rows come from DNS activity or
import, never from the API.

## Schemas

Request and response schemas for every operation live in the OpenAPI
document: `src/web/openapi.yaml` in the repository, or
`GET /api/openapi.yaml` from a running server.