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# Authentication
```mermaid
---
Authentication states
---
stateDiagram-v2
[*] --> Unauthenticated
Unauthenticated --> Authenticated : /api/auth/login
Authenticated --> Unauthenticated : /api/auth/logout
Authenticated --> Unauthenticated : Token expired
```
Authentication associates each authenticated request with a login.
## Identity tokens
A login is primarily authenticated using its username and password. However, passwords are a sensitive, long-lived credential, and are also operationally expensive to verify; for routine access, requests are authenticated using an identity token, instead.
Tokens are issued by logging into the service, using the `/api/auth/login` endpoint. The `/api/auth/logout` endpoint immediately invalidates the token used to make a request to it. Tokens are also invalidated after seven days of inactivity.
To authenticate a request, include `cookie: identity=TOKEN SECRET` header in the request. For browser-based clients, this may happen automatically.
## Authentication failures
Unless the endpoint's documentation says otherwise, all endpoints require authentication. Making a request to any endpoint that requires authentication, either without a token, or with a token that is not valid or that has expired, causes the service to return a `401 Unauthorized` response, instead of the responses documented for the endpoint the request was intended for. The API will not take action on requests that fail authentication in this way.
## `POST /api/auth/login`
Authenticates the user using their login name and password. The login must exist before calling this endpoint.
To create logins, see [initial setup](./initial-setup.md) and [invitations](./invitations.md).
**This endpoint does not require an `identity` cookie.**
### Request
```json
{
"name": "example username",
"password": "the plaintext password",
}
```
The request must have the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|:-----------|:-------|:--|
| `name` | string | The login's name. |
| `password` | string | The login's password, in plain text. |
### Success
<!-- This prose is duplicated by 03-initial-setup.md and in 04-invitations.md, with small changes for context. If you edit it here, edit it there, too. -->
This endpoint will respond with a status of `200 Okay` when successful. The body of the response will be a JSON object describing the authenticated login:
```json
{
"id": "Labcd1234",
"name": "Andrea"
}
```
The response will include the following fields:
| Field | Type | Description |
|:------------|:-------|:--|
| `id` | string | The authenticated login's ID. |
| `name` | string | The authenticated login's name. |
The response will include a `Set-Cookie` header for the `identity` cookie, providing the client with a newly-minted identity token associated with the login identified in the request. This token's value must be kept confidential.
The cookie will expire if it is not used regularly.
### Authentication failure
This endpoint will respond with a status of `401 Unauthorized` if the login name and password do not correspond to an existing login.
## `POST /api/auth/logout`
Invalidates the identity token used to make the request, logging the user out.
### Request
```json
{}
```
The request must be an empty JSON object.
### Success
This endpoint will respond with a status of `204 No Content` when successful.
The response will include a `Set-Cookie` header that clears the `identity` cookie. Regardless of whether the client clears the cookie, the service also invalidates the token.
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