BASIC_AUTH

Enable HTTP Basic Authentication for the endpoint.

Keywords

basic_authentication, basic_auth

Syntax

basic_auth
basic_auth <username> <password_hash>

• username: The expected username for authentication.
• password_hash: The hashed password generated using the NpgsqlRest CLI --hash command.

Generating Password Hashes

Use the NpgsqlRest CLI to generate password hashes:

# Generate a hash for a password
./npgsqlrest --hash my_password

# Output example:
# Myb55+6lW6iiUOI3opLkysOaS8J0NNIuQ+qE2SGaKs3r62ngDJROrhX75+zmLC7t

Generating Authorization Headers

Use the NpgsqlRest CLI to generate Base64-encoded Basic Auth headers for testing:

# Generate Authorization header value
./npgsqlrest --basic_auth my_name my_password

# Output example:
# Authorization: Basic bXlfbmFtZTpteV9wYXNzd29yZA==

Examples

Basic Auth Without Credentials (Requires Challenge Command)

When basic_auth is used without credentials, a challenge_command must be configured to validate the user:

create function get_basic_auth_no_creds(
    _user_name text = null -- mapped to name claim
)
returns text
language sql as $$
select _user_name;
$$;

comment on function get_basic_auth_no_creds(text) is '
basic_auth
user_params
';

Note: Without credentials and without a challenge_command, all requests will return 401 Unauthorized.

Basic Auth With Credentials

create function get_basic_auth_user(
    _user_name text = null -- mapped to name claim
)
returns text
language sql as $$
select _user_name;
$$;

-- Generate hash: ./npgsqlrest --hash my_password
-- Output: Myb55+6lW6iiUOI3opLkysOaS8J0NNIuQ+qE2SGaKs3r62ngDJROrhX75+zmLC7t

comment on function get_basic_auth_user(text) is '
basic_auth my_name Myb55+6lW6iiUOI3opLkysOaS8J0NNIuQ+qE2SGaKs3r62ngDJROrhX75+zmLC7t
user_params
';

Test with:

# Generate header: ./npgsqlrest --basic_auth my_name my_password
curl -H "Authorization: Basic bXlfbmFtZTpteV9wYXNzd29yZA==" \
     http://localhost:5000/api/get-basic-auth-user
# Returns: my_name

Multiple Users

You can define multiple users by adding multiple basic_auth annotations:

create function get_basic_auth_multiple_users(
    _user_name text = null -- mapped to name claim
)
returns text
language sql as $$
select _user_name;
$$;

-- Generate hashes:
-- ./npgsqlrest --hash pass1  =>  um4K594nL6pBQx2el0lcbKKLADof1k9atRYKy+G14f6BQPtSCkwO6qz1wJ1d9Tx/
-- ./npgsqlrest --hash pass2  =>  TIDVxenk9gSqApyI82XDuqUaigQ5OdBIecfRtq7wFWtHT3Ffx2s+noIjvFCAw90z

comment on function get_basic_auth_multiple_users(text) is '
basic_auth user1 um4K594nL6pBQx2el0lcbKKLADof1k9atRYKy+G14f6BQPtSCkwO6qz1wJ1d9Tx/
basic_auth user2 TIDVxenk9gSqApyI82XDuqUaigQ5OdBIecfRtq7wFWtHT3Ffx2s+noIjvFCAw90z
user_params
';

Test with:

# ./npgsqlrest --basic_auth user1 pass1
curl -H "Authorization: Basic dXNlcjE6cGFzczE=" \
     http://localhost:5000/api/get-basic-auth-multiple-users
# Returns: user1

# ./npgsqlrest --basic_auth user2 pass2
curl -H "Authorization: Basic dXNlcjI6cGFzczI=" \
     http://localhost:5000/api/get-basic-auth-multiple-users
# Returns: user2

Behavior

• Requires HTTP Basic Authentication header in the format Authorization: Basic <base64(username:password)>.
• Returns 401 Unauthorized with WWW-Authenticate: Basic realm="..." header if:
  • No Authorization header is provided.
  • The header is malformed or cannot be decoded.
  • Username or password is missing.
  • Username is not found in configured users.
  • Password verification fails.
• When credentials are specified in the annotation, passwords are verified using the configured password hasher.
• When no credentials are specified, a challenge_command must be configured to handle authentication.
• The authenticated username is available via the user_params annotation as the name claim.

SSL Requirements

Basic Authentication transmits credentials encoded (not encrypted). The behavior when SSL is disabled is controlled by the SslRequirement configuration:

• Required: Rejects all non-SSL requests with 401 Unauthorized.
• Warning: Allows requests but logs a warning.
• Ignore: Allows requests with only a debug-level log.

Related

• Authentication Options configuration - Configure Basic Auth globally
• Comment Annotations Guide - How annotations work
• Configuration Guide - How configuration works

Related Annotations

• BASIC_AUTH_REALM - Set authentication realm
• BASIC_AUTH_COMMAND - Set validation function for custom authentication logic
• USER_PARAMS - Map authenticated user claims to function parameters
• AUTHORIZE - Token-based authorization