kandev/docs/plans/human-assignee-auth-gate/plan.md

created, status, requirements, system_design, legacy_specs

created	status	requirements	system_design	legacy_specs
2026-09-05	complete	REQ-TASKS-HUMAN-ASSIGNEE-001	../../specs/tasks/system-design/human-assignee.md

Implementation Plan: Human Assignee Authentication Gate

Overview

Hide the human-assignee feature unless authentication is enabled and a real user is present. Apply one auth-mode rule to the task topbar, the Office property row, and kanban card indicators.

The backend intentionally returns a synthetic default-user when authentication is disabled. The affected components test only for user presence, so they expose a team feature on single-user installations.

Scope

In scope

• Gate every human-assignee control and indicator on enabled authentication.
• Preserve the current enabled-mode assignment and takeover behavior.
• Avoid directory requests when the feature is hidden.
• Add component and browser regression coverage for the real disabled-mode auth payload.

Out of scope

• Changes to authentication mode resolution or the synthetic identity.
• Changes to assignment storage, APIs, events, or workspace-reach rules.
• Clearing assignments when authentication is disabled.
• Changes to task-write permissions or viewer behavior.
• Adding a human-assignee control to the mobile task topbar.

Technical approach

Shared exposure rule

Use auth.mode === "enabled" and a non-null auth.user as the exposure condition. Do not use auth.authenticated because it is true in disabled mode.

Task topbar and Office properties

Update TaskAssigneeControl in apps/web/components/task/task-assignee-control.tsx. Return no content before the directory hook becomes active when the exposure condition is false.

Update HumanAssigneeRow in apps/web/components/task/simple/task-properties.tsx. Hide the complete property row in disabled, setup, and anonymous states.

Kanban card indicators

Update KanbanCardBadges and hasCardBadges in apps/web/components/kanban-card-content.tsx. Exclude the human-assignee badge and its row contribution when the exposure condition is false.

Keep AssigneeBadge presentational. It shall not own auth-mode decisions or request directory data for a hidden badge.

Tests

• Extend apps/web/components/task/task-assignee-control.test.tsx with the synthetic disabled-mode payload. The control stays absent and directory APIs are not called.
• Add focused coverage for HumanAssigneeRow in apps/web/components/task/simple/task-properties.test.tsx. Disabled and setup modes hide the complete row. Enabled mode retains the picker.
• Extend apps/web/components/kanban-card-assignee.test.tsx. A persisted assignee remains hidden in disabled mode and visible in enabled mode.
• Keep the existing enabled-mode assignment tests unchanged.

E2E tests

• Add apps/web/e2e/tests/task/human-assignee-auth-gate.spec.ts. Use the default disabled-auth fixture and a task assigned to default-user.
• Open the task page and prove that task-assignee-control is absent.
• Open the kanban board and prove that kanban-card-assignee is absent.
• Extend apps/web/e2e/tests/office/property-pickers.spec.ts. Prove that the human-assignee property row is absent on the disabled-auth fixture.

These tests cover AC-TASKS-HUMAN-ASSIGNEE-001.9 through the user interface.

Mobile parity

The task-topbar control is desktop-only. The mobile task topbar has no matching control, so this change introduces no new mobile surface.

The Office property row uses one component at every viewport. The auth gate runs before its shared presentation. No layout, touch target, scroll owner, or safe-area behavior changes.

Focused component tests and browser regressions cover the shared gate. A mobile Playwright test would repeat the same condition without a distinct mobile code path, so this change does not add one.

Work orders

• Task 01: Gate human-assignee surfaces

Verification results

• Added one shared auth-mode exposure rule for all human-assignee surfaces.
• Added component coverage for disabled, setup, anonymous, and enabled states.
• Added browser coverage for the task topbar, kanban card, and Office property row on an authentication-disabled installation.
• Passed 27 focused component tests, both focused browser tests, TypeScript, frontend lint, specification validation, and git diff --check.
• Addressed review feedback by making workorder commands root-safe, including the kanban content test, asserting complete Office-row absence, and using strict task-title locators.

Risks

• A user-presence check can reintroduce the bug because disabled mode supplies a synthetic user.
• A hidden card badge can still create an empty badge row unless hasCardBadges uses the same exposure condition.
• The fix must not erase an existing assignment when auth mode changes.

Documentation

No public documentation change is required. docs/public/team-access.md already says that authentication-disabled installations hide this feature.