Added better logging and websocket, more readme details

backend/lib/authenticator.dart

@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
-import 'dart:io';
-
 import 'package:backend/database.dart';
 import 'package:backend/service/db_access.dart';
+import 'package:backend/utils/environment.dart';
 import 'package:dart_jsonwebtoken/dart_jsonwebtoken.dart';
 import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
 import 'package:shared_models/jwt.dart';
 import 'package:shared_models/user.dart';
 
-final jwtSecret = _getSecret();
+final jwtSecret = getJWTSecret();
 const expTimeSecs = 3600;
 
 final log = Logger('Authenticator');
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ class Authenticator {
       JWTBody(uuid: newUser.uuid, roomUuid: newUser.gameRoomUuid, iat: iat, exp: iat + expTimeSecs).toJson(),
     );
 
-    return (jwt.sign(SecretKey(jwtSecret)), newUser);
+    return (jwt.sign(SecretKey(jwtSecret!)), newUser);
   }
 
   Future<(User?, JWTTokenStatus)> verifyToken(
@@ -38,7 +37,7 @@ class Authenticator {
       log.info('Verifying jwt: ${token.substring(0, 10)}...${token.substring(token.length - 10)}');
       final payload = JWT.verify(
         token,
-        SecretKey(jwtSecret),
+        SecretKey(jwtSecret!),
       );
 
       final jwt = JWTBody.fromJson(payload.payload as Map<String, dynamic>);
@@ -54,36 +53,3 @@ class Authenticator {
     }
   }
 }
-
-// load any env vars inside root of project's .env file, then looks for JWT_TOKEN_SECRET
-String _getSecret() {
-  final envs = {...Platform.environment};
-  try {
-    final result = Process.runSync('git', ['rev-parse', '--show-toplevel']);
-    if (result.exitCode != 0) {
-      log.warning('Failed to get git root directory: ${result.stderr}');
-      throw Exception('Failed to get git root directory');
-    }
-    final rootDir = (result.stdout as String).trim();
-    final envFile = File('$rootDir/.env');
-    if (envFile.existsSync()) {
-      for (final line in envFile.readAsLinesSync()) {
-        if (line.trim().isEmpty || line.startsWith('#')) continue;
-        final parts = line.split('=');
-        if (parts.length != 2) continue;
-        final key = parts[0].trim();
-        final value = parts[1].trim();
-        envs[key] = value;
-      }
-    }
-  } catch (e) {
-    log.warning('Failed to load .env file: $e');
-  }
-  // check for secret
-  final secret = envs['JWT_TOKEN_SECRET'];
-  if (secret == null || secret.isEmpty) {
-    throw Exception('JWT secret not configured. Define JWT_TOKEN_SECRET in environment.');
-  } else {
-    return secret;
-  }
-}

backend/lib/utils/environment.dart

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+// load any env vars inside root of project's .env file, then looks for JWT_TOKEN_SECRET
+import 'dart:io';
+import 'dart:math';
+
+import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
+
+final log = Logger('Environment');
+
+bool _isDevEnv = false;
+
+void checkEnvironment(bool isDevEnv) {
+  _isDevEnv = isDevEnv;
+  getJWTSecret();
+}
+
+String? getJWTSecret() {
+  final envs = {...Platform.environment};
+  if (_isDevEnv) {
+    log.fine('Trying to load .env file...');
+    try {
+      final result = Process.runSync('git', ['rev-parse', '--show-toplevel']);
+      if (result.exitCode != 0) {
+        log.warning('Failed to get git root directory: ${result.stderr}');
+        throw Exception('Failed to get git root directory');
+      }
+      final rootDir = (result.stdout as String).trim();
+      final envFile = File('$rootDir/.env');
+      if (envFile.existsSync()) {
+        for (final line in envFile.readAsLinesSync()) {
+          if (line.trim().isEmpty || line.startsWith('#')) continue;
+          final parts = line.split('=');
+          if (parts.length != 2) continue;
+          final key = parts[0].trim();
+          final value = parts[1].trim();
+          envs[key] = value;
+        }
+      }
+    } catch (e) {
+      log.warning('Failed to load .env file: $e');
+    }
+  }
+
+  // check for secret
+  final secret = envs['JWT_TOKEN_SECRET'];
+  if (secret == null || secret.isEmpty) {
+    if (_isDevEnv) {
+      log.warning('JWT secret not configured. Define JWT_TOKEN_SECRET in environment.');
+      final secret = List.generate(
+          24, (_) => String.fromCharCode((65 + Random().nextInt(26)) + (Random().nextInt(2) == 0 ? 0 : 32))).join();
+      log.warning('Generated random JWT secret for development: $secret');
+      return secret;
+    } else {
+      log.severe('Stopping prod server because JWT secret is not defined.');
+      throw Exception('JWT secret not configured. Define JWT_TOKEN_SECRET in environment.');
+    }
+  } else {
+    return secret;
+  }
+}