Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

Started by Chao Li19 days ago7 messageshackers
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#1Chao Li
li.evan.chao@gmail.com

Hi,

While testing “[d438a3659] oauth: Let validators provide failure DETAILs”, I noticed a tiny doc issue.

With this feature, when a validator returns false, result->error_detail can carry an error message. However, it seems that the previous paragraph was not updated:
```
<para>
A validator may return <literal>false</literal> to signal an internal error,
in which case any result parameters are ignored and the connection fails.

```

“Any result parameters are ignored” is no longer accurate; it should be something like “any result parameters except result->error_detail are ignored”. This patch just makes that tiny doc fix.

Best regards,
--
Chao Li (Evan)
HighGo Software Co., Ltd.
https://www.highgo.com/

Attachments:

v1-0001-doc-Clarify-OAuth-validator-error_detail-handling.patchapplication/octet-stream; name=v1-0001-doc-Clarify-OAuth-validator-error_detail-handling.patch; x-unix-mode=0644Download+4-4
#2Daniel Gustafsson
daniel@yesql.se
In reply to: Chao Li (#1)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On 4 Jun 2026, at 14:33, Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com> wrote:

“Any result parameters are ignored” is no longer accurate; it should be something like “any result parameters except result->error_detail are ignored”. This patch just makes that tiny doc fix.

That's true, but error_detail is explained in detail in the next paragraph so
I'm not sure this change is needed.

Another thing we don't explicitly document which seems more interesting is that
authn_id is used even in case of failure if log_connections is enabled. Maybe
that deserves a mention?

--
Daniel Gustafsson

#3Chao Li
li.evan.chao@gmail.com
In reply to: Daniel Gustafsson (#2)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On Jun 5, 2026, at 04:19, Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

On 4 Jun 2026, at 14:33, Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com> wrote:

“Any result parameters are ignored” is no longer accurate; it should be something like “any result parameters except result->error_detail are ignored”. This patch just makes that tiny doc fix.

That's true, but error_detail is explained in detail in the next paragraph so
I'm not sure this change is needed.

Agreed. Adding the “exception for result->error_detail” sounds a bit redundant with the next paragraph. But “any result parameters are ignored” also seems to conflict with the next paragraph, so I think we can just delete that part.

ValidatorModuleResult has three fields, so the logic is:

* The first paragraph talks about authorized and authn_id when the validator succeeds.
* The second paragraph talks about the validator’s return values.
* The third paragraph talks about result->error_detail when the validator fails.

Another thing we don't explicitly document which seems more interesting is that
authn_id is used even in case of failure if log_connections is enabled. Maybe
that deserves a mention?

This is a good point. I added that in v2.

Best regards,
--
Chao Li (Evan)
HighGo Software Co., Ltd.
https://www.highgo.com/

Attachments:

v2-0001-doc-clarify-OAuth-validator-authn_id-logging-on-a.patchapplication/octet-stream; name=v2-0001-doc-clarify-OAuth-validator-authn_id-logging-on-a.patch; x-unix-mode=0644Download+9-5
#4Daniel Gustafsson
daniel@yesql.se
In reply to: Chao Li (#3)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On 5 Jun 2026, at 00:21, Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com> wrote:

On Jun 5, 2026, at 04:19, Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

On 4 Jun 2026, at 14:33, Chao Li <li.evan.chao@gmail.com> wrote:

“Any result parameters are ignored” is no longer accurate; it should be something like “any result parameters except result->error_detail are ignored”. This patch just makes that tiny doc fix.

That's true, but error_detail is explained in detail in the next paragraph so
I'm not sure this change is needed.

Agreed. Adding the “exception for result->error_detail” sounds a bit redundant with the next paragraph. But “any result parameters are ignored” also seems to conflict with the next paragraph, so I think we can just delete that part.

ValidatorModuleResult has three fields, so the logic is:

* The first paragraph talks about authorized and authn_id when the validator succeeds.
* The second paragraph talks about the validator’s return values.
* The third paragraph talks about result->error_detail when the validator fails.

Another thing we don't explicitly document which seems more interesting is that
authn_id is used even in case of failure if log_connections is enabled. Maybe
that deserves a mention?

This is a good point. I added that in v2.

This version looks good to me, the authn_id sentence is a bit long so I might
do some careful rewording before pushing.

--
Daniel Gustafsson

#5Jacob Champion
jacob.champion@enterprisedb.com
In reply to: Daniel Gustafsson (#4)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

This version looks good to me, the authn_id sentence is a bit long so I might
do some careful rewording before pushing.

+1. I'll also think about how to better document the (intentional)
recording of authn_id during failed authorization, but it doesn't need
to block this.

--Jacob

#6Daniel Gustafsson
daniel@yesql.se
In reply to: Jacob Champion (#5)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On 5 Jun 2026, at 23:16, Jacob Champion <jacob.champion@enterprisedb.com> wrote:

On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

This version looks good to me, the authn_id sentence is a bit long so I might
do some careful rewording before pushing.

+1. I'll also think about how to better document the (intentional)
recording of authn_id during failed authorization, but it doesn't need
to block this.

Pushed with a little bit of wordsmithing.

--
Daniel Gustafsson

#7Chao Li
li.evan.chao@gmail.com
In reply to: Daniel Gustafsson (#6)
Re: Fix OAuth validator docs for error_detail on internal errors

On Jun 6, 2026, at 06:22, Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

On 5 Jun 2026, at 23:16, Jacob Champion <jacob.champion@enterprisedb.com> wrote:

On Fri, Jun 5, 2026 at 12:32 PM Daniel Gustafsson <daniel@yesql.se> wrote:

This version looks good to me, the authn_id sentence is a bit long so I might
do some careful rewording before pushing.

+1. I'll also think about how to better document the (intentional)
recording of authn_id during failed authorization, but it doesn't need
to block this.

Pushed with a little bit of wordsmithing.

--
Daniel Gustafsson

Hi Daniel, thank you very much for taking care of this patch.

Best regards,
--
Chao Li (Evan)
HighGo Software Co., Ltd.
https://www.highgo.com/