---
id: FLEX-WP-0011
type: workplan
title: "Bring flex-auth under the railiance staged-promotion contract"
domain: infotech
repo: flex-auth
status: finished
owner: codex
topic_slug: netkingdom
planning_priority: P2
planning_order: 110
depends_on_workplans:
  - FLEX-WP-0009
related_workplans:
  - RAIL-BS-WP-0006
created: "2026-08-11"
updated: "2026-08-16"
state_hub_workstream_id: "deda35b4-f41d-559e-954e-a75f29237f68"
---

# FLEX-WP-0011 - Bring flex-auth under the railiance staged-promotion contract

flex-auth runs two production Deployments on **railiance01**
(`flex-auth-tenant-engine`, `flex-auth-user-engine`) but has never been
brought under the staged-promotion contract (`RAIL-BS-WP-0006`) that defines
what counts as production on that host. This is pre-existing debt discovered
during the `FLEX-WP-0010` rollout, not a regression introduced by it.

## What is missing

The contract's gate table requires:

| Gate | Requirement | flex-auth today |
|---|---|---|
| Overlay repo | `railiance/<app>/` with `app.toml` and stage manifests | **missing** — manifests live in `deploy/*.yaml`, a parallel convention |
| Stage commands | `stage deploy`, `stage observe`, `stage promote`, `stage rollback` proven | **missing** |
| Evidence | Backup/restore drill, canary observation, operator approval recorded | partial — probe evidence exists in workplans, no canary or approval record |
| Registry | Image in forge OCI registry with immutable tag | **met** — Deployments pin by digest |

Two related facts found at the same time:

- The Deployments were originally created by `kubectl-client-side-apply` from
  a file that existed in no repository. `FLEX-WP-0010` recovered them into
  `deploy/` from the live objects' `last-applied-configuration` so that
  rollback no longer depends on a cluster annotation. That directory is a
  rescue, not the sanctioned shape, and this workplan should absorb it.
- CI image publishing was added in `FLEX-WP-0010`
  (`.forgejo/workflows/image.yaml`, modelled on activity-core). Before that,
  images were hand-built on a workstation with no forge-verifiable
  provenance. The registry gate is now met by construction.

## Not a blocker for existing traffic

flex-auth is already serving production decisions and its failure mode is
fail-closed: consumers receive `deny`/`403` rather than an unauthorized
allow. This workplan closes a governance and recoverability gap, not an
active safety incident. It should not be used as a reason to hold routine
policy rollouts.

## T01 - Author the railiance overlay

```task
id: FLEX-WP-0011-T01
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "75748946-68c0-5f33-abe1-810fcd55e93f"
```

Write `railiance/app.toml` against schema `railiance.app.v1`, using
`qonto-assistant/railiance/app.toml` as the reference. Declare `[app]` with
an honest `criticality` (flex-auth is an authorization PDP whose outage
blocks consumer writes fail-closed), `[source]` with `digest_policy =
"required"`, `[rollback]` naming the concrete rollback command, and
`observability.health_endpoints` for both Services' `/healthz`.

Model stage1/stage2/stage3 on the two-Deployment reality: the two consumers
are independently pinned and must be independently rollable. Do not collapse
them into one release.

Reshape `deploy/*.yaml` into the overlay layout (compare
`activity-core/k8s/railiance/`) and keep `deploy/README.md`'s rollout and
rollback runbook content rather than discarding it.

Done when the overlay renders and a server-side dry run of the full manifest
set is accepted.

Done 2026-08-16: `railiance/app.toml` validates against `railiance.app.v1`
(`criticality = high`, `digest_policy = required`, both production
`/healthz` endpoints plus isolated canary). One chart, three independently
rollable values files (`values/tenant-engine.yaml`,
`values/user-engine.yaml`, `values/stage2-canary.yaml`).
`tests/stage1.sh` renders all five values files. `bin/railiance run .`
passed (stage1 result `/tmp/flex-auth-stage1-result.json`). Server-side
dry run of canary + both production pins accepted (`kubectl apply
--dry-run=server --server-side` and `helm upgrade --dry-run=server` for
the canary). `deploy/README.md` kept as the emergency kubectl path and
points at the overlay.

Live discovery while pinning values: `flex-auth-tenant-engine` is back on
`sha256:c25fc34a…` (four-action policy). `tenant.retire` /
`tenant.update` / `tenant.reactivate` deny `unknown_action`. The
FLEX-WP-0010 image `sha256:9320df39…` is a ReplicaSet at desired=0.
Overlay pins match live; tenant-engine was notified
(`50a48026-a75b-4b1f-97f6-7c60063a30b8`). This workplan does not
re-promote that image.

## T02 - Prove the stage commands

```task
id: FLEX-WP-0011-T02
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "4becc09f-2331-5487-a794-643c748dd1bd"
```

Prove `stage deploy`, `stage observe`, `stage promote`, and `stage rollback`
against a real candidate image, with a canary observation window and a
recorded operator approval. Record the previous stable digest as the rollback
target before promoting.

Done when a full promote-then-rollback cycle has been demonstrated and the
evidence ids are recorded here.

Done 2026-08-16 on railiance01, isolated release `flex-auth-canary` only.
Production pins were not moved.

| Step | Result | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Approval | isolated-canary-only | progress `6b07bee3-0fd6-4b08-bb06-5dddac4130d9` |
| `stage deploy` apply | Helm rev 1, deploy 1/1 | stage2-deploy-result status `applied` |
| `stage observe` live | rollout/pods passed; metrics optional unavailable | stage2-observe-result status `passed` |
| Canary `/healthz` | 200 `{"status":"ok"}` | port-forward 19101 |
| Canary `me.read` | allow / `self_service` | `decision:27cbab2e5533508a` |
| `stage promote` apply | Helm rev 2 | stage3-promote-result status `applied` |
| `stage rollback` apply `--revision 1` | Helm rev 3 "Rollback to 1" | stage3-rollback-result status `applied` |
| Cleanup | `helm uninstall flex-auth-canary` | production deploys unchanged |

Previous stable recorded before promote:
`flex-auth-user-engine@sha256:1f5290376dc5fcf456dc7a785e394d8b90949dabecd1d3e856f38557149bb5f4`
`flex-auth-tenant-engine@sha256:c25fc34a6cd7e64d955f8723ec70e176a583d5ae71d76280c4e2d89fba0fe0aa`

Candidate image: `sha256:1f5290376dc5fcf456dc7a785e394d8b90949dabecd1d3e856f38557149bb5f4`.

## T03 - Correct the stale drain-plan row

```task
id: FLEX-WP-0011-T03
status: done
priority: low
state_hub_task_id: "abb788fe-22a5-5226-9f08-a43e20a47ce9"
```

`the-custodian/docs/coulombcore-drain-placement-plan.md` row 23 lists
flex-auth as living on coulombcore, drain wave 7, status `grandfathered`,
target railiance01. flex-auth in fact already runs on railiance01
(`92.205.62.239`); the row is stale and understates progress.

This is custodian canon, not a flex-auth file — raise it with the custodian
owner rather than editing it from this repo. Confirm at the same time whether
a coulombcore flex-auth deployment still exists and needs retiring, or
whether wave 7 can be closed.

Done when the row reflects reality or a custodian decision id explains why it
stands.

Raised 2026-08-16 with `the-custodian` (message
`7219e675-fd39-42ca-a302-8722a895531d`). Confirmed the same day:
railiance01 namespace `flex-auth` is Active (7d+); coulombcore has k3s
but no `flex-auth` namespace and no flex-auth Deployments. Wave 7.3 has
nothing left to drain. T03 waits on the canon edit or a decision id.

Done 2026-08-16: operator authorized the canon edit. Row 23 in
`the-custodian/docs/coulombcore-drain-placement-plan.md` now lists
current = railiance01 `flex-auth` ns, status **on target**, owner
`FLEX-WP-0011`. Wave step 7.3 is restated as identity-endpoint follow-up
only; host drain is complete. Custodian commit `c377f0d`.