thrilltrack-explorer/docs/PHASE_3_ENHANCED_ERROR_HANDLING_COMPLETE.md

Phase 3: Enhanced Error Handling - COMPLETE

Status: ✅ Fully Implemented Date: 2025-01-07

Overview

Phase 3 adds comprehensive error handling improvements to the Sacred Pipeline, including transaction status polling, enhanced error sanitization, and client-side rate limiting for submission creation.

Components Implemented

1. Transaction Status Polling Endpoint

Edge Function: check-transaction-status Purpose: Allows clients to poll the status of moderation transactions using idempotency keys

Features:

• Query transaction status by idempotency key
• Returns detailed status information (pending, processing, completed, failed, expired)
• User authentication and authorization (users can only check their own transactions)
• Structured error responses
• Comprehensive logging

Usage:

const { data, error } = await supabase.functions.invoke('check-transaction-status', {
  body: { idempotencyKey: 'approval_submission123_...' }
});

// Response includes:
// - status: 'pending' | 'processing' | 'completed' | 'failed' | 'expired' | 'not_found'
// - createdAt, updatedAt, expiresAt
// - attempts, lastError (if failed)
// - action, submissionId

API Endpoints:

• POST /check-transaction-status - Check status by idempotency key
• Requires: Authentication header
• Returns: StatusResponse with transaction details

2. Error Sanitizer

File: src/lib/errorSanitizer.ts Purpose: Removes sensitive information from error messages before display or logging

Sensitive Patterns Detected:

• Authentication tokens (Bearer, JWT, API keys)
• Database connection strings (PostgreSQL, MySQL)
• Internal IP addresses
• Email addresses in error messages
• UUIDs (internal IDs)
• File paths (Unix & Windows)
• Stack traces with file paths
• SQL queries revealing schema

User-Friendly Replacements:

• Database constraint errors → "This item already exists", "Required field missing"
• Auth errors → "Session expired. Please log in again"
• Network errors → "Service temporarily unavailable"
• Rate limiting → "Rate limit exceeded. Please wait before trying again"
• Permission errors → "Access denied"

Functions:

• sanitizeErrorMessage(error, context?) - Main sanitization function
• containsSensitiveData(message) - Check if message has sensitive data
• sanitizeErrorForLogging(error) - Sanitize for external logging
• createSafeErrorResponse(error, fallbackMessage?) - Create user-safe error response

Examples:

import { sanitizeErrorMessage } from '@/lib/errorSanitizer';

try {
  // ... operation
} catch (error) {
  const safeMessage = sanitizeErrorMessage(error, {
    action: 'park_creation',
    userId: user.id
  });
  
  toast({
    title: 'Error',
    description: safeMessage,
    variant: 'destructive'
  });
}

3. Submission Rate Limiting

File: src/lib/submissionRateLimiter.ts Purpose: Client-side rate limiting to prevent submission abuse and accidental duplicates

Rate Limits:

• Per Minute: 5 submissions maximum
• Per Hour: 20 submissions maximum
• Cooldown: 60 seconds after exceeding limits

Features:

• In-memory rate limit tracking (per session)
• Automatic timestamp cleanup
• User-specific limits
• Cooldown period after limit exceeded
• Detailed logging

Integration: Applied to all submission functions in entitySubmissionHelpers.ts:

• submitParkCreation
• submitParkUpdate
• submitRideCreation
• submitRideUpdate
• Composite submissions

Functions:

• checkSubmissionRateLimit(userId, config?) - Check if user can submit
• recordSubmissionAttempt(userId) - Record a submission (called after success)
• getRateLimitStatus(userId) - Get current rate limit status
• clearUserRateLimit(userId) - Clear limits (admin/testing)

Usage:

// In entitySubmissionHelpers.ts
function checkRateLimitOrThrow(userId: string, action: string): void {
  const rateLimit = checkSubmissionRateLimit(userId);
  
  if (!rateLimit.allowed) {
    throw new Error(sanitizeErrorMessage(rateLimit.reason));
  }
}

// Called at the start of every submission function
export async function submitParkCreation(data, userId) {
  checkRateLimitOrThrow(userId, 'park_creation');
  // ... rest of submission logic
}

Response Example:

{
  allowed: false,
  reason: 'Too many submissions in a short time. Please wait 60 seconds',
  retryAfter: 60
}

Architecture Adherence

✅ No JSON/JSONB: Error sanitizer operates on strings, rate limiter uses in-memory storage ✅ Relational: Transaction status queries the idempotency_keys table ✅ Type Safety: Full TypeScript types for all interfaces ✅ Logging: Comprehensive structured logging for debugging

Security Benefits

1. Sensitive Data Protection: Error messages no longer expose internal details
2. Rate Limit Protection: Prevents submission flooding and abuse
3. Transaction Visibility: Users can check their own transaction status safely
4. Audit Trail: All rate limit events logged for security monitoring

Error Flow Integration

User Action
    ↓
Rate Limit Check ────→ Block if exceeded
    ↓
Submission Creation
    ↓
Error Occurs ────→ Sanitize Error Message
    ↓
Display to User (Safe Message)
    ↓
Log to System (Detailed, Sanitized)

Testing Checklist

• Edge function deploys successfully
• Transaction status polling works with valid keys
• Transaction status returns 404 for invalid keys
• Users cannot access other users' transaction status
• Error sanitizer removes sensitive patterns
• Error sanitizer provides user-friendly messages
• Rate limiter blocks after per-minute limit
• Rate limiter blocks after per-hour limit
• Rate limiter cooldown period works
• Rate limiting applied to all submission functions
• Sanitized errors logged correctly

Related Files

Core Implementation

• supabase/functions/check-transaction-status/index.ts - Transaction polling endpoint
• src/lib/errorSanitizer.ts - Error message sanitization
• src/lib/submissionRateLimiter.ts - Client-side rate limiting
• src/lib/entitySubmissionHelpers.ts - Integrated rate limiting

Dependencies

• src/lib/idempotencyLifecycle.ts - Idempotency key lifecycle management
• src/lib/logger.ts - Structured logging
• supabase/functions/_shared/logger.ts - Edge function logging

Performance Considerations

1. In-Memory Storage: Rate limiter uses Map for O(1) lookups
2. Automatic Cleanup: Old timestamps removed on each check
3. Minimal Overhead: Pattern matching optimized with pre-compiled regexes
4. Database Queries: Transaction status uses indexed lookup on idempotency_keys.key

Future Enhancements

Potential improvements for future phases:

1. Persistent Rate Limiting: Store rate limits in database for cross-session tracking
2. Dynamic Rate Limits: Adjust limits based on user reputation/role
3. Advanced Sanitization: Context-aware sanitization based on error types
4. Error Pattern Learning: ML-based detection of new sensitive patterns
5. Transaction Webhooks: Real-time notifications when transactions complete
6. Rate Limit Dashboard: Admin UI to view and manage rate limits

API Reference

Check Transaction Status

Endpoint: POST /functions/v1/check-transaction-status

Request:

{
  "idempotencyKey": "approval_submission_abc123_..."
}

Response (200 OK):

{
  "status": "completed",
  "createdAt": "2025-01-07T10:30:00Z",
  "updatedAt": "2025-01-07T10:30:05Z",
  "expiresAt": "2025-01-08T10:30:00Z",
  "attempts": 1,
  "action": "approval",
  "submissionId": "abc123",
  "completedAt": "2025-01-07T10:30:05Z"
}

Response (404 Not Found):

{
  "status": "not_found",
  "error": "Transaction not found. It may have expired or never existed."
}

Response (401/403):

{
  "error": "Unauthorized",
  "status": "not_found"
}

Migration Notes

No database migrations required for this phase. All functionality is:

• Edge function (auto-deployed)
• Client-side utilities (imported as needed)
• Integration into existing submission functions

Monitoring

Key metrics to monitor:

1. Rate Limit Events: Track users hitting limits
2. Sanitization Events: Count messages requiring sanitization
3. Transaction Status Queries: Monitor polling frequency
4. Error Patterns: Identify common sanitized error types

Query examples in admin dashboard:

-- Rate limit violations (from logs)
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM request_metadata
WHERE error_message LIKE '%Rate limit exceeded%'
GROUP BY DATE(created_at);

-- Transaction status queries
-- (Check edge function logs for check-transaction-status)

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Phase 3 Status: ✅ Complete Next Phase: Phase 4 or additional enhancements as needed