docs: correct plugin failure-classification comment in authorizer - #119
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docs: correct plugin failure-classification comment in authorizer#119alberto-crossmint wants to merge 1 commit into
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The inline comment next to the Err(Err(_)) arm listed "panic!, host trap, TTL expiry" together. That was inaccurate: on Soroban 22 a plain `panic!` in a plugin produces Err(Ok(_)) (intentional rejection / fail-closed), NOT Err(Err(_)) (host trap / fail-open). Only genuine host traps — storage archival, budget exhaustion, contract not found, stack overflow — reach the fail-open arm. The inaccurate grouping risked misleading future maintainers into thinking a buggy unwrap in a plugin would be silently bypassed. It won't; it blocks auth like any intentional rejection. No behaviour change. Only the comment is fixed, and a regression test is added pinning the actual classification so future refactors must preserve it.
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Summary
The inline comment next to the
Err(Err(_))arm inauthorizer.rs::call_plugins_on_authlisted "panic!, host trap, TTL expiry" together in the fail-open branch. That is inaccurate on Soroban 22.Actual classification, pinned by the new test:
try_*shapeOk(Ok(_))Ok(Err(_))contracterror/panic_with_error!/ plainpanic!/unwrap()/ overflowErr(Ok(_))Err(Err(_))The practical implication: a buggy plugin that panics at runtime will block authorization (fail-closed) — it will not be silently bypassed. The fail-open path is environmental only.
This is a docs-only PR plus a regression test.
Changes
match res {to match reality and to note explicitly that plainpanic!andunwrap()are fail-closed.test_plugin_plain_panic_is_fail_closedtoplugin_test.rs— installs a plugin whoseon_authdoespanic!(...)and asserts__check_authreturnsErr(Ok(Error::PluginOnAuthFailed)). Future Soroban runtime changes that alter this classification will surface here.Test plan
test_plugin_plain_panic_is_fail_closed— plainpanic!blocks auth.test_plugin_intentional_rejection_blocks_auth—panic_with_error!also blocks auth (documents symmetry).test_uninstall_plugin_persists_removalandtest_max_plugins_limitunaffected.Why not also pin the fail-open branch?
Err(Err(_))requires an actual host trap (archival, budget exhaustion, missing contract). Those are hard to simulate deterministically in a unit test without fixture setup proportional to the payoff, and the Soroban SDK doesn't expose a stable way to force them. The classification of the common branches is pinned; fail-open-under-trap is documented but not asserted.