replit.md

Overview

This is an Attestation Store application built with Flask that provides a secure system for storing, managing, and retrieving attestation evidence. The system supports multiple storage backends, RFC 5424 compliant logging, and provides both REST API endpoints and a web interface for managing attestations and system logs.

User Preferences

Preferred communication style: Simple, everyday language.

System Architecture

Backend Framework

• Flask as the core web framework with SQLAlchemy for database operations
• Flask-JWT-Extended for API authentication and authorization
• Werkzeug for password hashing and security utilities

Database Design

• Uses SQLAlchemy ORM with a declarative base model approach
• Core entities:
  • Users: Authentication and user management
  • Attestations: Storage metadata for evidence files with deduplication support
  • SystemLog: RFC 5424 compliant logging entries
  • UploadSession: Temporary upload session tracking
• Supports both SQLite (development) and PostgreSQL (production) through configurable DATABASE_URL

Authentication & Authorization

• JWT-based authentication for API endpoints
• Session-based authentication for web interface
• Custom decorators (jwt_required_with_logging, optional_jwt_with_logging) that combine authentication with automatic audit logging
• Default admin user creation on first run

Storage Architecture

• Pluggable storage backends through abstract StorageBackend interface
• File Storage Backend: Local filesystem storage with direct file serving
• Cloud Storage Support: Designed for AWS S3 and MinIO integration
• Presigned URLs: For secure direct uploads and downloads
• Upload Session Management: Temporary sessions for handling multi-part uploads

Logging System

• RFC 5424 compliant structured logging
• Centralized logging through logging_utils.py
• Database storage of all system events
• Severity-based filtering (Emergency to Debug levels)
• Automatic user activity tracking and audit trails

API Structure

• RESTful API design with blueprint-based organization
• Evidence API (/api/evidence): Upload, retrieve, and manage attestations
• Authentication API (/api/login): User authentication endpoints
• Syslog API (/api/syslog): RFC 5424 log ingestion endpoint
• Consistent error handling with structured JSON responses

Web Interface

• Bootstrap-based responsive design with dark theme support
• Template inheritance using Jinja2
• Dashboard views for attestations, logs, and system status
• Real-time filtering and search capabilities
• File upload interface with progress tracking

Configuration Management

• Environment-based configuration through the Config class
• Storage backend selection via STORAGE_TYPE environment variable
• Flexible deployment options supporting both development and production environments
• Default credential setup for initial deployment

External Dependencies

Core Framework Dependencies

• Flask: Web framework and request handling
• SQLAlchemy: Database ORM and migrations
• Flask-JWT-Extended: JWT token management
• Werkzeug: WSGI utilities and security functions

Storage Integration

• boto3: AWS S3 integration for cloud storage
• minio: MinIO client for self-hosted object storage
• Local filesystem: Default file storage backend

Frontend Libraries

• Bootstrap 5: UI components and responsive design
• Feather Icons: Icon library for consistent UI elements
• Axios: HTTP client for API communication

Database Support

• SQLite: Development and lightweight deployments
• PostgreSQL: Production database backend (configurable)

Development Tools

• Python logging: Built-in logging with custom RFC 5424 formatting
• Flask development server: Built-in development environment