# Taskboard reference application with sessions, ownership and persistent tasks

> Build and test a small usable application with signed sessions, scrypt passwords, CSRF, two roles, owner-scoped NoSQL CRUD and a browser interface.

Framework: total5
Product: Total.js 5 (total5@0.0.19)
Language: en
Content-SHA256: 3df6e96cca071a32fe2dc9ef7355950a1813f988bc767a5190d9aa6f75ae363f
Snapshot: c0700e321579725c5cf4f5ace1ad7d2866d1b4f93c24a63c0b41b6b7998e976c
Sources: total5-installed@total5@0.0.19
Review: not-recorded

This reference joins the pieces of a business application: an anonymous visitor opens the interface, signs in, creates tasks, marks them done and signs out. Members see only their own tasks; an administrator can list and delete any task. The server owns every authorization decision, independently of which buttons the browser displays.

The application uses native Total.js routes, actions, schemas, session auth and embedded NoSQL. Passwords use Node's scrypt through `Total.Crypto`. The interface uses ordinary browser forms and DOM text nodes; no other frontend framework or runtime dependency is required. Direct controllers handle session transport; reusable task actions use stable `Namespace|action` identifiers.

## Run the complete example

Copy the named files below into a new directory, add `total5@0.0.19` to package.json and bootstrap with `require('total5'); Total.run({ ip: '127.0.0.1', port: 18400, release: false, watcher: false });`. Open localhost:18400. Use a separate directory and port from Forge. The repository's export tool can also materialize this exact example as a project.

`demo: true` permits the three local users `alice`, `bob` and `admin`, with passwords `alice-demo-password`, `bob-demo-password` and `admin-demo-password`. Demo mode refuses to start when `--release` or `NODE_ENV=production` is supplied. Keep its listener bound to loopback. The framework sets `DEBUG=false` with `watcher:false` even when `release:false` is supplied; this example therefore does not use `DEBUG` as the demo guard. For release, set `demo: false`, provide `TASKBOARD_SECRET` (at least 32 characters) and `TASKBOARD_ALICE_PASSWORD`, `TASKBOARD_BOB_PASSWORD`, `TASKBOARD_ADMIN_PASSWORD` (each at least 12 characters). The fixed demo credentials must not be used for a public deployment.

The users are a deliberately small fixed directory; sessions and tasks persist in `databases/`. A stable secret lets a valid session be reloaded after restart. Logout waits for the session-store removal callback before returning success. Do not share that directory between running instances, erase it on deployment or put it in git. A public deployment also needs HTTPS, a trusted reverse proxy, backups and a real user-provisioning policy. This is an executable reference, not a complete identity-management product.

## Server files

```text config
name : Taskboard reference
demo : true
```

```js definitions/taskboard.js
var crypto = Total.Crypto;
var demo = CONF.demo === true;
if (demo && (process.argv.includes('--release') || process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production'))
	throw new Error('Disable demo mode before a release deployment');
var secret = process.env.TASKBOARD_SECRET || (demo ? 'local-taskboard-demo-secret-not-for-public-use' : '');
if (secret.length < 32)
	throw new Error('TASKBOARD_SECRET needs at least 32 characters');
CONF.secret_csrf = secret;

MAIN.taskUsers = Object.create(null);
for (var name of ['alice', 'bob', 'admin']) {
	var password = process.env['TASKBOARD_' + name.toUpperCase() + '_PASSWORD'] || (demo ? name + '-demo-password' : '');
	if (password.length < 12)
		throw new Error('Configure a password of at least 12 characters for ' + name);
	var salt = crypto.randomBytes(16).toString('hex');
	MAIN.taskUsers[name] = { id: name, name: name, role: name === 'admin' ? 'admin' : 'member', salt: salt, hash: crypto.scryptSync(password, salt, 32) };
}

MAIN.taskAuth = {
	secret: secret,
	cookie: 'taskboard_session',
	expire: '30 minutes',
	options: { httponly: true, samesite: 'Strict', secure: !demo },
	onread: function(meta, next) {
		NOSQL('task-sessions').read().where('id', meta.sessionid).callback(function(err, session) {
			var user = !err && session && session.expire > Date.now() && MAIN.taskUsers[session.userid];
			user ? next(null, { id: user.id, name: user.name, role: user.role }) : next('Session not found');
		});
	},
	onlogout: function(session) {
		NOSQL('task-sessions').remove().where('id', session.sessionid).callback(NOOP);
	},
	onremove: function(id) {
		NOSQL('task-sessions').remove().where('id', id).callback(NOOP);
	}
};
AUTH(MAIN.taskAuth);

MIDDLEWARE('taskcsrf', function($, next) {
	DEF.onCSRFcheck($) ? next() : $.invalid(403);
});
```

```js actions/tasks.js
function owned(builder, user) {
	return user.role === 'admin' ? builder : builder.where('owner', user.id);
}

NEWACTION('Tasks|list', {
	user: true,
	action: function($) {
		owned(NOSQL('tasks').find(), $.user).sort('title').callback(function(err, tasks) {
			err ? $.invalid(500) : $.callback(tasks);
		});
	}
});

NEWACTION('Tasks|read', {
	user: true,
	params: '*id:UID',
	action: function($) {
		owned(NOSQL('tasks').read().where('id', $.params.id), $.user).callback(function(err, task) {
			if (err) return $.invalid(500);
			task ? $.callback(task) : $.invalid(404);
		});
	}
});

NEWACTION('Tasks|create', {
	user: true,
	input: '*title:String(80)',
	action: function($, model) {
		var task = { id: UID(), title: model.title, done: false, owner: $.user.id };
		NOSQL('tasks').insert(task).callback(function(err) {
			err ? $.invalid(500) : $.callback(task);
		});
	}
});

NEWACTION('Tasks|update', {
	user: true,
	params: '*id:UID',
	input: '*done:Boolean',
	action: function($, model) {
		owned(NOSQL('tasks').update({ done: model.done }).where('id', $.params.id), $.user).callback(function(err, count) {
			if (err) return $.invalid(500);
			count ? $.success() : $.invalid(404);
		});
	}
});

NEWACTION('Tasks|remove', {
	user: true,
	params: '*id:UID',
	action: function($) {
		if ($.user.role !== 'admin') return $.invalid(403);
		NOSQL('tasks').remove().where('id', $.params.id).callback(function(err, count) {
			if (err) return $.invalid(500);
			count ? $.success() : $.invalid(404);
		});
	}
});
```

```js controllers/taskboard.js
var attempts = Object.create(null);

exports.install = function() {
	ROUTE('GET /', function($) { $.file(PATH.public('index.html')); });
	ROUTE('GET /session/', session);
	ROUTE('POST /login/ @json <2kb #taskcsrf', login);
	ROUTE('+POST /logout/ @json #taskcsrf', logout);
	ROUTE('+GET /tasks/ --> *Tasks|list');
	ROUTE('+GET /tasks/{id}/ --> *Tasks|read');
	ROUTE('+POST /tasks/ <2kb #taskcsrf --> *Tasks|create');
	ROUTE('+PATCH /tasks/{id}/ <2kb #taskcsrf --> *Tasks|update');
	ROUTE('+DELETE /tasks/{id}/ #taskcsrf --> *Tasks|remove');
};

function session($) {
	$.response.headers['cache-control'] = 'no-store';
	$.json({ user: $.user || null, csrf: $.csrf() });
}

function login($) {
	var key = $.ip;
	var recent = (attempts[key] || []).filter(time => time > Date.now() - 600000);
	attempts[key] = recent;
	if (recent.length >= 5) return $.invalid(429);
	var user = MAIN.taskUsers[String($.body.name || '').toLowerCase()];
	var salt = user ? user.salt : 'dummy-salt';
	var actual = Total.Crypto.scryptSync(String($.body.password || ''), salt, 32);
	var valid = user && Total.Crypto.timingSafeEqual(actual, user.hash);
	if (!valid) {
		recent.push(Date.now());
		return $.invalid(401);
	}
	var id = UID();
	NOSQL('task-sessions').insert({ id: id, userid: user.id, expire: Date.now() + 1800000 }).callback(function(err) {
		if (err) return $.invalid(500);
		MAIN.taskAuth.authcookie($, id, user.id, '30 minutes');
		$.json({ user: { id: user.id, name: user.name, role: user.role }, csrf: $.csrf() });
	});
}

function logout($) {
	NOSQL('task-sessions').remove().where('id', $.sessionid).callback(function(err) {
		if (err) return $.invalid(500);
		MAIN.taskAuth.logout($);
		$.cookie(MAIN.taskAuth.cookie, '', '-1 year', MAIN.taskAuth.options);
		$.json({ ok: true });
	});
}
```

```html public/index.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en"><head><meta charset="utf-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Taskboard · Total.js</title>
<style>
body{font:16px system-ui;background:#f4f5f7;color:#172033;margin:0}main{max-width:720px;margin:8vh auto;padding:30px;background:white;border-radius:18px}header{display:flex;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between;gap:15px}h1{margin:0}p{color:#536078}label{display:block;margin-top:14px}input,button{font:inherit;padding:10px;border:1px solid #bbc4d1;border-radius:8px}input[type=text],input[type=password]{box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;margin-top:5px}button{cursor:pointer;background:#152d57;color:white}form button{margin-top:15px}ul{padding:0;list-style:none}li{display:flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;padding:14px 0;border-bottom:1px solid #eee}.task-title{flex:1;overflow-wrap:anywhere}.muted{font-size:14px;color:#536078}#message{min-height:24px;color:#9d251e}[hidden]{display:none!important}
</style></head><body><main>
<header><h1>Taskboard</h1><span class="muted">Total.js reference</span></header>
<p>A small workspace with private tasks and a shared administrator view.</p>
<p id="message" role="status" aria-live="polite"></p>
<form id="login"><h2>Sign in</h2><label for="name">User</label><input id="name" autocomplete="username" required><label for="password">Password</label><input id="password" type="password" autocomplete="current-password" required><button>Sign in</button></form>
<section id="workspace" hidden><header><p id="identity"></p><button id="logout" type="button">Sign out</button></header>
<form id="create"><label for="title">New task</label><input id="title" type="text" maxlength="80" required><button>Add task</button></form>
<ul id="tasks" aria-label="Tasks"></ul><p id="empty">No tasks yet.</p></section>
</main><script src="/app.js"></script></body></html>
```

```js public/app.js
(function() {
	var user = null;
	var csrf = '';
	var busy = false;
	var byid = id => document.getElementById(id);
	async function request(path, method, body) {
		var response = await fetch(path, { method: method || 'GET', credentials: 'same-origin', headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json', 'x-csrf-token': csrf }, body: body === undefined ? undefined : JSON.stringify(body) });
		var data = await response.json().catch(() => null);
		if (!response.ok) {
			if (response.status === 401) { user = null; show(); }
			throw new Error('Request refused (' + response.status + ')');
		}
		if (data === null) throw new Error('Unexpected server response');
		return data;
	}
	function show() {
		byid('login').hidden = !!user;
		byid('workspace').hidden = !user;
		byid('identity').textContent = user ? user.name + ' · ' + user.role : '';
	}
	async function load() {
		var tasks = await request('/tasks/');
		byid('tasks').replaceChildren();
		byid('empty').hidden = tasks.length > 0;
		tasks.forEach(function(task) {
			var row = document.createElement('li');
			var checkbox = document.createElement('input');
			checkbox.type = 'checkbox'; checkbox.checked = task.done; checkbox.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Complete ' + task.title);
			checkbox.addEventListener('change', () => work(async () => { await request('/tasks/' + task.id + '/', 'PATCH', { done: checkbox.checked }); await load(); }));
			var title = document.createElement('span'); title.className = 'task-title'; title.textContent = task.title;
			row.append(checkbox, title);
			if (user.role === 'admin') {
				var remove = document.createElement('button'); remove.type = 'button'; remove.textContent = 'Delete';
				remove.addEventListener('click', () => work(async () => { await request('/tasks/' + task.id + '/', 'DELETE'); await load(); }));
				row.append(remove);
			}
			byid('tasks').append(row);
		});
	}
	async function work(fn) {
		if (busy) return;
		busy = true; byid('message').textContent = '';
		document.querySelectorAll('input,button').forEach(control => control.disabled = true);
		try { await fn(); } catch (err) { byid('message').textContent = err.message; }
		finally { busy = false; document.querySelectorAll('input,button').forEach(control => control.disabled = false); }
	}
	byid('login').addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
		event.preventDefault(); work(async function() {
			var result = await request('/login/', 'POST', { name: byid('name').value, password: byid('password').value });
			user = result.user; csrf = result.csrf; byid('password').value = ''; show(); await load();
		});
	});
	byid('create').addEventListener('submit', function(event) {
		event.preventDefault(); work(async function() { await request('/tasks/', 'POST', { title: byid('title').value }); byid('title').value = ''; await load(); });
	});
	byid('logout').addEventListener('click', () => work(async function() { await request('/logout/', 'POST', {}); user = null; byid('tasks').replaceChildren(); show(); }));
	work(async function() { var result = await request('/session/'); user = result.user; csrf = result.csrf; show(); if (user) await load(); });
})();
```

## What is exercised and what remains


File attachments and realtime updates continue in [Taskboard Live](/en/docs/taskboard-live/). Registration, password reset, multiple application instances and a SQL driver are follow-up examples with their own contracts, not implied features of this app. Related recipes: [session auth](/en/total5/sessions-with-built-in-auth/), [CSRF](/en/total5/csrf-protection/), [CRUD actions](/en/total5/actions-crud/) and [WebSocket](/en/total5/websocket-chat/).