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Overview

The authentication module provides secure user registration and authentication using bcrypt for password hashing. All functions are async and return user dictionaries or None on failure.

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Register User

async def register_user(
    name: str,
    email: str,
    student_id: str,
    password: str
) -> Optional[dict]:
    """Hash the password and insert a new user.
    
    Returns user dict or None if email/student_id taken.
    """

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Parameters

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name
string
required
Full name of the user. Will be stripped of leading/trailing whitespace.
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email
string
required
Email address. Converted to lowercase and stripped. Must be unique.
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student_id
string
required
Student identifier used for barcode scanner login. Stripped and must be unique.
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password
string
required
Plain text password. Will be hashed using bcrypt with auto-generated salt.

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Returns

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user
dict | None
Returns user object on success, None if email or student_id already exists

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Security Notes

  • Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with auto-generated salts
  • Email addresses are case-insensitive (stored as lowercase)
  • Password hashes are never returned in user objects
  • Duplicate emails or student IDs result in None return value

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Authenticate User

async def authenticate_user(
    email: str,
    password: str
) -> Optional[dict]:
    """Check email + password.
    
    Returns user dict on success, else None.
    """

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Parameters

​
email
string
required
Email address to authenticate. Converted to lowercase and stripped.
​
password
string
required
Plain text password to verify against stored hash.

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Returns

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user
dict | None
Returns user object on successful authentication, None if credentials are invalid

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Implementation Details

The function:
  1. Looks up user by email (case-insensitive)
  2. Returns None if user not found
  3. Verifies password using bcrypt.checkpw()
  4. Returns user dict (without password_hash) if password matches
  5. Returns None if password doesn’t match

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Get User by ID

async def get_user_by_id(student_id_input: str) -> Optional[dict]:
    """Look up a user by their student_id for scanner login."""

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Parameters

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student_id_input
string
required
Student ID to lookup. Converted to string and stripped. Typically scanned from barcode.

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Returns

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user
dict | None
Returns user object if found, None if student ID doesn’t exist

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Use Cases

  • Barcode Scanner Login: Primary authentication method at kiosk terminals
  • Quick Lookup: Fast user identification without password
  • Card-Based Access: Simplified login flow for physical kiosks

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Security Considerations

  • No password required - suitable only for physical kiosk environments
  • Check active status before granting access
  • Student IDs should be treated as semi-public identifiers
  • Consider additional authentication for sensitive operations

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