Fail closed when app password is missing

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ For local development, copy `.env.example` to `.env` and fill only the values yo
 Set production secrets in the Hugging Face Space settings, not in committed files.
 
 - `GROQ_API_KEY`: required for Groq model calls.
-- `APP_PASSWORD`: optional, enables password protection for the running app.
+- `APP_PASSWORD`: required to password-protect the deployed Space; set it as a Hugging Face Secret.
 - `APP_USERNAME`: optional, defaults to `mastermap` when `APP_PASSWORD` is set.
 - `HF_TOKEN`: Hugging Face Space Secret only; optional, required only for the `Save Manual References` button.
 

src/config.py

@@ -7,11 +7,11 @@ load_dotenv()
 
 # --- ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES to be set up in .env ---
 GROQ_API_KEY = os.getenv("GROQ_API_KEY")
-RAW_MODELS = os.getenv("GROQ_MODEL", "")
-APP_USERNAME = os.getenv("APP_USERNAME", "")
-APP_PASSWORD = os.getenv("APP_PASSWORD", "")
-SPACE_ID = os.getenv("SPACE_ID", "")
-HF_TOKEN = os.getenv("HF_TOKEN", "")
+RAW_MODELS = os.getenv("GROQ_MODEL")
+APP_USERNAME = os.getenv("APP_USERNAME")
+APP_PASSWORD = os.getenv("APP_PASSWORD")
+SPACE_ID = os.getenv("SPACE_ID")
+HF_TOKEN = os.getenv("HF_TOKEN")
 
 # Parse models cleanly into a list
 AVAILABLE_MODELS = [m.strip() for m in RAW_MODELS.split(",") if m.strip()]

ui_app.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from src.config import (
     AVAILABLE_MODELS,
     DATA_DIR,
     DEFAULT_OUTPUT_SHEET_NAME,
+    SPACE_ID,
 )
 from src.process_runner import stop_process, stream_process
 from src.utils import reference_sync_status, save_manual_references_to_hub
@@ -54,9 +55,18 @@ def auth_required_response() -> Response:
     )
 
 
+def missing_auth_config_response() -> Response:
+    return Response(
+        "APP_PASSWORD Space Secret is not configured.",
+        503,
+    )
+
+
 @app.before_request
 def require_basic_auth():
     if not APP_PASSWORD:
+        if SPACE_ID:
+            return missing_auth_config_response()
         return None
 
     auth = request.authorization