feat: OpenBao token lifecycle + bump sso to v1.23.0 (v1.35.14)

- theta-svc token role (periodic 768h): SSO/PROXY/JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN now minted
  through it; ensure_token renews periodic tokens on every setup.sh re-run and
  detects/revokes/re-mints valid-but-non-periodic tokens from older installs.
- bao-renewer sidecar (docker-compose): renews the three service tokens every
  12h while the stack runs.
- sso-app token role (periodic 768h) + sso-broker policy grants for
  auth/token/create/sso-app and renew/revoke/lookup-accessor.
- docs/secrets.md rewritten around the new lifecycle.
- Bump sso-manager-node gitlink to v1.23.0 (real vault-403 fix + app-token
  lifecycle).

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -8,6 +8,19 @@ orchestration code; see each submodule's own `CHANGELOG.md`
 [sso-manager-node](https://github.com/theta42/sso-manager-node/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md))
 for what changed inside the apps it composes.
 
+## [v1.35.14] - 2026-08-04
+
+### Fixed
+- **The recurring `/vault` 403 "permission denied" is actually dead this time — it was never a policy problem.** sso's `/api/vault` proxy declared its request hook with http-proxy-middleware **v3** syntax (`on: { proxyReq }`) while the app installs HPM **v2**, which silently ignores the unknown key — so `X-Vault-Token` was never injected and every vault call reached OpenBao unauthenticated. All the policy work of v1.35.10/v1.31.1 was correct and is unchanged; the requests just never carried a token. Ships as **sso v1.23.0** (see its changelog for the companion `fixRequestBody` header-ordering fix and the initORM schema heal that unbreaks the plugin scheduler on upgraded databases).
+
+### Added
+- **OpenBao token lifecycle — nothing expires by surprise anymore.**
+  - New **`theta-svc` token role** (periodic 768h): `SSO/PROXY/JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN` are now minted through it instead of as plain orphan tokens with a hard ~32-day death date. `ensure_token` renews periodic tokens on every `setup.sh` re-run and detects, revokes, and re-mints valid-but-non-periodic tokens from older installs (detection is the token's `role` — OpenBao token lookup does not expose a `period` field).
+  - New **`bao-renewer` sidecar** (docker-compose): renews the three service tokens every 12h while the stack runs, logging each result. Recreated on every `setup.sh` run so it always holds the current tokens.
+  - New **`sso-app` token role** (periodic 768h): external-app tokens minted from the vault UI go through it instead of the broker's 24h role, and sso now stores each app token's *accessor* and auto-renews it (boot + every 6h) — a downstream app's credential stays valid as long as sso runs, with no renewal code in the downstream app.
+  - `sso-broker` policy gained `update` on `auth/token/create/sso-app` and `auth/token/renew-accessor`/`revoke-accessor`/`lookup-accessor`.
+  - `docs/secrets.md` rewritten around the new lifecycle (roles table, renewal layers, disaster recovery).
+
 ## [v1.35.13] - 2026-08-04
 
 ### Added

docker-compose.yml

@@ -238,6 +238,42 @@ services:
       - ./config/ldap-test-host.vars:/config/ldap.vars:ro
       - ./config/ldap-ca.crt:/config/ldap-ca.crt:ro
 
+  # Renews the three periodic service tokens (theta-svc role, 768h period)
+  # every 12h. Periodic tokens live forever ONLY while something renews them —
+  # this sidecar is that something, so the stack survives arbitrarily long
+  # uptimes and the tokens in .env never silently expire. If a token is missing
+  # or already dead it just logs and moves on (setup.sh re-mints on next run).
+  bao-renewer:
+    image: quay.io/openbao/openbao:latest
+    container_name: bao-renewer
+    restart: unless-stopped
+    depends_on:
+      - openbao
+    environment:
+      - BAO_ADDR=http://openbao:8200
+      - SSO_VAULT_TOKEN=${SSO_VAULT_TOKEN:-}
+      - PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN=${PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN:-}
+      - JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN=${JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN:-}
+    entrypoint: ["/bin/sh", "-c"]
+    command:
+      - |
+        renew() {
+          if [ -z "$$2" ]; then return 0; fi
+          if BAO_TOKEN="$$2" bao token renew > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+            echo "[bao-renewer] renewed $$1"
+          else
+            echo "[bao-renewer] FAILED to renew $$1 (expired/revoked? re-run setup.sh to re-mint)"
+          fi
+        }
+        while true; do
+          renew SSO_VAULT_TOKEN "$$SSO_VAULT_TOKEN"
+          renew PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN "$$PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN"
+          renew JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN "$$JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN"
+          sleep 43200
+        done
+    networks:
+      - theta-net
+
   openbao:
     image: quay.io/openbao/openbao:latest
     container_name: openbao

docs/secrets.md

@@ -60,23 +60,49 @@ never passed to a service container.
 
 | Policy | Capabilities | Held by |
 |---|---|---|
-| `sso-broker` | read/write `secret/sso-manager/conf`, `secret/users/*`, `secret/apps/*`, `secret/plugins/*`; `update` on `auth/token/create/sso-broker`; `update` on `sys/policies/acl/user-*`, `app-*`, `sso-admin` | SSO (`SSO_VAULT_TOKEN`) |
+| `sso-broker` | read/write `secret/sso-manager/conf`, `secret/users/*`, `secret/apps/*`, `secret/plugins/*`; `update` on `auth/token/create/sso-broker` + `create/sso-app` and `auth/token/renew-accessor`/`revoke-accessor`/`lookup-accessor`; `update` on `sys/policies/acl/user-*`, `app-*`, `sso-admin` | SSO (`SSO_VAULT_TOKEN`) |
 | `sso-admin` | read/write/list all of `secret/*` | admin UI sessions (minted by the broker) |
 | `proxy` | read `secret/proxy/conf` | proxy (`PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN`) |
 | `jump-host` | read `secret/jump-host/conf` | jump host (`JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN`) |
 | `user-<uid>` | read/write `secret/users/<uid>/*` | per-user tokens (minted lazily by the broker) |
 | `app-<name>` | read/write `secret/apps/<name>/*` | per-external-app tokens (minted by an admin) |
 
-**Token role `sso-broker`** — `allowed_policies=sso-admin`,
+**Token roles** — three, all orphan + renewable:
-`allowed_policies_glob=user-*,app-*`, orphan, renewable, `token_period=24h`.
-The SSO mints per-user, per-admin, and per-app tokens *through* this role at
-runtime, so it never needs the root token to issue scoped access.
 
-The three per-app tokens (`SSO_VAULT_TOKEN`, `PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN`,
+- `sso-broker` — `allowed_policies=sso-admin`, `allowed_policies_glob=user-*,app-*`,
-`JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN`) are minted orphan + renewable and stored in `./.env` by
+  `token_period=24h`. The SSO mints per-user and per-admin tokens *through*
-`setup.sh`. They use OpenBao's default service-token TTL; if one expires,
+  this role at runtime, so it never needs the root token to issue scoped
-re-run `./setup.sh` and the `ensure_token` helper re-mints it (the old one
+  access. The 24h period is fine here because the broker re-mints these from
-expires on its own). Automated renewal is a planned follow-up, not yet built.
+  its Redis cache transparently.
+- `sso-app` — `allowed_policies_glob=app-*`, `token_period=768h`. External-app
+  tokens minted from the vault UI's Apps tab go through this role: they are
+  long-lived credentials, so they get a monthly period instead of a daily one.
+- `theta-svc` — `allowed_policies=sso-broker,proxy,jump-host`,
+  `token_period=768h`. The services' own tokens (below).
+
+### Token lifecycle — nothing expires by surprise
+
+Periodic tokens never hit a max TTL, but they die if nothing renews them
+inside a period window. Renewal is automated at every layer:
+
+- **Service tokens** (`SSO_VAULT_TOKEN`, `PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN`,
+  `JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN`, minted via `theta-svc`, stored in `./.env`): the
+  `bao-renewer` sidecar (docker-compose) renews all three every 12 hours, and
+  every `setup.sh` re-run renews them too. A valid-but-non-periodic token from
+  an older install is detected, revoked, and re-minted as periodic on the next
+  `setup.sh` run.
+- **External-app tokens** (minted in the SSO vault UI): the SSO stores each
+  token's **accessor** (which can renew/revoke but not authenticate) and
+  renews it every 6 hours and at boot — a downstream app's credential stays
+  valid as long as the SSO is running, with no renewal code in the downstream
+  app. Re-minting an app's token revokes the previous one via its accessor, so
+  exactly one credential per app is ever live.
+- **Per-user / admin tokens**: 24h TTL by design; the broker re-mints them
+  transparently, so there is nothing to renew.
+
+Worst case (the whole stack was down for >32 days): re-run `./setup.sh` — it
+re-mints anything that lapsed; external-app tokens are re-minted from the
+Apps tab (the app's policy and stored secrets are kept).
 
 ## Seeding
 

setup.sh

@@ -810,17 +810,34 @@ ensure_policy() {
 }
 
 
-# Mint an orphan, renewable token for `policy` and persist it to .env as `key`,
+# Mint a PERIODIC service token (theta-svc role: orphan, renewable, 768h
-# OR reuse the token already in .env if it is still valid (re-mint on expiry).
+# period) for `policy` and persist it to .env as `key`. Periodic tokens have no
+# max-TTL death date — each renewal resets the clock — unlike the plain orphan
+# tokens minted before this (creation_ttl 768h, dead ~32 days after mint no
+# matter what). The bao-renewer sidecar renews them every 12h while the stack
+# runs, and every setup.sh re-run renews here too. A valid-but-non-periodic
+# token from an older setup.sh is revoked and re-minted as periodic.
 ensure_token() {
-	local key="$1" policy="$2" existing tok
+	local key="$1" policy="$2" existing tok lookup
 	existing="$(env_get "$key")"
-	if [[ -n "$existing" ]] && docker exec -e BAO_TOKEN="$existing" openbao bao token lookup >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	if [[ -n "$existing" ]]; then
-		info "  ${key} already minted + valid — keeping."
+		lookup="$(docker exec -e BAO_TOKEN="$existing" openbao bao token lookup -format=json 2>/dev/null || true)"
-		return 0
+		if [[ -n "$lookup" ]]; then
+			# Periodic = minted through the theta-svc role. (OpenBao token lookup
+			# does not expose a `period` field — the role is the reliable marker;
+			# renewal behavior confirms the 768h period resets past the original
+			# creation TTL.)
+			if echo "$lookup" | grep -q '"role": *"theta-svc"'; then
+				info "  ${key} already minted + periodic (theta-svc) — renewing to reset its clock."
+				docker exec -e BAO_TOKEN="$existing" openbao bao token renew >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+				return 0
+			fi
+			info "  ${key} is valid but NOT periodic (pre-theta-svc mint; dies at its max TTL) — revoking + re-minting."
+			bao_run token revoke "$existing" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
+		fi
 	fi
-	info "  minting ${key} (policy=${policy})..."
+	info "  minting ${key} (policy=${policy}, role=theta-svc, periodic 768h)..."
-	tok="$(bao_run token create -policy="$policy" -orphan=true -field=token)" \
+	tok="$(bao_run token create -role=theta-svc -policy="$policy" -field=token)" \
 		|| die "failed to mint ${key} (policy=${policy})"
 	env_upsert "$key" "$tok"
 }
@@ -858,6 +875,10 @@ path "secret/metadata/apps/*" { capabilities = ["list", "read", "delete"] }
 path "secret/data/plugins/*" { capabilities = ["create", "read", "update", "delete", "list"] }
 path "secret/metadata/plugins/*" { capabilities = ["list", "read", "delete"] }
 path "auth/token/create/sso-broker" { capabilities = ["update"] }
+path "auth/token/create/sso-app" { capabilities = ["update"] }
+path "auth/token/renew-accessor" { capabilities = ["update"] }
+path "auth/token/revoke-accessor" { capabilities = ["update"] }
+path "auth/token/lookup-accessor" { capabilities = ["update"] }
 path "sys/policies/acl/user-*" { capabilities = ["create", "read", "update", "delete", "list"] }
 path "sys/policies/acl/app-*" { capabilities = ["create", "read", "update", "delete", "list"] }
 path "sys/policies/acl/sso-admin" { capabilities = ["create", "read", "update", "delete", "list"] }
@@ -896,15 +917,48 @@ else
 	info "  token role sso-broker already exists — keeping."
 fi
 
+# sso-app token role: external-app tokens minted from the sso vault UI. Periodic
+# 768h (NOT the broker's 24h) — an app token is a long-lived credential; with a
+# 24h period any downstream app that didn't renew daily silently died. A 768h
+# period keeps it alive as long as the app renews (or is re-minted) at least
+# monthly: `bao token renew-self` / POST /v1/auth/token/renew-self.
+info "Configuring sso-app token role..."
+if ! bao_run read auth/token/roles/sso-app >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	docker exec -i -e BAO_TOKEN="$VAULT_TOKEN" openbao bao write auth/token/roles/sso-app - <<'JSON' >/dev/null
+{"allowed_policies_glob":["app-*"],"orphan":true,"renewable":true,"token_period":"768h"}
+JSON
+else
+	info "  token role sso-app already exists — keeping."
+fi
+
+# theta-svc token role: the services' own tokens (SSO/PROXY/JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN).
+# Periodic 768h so they can be renewed forever (the bao-renewer sidecar renews
+# every 12h; each setup.sh re-run renews too). allowed_policies is exact-match:
+# exactly the three service policies, nothing else.
+info "Configuring theta-svc token role..."
+if ! bao_run read auth/token/roles/theta-svc >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+	docker exec -i -e BAO_TOKEN="$VAULT_TOKEN" openbao bao write auth/token/roles/theta-svc - <<'JSON' >/dev/null
+{"allowed_policies":["sso-broker","proxy","jump-host"],"orphan":true,"renewable":true,"token_period":"768h"}
+JSON
+else
+	info "  token role theta-svc already exists — keeping."
+fi
+
 info "Minting per-app OpenBao tokens (stored in .env, passed to containers as VAULT_TOKEN)..."
 ensure_token SSO_VAULT_TOKEN sso-broker
 ensure_token PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN proxy
 ensure_token JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN jump-host
 
 info "OpenBao secrets configured:"
-info "  policies:   sso-broker, sso-admin, proxy, jump-host (+ per-user/app created lazily by sso)"
+info "  policies:    sso-broker, sso-admin, proxy, jump-host (+ per-user/app created lazily by sso)"
-info "  token role: sso-broker (mints user-*/app-*/sso-admin tokens, 24h period)"
+info "  token roles: sso-broker (user-*/app-*/sso-admin, 24h period), sso-app (app-*, 768h period), theta-svc (service tokens, 768h period)"
-info "  app tokens: SSO_VAULT_TOKEN, PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN, JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN in .env"
+info "  app tokens:  SSO_VAULT_TOKEN, PROXY_VAULT_TOKEN, JUMP_VAULT_TOKEN in .env (periodic; renewed by bao-renewer)"
+
+# bao-renewer: renews the three periodic service tokens every 12h so they never
+# hit their period boundary while the stack is running. Recreated (not just
+# started) so it always picks up freshly re-minted tokens from .env.
+info "Starting bao-renewer (service-token renewal sidecar)..."
+"${COMPOSE[@]}" up -d --force-recreate bao-renewer
 
 # ── 4. Start SSO Manager, wait for health ─────────────────────────────────────
 # SSO_GIT_COMMIT: sso-manager-node is a git submodule here, so its .git is a