Link Spotify

[sydneyrd]

Link Spotify
Description: Connect user's Spotify account for playlist saving and enhanced features (not for login).
AC:
Frontend: "Connect Spotify" button in settings
Frontend: Spotify OAuth redirect flow
Backend: Spotify OAuth callback handler
Backend: Store encrypted refresh token in database
Backend: Token refresh logic when access expires
Frontend: Show connection status (connected/disconnected)
Frontend: Disconnect option
Backend: Delete tokens on disconnect
Frontend: Error handling for failed connection
Tech notes:
A “Connect To Spotify” button will open Spotify’s authorization page. There will be a backend route that handles Spotify’s redirect back to user, logic to store and refresh tokens, an UI to show if user is connected.

Use the Spotify developer app to get the client id and client secret to be used in the backend which will go in the env file
Button on the settings page to send user to the backend route (api/spotify) to start the Spotify connection flow.
Handle the Spotify callback and save refresh token in the FastApI.
Error handling

[preston-robbins]

@crisneames good start, but try to make these tehc notes more in dpeth. i would say for something like this, 3 paragraphs so we can see you REALLY understand it. there are aspects missing here. below are some notes on how the system should work, however, in your research, you might find that some of these are not needed.

I would like you to take the notes ive given, copy/paste them into your own comment here, and answer them each individually on what the point of that step is or what youre planning to do/not do with that step.

Please let me know fi you need anyy more help on htis, great start!

6/10 completeness - missing critical details:
Add:

Which encryption method for tokens (AES-256? library?)
Token storage location (users table? separate spotify_connections?)
Refresh token expiry handling (Spotify tokens don't expire but can be revoked - how to detect/handle?)
Scope requirements (playlist-modify-public, playlist-modify-private at minimum)
State parameter for CSRF protection in OAuth flow
What happens if user already connected? (overwrite/error?)

Issues:

"backend route (api/spotify)" - need two routes: /api/spotify/authorize and /api/spotify/callback
"save refresh token in FastAPI" - vague, specify database operations
Error handling mentions none of: network failures, token revocation, scope denial

Better structure:
Group by flow (authorize → callback → usage) rather than mixing frontend/backend randomly.

[crisneames]

Which encryption method for tokens (AES-256? library?)
cryptography - secure info by transforming it into a readable format that only authorized parties can decode back into readable form.

Token storage location (users table? separate spotify_connections?)
Refresh token expiry handling (Spotify tokens don't expire but can be revoked - how to detect/handle?)
Scope requirements (playlist-modify-public, playlist-modify-private at minimum)

Configure OAuth settings:
- Redirect URI: http://localhost:8000/api/spotify/callback
- Required Scopes:
- user-read-email - Retrieve user email for account creation
- playlist-read-private - Read user playlists
- playlist-modify-private - Modify user playlists
- playlist-modify-public - Modify public playlists
- user-modify-playback-state - Control playback
- streaming - Web playback SDK (if needed)
Add to .env:
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID=<from_dashboard>
SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET=<from_dashboard>
SPOTIFY_REDIRECT_URI=http://localhost:8000/api/spotify/callback
ENCRYPTION_KEY=<generate_32_byte_key>
JWT_SECRET_KEY=<generate_random_secret>
JWT_EXPIRATION_DAYS=7

Update users Table

ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN spotify_user_id VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE;
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN email VARCHAR(255);
ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN display_name VARCHAR(255);

Create spotify_tokens Table

CREATE TABLE spotify_tokens (
id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
user_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
encrypted_access_token TEXT NOT NULL,
encrypted_refresh_token TEXT NOT NULL,
expires_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL,
created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
UNIQUE(user_id)
);

State parameter for CSRF protection (Proving the callback came from an OAuth flow you started) in OAuth flow
What happens if user already connected? (overwrite/error?)

Error codes to handle:

• invalid_state - CSRF validation failed
• spotify_auth_failed - User denied permission or Spotify error
• token_expired - JWT expired, need to re-login
• spotify_disconnected - Refresh token invalid/revoked
• server_error - Internal server error

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ USER LOGS IN VIA SPOTIFY │
└──────────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────┐
│ Spotify sends: │
│ - access_token │
│ - refresh_token │
└──────────┬──────────┘
│
┌───────────┴───────────┐
│ │
▼ ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ ENCRYPTION │ │ JWT MODULE │
│ MODULE │ │ │
│ │ │ │
│ Lock tokens │ │ Create login │
│ before DB │ │ pass (JWT) │
└──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
│ DATABASE │ │ FRONTEND │
│ │ │ │
│ Stores: │ │ Stores JWT │
│ Encrypted │ │ in │
│ tokens │ │ localStorage │
└──────────────┘ └──────────────┘

| Phase | Task
|-----------------------------------------|
| 1 | Database migration
| 2 | Encryption & JWT modules
| 3 | OAuth endpoints
| 4 | Token refresh logic
| 5 | Frontend components
| 6 | Error handling
| 7 | Testing & debugging

[preston-robbins]

@crisneames The point of these tech tickets is to write them in your own words, not copy/paste from the AI. going forward, please write them yourself, as this will deepen your understanding. on top of this, when you are putting these notes back into ai, you need to have a conversation about each individual aspect, and ensure that it actually pertains to the issue youre looking at, rather than just taking the ais first answer as right. for example, your first answer didnt actually answer the question at all, it was very much just something the ai spit out because it "thought" it was right. noted below, please do an in depth look into the ticket. it should take you about 4x as long to learn, research, and understand what is actually happening in the code before you actually start writing the ticket or anything. research and understanding is key.

You didn't answer my questions - you generated an implementation plan from ai, but showed no understanding.
I asked you to explain YOUR understanding of each point. Instead you pasted schemas, env configs, and diagrams. Here's what's missing:
Which encryption method? - You defined what encryption is. I asked WHICH method/library you're using and why.
Token storage location? - You created a spotify_tokens table but never explained why separate table vs adding columns to users table.
Refresh token expiry handling? - You skipped this entirely and listed scopes instead. Spotify refresh tokens don't expire but CAN be revoked - how will you detect/handle that?
Already connected user? - Never answered. Will you overwrite tokens? Throw error? Update existing row?
CSRF state parameter? - You wrote a definition in parentheses but zero detail on how you'll generate, store, and validate it.
Other issues:

You included scopes (streaming, user-modify-playback-state) that aren't in the requirements
You provided database migrations and phase plans I didn't request as well

Go back and answer each of my 6 questions in 2-3 sentences each, in your own words, explaining what you'll use, why, and a short gist of how that technology works. No code, no AI dumps - just your reasoning

[preston-robbins]

Also, it looks like you closed this ticket? this shouldnt be closed, it should be moved to the next lane

[crisneames]

Which encryption method for tokens (AES-256? library?)

I'm using Firebase Authentication to handle login and identity. When a user logs in, Firebase creates a JSON Web Token, which is like a digital ID card that proves who the user is. Firebase signs the token using RS256 which means The private key is owned and protected by Firebase servers and the public key is published online. This is asymmetric cryptography because it uses a key pair: private key and a public key. The backend verifies the token when the frontend sends a request to the backend. Included in the JWT in the HTTP header.

Token storage location (users table? separate spotify_connections?)

in order to keep system modular and more flexible for future growth, I'll use a spotify_connections table to keep spotify-specific data separate from general user information. It allows for easy update, revoke, or deletion of spotify tokens without affection the main user records.

Refresh token expiry handling (Spotify tokens don't expire but can be revoked - how to detect/handle?)

Since Spotify doesn't tell when the user revokes the token, an error will occur. (ex. invalid-grant error) When that happens the app should notice the error, delete the old token from the database, mark the user as "disconnected from Spotify, and ask them to connect Spotify again to make a new connection.

Scope requirements (playlist-modify-public, playlist-modify-private at minimum)

Spotify scopes are like permissions that tell Spotify what the app is allowed to do. Since this app will let users save playlists and make changes to the playlists , we need 2 scopes, playlist-modify-public, which lets the app create or change public playlists on the user's account; And playlist-modify-private, which lets the user create or change private playlists that only the user can see. If you don't request these scopes during the Spotify login process, the app won't have permission to make any playlist updates.

State parameter for CSRF protection in OAuth flow

When the app sends a user to Spotify to connect to their account, it includes a random code called a state parameter that helps make sure that when Spotify sends the user back to the app, it is really coming from Spotify and not from a hacker trying to trick the system. The app saves the state value before sending the user to Spotify, and when the user comes back it checks to make sure the state matches. If it doesn't match, the app cancels the login to protect against CSRF attacks which tries to make a user do something without their permission. (Cross-Site Request Forgery).

What happens if user already connected? (overwrite/error?)

If a user is already connected to Spotify and tries to connect again, the app should check first to see if a Spotify connection already exists in the database.
If it does, the app can update (overwrite) the old connection with the new one — this makes sure the user’s tokens are always up to date and prevents errors.
It’s better to overwrite instead of showing an error, because sometimes users just reconnect to refresh their access or fix a broken link.