@lo-fi/local-vault

Local Vault

Local Vault provides a client-side, key-value storage API abstraction, with automatic encryption/decryption secured by biometric passkeys -- no servers required!

var vault = await connect({ .. });

await vault.set("Hello","World!");       // true

await vault.get("Hello");               // "World!"

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Library Tests (Demo)

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Overview

A local vault instance is a simple key-value store (get(), set(), etc), backed by your choice among various client-side storage mechanisms (localStorage / sessionStorage, IndexedDB, cookies, and OPFS).

The primary feature of this library is automatically handling encryption (on write) and decryption (on read) from a local vault's data -- so data is always encrypted at-rest -- all client-side with no servers.

The cryptographic encryption/decryption key is furthermore protected locally in the client in a biometric passkey (i.e., in an authenticator, secure enclave, etc). Users can thus safely access their protected data with a simple biometric passkey authentication -- no troublesome passwords, and no privacy-eroding remote servers!

Local Vault directly depends on Local-Data-Lock, which depends on WebAuthn-Local-Client.

Client Side Storage Adapters

Local Vault ships with these five adapters, for choosing where/how on the client to store the encrypted vault data:

• idb: IndexedDB

• local-storage: Web Storage localStorage

• session-storage: Web Storage sessionStorage

• cookie: Web cookies

• OPFS: Origin Private File System, specifically virtual origin filesystem

Each of these client-side storage mechanisms has its own pros/cons, so choice should be made carefully.

However, IndexedDB (idb adapter) is the most robust and flexible option, and should generally be considered the best default.

Enabling Adapters

To load a storage mechanism's adapter (e.g., idb for IndexedDB):

import "@lo-fi/local-vault/adapter/idb";

import { connect } from "@lo-fi/local-vault";

You can load all five adapters, or only one. But you must have at least one adapter defined, and calls to connect() must always specify a storage-type that matches one of the loaded adapters.

Storage Limitations

Client-side storage is notoriously volatile. However, this library allows you to request the user's device to treat client-side storage as persistent:

import { keepStorage } from "..";

// will check for persistent storage, ask for it
// if possible, and potentially prompt the user
// to confirm (if necessary)
var storageIsPersistent = await keepStorage();
if (storageIsPersistent) {
    // let the user know their storage is safe!
}
else {
    // warn the user their storage may not be
    // as reliable as desired
}

Moreover, some client storage mechanisms have different storage limits, which in some cases may be rather small (i.e., 5MB for Local-Storage, or 1KB for cookies). Be careful with set() calls: look for the QuotaExceededError DOM exception being thrown, and determine what data can be freed up, or potentially switch to another storage mechanism with higher limits.

For example:

try {
    vault.set("app-data",allMyAppData);
}
catch (err) {
    if (err.reason?.name == "QuotaExceededError") {
        // handle storage limit failure!
    }
}

Web Storage (localStorage, sessionStorage)

The web storage mechanisms (localStorage, sessionStorage) are by far the most common place web applications storage client-side data. However, there are some factors to consider when using the local-storage / session-storage adapters.

Each mechanism is size-limited to 5MB, on most all browsers/devices. And they are only available from main browser threads, not in workers (Web Workers, Service Workers).

Cookies

The cookie adapter stores vault data in browser cookies. There are however some strong caveats to consider before choosing this storage mechanism.

Cookies are limited to ~4KB. Moreover, the provided data object has been JSON-serialized, encrypted and then base64 string encoded, then that value has been put into another object that's JSON-serialized, and that string (the actual cookie value) is URI-encoded (e.g, replacing " " with %20, etc). Taking into account all these steps that inflate your data size further towards the 4KB limit, you might only be able to squeeze ~2-3KB of original application data in, under the limit.

Also, cookies are typically sent on every request to a first-party origin server (images, CSS, fetch calls, etc). So that data (encrypted, of course) will be sent remotely, and will significantly weigh down all those requests.

Moreover, cookies are never "persistent" storage, and are subject to both expirations (maximum allowed is ~400 days out from the last update) and to users clearing them.

All these concerns considered, the cookie adapter really should not be used except as a last resort, for small amounts of data. For example, your app might use this storage as a temporary location if normal storage quota has been reached, and later synchronize/migrate/backup off-device, etc.

Origin Private File System

The Origin Private File System (OPFS) web feature can be used to read/write "files" in a virtual filesystem on the client's device (private to the page's origin). The opfs adapter provided with this library creates JSON "files" in this OPFS to store the vault data, one per vault.

Be aware: the ability to asynchronously write() on the main browser thread, into OPFS, is currently only supported on desktop (not mobile!) Chromium and Firefox browsers.

However, there is widespread browser/device support for synchronous write() into OPFS, if done off-thread in a background worker (Web Worker, Service Worker). The opfs adapter does not currently support this approach, but it may in the future. Developers can also write their own such adapter, using the defineAdapter() method of Local Vault.

Deployment / Import

npm install @lo-fi/local-vault

The @lo-fi/local-vault npm package includes a dist/ directory with all files you need to deploy Local Vault (and its dependencies) into your application/project.

Note: If you obtain this library via git instead of npm, you'll need to build dist/ manually before deployment.

• USING A WEB BUNDLER? (Astro, Vite, Webpack, etc) Use the dist/bundlers/* files and see Bundler Deployment for instructions.

• Otherwise, use the dist/auto/* files and see Non-Bundler Deployment for instructions.

WebAuthn Supported?

To check if WebAuthn API and functionality is supported on the device, consult the supportsWebAuthn exported boolean:

import { supportsWebAuthn } from "..";

if (supportsWebAuthn) {
    // welcome to the future, without passwords!
}
else {
    // sigh, use fallback authentication, like
    // icky passwords :(
}

Local Vaults

A "local vault" is a JS object (JSON compatible), which is actually stored in the client storage mechanism you choose, either directly (for IndexedDB) or as a JSON serialized string.

The local-vault object has the following three properties:

• accountID (string): holding the ID of the local account attached to one or more device passkeys, each of which hold the (same) encryption/decryption cryptographic key

• rpID (string): holds the relying party ID, which for web applications should almost always be the fully-qualified hostname (i.e., document.location.hostname) of the webapp

• data (string): holds the encrypted data, in base64 encoding

NOTE: This local-vault object is not something your code should retrieve or modify in any way, directly. Instead, you'll use the methods on the vault-instance, as described in the next section.

Setting up a local vault instance

The vault-instance, created from a connect() call, exposes a simple API (get(), set(), etc) for managing key-value style data access. Encryption and key-management is all handled automatically while interacting with this vault-instance.

To setup a new vault-instance:

import "@lo-fi/local-vault/adapter-idb";
import { connect } from "..";

// new vault-instance
var vault = await connect({
    storageType: "idb",
    addNewVault: true,
    keyOptions: {
        username: "passkey-user",
        displayName: "Passkey User"
    }
});

vault.id;               // ".." (auto-generated string)
vault.storageType;      // "idb"

The storageType is required on every connect() call. You'll likely do all your vault storage in one storage mechanism, so this is probably a fixed value you configure once in your app code -- rather than being an option the user chooses, for example.

Any options set under keyOptions are passed along to the underlying Local Data Lock library's getLockKey() method.

Note: The username / displayName key-options illustrated above are not strictly required, but are strongly recommended; they're only passed along to the biometric passkey, as meta-data for such. The device will often use one or both values in its prompt dialogs, so these values should either be something the user has picked, or at least be something the user will recognize and trust. Also, there may very well be multiple passkeys associated with the same local account, so the username/display-name should be differentiated to help the users know which passkey they're authenticating with.

Note: When setting up a new vault instance can, you can manually specify a lock-key.

Reconnecting a Vault

You may save the auto-generated vault.id value from a connect() call, to use in subsequent reconnections, again using connect():

var vault = await connect({
   storageType: "idb",
   vaultID: existingVaultID     // saved from previous connect() call
});

Note: If the vault's lock-key (biometric passkey protected) is still in the recent-access cache (default timeout: 30 minutes), a connect() call will complete silently. Otherwise, the user will be prompted by the device to re-authenticate with their passkey (to access the lock-key) before unlocking the vault.

Discoverable Vaults

Saving the vault.id to use later does create a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg problem, because then you have to separately choose which client-side storage you want to persist that value in, and manage it appropriately. The value may even be saved at first but lost later.

So you can instead use "vault discovery" mode to detect which vault to use, based on which passkey the user chooses to authenticate with:

var vault = await connect({
    storageType: "idb",
    discoverVault: true
});

Discovery mode should only be used when you're sure the user has already setup a vault on this device. If a suitable passkey is not authenticated with, and matching vault is not found, a discovery mode connect() call will fail with an exception.

Note: Discovery mode will always prompt the user for passkey authentication. This might mean a user would have to reauthenticate on each page load, for example. As an affordance to reduce user friction, you might choose to store the vault-ID in sessionStorage, along with a timestamp. Even after page refreshes, you might keep using this vault-ID without discovery mode. But after a certain amount of time since last authentication has passed, you might choose to push for reauthentication by discarding the known vault-ID and using discovery mode. Alternatively, you might call lock() on the vault-instance after a certain period of time, thereby ensuring the next vault operation will re-prompt the user for passkey authentication.

Removing All Local Data

As a full-reset (across all defined storage mechanisms), removeAll() will clear out all local vaults:

import { removeAll } from "..";

var success = await removeAll();

This is very dangerous (for user's data viability), and cannot be undone. Be careful not to do this unless the user's data has already been preserved elsewhere, or if the user has given informed-consent to discarding their data.

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To also remove all local passkey accounts (from localStorage), and clear the lock-key cache:

import { listLocalIdentities, removeLocalAccount } from "..";
import { clearLockKeyCache } from "@lo-fi/local-data-lock";

for (let localIdentity of listLocalIdentities()) {
    removeLocalAccount(localIdentity);
}
clearLockKeyCache();

Warning: This operation does not actually unregister any biometric passkeys from the device; that can only be done manually by the user, through the device's system settings. Ideally, your application should inform the user to this effect, so their device isn't left cluttered with unused, unwanted passkeys.

Again, this action cannot be undone, so be careful.

Vault Instance API

The primary interaction with a vault is through its vault instance. For example:

import { connect } from "..";

var vault = await connect({
    storageType: "idb",
    addNewVault: true
});

await vault.set("name","Kyle Simpson");
// true

await vault.has("name");
// true

await vault.set("info",{ nickname: "getify", age: 44 });
// true

await vault.entries();
// [
//    [ "name", "Kyle Simpson" ],
//    [ "info", { nickname: "getify", age: 44 } ]
// ]

// synchronous, no need for `await`!
vault.lock();
// true

// will prompt user for re-authentication
// before removing the 'name' entry
await vault.remove("name");
// true

await vault.keys();
// [ "info" ]

A vault instance has the following properties:

• id (string): the unique (to this device) vault ID

• storageType (string): the type of storage mechanism chosen to back this vault

A vault instance also has the following methods:

• has(key) (async): checks if the key-value store has the specified property registered

• get(key) (async): retrieves the value associated with the specified key (undefined is absent)

• set(key,value) (async): adds or updates the value at a specified key; setting a value to undefined (not null!) is treated as a remove() call, as encryption of the key-value store uses JSON serialization, which discards undefined values in object property locations.

• remove(key) (async): removes a key from the key-value store; same as set() with undefined as the value.

• clear() (async): completely removes the entire vault entry from the storage mechanism; the vault instance can still be used, and any subsequent calls will simply re-initialize the vault with empty data.

• lock() (sync): removes the vault's lock-key from the internal time-limited cache, such that the next operation against the vault will require a re-authentication with a passkey; akin to "logging out" in traditional systems design.

• addPasskey({ ...keyOptions }) (async): add a new passkey to the vault's associated local passkey account

• resetLockKey({ ...keyOptions }) (async): regenerate a new vault lock-key, as well as a new passkey to hold this lock-key; discards references to any previous passkeys in the local account.

  A useLockKey option can be passed, to manually specify a lock-key to reset the vault with; this may be useful if importing a key from another device.

• keys() (async): returns an array of all keys in the key-value store

• entries() (async): returns an array of all [ key, value ] tuples, representing all entries in the key-value store

• __exportLockKey({ risky: "this is unsafe" }) (async): call this method (with the required risky argument as shown) to reveal the underlying lock-key for a vault; needs either an unlocked vault (freshly-available cached passkey authentication), or will prompt the user for re-authentication to unlock.

  Warning: Please see "Exporting a vault lock-key" for more information about using this method responsibly and safely.

Note: All of these methods, except lock(), are asynchronous (promise-returning), because they all potentially require passkey re-authentication if the vault's lock-key is not freshly available in the internal recently-used cache.

Except for lock(), addPasskey(), and __exportLockKey(), all these instance methods accept an optional useLockKey setting.

Cancelling Vault Operations

If a call to connect(..) (or any of the asynchronous vault-instance methods) requires a passkey (re)authentication, there may be a substantial delay while the user is navigating the system prompts. Calling connect() or any vault method, while another connect() or vault method is currently pending, will abort that previous call -- and should cancel any open system dialogs the user is interacting with.

However, you may want to cancel a currently pending passkey authentication without having to call one of these methods again, for example based on a timeout if authentication is taking too long.

All asynchronous vault operations -- connect() as well as all the vault-instance methods (except lock()) -- accept an optional signal option, an AbortController.signal instance. If the associated AbortController of this signal is aborted (with abort()), and the operation is currently pending a passkey authentication, that operation will be cancelled.

For example:

var cancelToken = new AbortController();

var vault = await connect({
    /* .. */,
    signal: cancelToken.signal,
});

// 5 second timeout for passkey authentication
setTimeout(() => cancelToken.abort("Took too long!"),5000);

await vault.set("hello","world",{ signal: cancelToken.signal });

await vault.entries({ signal: cancelToken.signal });

Any abort of a pending passkey authentication will throw an exception at the point of the method call (i.e., the await). So if you're using cancellation to control vault operations, make sure to use appropriate exception handling techniques (try..catch, etc).

Re-building dist/*

If you need to rebuild the dist/* files for any reason, run:

# only needed one time
npm install

npm run build:all

Tests

Since the library involves non-automatable behaviors (requiring user intervention in browser), an automated unit-test suite is not included. Instead, a simple interactive browser test page is provided.

Visit https://mylofi.github.io/local-vault/, and follow instructions in-page from there to perform the interactive tests.

Run Locally

To instead run the tests locally, first make sure you've already run the build, then:

npm test

This will start a static file webserver (no server logic), serving the interactive test page from http://localhost:8080/; visit this page in your browser to perform tests.

By default, the test/test.js file imports the code from the src/* directly. However, to test against the dist/auto/* files (as included in the npm package), you can modify test/test.js, updating the /src in its import statements to /dist (see the import-map in test/index.html for more details).

License

All code and documentation are (c) 2024 Kyle Simpson and released under the MIT License. A copy of the MIT License is also included.