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c-relay-pg/plans/php_admin_page_plan.md
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PHP Admin Page for Caching Service

Problem

The existing Nostr-based admin API (caching_follows_status kind-23456 command) encrypts its JSON response with NIP-44, which has a hard 64KB plaintext limit. With 679+ followed pubkeys, the response exceeds this limit by ~2-4×, causing Encryption result code: -15 (NOSTR_ERROR_NIP44_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL) and the UI shows "Failed to load".

Rather than paginating the NIP-44 admin command (complex, still limited), we build a separate traditional admin page using PHP + nginx that queries PostgreSQL directly. This bypasses the NIP-44 limit entirely, scales to thousands of follows, and runs in parallel with the existing Nostr admin API (no changes to the relay binary needed).

Architecture

flowchart LR
    Browser[Admin Browser] -->|HTTPS| Nginx
    Nginx -->|/admin/ *.php| PHP_FPM[PHP-FPM]
    Nginx -->|/ and /api| Relay[C-Relay-PG :8888]
    PHP_FPM -->|PDO| PostgreSQL[(PostgreSQL crelay)]
    Relay -->|libpq| PostgreSQL
  • nginx fronts everything on 443 (existing SSL setup).
    • / and /api → proxy to C-Relay-PG (existing, unchanged)
    • /admin/ → PHP-FPM (new)
  • PHP-FPM runs as a pool (e.g. www or a dedicated relay-admin pool). PHP files live in /opt/c-relay-pg/admin/ (or similar).
  • PDO connects to PostgreSQL using the same crelay credentials the relay uses. Read-only queries for display; write queries only for config updates (with auth guard).
  • No relay restart needed — this is purely nginx + PHP-FPM configuration + static files.

Tech Stack

  • PHP 8.x with PDO PostgreSQL extension (php-pgsql)
  • PHP-FPM managed by systemd (or the existing nginx PHP-FPM pool)
  • nginx location /admin/ block with fastcgi_pass to PHP-FPM
  • Frontend: vanilla HTML + JS (no build step), same visual style as the existing api/index.html admin page. Optionally use HTMX or Alpine.js for lightweight interactivity, but vanilla JS is sufficient.

Authentication

The PHP admin page needs its own auth since it's not going through the Nostr admin command path. Options (in order of simplicity):

  1. HTTP Basic Auth (nginx-level) — simplest, sufficient for a single-admin relay. Add auth_basic to the /admin/ location block with a .htpasswd file.
  2. Session-based login — PHP login form, password hash in a config file, session cookie. More flexible but more code.
  3. Nostr login (NIP-07 extension) — the page could verify a signed auth event from the admin's browser extension, matching against the admin_pubkey in the config table. Most aligned with the existing system but most complex.

Recommendation: Start with HTTP Basic Auth (option 1) for the MVP, upgrade to Nostr login later if desired.

Database Access

PHP connects via PDO with the same credentials the relay uses:

host=localhost port=5432 dbname=crelay user=crelay password=crelay

Store the connection string in a PHP config file (/opt/c-relay-pg/admin/config.php) that is NOT web-accessible (outside the document root or protected by nginx).

Pages / Endpoints

1. Dashboard (/admin/index.php)

Overview cards:

  • Service state, heartbeat age, config generation (from caching_service_state)
  • Followed author count, selected relay count, connected relay count
  • Events fetched, inbox inserts, inbox pending count
  • Backfill progress: X/Y authors complete
  • Active backfill target (pubkey + relay) from caching_backfill_active
  • Error relays summary (count of rows with consecutive_errors >= 3)

2. Follows (/admin/follows.php)

The main table that was failing via NIP-44. Paginated server-side:

  • Page size: 50 or 100 follows per page
  • Columns: Name (from kind-0), npub, Root?, Events in DB, Backfill Complete, Relays (expandable), Last Seen
  • JOIN with events table for kind-0 profile metadata (name, display_name, picture, nip05)
  • JOIN with caching_backfill_relay_progress for per-relay status
  • Filter: all / incomplete only / root only / error relays only
  • Search by name or pubkey prefix
  • Sort by: events_fetched desc, name, last_seen, backfill_complete

SQL (paginated):

SELECT fp.pubkey, fp.is_root, fp.backfill_complete, fp.events_fetched,
       fp.first_seen, fp.last_seen,
       e.content::json->>'name'        AS name,
       e.content::json->>'display_name' AS display_name,
       e.content::json->>'picture'     AS picture,
       e.content::json->>'nip05'       AS nip05,
       (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM events WHERE pubkey = fp.pubkey) AS total_events
FROM caching_followed_pubkeys fp
LEFT JOIN LATERAL (
    SELECT content FROM events
    WHERE pubkey = fp.pubkey AND kind = 0
    ORDER BY created_at DESC LIMIT 1
) e ON true
ORDER BY fp.is_root DESC, fp.events_fetched DESC
LIMIT $page_size OFFSET $offset;

3. Relay Progress (/admin/relays.php)

Per (author, relay) backfill status from caching_backfill_relay_progress:

  • Columns: Author (name + npub), Relay URL, Until Cursor, Complete, Events Fetched, Consecutive Errors, Last Status, Updated At
  • Filter: incomplete only / error relays / complete / all
  • Highlight rows with consecutive_errors >= 3
  • Show last_status (now descriptive: error: tls/ws handshake failed, eose, timeout, etc.)

4. Config (/admin/config.php)

Read and edit caching config values from the config table:

  • Read: caching_root_npubs, caching_bootstrap_relays, caching_kinds, caching_admin_kinds, all caching_* keys
  • Edit: form to update values, bumps caching_config_generation on save (so the caching service hot-reloads)
  • This replaces the "Apply Configuration" button for caching settings

5. Inbox (/admin/inbox.php)

Monitor the caching_event_inbox queue:

  • Pending count by source_class (live / backfill / discovery)
  • Oldest pending age
  • Recent events preview (last 20, with kind + pubkey + source)
  • This helps diagnose if the poller is keeping up

File Structure

/opt/c-relay-pg/admin/           # PHP document root (or symlink)
├── config.php                   # DB connection config (NOT web-served)
├── index.php                    # Dashboard
├── follows.php                  # Followed pubkeys table (paginated)
├── relays.php                   # Per-relay backfill progress
├── config.php                   # Caching config editor
├── inbox.php                    # Inbox queue monitor
├── api/
│   ├── follows.php              # JSON endpoint for follows (AJAX)
│   ├── relays.php               # JSON endpoint for relay progress
│   ├── status.php               # JSON endpoint for dashboard stats
│   └── config.php               # JSON endpoint for config get/set
├── assets/
│   ├── style.css                # Shared CSS (match existing admin theme)
│   └── app.js                   # Shared JS (pagination, search, refresh)
└── .htpasswd                    # HTTP Basic Auth passwords

In the repo, these live under admin/ (new top-level directory, parallel to api/).

nginx Configuration

Add to the existing server block in examples/deployment/nginx-proxy/nginx.conf:

# PHP admin page for caching service (direct PostgreSQL access)
location /admin/ {
    root /opt/c-relay-pg;
    index index.php;

    # HTTP Basic Auth
    auth_basic "Relay Admin";
    auth_basic_user_file /opt/c-relay-pg/admin/.htpasswd;

    # Pass .php files to PHP-FPM
    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.2-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
    }

    # Deny access to config.php (contains DB credentials)
    location = /admin/config.php {
        deny all;
    }
}

Implementation Plan

Step 1 — Server setup (one-time)

  • Install PHP 8.x + PHP-FPM + php-pgsql on the relay server
  • Create /opt/c-relay-pg/admin/ directory
  • Configure PHP-FPM pool (or use default www pool)
  • Add the nginx location /admin/ block
  • Create .htpasswd with htpasswd / openssl passwd
  • Reload nginx

Step 2 — PHP config + DB connection helper

  • admin/lib/db.php — PDO connection helper, read-only by default
  • admin/config.php — connection string (protected from web access)
  • Test: php -r "echo 'ok';" + simple SELECT 1 query

Step 3 — Dashboard page (index.php)

  • Query caching_service_state for overview stats
  • Query caching_backfill_active for active target
  • Query caching_backfill_relay_progress for error summary
  • Display as cards + summary table
  • Auto-refresh every 15s via JS setInterval + fetch()

Step 4 — Follows page (follows.php)

  • Server-side pagination (page param in URL)
  • JOIN with events for kind-0 profile metadata
  • Sub-query for per-pubkey event count
  • Expandable relay progress per follow (AJAX load on click)
  • Search + filter controls
  • This is the page that replaces the broken NIP-44 caching_follows_status

Step 5 — Relay progress page (relays.php)

  • Full caching_backfill_relay_progress table with pagination
  • Filter by complete/incomplete/error
  • Show last_status and consecutive_errors columns
  • Color-code: green=eose, yellow=timeout, red=error, gray=complete

Step 6 — Config editor page (config.php → admin/config-edit.php)

  • Read all caching_* config keys
  • Form to edit caching_root_npubs, caching_bootstrap_relays, caching_kinds, etc.
  • On save: UPDATE config SET value = $1 WHERE key = $2 + bump caching_config_generation
  • Confirmation dialog before applying

Step 7 — Inbox monitor page (inbox.php)

  • Pending counts by source_class
  • Oldest pending age
  • Recent 20 events preview
  • Poller stats (from relay log or a new stats table)

Step 8 — Styling + polish

  • Match the existing api/index.css dark theme
  • Responsive layout (works on mobile)
  • Auto-refresh for dashboard and follows pages

Security Considerations

  1. HTTP Basic Auth on /admin/ — minimum barrier
  2. config.php denied via nginx location block (contains DB password)
  3. PDO prepared statements everywhere — no SQL injection
  4. Read-only DB user for display pages (optional: create a crelay_readonly role with SELECT-only on caching tables; use the full crelay user only for the config editor)
  5. HTTPS only — the existing nginx SSL config covers this
  6. No CORS needed — same origin as the relay

Out of Scope (for MVP)

  • Nostr NIP-07 extension login (use HTTP Basic Auth first)
  • Write operations beyond config editing (reset backfill, etc. — those stay on the Nostr admin API)
  • Real-time WebSocket updates (use polling instead — 15s interval is sufficient for a monitoring dashboard)
  • Multi-user / role-based access

Files to Create

File Purpose
admin/config.php DB connection config (protected)
admin/lib/db.php PDO connection helper
admin/lib/helpers.php Shared helpers (pagination, formatting)
admin/index.php Dashboard
admin/follows.php Followed pubkeys table (paginated)
admin/relays.php Per-relay backfill progress
admin/config-edit.php Caching config editor
admin/inbox.php Inbox queue monitor
admin/api/status.php JSON: dashboard stats
admin/api/follows.php JSON: paginated follows
admin/api/relays.php JSON: relay progress
admin/assets/style.css Shared CSS
admin/assets/app.js Shared JS
admin/.htpasswd HTTP Basic Auth passwords
examples/deployment/nginx-proxy/nginx.conf Add /admin/ location block

Deployment

  1. Copy admin/ to /opt/c-relay-pg/admin/ on the server
  2. Install php8.2-fpm php8.2-pgsql (or distro-equivalent)
  3. Create .htpasswd: htpasswd -c /opt/c-relay-pg/admin/.htpasswd admin
  4. Edit admin/config.php with the PostgreSQL connection string
  5. Add the nginx /admin/ location block, reload nginx
  6. Visit https://relay.yourdomain.com/admin/

No relay restart required. The PHP admin page runs entirely in parallel with the existing relay and Nostr admin API.

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