# The captcha the hosted UI must solve (hosted auth UI)

`GET /v1/auth/captcha`

Says which captcha this deployment asks for (`auth.captcha.provider`).
For the built-in proof-of-work provider it hands out a fresh challenge
the ALTCHA widget solves: `parameters` and `signature` are its wire
format, so the widget can fetch this URL directly. For a hosted provider
it names the site key the provider's widget is shown with. The solution
goes back in the `captcha` field of the request the captcha guards, which
refuses a missing, wrong, expired or already used one with 400
`captcha_failed`, and answers 503 `unavailable` when a hosted provider
cannot be asked. Issuing a challenge stores nothing.

## Authorization

None: this endpoint does not take API credentials.

This endpoint is rate limited; it answers `429` when a limit is hit.

## Responses

### 200 OK

The configured provider and, for `altcha`, a challenge.

Content type: `application/json`

Headers:
- `Cache-Control` = `no-store`

The captcha this deployment asks for. `none` asks for nothing. `altcha` is the built-in proof-of-work: `parameters` and `signature` are an ALTCHA v2 challenge, signed by the server and valid until `parameters.expiresAt`, with the keys spelled as the widget reads them. `turnstile`, `hcaptcha` and `recaptcha` (v2) are hosted providers: the page shows the provider's widget with `site_key`, and the token it yields is the solution.

- `provider` (enum, required): One of: `"none"`, `"altcha"`, `"turnstile"`, `"hcaptcha"`, `"recaptcha"`.
- `site_key` (string, optional): The hosted provider's public site key.
- `parameters` (object, optional): An ALTCHA v2 challenge: find the counter whose key, derived from `nonce` and the counter with `algorithm` over `salt` at `cost`, starts with `keyPrefix`. No other properties are accepted.
  - `algorithm` (string, required): Example: `"PBKDF2/SHA-256"`.
  - `cost` (integer (int64), required): Iterations of the derivation per attempt.
  - `expiresAt` (integer (int64), required): When the challenge lapses, in seconds since the epoch.
  - `keyLength` (integer (int64), required)
  - `keyPrefix` (string, required)
  - `nonce` (string, required)
  - `salt` (string, required)
- `signature` (string, optional): Hex HMAC-SHA256 over `parameters`, as canonical JSON.

### 429 Too Many Requests

Too many requests.

Content type: `application/problem+json`

RFC 9457 (formerly RFC 7807) problem details (application/problem+json). `code` is a stable machine-readable slug for the problem kind (it mirrors the last path segment of `type`), so consumers can branch on it without parsing prose. `type` is `https://nauthera.io/problems/<code>`, which resolves to the code's runbook: why it happened, who is affected and what to do (RFC 9457 §3.1.1). A problem without a code has `about:blank`. `errors` is present on validation failures and lists every offending field.

- `title` (string, required): Example: `"Request validation failed"`.
- `status` (integer, required): Example: `400`.
- `type` (string (uri), optional): Example: `"https://nauthera.io/problems/validation_error"`.
- `detail` (string, optional): Example: `"One or more fields did not satisfy the API schema."`.
- `code` (enum, optional): The kind of problem, as a stable machine-readable slug a client branches on and translates rather than parsing `title` or `detail`, which are English prose for logs. A problem whose status says everything the server knows carries no `code`. One of: `"invalid_request"`, `"invalid_credentials"`, `"forbidden"`, `"unauthorized"`, `"insufficient_user_authentication"`, `"protected_account"`, `"password_held_by_directory"`, `"last_role_administrator"`, `"invalid_code"`, `"too_many_requests"`, `"too_many_attempts"`, `"account_locked"`, `"account_unavailable"`, `"already_enrolled"`, `"registration_disabled"`, `"registration_conflict"`, `"captcha_failed"`, `"invalid_reset_link"`, `"password_reused"`, `"password_too_short"`, `"password_too_long"`, `"password_compromised"`, `"invalid_verification_link"`, `"invalid_invitation_link"`, `"mail_relay_missing"`, `"email_unverified"`, `"not_found"`, `"conflict"`, `"unavailable"`, `"busy"`, `"window_too_large"`, `"too_many_series"`, `"internal_error"`, `"rate_limited"`, `"malformed"`, `"body_too_large"`, `"required"`, `"validation_error"`, `"unknown_org"`, `"invalid_token"`, `"invalid_dpop_proof"`, `"use_dpop_nonce"`, `"server_error"`.

  `validation_error` is the one code whose message is not a sentence about
  the code itself: the request failed the schema, and the specifics are
  the `errors` list — one entry per offending field — which a form renders
  on those fields. `required` and `malformed` are spelled like two of the
  per-field violation codes (`FieldError.code`) but mean something else;
  the two vocabularies are told apart by position, never by spelling.

  **Compatibility:** this is a CLOSED enum, with the same cost as
  `AuditAction`: a client generated against an older version of this
  document rejects a problem carrying a code added after it was built.
  Regenerate on upgrade, or decode the field as a plain string. It is
  enumerated anyway so that what a client must translate is knowable
  from the contract alone.
- `instance` (string, optional): Example: `"/introspect"`.
- `request_id` (string, optional): Example: `"8d94ed49-1caf-4ab3-9594-557142f2d023"`.
- `trace_id` (string, optional): Distributed-trace id (hex) for correlating this response with traces and logs. Present only when tracing is enabled and the request was recorded. Opaque and safe to log/share. Example: `"4bf92f3577b34da6a3ce929d0e0e4736"`.
- `errors` (array of objects, optional): Field-level violations (present for validation errors).

  Each item: A single field-level validation violation.
  - `field` (string, required): Offending field, dotted for nested bodies (e.g. child.id). Example: `"token_type_hint"`.
  - `code` (string, required): Machine-readable violation code: required, too_short, too_long, pattern, invalid_format, not_allowed, minimum, maximum, multiple_of, too_few, too_many, not_unique, malformed. Example: `"not_allowed"`.
  - `message` (string, required): Example: `"field token_type_hint must be one of [access_token, refresh_token]"`.

### Error

Problem details (RFC 9457).

Content type: `application/problem+json`

RFC 9457 (formerly RFC 7807) problem details (application/problem+json). `code` is a stable machine-readable slug for the problem kind (it mirrors the last path segment of `type`), so consumers can branch on it without parsing prose. `type` is `https://nauthera.io/problems/<code>`, which resolves to the code's runbook: why it happened, who is affected and what to do (RFC 9457 §3.1.1). A problem without a code has `about:blank`. `errors` is present on validation failures and lists every offending field.

- `title` (string, required): Example: `"Request validation failed"`.
- `status` (integer, required): Example: `400`.
- `type` (string (uri), optional): Example: `"https://nauthera.io/problems/validation_error"`.
- `detail` (string, optional): Example: `"One or more fields did not satisfy the API schema."`.
- `code` (enum, optional): The kind of problem, as a stable machine-readable slug a client branches on and translates rather than parsing `title` or `detail`, which are English prose for logs. A problem whose status says everything the server knows carries no `code`. One of: `"invalid_request"`, `"invalid_credentials"`, `"forbidden"`, `"unauthorized"`, `"insufficient_user_authentication"`, `"protected_account"`, `"password_held_by_directory"`, `"last_role_administrator"`, `"invalid_code"`, `"too_many_requests"`, `"too_many_attempts"`, `"account_locked"`, `"account_unavailable"`, `"already_enrolled"`, `"registration_disabled"`, `"registration_conflict"`, `"captcha_failed"`, `"invalid_reset_link"`, `"password_reused"`, `"password_too_short"`, `"password_too_long"`, `"password_compromised"`, `"invalid_verification_link"`, `"invalid_invitation_link"`, `"mail_relay_missing"`, `"email_unverified"`, `"not_found"`, `"conflict"`, `"unavailable"`, `"busy"`, `"window_too_large"`, `"too_many_series"`, `"internal_error"`, `"rate_limited"`, `"malformed"`, `"body_too_large"`, `"required"`, `"validation_error"`, `"unknown_org"`, `"invalid_token"`, `"invalid_dpop_proof"`, `"use_dpop_nonce"`, `"server_error"`.

  `validation_error` is the one code whose message is not a sentence about
  the code itself: the request failed the schema, and the specifics are
  the `errors` list — one entry per offending field — which a form renders
  on those fields. `required` and `malformed` are spelled like two of the
  per-field violation codes (`FieldError.code`) but mean something else;
  the two vocabularies are told apart by position, never by spelling.

  **Compatibility:** this is a CLOSED enum, with the same cost as
  `AuditAction`: a client generated against an older version of this
  document rejects a problem carrying a code added after it was built.
  Regenerate on upgrade, or decode the field as a plain string. It is
  enumerated anyway so that what a client must translate is knowable
  from the contract alone.
- `instance` (string, optional): Example: `"/introspect"`.
- `request_id` (string, optional): Example: `"8d94ed49-1caf-4ab3-9594-557142f2d023"`.
- `trace_id` (string, optional): Distributed-trace id (hex) for correlating this response with traces and logs. Present only when tracing is enabled and the request was recorded. Opaque and safe to log/share. Example: `"4bf92f3577b34da6a3ce929d0e0e4736"`.
- `errors` (array of objects, optional): Field-level violations (present for validation errors).

  Each item: A single field-level validation violation.
  - `field` (string, required): Offending field, dotted for nested bodies (e.g. child.id). Example: `"token_type_hint"`.
  - `code` (string, required): Machine-readable violation code: required, too_short, too_long, pattern, invalid_format, not_allowed, minimum, maximum, multiple_of, too_few, too_many, not_unique, malformed. Example: `"not_allowed"`.
  - `message` (string, required): Example: `"field token_type_hint must be one of [access_token, refresh_token]"`.

## Example request

```bash
curl 'https://auth.example.com/v1/auth/captcha'
```

## Example response (200)

```json
{
  "provider": "none"
}
```