gatekeeper/README.md

Gatekeeper - Door access system

Status: WIP - getting there o.o

Start prod server nix run
Start dev server nix run .#dev or nix run .#dev -- {args}
Interactive dev with nix develop, then sync deps with uv sync
Swagger UI @ http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1/docs
OpenApi @ http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/v1/openapi.json

Config:

Nixos config for the card reader:

services.pcscd = {
  enable = true;
  plugins = [ pkgs.acsccid ]; #<-- Needed for the ACE1552U
};

This application is configured using env vars. You can use cp .env.example .env and then edit .env to change the keys to something else.

A note on keycard scanners

I have tried two scanners while developing this project, the TWN4 MultiTech 2 from elatec and the ACR1552U from acs.

TWN4

From the factory the TWN4 comes with firmware that emulates a HID and just inputs the serial of any scanned card. To be usable with pcscd it had to be flashed with the TWN4_xPx520_S1SC161_Multi_CCID_1Slot_Standard.bix firmware found in the TWN4DevPack520 which can be downloaded under https://www.elatec-rfid.com/int/elatec-software (They send you a download link via email). This software seems to not work under wine. I had to setup a win10 vm and pass the usb to be able to flash.
Range: In my testing the TWN4 has a range of about 22mm when interfacing with our Mifare DESFire v2 cards. This is not enough for our idea of mounting the scanner on the inside of a glass window.

ACR1552U

The ACR1552U comes preloaded with PC/SC firmware. You need to install the acsccid package with your package-manager of choice (Nixos user see above) for the scanner to work but after that I had no problems with the hardware interfacing.
Range: The range of the ACR1552U was much better at over 60mm (almost 70mm if you take of the face plate)

Issues:

• documentation missing
• raspberry pi image not working
• no door state
• no door operations
• hardcoded secret key in auth.py -> centralise env var loading
• i don't like the error handling in the scanner - doesn't pass errors correctly
• cors for frontend: https://fastapi.tiangolo.com/tutorial/cors
  • Load cors from env var or something
• BackgroundScanner shouldn't get a single session for the whole lifecycle
• input validation maybe
• too many imports
• inconsistent logging (request logging?)
• rate limiting maybe
• pretty sure the controllers are doing too much stuff
• hardware call tests or sth