From 86c883fb919116b31f313f1c23e8ee2c49fafff8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: dev <dev@local>
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 2026 23:50:49 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] Per-user autosave rate limit (30/min, 429 past it)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

The exam screen autosaves on every answer; a stuck client retrying in a
tight loop could hammer SQLite's single writer. Ctx carries a small
in-memory per-user windowed counter with opportunistic cleanup — no
Redis needed. Verified live: 30x200 then 429s.
---
 src/auth.rs | 26 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/main.rs |  7 +++++++
 2 files changed, 33 insertions(+)

diff --git a/src/auth.rs b/src/auth.rs
index b942f35..7a50101 100644
--- a/src/auth.rs
+++ b/src/auth.rs
@@ -20,9 +20,35 @@ pub struct Ctx {
     /// change on import, so there is no reason to run five aggregate
     /// subselects on every homepage hit.
     pub stats_cache: std::sync::Mutex<(std::time::Instant, (i64, i64, i64, i64, i64))>,
+    /// Autosave rate limiter: user id -> (window start, hits in window).
+    /// The exam screen autosaves on every answer, so a stuck client retrying
+    /// in a tight loop could otherwise hammer SQLite's single writer.
+    pub save_hits: std::sync::Mutex<std::collections::HashMap<String, (std::time::Instant, u32)>>,
 }
 
 impl Ctx {
+    /// True when this user may autosave now (30 saves per rolling minute).
+    pub fn save_allowed(&self, uid: &str) -> bool {
+        const LIMIT: u32 = 30;
+        const WINDOW: std::time::Duration = std::time::Duration::from_secs(60);
+        let mut guard = self.save_hits.lock().unwrap();
+        // Opportunistic cleanup so the map cannot grow without bound.
+        if guard.len() > 4096 {
+            let now = std::time::Instant::now();
+            guard.retain(|_, (t, _)| now.duration_since(*t) < WINDOW * 2);
+        }
+        let entry = guard.entry(uid.to_string()).or_insert((std::time::Instant::now(), 0));
+        if entry.0.elapsed() >= WINDOW {
+            *entry = (std::time::Instant::now(), 1);
+            return true;
+        }
+        if entry.1 >= LIMIT {
+            return false;
+        }
+        entry.1 += 1;
+        true
+    }
+
     pub async fn bank_stats(&self) -> (i64, i64, i64, i64, i64) {
         {
             let guard = self.stats_cache.lock().unwrap();
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 993b540..4c2ac3e 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
             std::time::Instant::now() - std::time::Duration::from_secs(61),
             (0, 0, 0, 0, 0),
         )),
+        save_hits: std::sync::Mutex::new(std::collections::HashMap::new()),
     });
     let static_dir = format!("{}/static", std::env::current_dir()?.display());
 
@@ -383,6 +384,12 @@ async fn save_answers(State(ctx): State<CtxArc>, h: HeaderMap, Path(attempt): Pa
         Some(u) => u,
         None => return hx("{\"error\":\"sign in first\"}".into(), StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED),
     };
+    if !ctx.save_allowed(&uid) {
+        return hx(
+            "{\"error\":\"saving too fast, retry shortly\"}".into(),
+            StatusCode::TOO_MANY_REQUESTS,
+        );
+    }
     match exam::save_answers(&ctx.pool, &attempt, &uid, &body).await {
         Ok(_) => hx("{\"ok\":true}".into(), StatusCode::OK),
         Err(e) => {