Ascenta 3

A session-gated arcade portal — a curated collection of browser games behind an access-key login, with a signed-session auth layer, an admin panel, and a built-in chat. Deployed on Vercel.

Live: ascenta3.vercel.app

What it is

Ascenta 3 is a games hub you unlock with an access key. Redeem a key once and a signed session cookie keeps you in; every game route and the admin panel are protected at the edge, so nothing under /games is reachable without a valid session.

The interesting part isn't the games — it's the access-control and session machinery built around them on a serverless stack.

How it works

• Edge middleware (middleware.js) runs on every request to /games/* and /admin.html. It reads the session cookie, verifies it, and either lets the request through, redirects to the landing page, or returns 403. Admin routes additionally require an isAdmin claim.
• Signed sessions (lib/session.mjs) — sessions are HMAC-signed payloads, verified stateless at the edge. No server round-trip to validate a cookie.
• Access keys (lib/access-keys.mjs, api/unlock.js) — keys are normalized and checked against a Firebase-backed store; a valid redemption mints a session and sets a Secure/HttpOnly cookie.
• Admin API (api/admin.js) — key management and content administration, gated behind the admin session claim.
• Chat (chat/, api/chat-profile.js) — a lightweight in-site chat with its own admin-identity handling.
• Content pipeline — lib/manual-games.mjs, lib/generated-games.mjs, and lib/ugs-import.mjs assemble the game catalog; addgame.sh adds a title into the content directory.

Stack

• Vercel — static hosting + serverless functions + edge middleware (@vercel/functions)
• Firebase Admin (firebase-admin) — access-key and session-state backing store
• Vanilla JS front end — no framework on the main portal; a separate Svelte sub-app lives in ascentacompass/
• Node test runner — 10 test suites under tests/ covering session signing, access-key normalization, admin identity, and UI logic

Layout

middleware.js        Edge auth — protects /games and /admin
api/                 unlock · admin · chat-profile serverless fns
lib/                 session signing, access keys, catalog builders
tests/               node:test suites (*.test.mjs)
ascentacompass/      Svelte sub-app
chat/                In-site chat UI

Local development

npm install
vercel dev          # serves functions + middleware locally

Requires a SESSION_SECRET (session signing) and Firebase Admin credentials in the environment for full functionality.