WPetition/README.md

Petition Submission API

A petition signing API built with ASP.NET Core 9.0 that allows users to sign petitions and retrieve petition details. Features rate limiting to prevent spam and duplicate signature detection.

Features

• Sign petitions with digital signatures
• Retrieve petition details including author information
• Rate limiting (3 signatures per minute per IP)
• Duplicate signature prevention (one signature per ID card)
• MongoDB backend for data persistence
• Docker support for easy deployment
• Bilingual support (Dhivehi and English)

Prerequisites

• .NET 9.0 SDK
• MongoDB instance
• Docker (optional, for containerized deployment)

Configuration

MongoDB Setup

1. Create a MongoDB database for the petition system
2. Create the following collections:
   • signatures - stores petition signatures
   • petitions - stores petition details
   • authors - stores petition author information

Application Configuration

Update appsettings.json with your MongoDB connection settings:

{
  "MongoDbSettings": {
    "ConnectionString": "mongodb://localhost:27017",
    "DatabaseName": "petition_database"
  },
  "Logging": {
    "LogLevel": {
      "Default": "Information",
      "Microsoft.AspNetCore": "Warning"
    }
  },
  "AllowedHosts": "*"
}

Rate Limiting Configuration

The API is configured with rate limiting to prevent spam. Default settings in Program.cs:

• Limit: 3 signatures per minute per IP address
• Window: Fixed 1-minute window
• Queue: Disabled (requests over limit receive HTTP 429)

To modify rate limits, edit Program.cs:

limiterOptions.PermitLimit = 3;  // Change this number
limiterOptions.Window = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(1);  // Change time window

Installation

Local Development

1. Clone the repository:

git clone <repository-url>
cd Submission.Api

2. Restore dependencies:

dotnet restore

3. Update appsettings.json with your MongoDB connection string

4. Run the application:

dotnet run --project Submission.Api

The API will be available at:

• HTTPS: https://localhost:7xxx
• HTTP: http://localhost:5xxx

Docker Deployment

1. Build the Docker image:

docker build -t petition-api .

2. Run the container:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -p 8081:8081 \
  -e MongoDbSettings__ConnectionString="mongodb://your-mongo-host:27017" \
  -e MongoDbSettings__DatabaseName="petition_database" \
  petition-api

API Endpoints

Sign a Petition

Signs a petition with user information and signature.

Endpoint: POST /api/Sign

Rate Limit: 3 requests per minute per IP

Request Body:

{
  "name": "John Doe",
  "idCard": "A123456",
  "signature": "<svg>...</svg>"
}

Field Validation:

• name: Required, minimum 3 characters
• idCard: Required, 6-7 characters (typically National ID)
• signature: Required, SVG signature data

Success Response (200 OK):

{}

Error Responses:

• 400 Bad Request - Invalid request body or validation failed

{
  "errors": {
    "name": ["The field Name must be a string with a minimum length of 3."],
    "idCard": ["The field IdCard must be a string with a minimum length of 6 and a maximum length of 7."]
  }
}

• 429 Too Many Requests - Rate limit exceeded

{
  "status": 429,
  "title": "Too Many Requests"
}

• 500 Internal Server Error - User already signed the petition

{
  "title": "You already signed this petition"
}

Get Petition Details

Retrieves details of a specific petition including author information.

Endpoint: GET /api/Sign/{petition_id}

URL Parameters:

• petition_id (GUID) - The unique identifier of the petition

Success Response (200 OK):

{
  "id": "3fa85f64-5717-4562-b3fc-2c963f66afa6",
  "startDate": "2025-01-15",
  "nameDhiv": "ޕެޓިޝަން ނަން",
  "nameEng": "Petition Name",
  "authorDetails": {
    "name": "Author Name",
    "nid": "A123456"
  },
  "petitionBodyDhiv": "ޕެޓިޝަން ތަފްސީލް...",
  "petitionBodyEng": "Petition description...",
  "signatureCount": 0
}

Error Response:

• 404 Not Found - Petition does not exist

{}

Data Models

Signature (Widget)

{
  "id": "ObjectId",
  "name": "string",
  "idCard": "string",
  "signature_SVG": "string",
  "timestamp": "DateTime"
}

Petition Details

{
  "id": "Guid",
  "startDate": "DateOnly",
  "nameDhiv": "string",
  "nameEng": "string",
  "petitionBodyDhiv": "string",
  "petitionBodyEng": "string",
  "authorId": "Guid",
  "signatureCount": "int"
}

Author

{
  "id": "Guid",
  "name": "string",
  "nid": "string"
}

Security Features

Rate Limiting

• Prevents spam by limiting signature submissions to 3 per minute per IP
• Uses ASP.NET Core built-in rate limiting middleware
• Returns HTTP 429 when limit is exceeded

Duplicate Prevention

• Each ID card can only sign a petition once
• Checked before inserting into database
• Returns error message if duplicate detected

Input Validation

• Name: Minimum 3 characters
• ID Card: Must be 6-7 characters (validates National ID format)
• Signature: Required field

Development

Project Structure

Submission.Api/
├── Controllers/
│   └── SignController.cs       # API endpoints
├── Dto/
│   ├── WidgetsDto.cs           # Signature request DTO
│   ├── PetitionDetailsDto.cs   # Petition response DTO
│   └── Author.cs               # Author DTO
├── Models/
│   ├── Widget.cs               # Signature database model
│   ├── PetitionDetail.cs       # Petition database model
│   └── Author.cs               # Author database model
├── Program.cs                  # Application configuration
├── Dockerfile                  # Docker configuration
└── appsettings.json           # Application settings

Dependencies

• ASP.NET Core 9.0
• MongoDB Driver (via Ashi.MongoInterface)
• Microsoft.AspNetCore.OpenApi 9.0.11
• Microsoft.AspNetCore.RateLimiting (built-in)

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

MongoDB Connection Failed

• Verify MongoDB is running
• Check connection string in appsettings.json
• Ensure network connectivity to MongoDB instance

Contributing

When contributing to this project:

1. Follow existing code style and conventions
2. Test all endpoints thoroughly
3. Update documentation for any API changes
4. Ensure rate limiting is not disabled in production

License

if you use this you must mention that its powered by Mv Devs Union

also any forks must be open source

this must never be used for data collection and profiling people

Support

For issues or questions, please open an issue on the repository.