bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/security/secrettext-with-httpclient.md
Jesper Schulz-Wedde a9f3c50863 Regenerate microsoft/knowledge from upstream BCApps instructions
The previous LLM-generated knowledge files contained factual
hallucinations. The most visible was the claim that `FindFirst` /
`FindLast` "forces a full-table scan" on an unfiltered record - it does
not; those APIs return a single row via the current key.

Other inaccuracies the audit found and fixed:

* `FindSet(true)` was described as "taking a LockTable". The correct
  upstream phrasing is that `FindSet(true)` sets
  `ReadIsolation::UpdLock` on the read. UpdLock and LockTable are
  related but distinct mechanisms.
* The list of production-scale tables had been invented beyond the
  upstream source (e.g. "Detailed Cust. Ledg. Entry") without a
  citation. The regenerated list matches the ten tables upstream lists
  with their P95 row counts.
* `SetLoadFields` guidance had been augmented with an extra mechanism
  claim ("the database resolves the filter using the index without
  hydrating the value") not present in upstream.

Approach: full regeneration of `microsoft/knowledge/` from the six
upstream BCApps Code Review instruction files, with Microsoft Learn /
the AL language reference as a secondary source. Every claim in every
regenerated file is anchored to a verbatim upstream quote (or a Learn
URL); the audit trail lives in artifacts/trace-<domain>.json on the
session workspace.

The PR #11 transaction/error-handling cluster is preserved verbatim:

* performance/understand-implicit-transaction-boundary.md
* performance/codeunit-run-as-atomic-sub-operation.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/codeunit-run-requires-prior-commit-inside-transaction.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/use-tryfunction-for-error-catching-not-rollback.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/avoid-commit-inside-loops.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* security/commitbehavior-attribute-scopes-explicit-commits.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* testing/transactionmodel-attribute-governs-test-transactions.{md,good.al,bad.al}

These articles already cite Microsoft Learn and were carefully
cross-referenced; the regeneration skips their topics rather than
duplicating them.

File counts after regeneration:

  performance   35 .md  (5 preserved + 30 new)
  privacy       17 .md
  security      18 .md  (1 preserved + 17 new)
  style         33 .md
  testing        1 .md  (preserved)
  ui            19 .md
  upgrade       18 .md

Total 141 atomic knowledge files, each strictly one rule. All pass
.github/scripts/validate_frontmatter.py with 0 errors and 0 warnings.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-05-21 09:53:09 +02:00

22 lines
2 KiB
Markdown

---
bc-version: [all]
domain: security
keywords: [secrettext, httpclient, setsecretrequesturi, containssecret, headers, http]
technologies: [al]
countries: [w1]
application-area: [all]
---
# Use the SecretText-aware HttpClient surface for secrets in requests
## Description
`HttpClient` and its companion types expose a parallel surface that accepts `SecretText` instead of `Text`, so that secret URIs, secret headers, and secret request bodies never round-trip through plain text. The key entry points are: `HttpClient.SetSecretRequestUri()` for URIs that contain secrets (the subsequent `Get`/`Post` is then called with an empty string); `HttpHeaders.Add()` overload that accepts a `SecretText` value for authorization headers; `HttpHeaders.ContainsSecret()` to test whether a secret header is present (the plain `Contains()` returns false for secret headers); `HttpContent.WriteFrom()` and `HttpContent.ReadAs()` overloads that accept and produce `SecretText` for request and response bodies that carry credentials.
## Best Practice
When the URI contains a secret query parameter, compose it as `SecretText` (see `secretstrsubstno-for-composing-secrets.md`), pass it to `SetSecretRequestUri`, and call `Get('', Response)` with an empty string as the URI argument. When the credential is an authorization header, build the header value as `SecretText` and pass it to `Headers.Add`. Use `ContainsSecret` rather than `Contains` to check for the presence of a secret header. See sample: `secrettext-with-httpclient.good.al`.
## Anti Pattern
Calling `ApiKey.Unwrap()` to build a URI or header string and passing the resulting `Text` to `HttpClient.Get` or `Headers.Add`. The unwrapped secret is now visible in the debugger, in any HTTP trace that captures the request URI, and in any error that includes the URI. Reviewers should flag any `Unwrap()` call whose result flows into an `HttpClient` argument; the `SecretText` overload exists precisely so the unwrap is not needed. See sample: `secrettext-with-httpclient.bad.al`.