OAuth web redirect fails with "Missing cookie." — __session lacks SameSite=None while the flow uses response_mode=form_post

[verveguy]

Summary

The __session cookie set by /runtime/oauth/start carries no SameSite attribute, so Chrome applies its SameSite=Lax default. The web redirect flow uses response_mode=form_post, meaning the identity provider POSTs cross-site to /runtime/oauth/callback — and Chrome does not send Lax cookies on cross-site POSTs. The callback therefore answers:

{"type":"oauth-error","error":"Missing cookie."}

It presents as intermittent because of Chrome's "Lax + POST" mitigation, which still sends cookies less than two minutes old on top-level cross-site POSTs. A sign-in that completes quickly (an already-authenticated account chooser) succeeds; one that takes longer than two minutes — 2FA, or a passkey prompt — fails. That mitigation is being phased out, so the failure rate should be expected to rise.

Reproduction

The cookie, as sent today:

$ curl -s -D - -o /dev/null \
  "https://api.instantdb.com/runtime/oauth/start?app_id=<APP_ID>&client_name=google&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com%2F" \
  | grep -i set-cookie

set-cookie: __session=instantdb_3f0f8c95-...; HttpOnly; Secure; Expires=...; Path=/runtime/oauth

No SameSite. The same response's Location selects the form-post mode:

location: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/v2/auth?...&response_mode=form_post&...

Isolating the cookie as the only variable, using a genuine state from that same start request (the invalid code is deliberate — the point is which check is reached):

# With the cookie: passes the cookie check, fails later on the bad code.
curl -s -X POST https://api.instantdb.com/runtime/oauth/callback \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
  -H "Cookie: __session=instantdb_<from start>" \
  -d "code=probe-invalid&state=<from start>"
# (no "Missing cookie" error)

# Without it — what Chrome sends on a cross-site POST:
curl -s -X POST https://api.instantdb.com/runtime/oauth/callback \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded' \
  -d "code=probe-invalid&state=<from start>"
{"type":"oauth-error","error":"Missing cookie."}

Expected

SameSite=None; Secure on the __session cookie, which is what a form_post flow requires. Secure is already set, so this should be a one-attribute change.

Alternatively, response_mode=query would keep the callback a top-level GET, where Lax cookies are sent — though that puts the authorization code in the URL, so the cookie attribute seems the better fix.

Environment

• Chrome 152.0.7977.83, macOS
• @instantdb/react / @instantdb/core 0.22.185 (client version is incidental — the cookie is set server-side by api.instantdb.com)
• Web redirect flow via db.auth.createAuthorizationURL({ clientName, redirectURL }), per the Google OAuth web-redirect docs

Impact

Users who take longer than two minutes to authenticate — which includes anyone using a passkey or 2FA — cannot sign in with the web redirect flow at all, and the error surfaces as a raw JSON body rather than a redirect back to the app.