Fix LoTW cron jobs 401 authentication issues for Vercel deployment

[Copilot]

The LoTW upload and download cron jobs were failing with 401 Unauthorized errors when triggered by Vercel's cron scheduler. The root cause was that Vercel cron jobs don't automatically include the Authorization: Bearer ${CRON_SECRET} header that our endpoints were expecting.

Changes Made

Enhanced Authentication Logic

• Modified cron endpoints to detect legitimate Vercel cron requests based on request headers (user-agent, x-vercel-id, host)
• Maintained security for external triggers by still requiring the CRON_SECRET header
• Added flexible authentication that works with Vercel's trusted cron environment

Comprehensive Error Logging

• Added detailed logging of request headers (excluding sensitive data) for troubleshooting
• Enhanced error reporting for internal API calls with HTTP status codes and error details
• Added environment variable validation with clear error messages

Improved Error Handling

• Added validation for required environment variables (DATABASE_URL, JWT_SECRET, ENCRYPTION_SECRET)
• Better error messages when stations fail to process
• Structured logging for easier debugging in production

Documentation

• Created VERCEL_CRON_CONFIG.md with complete setup instructions and troubleshooting guide
• Updated .env.example with clearer documentation about CRON_SECRET usage

Authentication Flow

The updated authentication logic:

1. Vercel Cron Jobs: Automatically authenticated based on Vercel-specific headers
2. External Triggers: Still require Authorization: Bearer ${CRON_SECRET} for security
3. Multiple Validation: Uses several header checks to ensure requests are from legitimate sources

This ensures the cron jobs work seamlessly in Vercel's environment while maintaining security for any external triggers.

Fixes #137.

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Project	Deployment	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
nodelog	Ready	Preview	Comment	Aug 21, 2025 5:07pm

[patrickrb]

Lets try it