CDS Plugin for ORD

About this project

This plugin adds support for the Open Resource Discovery (ORD) protocol for CAP based applications. When you add the ORD plugin, your application gains a single entry point, which allows to discover and gather machine-readable information or metadata about the application. You can use this information to construct a static metadata catalog or to perform a detailed runtime inspection of your actual system instances / system landscapes.

For more information, have a look at the Open Resource Discovery page.

⚠ By installing this plugin, the metadata describing your CAP application will be made openly accessible. If you want to secure your CAP application's metadata, configure basic authentication by setting the environment variables or updating the .cdsrc.json file. The plugin prioritizes environment variables, then checks .cdsrc.json. If neither is configured, metadata remains publicly accessible.

Requirements and Setup

Installation

npm install @cap-js/ord

Note: @cap-js/openapi and @cap-js/asyncapi packages have been migrated from peerDependencies to dependencies in package.json. As a result, using globally installed packages may lead to conflicts. If conflicts arises do npm uninstall -g @cap-js/openapi @cap-js/asyncapi and then npm install in your project directory.

Authentication

The ORD Plugin supports multiple authentication strategies that can be configured through environment variables or .cdsrc.json. Authentication types are automatically detected based on the presence of their configuration - no explicit types array is needed.

Supported Authentication Methods:

• Open: No authentication (default when no other auth is configured)
• Basic: HTTP Basic Authentication with bcrypt-hashed passwords
• CF mTLS: Cloud Foundry mutual TLS authentication

Multiple Authentication Strategies: You can configure multiple authentication methods simultaneously (e.g., both basic and cf-mtls). The plugin implements an Express-like middleware pattern that tries each configured strategy in order until one succeeds.

Note: When any secure authentication method is configured, open authentication is automatically disabled to ensure security. The ORD document will reflect all active authentication strategies.

Open

The open authentication type is the default and bypasses authentication checks. It is automatically used when no other authentication is configured.

Basic Authentication

Configure Basic Authentication using environment variables or .cdsrc.json:

Option 1: Environment Variable

BASIC_AUTH='{"admin":"$2y$05$..."}'

Option 2: Configuration File

Add to your .cdsrc.json:

{
    "cds": {
        "ord": {
            "authentication": {
                "basic": {
                    "credentials": {
                        "admin": "$2y$05$..."
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

To generate bcrypt hashes, use the htpasswd utility:

htpasswd -Bnb <user> <password>

This will output something like admin:$2y$05$... - use only the hash part (starting with $2y$) in your BASIC_AUTH JSON.

[!IMPORTANT] Make sure to use strong passwords and handle the BASIC_AUTH environment variable securely. Never commit real credentials or .env files to version control.

• Platform independent:

  Prerequisite is to have NodeJS installed on the machine.

  npm install -g htpasswd

  After installing package globally, command htpasswd should be available in the Terminal.

• macOS:

  Installation of any additional packages is not required. Utility htpasswd is available in Terminal by default.

• Linux:

  Install apache2-utils package:

  # Debian/Ubuntu
  sudo apt-get install apache2-utils
  
  # RHEL/CentOS
  sudo yum install httpd-tools

CF mTLS Authentication

Configure Cloud Foundry mutual TLS authentication for SAP BTP Cloud Foundry environments.

Production Configuration with UCL (Recommended)

For SAP UCL (Unified Customer Landscape) integration, enable mTLS in .cdsrc.json and configure UCL endpoints via environment variable:

{
    "ord": {
        "authentication": {
            "cfMtls": true
        }
    }
}

export CF_MTLS_TRUSTED_CERTS='{
  "configEndpoints": ["https://your-ucl-endpoint/v1/info"],
  "rootCaDn": ["CN=SAP Cloud Root CA,O=SAP SE,L=Walldorf,C=DE"]
}'

Production Configuration with Custom Certificates

For custom certificates without UCL:

export CF_MTLS_TRUSTED_CERTS='{
  "certs": [{"issuer": "CN=My CA,O=MyOrg", "subject": "CN=my-service,O=MyOrg"}],
  "rootCaDn": ["CN=My Root CA,O=MyOrg"]
}'

Development Configuration

For local development, configure the full mTLS settings directly in .cdsrc.json:

{
    "ord": {
        "authentication": {
            "cfMtls": {
                "certs": [
                    {
                        "issuer": "CN=Test CA,O=MyOrg,C=DE",
                        "subject": "CN=test-client,O=MyOrg,C=DE"
                    }
                ],
                "rootCaDn": ["CN=Test Root CA,O=MyOrg,C=DE"]
            }
        }
    }
}

Note: For detailed CF mTLS configuration options, see the documentation.

Multiple Authentication Strategies

You can configure multiple authentication methods simultaneously to support different client types. Authentication types are detected automatically based on configuration presence:

Configuration in .cdsrc.json:

{
  "cds": {
    "ord": {
      "authentication": {
        "basic": {
          "credentials": {
            "admin": "$2y$05$..."
          }
        },
        "cfMtls": {
          "certs": [...],
          "rootCaDn": [...]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

How it works:

• Authentication types are detected based on what you configure (no types array needed)
• The plugin tries each configured authentication strategy in order
• The first strategy that successfully authenticates the request is used
• If a request includes Basic auth headers, Basic authentication is attempted
• If a request includes mTLS certificate headers, CF mTLS authentication is attempted
• The ORD document automatically includes all configured authentication methods in its accessStrategies

Example scenarios:

• Basic + CF mTLS: Supports both API clients using Basic auth and services using mTLS certificates
• Basic only: Only clients with valid Basic auth credentials can access
• CF mTLS only: Only clients with trusted certificates can access

Usage

Programmatic API

const cds = require("@sap/cds");
require("@cap-js/ord");

const csn = cds.context?.model || cds.model;
const ord = cds.compile.to.ord(csn);

Command Line

Build all ord related documents, including ordDocument and services resources files:

cds build --for ord

# By default, it will be generated in /gen/ord dir, e.g.:
# done > wrote output to:
#    gen/ord/ord-document.json
#    gen/ord/sap.sample:apiResource:AdminService:v1/AdminService.edmx
#    gen/ord/sap.sample:apiResource:AdminService:v1/AdminService.oas3.json

Only compile ord document:

cds compile <path to srv folder> --to ord [-o] [destinationFilePath]

ORD Endpoints

1. Run cds watch in the application's root.
2. Check the following relative paths for ORD information - /.well-known/open-resource-discovery , /ord/v1/documents/ord-document.

Customizing ORD Document

You can find more information, such as how to customize the ORD Document, in this document.

How to setup dev environment and run xmpl locally

1. Install dependency

   npm i

2. Run xmpl application

   cd xmpl/
   
   # watch xmpl application
   cds watch
   
   # build resources files
   cds build --for ord

Support, Feedback, Contributing

This project is open to feature requests/suggestions, bug reports etc. via GitHub issues. Contribution and feedback are encouraged and always welcome. For more information about how to contribute, the project structure, as well as additional contribution information, see our Contribution Guidelines.

Security / Disclosure

If you find any bug that may be a security problem, please follow our instructions at in our security policy on how to report it. Please do not create GitHub issues for security-related doubts or problems.

At the current state, the plugin will expose static metadata with open access. This means that the CAP resources are described and documented openly, but it does not imply that the resources themselves can be accessed.

If you have a need to protect your metadata, please refrain from installing this plugin until we support metadata protection.

Code of Conduct

We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone. By participating in this project, you agree to abide by its Code of Conduct at all times.

Licensing

Copyright 2024 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company and cds-plugin-for-ord contributors. Please see our LICENSE for copyright and license information. Detailed information including third-party components and their licensing/copyright information is available via the REUSE tool.