[Enhancement] Rate limiting is in-memory only — fails silently in multi-server and edge deployments

[RUKAYAT-CODER]

Overview

src/lib/ratelimit.ts uses a module-level Map as its store. In a multi-instance deployment, each instance maintains an independent counter. A client can bypass the AUTH rate limit (5/min) by distributing 5 requests across each instance, effectively multiplying the effective limit by the number of instances.

Specifications

Features:

• Rate limits are enforced consistently across all server instances and edge nodes
• A Redis or Upstash store is used as the shared counter backend

Tasks:

• Install @upstash/ratelimit and @upstash/redis
• Configure UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_URL and UPSTASH_REDIS_REST_TOKEN env vars
• Implement a RateLimiter class that switches between in-memory (dev) and Upstash (prod) based on NODE_ENV
• Update all withRateLimit() call sites to use the new class
• Document env vars in .env.example

Impacted Files:

• src/lib/ratelimit.ts
• .env.example
• All route files calling withRateLimit()

Acceptance Criteria

• Rate limits are enforced globally across all instances in production
• In-memory fallback works in development without Redis configured
• Existing rate-limit tests pass using the in-memory backend

[innovativedesign-lab]

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