TASK-003: Document process-local constraint for RuntimeState and SessionCache

- Add comprehensive docstring to runtime_state.py explaining single-process
  constraint, impacts in multi-worker deployments, and solution approach
- Add comprehensive docstring to session_cache.py explaining process-local
  cache limitation, security implications, and Redis/database alternatives
- Update Architecture.md to clarify session cache is process-local and
  describe single-worker enforcement via TASK-002
- Update Architecture.md runtime state section with detailed explanation of
  per-process state and multi-worker impacts
- Add Backend-Development.md section 13.7.2 documenting session cache
  pluggability pattern with example Redis implementation
- All tests pass; linting passes; type checking has pre-existing errors

This is the short-term fix for TASK-003: enforce single-worker deployment
(TASK-002) and document the constraint clearly. The long-term fix (Redis
backend) is deferred as a follow-up.

Docs/Architekture.md

@@ -668,9 +668,9 @@ BanGUI maintains its **own SQLite database** (separate from the fail2ban databas
 - Session expiry is configurable (set during setup, stored in `settings`).
 - The frontend `AuthProvider` checks session validity on mount and redirects to `/login` if invalid.
 - The backend `dependencies.py` provides an `authenticated` dependency that validates the session cookie on every protected endpoint.
-- **Session validation cache** — validated session tokens are cached in memory for 10 seconds (`_session_cache` dict in `dependencies.py`) to avoid a SQLite round-trip on every request from the same browser. The cache is invalidated immediately on logout. This cache is process-local and not safe for multi-worker or distributed deployments. A clustered deployment should replace `_session_cache` with a shared cache or remove it entirely.
+- **Session validation cache** (`InMemorySessionCache` in `app.utils.session_cache`) — validated session tokens are cached in memory for 10 seconds (configurable via `session_cache_ttl_seconds`) to avoid a SQLite round-trip on every request from the same browser. The cache is invalidated immediately on logout. **⚠️  This cache is process-local and not safe for multi-worker or distributed deployments.** In single-worker mode (enforced by TASK-002), this is safe and improves performance. For multi-worker deployments, replace `InMemorySessionCache` with a shared backend (Redis, database, shared memory) implementing the `SessionCache` protocol. See `app/utils/session_cache.py` module docstring for implementation details.
 - **GeoCache** — `GeoCache` instance is created at startup and stored on `app.state.geo_cache`. It encapsulates all IP geolocation caching: in-memory lookup cache, negative cache for unresolvable IPs (with TTL), dirty set for persistence, and thread-safe async locking. Cache is loaded from the `geo_cache` SQLite table on startup. New resolutions are accumulated in memory and periodically flushed to the database by the `geo_cache_flush` background task. Stale entries are re-resolved by the `geo_re_resolve` task. Injected into routes and tasks via FastAPI's dependency system.
-- **Runtime state** — `RuntimeState` is process-local and only safe when BanGUI runs as a single asyncio worker. Mutating runtime state must not span `await` points because the current design relies on cooperative scheduling. Multi-worker or multi-process deployments must replace this runtime state with a shared coordination backend such as Redis, shared memory, or a database-backed store.
+- **Runtime state** (`RuntimeState` in `app.utils.runtime_state`) — stores mutable application state: `server_status` (fail2ban online/offline), `last_activation` (jail activation tracking), `pending_recovery` (crash detection), and `runtime_settings` (effective configuration). **⚠️  RuntimeState is process-local and only safe when BanGUI runs as a single asyncio worker.** Mutations must not span `await` points (cooperative scheduling within a single event loop is safe). In multi-worker deployments, each process has its own copy — logouts from worker A don't affect worker B's cache, health status updates are per-worker, and activation tracking is unreliable. BanGUI enforces single-worker mode (TASK-002) to prevent this issue. For future multi-worker support, replace RuntimeState with a shared coordination backend (Redis, shared memory, database). See `app/utils/runtime_state.py` module docstring for details.
 - **Setup-completion flag** — once `is_setup_complete()` returns `True`, the result is stored in `app.state._setup_complete_cached`. The `SetupRedirectMiddleware` skips the DB query on all subsequent requests, removing 1 SQL query per request for the common post-setup case. The completion flag is only written after the runtime database is successfully initialized and all initial setup settings are persisted, preventing a failed setup from permanently bypassing the setup wizard.
 
 ---

Docs/Backend-Development.md

@@ -645,6 +645,75 @@ async def get_session_repo() -> SessionRepository:
 - Before each deployment, run `mypy --strict` to ensure all dependency providers return values compatible with their Protocol types.
 - The `cast()` calls in `dependencies.py` are a documented signal that structural compatibility is being verified externally, not via explicit class inheritance.
 
+#### 13.7.2 Session Cache Pluggability — Process-Local vs. Shared Backends
+
+Session validation is expensive (SQLite lookup + password verification). To improve performance, **validated session tokens are cached** using the `SessionCache` interface (`app.utils.session_cache`). The default implementation, `InMemorySessionCache`, stores cached sessions in process-local memory.
+
+**Current implementation (single-worker):**
+
+```python
+from app.utils.session_cache import SessionCache, InMemorySessionCache, NoOpSessionCache
+
+class SessionCache(Protocol):
+    """Interface for session token validation cache backends."""
+    def get(self, token: str) -> Session | None: ...
+    def set(self, token: str, session: Session, ttl_seconds: float) -> None: ...
+    def invalidate(self, token: str) -> None: ...
+    def clear(self) -> None: ...
+
+# Default in-memory implementation — PROCESS-LOCAL
+class InMemorySessionCache:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self._entries: dict[str, tuple[Session, float]] = {}
+```
+
+**Single-worker constraint:**
+
+`InMemorySessionCache` is **process-local** — each worker process has its own dict. In single-worker mode (enforced by TASK-002), this is safe and improves performance. In multi-worker deployments:
+- A logout by worker A clears the session from A's cache, but worker B still has it → logout doesn't work.
+- Enabling/disabling the cache requires restarting all workers to take effect.
+
+**Multi-worker solution:**
+
+To support multiple workers (future enhancement), implement a shared backend behind the same `SessionCache` Protocol:
+
+```python
+# Example Redis implementation (not yet in codebase)
+class RedisSessionCache:
+    """Session cache backed by Redis."""
+    def __init__(self, redis_url: str) -> None:
+        self.client = aioredis.from_url(redis_url)
+    
+    async def get(self, token: str) -> Session | None:
+        data = await self.client.get(f"session:{token}")
+        return Session.model_validate_json(data) if data else None
+    
+    async def set(self, token: str, session: Session, ttl_seconds: float) -> None:
+        await self.client.setex(
+            f"session:{token}",
+            int(ttl_seconds),
+            session.model_dump_json()
+        )
+    
+    async def invalidate(self, token: str) -> None:
+        await self.client.delete(f"session:{token}")
+    
+    async def clear(self) -> None:
+        await self.client.flushdb()
+```
+
+To adopt a Redis backend:
+1. Create `RedisSessionCache` in `app.utils.session_cache`.
+2. Update `app.utils.runtime_state.set_runtime_settings()` to instantiate `RedisSessionCache` when `REDIS_URL` env var is set.
+3. Update `app.config.Settings` to accept optional `REDIS_URL`.
+4. Tests continue to use `InMemorySessionCache` (no Redis dependency in dev).
+
+**Implementation rules:**
+- All cache methods must be `async` (even if the backend is sync).
+- Never log session tokens or session data.
+- TTL must be respected — expired entries must be removed on access.
+- See `app/utils/session_cache.py` for the full Protocol definition and current implementations.
+
 ### 14.8 Composition over Inheritance
 
 - Favour **composing** small, focused objects over deep inheritance hierarchies.

backend/app/utils/runtime_state.py

@@ -6,11 +6,36 @@ framework state bag limited to shared infrastructure handles and immutable
 configuration while still allowing existing code to access runtime values via
 attribute proxying.
 
-RuntimeState is designed for a single-process, single-worker asyncio
+⚠️  SINGLE-PROCESS CONSTRAINT
-deployment. Mutations must complete without awaiting across read-modify-write
+==============================
-sequences. If BanGUI is ever deployed with multiple workers or across processes,
+
-this module must be replaced with a shared backend such as Redis or shared
+RuntimeState is designed for a single-process, single-worker asyncio deployment.
-memory.
+This means:
+  - Each process has its own independent copy of all runtime state.
+  - Changes to runtime_state in one process are NOT visible to other processes.
+  - Mutations must complete without awaiting across read-modify-write sequences
+    (cooperative scheduling within a single event loop is safe).
+
+IMPACT IN MULTI-WORKER DEPLOYMENTS:
+  - Logout processed by worker A clears the session from A's in-memory cache,
+    but worker B still has that session in its own cache and will accept it.
+  - Health status updates (server_status) received by worker A are invisible
+    to worker B's dashboard responses — each worker reports stale data.
+  - fail2ban activation/recovery tracking (pending_recovery, last_activation)
+    is per-worker and unreliable across processes.
+
+MULTI-WORKER SOLUTION:
+  To deploy BanGUI with multiple workers (e.g., via gunicorn -w 4), you must:
+    1. Replace RuntimeState with a shared store (Redis, shared memory, database).
+    2. Replace InMemorySessionCache with RedisSessionCache (see session_cache.py).
+    3. Ensure all workers use the same backend for coordination.
+
+SINGLE-WORKER ENFORCEMENT:
+  See TASK-002 in Docs/Tasks.md for deployment configuration that enforces
+  single-worker mode, preventing this issue entirely.
+
+For now, BanGUI is deployed as single-worker only — this constraint is
+acceptable and keeps the implementation simple.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations

backend/app/utils/session_cache.py

@@ -3,6 +3,50 @@
 This module defines a cache interface for authenticated sessions and a default
 process-local in-memory implementation. The backend can swap the cache
 implementation without changing the authentication dependency logic.
+
+⚠️  PROCESS-LOCAL CONSTRAINT (InMemorySessionCache)
+====================================================
+
+InMemorySessionCache stores validated sessions in a process-local dict.
+This means:
+  - Each worker process has its own independent session cache.
+  - A session invalidated (logout) by worker A is still valid in worker B.
+  - Changes to the cache in one process are NOT visible to other processes.
+
+IMPACT IN MULTI-WORKER DEPLOYMENTS:
+  - User logs out (worker A clears session from its cache).
+  - User makes a new request → routed to worker B.
+  - Worker B still has the stale session in its cache → request is accepted.
+  - User appears still logged in (from their perspective).
+
+  This is a security issue: logout does not work reliably across workers.
+
+MULTI-WORKER SOLUTION:
+  To deploy BanGUI with multiple workers (e.g., via gunicorn -w 4), replace
+  InMemorySessionCache with a shared backend such as:
+    - RedisSessionCache — backed by Redis (recommended for production).
+    - DatabaseSessionCache — backed by SQLite or PostgreSQL.
+    - SharedMemorySessionCache — backed by IPC (for local multi-process).
+
+  The SessionCache Protocol is already designed for pluggable backends:
+    class SessionCache(Protocol):
+        def get(token: str) -> Session | None: ...
+        def set(token: str, session: Session, ttl_seconds: float) -> None: ...
+        def invalidate(token: str) -> None: ...
+        def clear() -> None: ...
+
+  To add Redis support:
+    1. Create RedisSessionCache in this module (implements SessionCache).
+    2. Update runtime_state.set_runtime_settings() to instantiate RedisSessionCache
+       when REDIS_URL is configured.
+    3. See Backend-Development.md § "Session Cache Pluggability" for details.
+
+SINGLE-WORKER ENFORCEMENT:
+  See TASK-002 in Docs/Tasks.md for deployment configuration that enforces
+  single-worker mode, preventing this issue entirely.
+
+For now, BanGUI is deployed as single-worker only — this constraint is
+acceptable and keeps the implementation simple.
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations