# Middleware Authentication Fix Summary

## Problem
6 out of 12 e2e tests failing due to middleware not properly protecting routes.

## Root Cause Analysis

### Issue 1: Cookie Loss in Redirect Chain
When navigating to `/sponsor`, the page component does a server-side `redirect('/sponsor/dashboard')` which loses cookies in the redirect chain. This causes the second request to `/sponsor/dashboard` to have no cookies.

**Evidence:**
```
/sponsor - cookie header length: 50 ✓
/sponsor/dashboard - cookie header length: 0 ✗
```

**Fix:** Handle `/sponsor` → `/sponsor/dashboard` redirect in middleware to preserve cookies.

### Issue 2: Auth Page Redirect Loop
When an authenticated user with insufficient permissions is redirected to `/auth/login?returnTo=/sponsor/dashboard`, the middleware immediately redirects them away from the login page because they're authenticated. This creates a conflict.

**Fix:** Allow authenticated users to access login pages if they have a `returnTo` parameter (indicating they were sent there due to insufficient permissions).

### Issue 3: SessionGateway Cookie Handling
The `SessionGateway.getSession()` method was checking `if (cookieHeader)` which evaluates to `false` for empty strings, causing it to fall through to server component context even when called from middleware with an empty cookie header.

**Fix:** Check `if (cookieHeader !== undefined)` instead.

## Changes Made

1. **apps/website/lib/gateways/SessionGateway.ts**
   - Fixed cookie header check to use `!== undefined` instead of truthy check

2. **apps/website/middleware.ts**
   - Added redirect from `/sponsor` to `/sponsor/dashboard` in middleware
   - Added check for `returnTo` parameter in auth page logic
   - Added comprehensive logging

3. **apps/website/app/sponsor/dashboard/page.tsx**
   - Added `export const dynamic = 'force-dynamic'` (reverted - doesn't work with client components)

## Test Results
Still failing - need to investigate further.

## Next Steps
1. Check if cookies are being set with correct domain
2. Verify Playwright cookie handling in Docker environment
3. Consider if the test expectations are correct