Pool Admin API

REST endpoints for managing node admission to the BrightChain member pool. All endpoints require admin authentication.

Endpoints

GET /api/admin/pool/pending-nodes

List pending join requests from nodes wanting write access to the member pool.

Response:

{
  "message": "OK",
  "pendingNodes": [
    {
      "nodeId": "abc123",
      "publicKey": "02a1b2c3...",
      "message": "Please let me join",
      "receivedAt": "2026-04-14T12:00:00.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

POST /api/admin/pool/approve-node

Approve a pending join request. Adds the node to the pool ACL, signs the update, and gossips the approval.

Request Body:

{
  "nodeId": "abc123"
}

Response (success):

{
  "message": "Node approved",
  "nodeId": "abc123",
  "aclVersion": 2
}

Response (error):

{
  "message": "No pending request from node abc123"
}

POST /api/admin/pool/deny-node

Deny a pending join request. Gossips the denial and removes the request from the queue.

Request Body:

{
  "nodeId": "abc123",
  "reason": "Not trusted"
}

Response:

{
  "message": "Node denied",
  "nodeId": "abc123"
}

Security

All endpoints require admin authentication (checked via isAdmin(req))
Approval produces a signed ACL update using computeAclContentHash() — the signature covers the full ACL content (writers, admins, scope, version, mode)
The updated ACL is persisted to the __pool_security__ collection and gossiped to all pool members
Non-admin nodes receive a 403 response

Gossip Protocol

Node admission uses three gossip announcement types:

Type	Direction	Description
`pool_join_request`	New node → network	Request to join the pool
`pool_join_approved`	Admin → network	Approval with signed ACL update
`pool_join_denied`	Admin → network	Denial with optional reason