Make secret-file reading tolerate a missing file at the default path

A concurrent commit changed DB_PASSWORD_FILE/ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE's
defaults from "" (opt-in) to fixed /run/secrets/... paths, so production
containers pick them up with zero extra config. But model_post_init reads
these unconditionally at Settings() construction for every process that
imports app.config — including local dev and the test suite, which don't
have that file — so it started crashing the entire test suite with
FileNotFoundError. A missing file now falls back to leaving DATABASE_URL/
ENCRYPTION_KEY untouched instead of crashing; an actual I/O error reading
an existing file still propagates. Added a regression test for exactly
this scenario. 171 backend tests passing.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/app/config.py

@@ -4,9 +4,22 @@ from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings, SettingsConfigDict
 from sqlalchemy.engine import make_url
 
 
-def _read_secret_file(path: str) -> str:
+def _read_secret_file(path: str) -> str | None:
-    with open(path, "r") as f:
+    """Read a Docker-secret file, tolerating a missing file.
-        return f.read().strip()
+
+    DB_PASSWORD_FILE/ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE default to fixed
+    `/run/secrets/...` paths so production containers (which mount the
+    secret there) pick it up with zero extra config — but that same
+    default runs in every process that imports app.config, including
+    local dev and the test suite, which don't have that file. A missing
+    file just means "no override" rather than a hard crash; a real I/O
+    error reading an existing file still propagates.
+    """
+    try:
+        with open(path, "r") as f:
+            return f.read().strip()
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        return None
 
 
 class Settings(BaseSettings):
@@ -60,13 +73,16 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     def model_post_init(self, __context) -> None:
         if self.DB_PASSWORD_FILE:
             password = _read_secret_file(self.DB_PASSWORD_FILE)
-            url = make_url(self.DATABASE_URL).set(password=password)
+            if password:
-            # SQLAlchemy's default str() masks the password with "***" —
+                url = make_url(self.DATABASE_URL).set(password=password)
-            # render_as_string(hide_password=False) is needed to get the
+                # SQLAlchemy's default str() masks the password with "***" —
-            # real, usable connection string back.
+                # render_as_string(hide_password=False) is needed to get the
-            self.DATABASE_URL = url.render_as_string(hide_password=False)
+                # real, usable connection string back.
+                self.DATABASE_URL = url.render_as_string(hide_password=False)
         if self.ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE:
-            self.ENCRYPTION_KEY = _read_secret_file(self.ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE)
+            key = _read_secret_file(self.ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE)
+            if key:
+                self.ENCRYPTION_KEY = key
 
 
 settings = Settings()

backend/tests/test_config_secrets.py

@@ -33,6 +33,25 @@ def test_without_file_variants_plain_env_values_are_unchanged():
     settings = Settings(
         DATABASE_URL="postgresql+asyncpg://trading:plain@db:5432/trading_portal",
         ENCRYPTION_KEY="plain-key",
+        DB_PASSWORD_FILE="", ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE="",
+    )
+    assert settings.DATABASE_URL == "postgresql+asyncpg://trading:plain@db:5432/trading_portal"
+    assert settings.ENCRYPTION_KEY == "plain-key"
+
+
+def test_missing_secret_file_at_default_path_does_not_crash():
+    """DB_PASSWORD_FILE/ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE default to fixed /run/secrets/...
+    paths so production containers pick them up with no extra config — but
+    that same default runs in every process that imports this module,
+    including local dev and CI, which don't have that file. A missing file
+    must be a no-op fallback, not a crash (regression: a teammate's commit
+    hardcoded non-empty defaults here and broke the whole test suite until
+    this fallback was added)."""
+    settings = Settings(
+        DATABASE_URL="postgresql+asyncpg://trading:plain@db:5432/trading_portal",
+        ENCRYPTION_KEY="plain-key",
+        DB_PASSWORD_FILE="/nonexistent/db_password_file_for_test.txt",
+        ENCRYPTION_KEY_FILE="/nonexistent/encryption_key_file_for_test.txt",
     )
     assert settings.DATABASE_URL == "postgresql+asyncpg://trading:plain@db:5432/trading_portal"
     assert settings.ENCRYPTION_KEY == "plain-key"