website/MODERATION_APPEALS.md

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+# Runic Gateway Website — Moderation Appeals (Phase 6c/6d)
+
+> Website feature branch: **`feature/moderation-appeals`**. Builds on the moderation
+> dashboard (Phase 6a/6b) and the Discord bot's `mod_actions` log. Companion to
+> [website-README.md](website-README.md) (overview) and
+> [BACKEND_DESIGN.md](BACKEND_DESIGN.md) (base API contract).
+
+## 1. Overview
+
+A player whose linked Discord identity was **banned** or **muted** — an action
+recorded in the bot's `mod_actions` log — can open an **appeal** from the player
+portal and track its status. Staff (**admin** or **moderator** role) work the
+appeal from an **appeals queue** in the admin moderation section: claim it, then
+resolve it **approved** or **denied** with a written staff response.
+
+When staff **approve** a ban/mute appeal, the website makes a best-effort call to
+the Discord bot's internal API to actually lift the ban / clear the timeout in
+Discord, and the bot posts a mod-log embed ("Appeal approved"). This is
+**best-effort**: if the bot is unreachable the appeal still resolves as approved,
+the reversal is recorded as failed, and staff can reverse the sanction manually in
+Discord.
+
+Only **ban** and **mute** actions are appealable — the sanctions that have an
+ongoing effect. Warnings/kicks and similar one-shot actions are not.
+
+## 2. Ownership & eligibility
+
+- **`appeals` is a server-owned table** — only the website reads/writes it. It
+  references the bot-owned `mod_actions` log by a plain id column
+  (`mod_action_id`); there is **no hard cross-owner foreign key** between the two
+  databases, so the reference is validated in application code (same pattern as
+  the rest of the uo-link / bot integration, where the two services never share a
+  live FK).
+- **Eligibility** — the appellant must be a **logged-in player** whose linked
+  Discord identity (`user_identities`, `provider = 'discord'`) matches the
+  `mod_actions` row's target. A player cannot open an appeal for someone else's
+  action, and an unlinked player has nothing eligible to appeal.
+- **One active appeal per action** — only one `pending` / `under_review` appeal is
+  allowed for a given `mod_action_id` at a time; a second attempt while one is
+  already open is rejected.
+
+## 3. Appeal lifecycle
+
+```
+pending ──▶ under_review ──▶ approved
+                          └─▶ denied
+
+pending ──▶ withdrawn
+under_review ──▶ withdrawn
+```
+
+- **`pending`** — submitted by the player, not yet claimed.
+- **`under_review`** — claimed by a staffer (the claiming admin/moderator is
+  stamped on the row).
+- **`approved`** / **`denied`** — resolved by staff with an optional
+  `staff_response`. Approving a ban/mute appeal triggers the Phase 6d reversal
+  (§5).
+- **`withdrawn`** — the player pulled the appeal back before it was resolved.
+
+`reversal_status` (only meaningful on an approved ban/mute appeal) is one of
+`none` (not attempted / not applicable), `done`, or `failed`. No new
+`mod_actions` row is written for a reversal — it modifies the *original* action's
+standing rather than logging a new one.
+
+## 4. API — player (role: `player`)
+
+Base `/api/v1/player/appeals`.
+
+| Method | Path | Purpose |
+|---|---|---|
+| GET | `/player/appeals` | The caller's own appeals. |
+| GET | `/player/appeals/eligible` | The caller's ban/mute actions with no active appeal (empty if they have no linked Discord identity). |
+| POST | `/player/appeals` | Open an appeal — `{ mod_action_id, submitted_text }`. `403` if the action isn't the caller's, `400` if the action isn't a ban/mute, `409` if one is already open for it. |
+| POST | `/player/appeals/:id/withdraw` | Withdraw an appeal that hasn't been resolved yet. |
+
+## 5. API — staff (role: `admin` or `moderator`)
+
+Base `/api/v1/admin/moderation/appeals`, alongside the existing moderation
+section.
+
+| Method | Path | Purpose |
+|---|---|---|
+| GET | `/admin/moderation/appeals?status=&limit=&offset=` | The queue. Defaults to `pending` + `under_review`; pass `status=all` or a specific status to filter. |
+| GET | `/admin/moderation/appeals/:id` | One appeal. |
+| POST | `/admin/moderation/appeals/:id/claim` | `pending` → `under_review`, stamping the claiming staffer. |
+| POST | `/admin/moderation/appeals/:id/resolve` | `{ status: 'approved' \| 'denied', staff_response? }`. On an approved ban/mute, triggers the Discord reversal (§6). |
+| GET | `/admin/moderation/user/:discordId/appeals` | A user's appeals — shown as a tab on the per-user moderation history page. |
+
+`resolve` returns a `reversal` object describing what happened:
+
+```jsonc
+{
+  "reversal": {
+    "attempted": true,
+    "ok": true,
+    "reversal_status": "done",   // "none" | "done" | "failed"
+    "bot_status": 200,
+    "error": null
+  }
+}
+```
+
+## 6. Auto-reversal (Phase 6d)
+
+On `resolve` with `status: 'approved'` against a ban/mute appeal, the website
+calls the Discord bot's internal API:
+
+```
+POST /internal/mod-reverse
+```
+
+— gated by the same shared-secret scheme as the existing `/internal/announce`
+call. The bot lifts the ban / clears the timeout for the target and posts an
+"Appeal approved" embed to its mod log.
+
+The call is **best-effort**: the appeal resolution itself always completes
+(the appeal is marked `approved` and the staff response is saved) regardless of
+whether the bot answers. If the bot is down or the call otherwise fails,
+`reversal_status` is recorded as `failed` and staff are expected to reverse the
+sanction by hand in Discord; the `reversal` object in the `resolve` response
+surfaces `ok: false` and an `error` so the UI can flag it. Denied appeals never
+attempt a reversal.
+
+---
+
+See [website-README.md](website-README.md) for the moderation dashboard's place
+in the wider site, and [BACKEND_DESIGN.md](BACKEND_DESIGN.md) for the base API
+conventions (auth, error shapes, response codes) these endpoints follow.