feat(desktop): gate shared signing behind self-hosted auth (#6002)

## Summary

This PR adds full desktop (Tauri) support for the shared signing feature
when connected to a self-hosted server, and fixes several bugs
discovered during that work.

### Feature gating

Shared signing, file sharing, and share links are proprietary server
features that require an authenticated self-hosted session. Previously
these were read directly from `config` with no awareness of connection
mode or auth state, meaning the UI could appear in SaaS/local mode or
when logged out.

- Introduce `useGroupSigningEnabled` and `useSharingEnabled` hooks with
core implementations (web behaviour unchanged) and desktop overrides
that require `selfhosted` mode + an active authenticated session
- Extract shared subscription logic into `useSelfHostedAuth` (connection
mode + auth state + config refetch)
- `QuickAccessBar` now derives all three flags from the hooks instead of
raw config

### Config timing fix

When a user logs in via the SetupWizard, the `jwt-available` event fires
a config fetch *before* the mode is switched to `selfhosted`. This meant
the config was fetched from the local bundled backend (port ~59567)
which has no knowledge of `storageGroupSigningEnabled`, causing the
group signing button to stay hidden until a full page refresh.
`useSelfHostedAuth` detects the mode transition and triggers a fresh
config fetch at the correct moment, after the self-hosted URL is active.

### Bug fixes

**`SignPopout.tsx`** — Manually setting `Content-Type:
multipart/form-data` on two `FormData` POST requests stripped the
auto-generated boundary, causing a `400 bad multipart` from the server.
Removed the explicit headers so Axios sets them correctly.

**`tauriHttpClient.ts`** — `response.json()` was called before
`response.ok` was checked. A plain-text error body from the server (e.g.
`"Cannot sign..."`) caused a `SyntaxError` that fell into the network
error catch block and was reported as `ERR_NETWORK`, hiding the real
failure. The fix checks `response.ok` first, reads error bodies as text,
and handles empty 200 bodies (returning `null` instead of throwing).

---

## Testing

### Prerequisites
- Desktop app running in self-hosted mode pointed at a local
Stirling-PDF instance (`http://localhost:8080`)
- The self-hosted instance has group signing and storage enabled in
settings
- At least two user accounts on the self-hosted instance

### 1. Feature gating — group signing button

| Step | Expected |
|---|---|
| Open the desktop app in **local mode** (no server configured) | Group
signing button absent from QuickAccessBar |
| Switch to self-hosted mode but **do not log in** | Group signing
button absent |
| Log in to the self-hosted server | Group signing button appears
without requiring a page refresh |
| Log out | Group signing button disappears immediately |
| Log back in | Group signing button reappears without a page refresh |

### 2. Feature gating — file sharing

Repeat the same steps above, verifying the share and share-link buttons
in the file manager follow the same visibility rules.

### 3. Create a signing session

1. Log in, open the group signing panel from QuickAccessBar
2. Select a PDF, add a participant, configure signature defaults and
submit
3. Verify the session is created successfully (no `400 bad multipart`
error)

### 4. Participant signing

1. As the invited participant, open the signing request from
QuickAccessBar
2. Upload or draw a signature and submit
3. Verify signing completes successfully (no `ERR_NETWORK` error)

### 5. Error surfacing

1. Attempt an action that the server rejects (e.g. sign a document with
an invalid certificate)
2. Verify the actual server error message is shown rather than a generic
network error

frontend/src/core/components/shared/QuickAccessBar.tsx

@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import AllToolsNavButton from '@app/components/shared/AllToolsNavButton';
 import ActiveToolButton from "@app/components/shared/quickAccessBar/ActiveToolButton";
 import AppConfigModal from '@app/components/shared/AppConfigModal';
 import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+import { useGroupSigningEnabled } from '@app/hooks/useGroupSigningEnabled';
+import { useSharingEnabled } from '@app/hooks/useSharingEnabled';
 import { useLicenseAlert } from "@app/hooks/useLicenseAlert";
 import { requestStartTour } from '@app/constants/events';
 import QuickAccessButton from '@app/components/shared/quickAccessBar/QuickAccessButton';
@@ -77,9 +79,8 @@ const QuickAccessBar = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement>((_, ref) => {
   const accessButtonRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const accessPopoverRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
   const [accessPopoverPosition, setAccessPopoverPosition] = useState({ top: 160, left: 84 });
-  const sharingEnabled = config?.storageSharingEnabled === true;
+  const { sharingEnabled, shareLinksEnabled } = useSharingEnabled();
-  const shareLinksEnabled = config?.storageShareLinksEnabled === true;
+  const groupSigningEnabled = useGroupSigningEnabled();
-  const groupSigningEnabled = config?.storageGroupSigningEnabled === true;
   const isSignWorkbenchActive =
     currentWorkbench === SIGN_REQUEST_WORKBENCH_TYPE ||
     currentWorkbench === SESSION_DETAIL_WORKBENCH_TYPE;

frontend/src/core/components/shared/signing/SignPopout.tsx

@@ -335,9 +335,7 @@ const SignPopout = ({ isOpen, onClose, buttonRef, isRTL, groupSigningEnabled }:
         formData.append('workflowMetadata', workflowMetadata);
       }
 
-      await apiClient.post('/api/v1/security/cert-sign/sessions', formData, {
+      await apiClient.post('/api/v1/security/cert-sign/sessions', formData);
-        headers: { 'Content-Type': 'multipart/form-data' },
-      });
 
       alert({
         alertType: 'success',
@@ -493,9 +491,7 @@ const SignPopout = ({ isOpen, onClose, buttonRef, isRTL, groupSigningEnabled }:
 
   // Action handlers
   const handleSign = async (sessionId: string, certificateData: FormData) => {
-    await apiClient.post(`/api/v1/security/cert-sign/sign-requests/${sessionId}/sign`, certificateData, {
+    await apiClient.post(`/api/v1/security/cert-sign/sign-requests/${sessionId}/sign`, certificateData);
-      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'multipart/form-data' },
-    });
     alert({
       alertType: 'success',
       title: t('success'),

frontend/src/core/hooks/useGroupSigningEnabled.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+
+/**
+ * Returns whether the shared (group) signing feature is available.
+ * Core implementation reads directly from server config.
+ */
+export function useGroupSigningEnabled(): boolean {
+  const { config } = useAppConfig();
+  return config?.storageGroupSigningEnabled === true;
+}

frontend/src/core/hooks/useSharingEnabled.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+
+export interface SharingEnabledResult {
+  sharingEnabled: boolean;
+  shareLinksEnabled: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns whether file-sharing features are available.
+ * Core implementation reads directly from server config.
+ */
+export function useSharingEnabled(): SharingEnabledResult {
+  const { config } = useAppConfig();
+  return {
+    sharingEnabled: config?.storageSharingEnabled === true,
+    shareLinksEnabled: config?.storageShareLinksEnabled === true,
+  };
+}

frontend/src/desktop/hooks/useGroupSigningEnabled.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+import { useSelfHostedAuth } from '@app/hooks/useSelfHostedAuth';
+
+/**
+ * Desktop override: shared (group) signing requires self-hosted mode AND
+ * an authenticated session. Returns false in SaaS/local mode or when logged out.
+ */
+export function useGroupSigningEnabled(): boolean {
+  const { config } = useAppConfig();
+  const { isSelfHosted, isAuthenticated } = useSelfHostedAuth();
+  return isSelfHosted && isAuthenticated && config?.storageGroupSigningEnabled === true;
+}

frontend/src/desktop/hooks/useSelfHostedAuth.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
+import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+import { authService } from '@app/services/authService';
+import { connectionModeService } from '@app/services/connectionModeService';
+
+export interface SelfHostedAuthState {
+  isSelfHosted: boolean;
+  isAuthenticated: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Tracks whether the desktop app is in self-hosted mode with an active
+ * authenticated session. Refetches app config when the mode first transitions
+ * to selfhosted, since the jwt-available config fetch fires against the local
+ * bundled backend before the SetupWizard has switched the mode.
+ */
+export function useSelfHostedAuth(): SelfHostedAuthState {
+  const { refetch } = useAppConfig();
+  const [isAuthenticated, setIsAuthenticated] = useState(false);
+  const [isSelfHosted, setIsSelfHosted] = useState(false);
+  const wasSelfHosted = useRef(false);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    void connectionModeService.getCurrentMode().then(mode => setIsSelfHosted(mode === 'selfhosted'));
+    return connectionModeService.subscribeToModeChanges(cfg => setIsSelfHosted(cfg.mode === 'selfhosted'));
+  }, []);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    void authService.isAuthenticated().then(setIsAuthenticated);
+    return authService.subscribeToAuth(status => setIsAuthenticated(status === 'authenticated'));
+  }, []);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (isSelfHosted && !wasSelfHosted.current) {
+      void refetch();
+    }
+    wasSelfHosted.current = isSelfHosted;
+  }, [isSelfHosted, refetch]);
+
+  return { isSelfHosted, isAuthenticated };
+}

frontend/src/desktop/hooks/useSharingEnabled.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { useAppConfig } from '@app/contexts/AppConfigContext';
+import { useSelfHostedAuth } from '@app/hooks/useSelfHostedAuth';
+import type { SharingEnabledResult } from '@core/hooks/useSharingEnabled';
+
+/**
+ * Desktop override: file-sharing features require self-hosted mode AND an
+ * authenticated session. Returns false for both in SaaS/local mode or when
+ * logged out.
+ */
+export function useSharingEnabled(): SharingEnabledResult {
+  const { config } = useAppConfig();
+  const { isSelfHosted, isAuthenticated } = useSelfHostedAuth();
+  const allowed = isSelfHosted && isAuthenticated;
+  return {
+    sharingEnabled: allowed && config?.storageSharingEnabled === true,
+    shareLinksEnabled: allowed && config?.storageShareLinksEnabled === true,
+  };
+}

frontend/src/desktop/services/tauriHttpClient.ts

@@ -218,48 +218,26 @@ class TauriHttpClient {
 
       const response = await fetch(url, fetchOptions);
 
-      // Parse response based on responseType
-      let data: T;
-      const responseType = finalConfig.responseType || 'json';
-
-      if (responseType === 'json') {
-        data = await response.json() as T;
-      } else if (responseType === 'text') {
-        data = (await response.text()) as T;
-      } else if (responseType === 'blob') {
-        // Standard fetch doesn't set blob.type from Content-Type header (unlike axios)
-        // Set it manually to match axios behavior
-        const blob = await response.blob();
-        if (!blob.type) {
-          const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/octet-stream';
-          data = new Blob([blob], { type: contentType }) as T;
-        } else {
-          data = blob as T;
-        }
-      } else if (responseType === 'arraybuffer') {
-        data = (await response.arrayBuffer()) as T;
-      } else {
-        data = await response.json() as T;
-      }
-
       // Convert Headers to plain object
       const responseHeaders: Record<string, string> = {};
       response.headers.forEach((value, key) => {
         responseHeaders[key] = value;
       });
 
-      const httpResponse: TauriHttpResponse<T> = {
+      // Check for HTTP errors BEFORE reading the body so that a plain-text error
-        data,
+      // response from the server doesn't cause a JSON parse failure that gets
-        status: response.status,
+      // misreported as ERR_NETWORK.
-        statusText: response.statusText || '',
-        headers: responseHeaders,
-        config: finalConfig,
-      };
-
-      // Check for HTTP errors
       if (!response.ok) {
+        // Read the body as text to surface the real server error message
+        let errorBody: string;
+        try {
+          errorBody = await response.text();
+        } catch {
+          errorBody = '';
+        }
+
         // Create more descriptive error messages based on status code
-        let errorMessage = `Request failed with status code ${response.status}`;
+        let errorMessage = errorBody || `Request failed with status code ${response.status}`;
         let errorCode = 'ERR_BAD_REQUEST';
 
         if (response.status === 401) {
@@ -284,13 +262,22 @@ class TauriHttpClient {
           method,
           status: response.status,
           statusText: response.statusText,
+          body: errorBody,
         });
 
+        const errorResponse: TauriHttpResponse<T> = {
+          data: errorBody as T,
+          status: response.status,
+          statusText: response.statusText || '',
+          headers: responseHeaders,
+          config: finalConfig,
+        };
+
         const error = this.createError(
           errorMessage,
           finalConfig,
           errorCode,
-          httpResponse
+          errorResponse
         );
 
         // Run error interceptors
@@ -307,6 +294,39 @@ class TauriHttpClient {
         throw finalError;
       }
 
+      // Parse response body for successful responses
+      let data: T;
+      const responseType = finalConfig.responseType || 'json';
+
+      if (responseType === 'json') {
+        const text = await response.text();
+        data = (text ? JSON.parse(text) : null) as T;
+      } else if (responseType === 'text') {
+        data = (await response.text()) as T;
+      } else if (responseType === 'blob') {
+        // Standard fetch doesn't set blob.type from Content-Type header (unlike axios)
+        // Set it manually to match axios behavior
+        const blob = await response.blob();
+        if (!blob.type) {
+          const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type') || 'application/octet-stream';
+          data = new Blob([blob], { type: contentType }) as T;
+        } else {
+          data = blob as T;
+        }
+      } else if (responseType === 'arraybuffer') {
+        data = (await response.arrayBuffer()) as T;
+      } else {
+        data = await response.json() as T;
+      }
+
+      const httpResponse: TauriHttpResponse<T> = {
+        data,
+        status: response.status,
+        statusText: response.statusText || '',
+        headers: responseHeaders,
+        config: finalConfig,
+      };
+
       // Run response interceptors
       let finalResponse = httpResponse;
       for (const handler of this.interceptors.response.handlers) {