feat(backend): add users table with GitHub sync and internal IDs

[fhennig]

resolves #1179

Summary

• Backend: adds a users table (BIGSERIAL PK, nullable github_id) with upsert via POST /users/sync and lookup via GET /users/{id}. Migrates owned_by/user_id FK columns in collections and subscriptions from GitHub ID strings to BIGINT references to the new table.
• E2E: updates collection test fixtures to sync a user first and pass the internal ID to collection endpoints.

PR Checklist

• All necessary documentation has been adapted.
• The implemented feature is covered by an appropriate test.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 noreply@anthropic.com

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
dashboards	Ready	Preview, Comment	May 14, 2026 9:48am

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR introduces a first-class users table with internal numeric IDs, adds endpoints to sync/fetch users, and migrates existing ownership fields in collections/subscriptions from GitHub ID strings to internal BIGINT user references. It also updates backend tests and website E2E tests to create/sync a user first and then use the internal user ID in requests.

Changes:

• Add users_table (BIGSERIAL PK, nullable github_id) plus /users/sync upsert and /users/{id} public lookup.
• Migrate collections_table.owned_by and subscriptions_table.user_id from VARCHAR GitHub IDs to BIGINT FKs referencing users_table.
• Update backend + website E2E tests/clients to work with internal Long user IDs.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 26 out of 26 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
website/tests/collections/collectionForm.spec.ts	Sync a user via /users/sync and use internal user ID for collection create/delete in E2E.
website/tests/collections/collectionDetail.spec.ts	Same as above for collection detail E2E setup/teardown.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/UsersControllerTest.kt	New controller tests for user sync/get endpoints.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/UsersClient.kt	New MockMvc client helper for /users endpoints used by tests.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/SubscriptionsControllerTriggerEvaluationTest.kt	Switch subscription tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/SubscriptionsControllerTest.kt	Switch subscription tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/SubscriptionsClient.kt	Update test client to accept Long user IDs.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsPutTest.kt	Switch collections PUT tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsPostTest.kt	Switch collections POST tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsGetTest.kt	Switch collections GET tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsDeleteTest.kt	Switch collections DELETE tests to internal Long user IDs via UsersClient.
backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsClient.kt	Update test client to accept Long user IDs.
backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V1.3__add_users_table.sql	Add users table and migrate ownership columns to bigint FKs.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/util/InstantProvider.kt	Centralize millisecond-truncated “now” helper.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/user/UserTable.kt	Exposed table/entity for users_table plus mapping to API models.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/user/UserModel.kt	Sync/upsert and fetch logic for users.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/triggerevaluation/TriggerEvaluationModel.kt	Update trigger evaluation to use Long user IDs.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/subscription/SubscriptionTable.kt	Change user_id column type to long.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/subscription/SubscriptionModel.kt	Update subscription model APIs to accept Long user IDs.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/collection/CollectionTable.kt	Change owned_by column type to long.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/collection/CollectionModel.kt	Update collection model APIs to accept Long user IDs and use shared now().
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/UsersController.kt	New /users/sync and /users/{id} endpoints.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/SubscriptionsController.kt	Change request param userId type to Long.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsController.kt	Change request param userId type to Long.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/api/User.kt	Add API models: User, UserSyncRequest, PublicUser.
backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/api/Collection.kt	Change ownedBy field type from String to Long.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (2)

backend/src/main/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/model/collection/CollectionModel.kt:90

• With the new FK from collections.owned_by -> users_table.id, creating a collection with an unknown userId will currently bubble up as an unexpected exception (500). Please validate that the user exists (and return 404/400) before inserting, or translate the FK violation into a client error so callers get an actionable response.

    fun createCollection(request: CollectionRequest, userId: Long): Collection {
        dashboardsConfig.validateIsValidOrganism(request.organism)
        dashboardsConfig.validateCollectionsEnabled(request.organism)

        val now = now()
        val collectionEntity = CollectionEntity.new {
            name = request.name
            organism = request.organism
            description = request.description
            ownedBy = userId
            createdAt = now
            updatedAt = now
        }

backend/src/test/kotlin/org/genspectrum/dashboardsbackend/controller/CollectionsGetTest.kt:114

• The test case says "nonexistent user", but it now creates a real user via usersClient.createUser(). Either rename the variable/test to reflect that it's an existing user with zero collections, or use an ID that is guaranteed not to exist (e.g., a very large Long) to keep testing the original scenario.

    @Test
    fun `GIVEN user has no collections WHEN getting collections for user THEN returns empty array`() {
        val nonexistentUserId = usersClient.createUser()

        val collections = collectionsClient.getCollections(userId = nonexistentUserId)

        assertThat(collections, empty())

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