Supertab Connect

Follow these steps to use Supertab with a Fastly Compute service.

1. Add your website origin as a backend in your Fastly Compute service and note the name you used. You'll reference in code samples later in these instructions.

2. Add a second backend with the following configuration:

   Details	Settings
   Name	stc-backend
   Address	api-connect.supertab.co
   Port	443
   TLS	enabled
   SNI hostname	api-connect.supertab.co
   Certificate hostname	api-connect.supertab.co
   Override host	api-connect.supertab.co

3. Create a Secret Store named supertab.config containing your Merchant API Key (from your Supertab Connect dashboard).

4. Install the Supertab Connect SDK.

   npm install @getsupertab/supertab-connect-sdk

5. Add the following request handler to your Compute application:

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   /// <reference types="@fastly/js-compute" />
   
   import {
     EnforcementMode,
     SupertabConnect
   } from "@getsupertab/supertab-connect-sdk";
   
   import { SecretStore } from "fastly:secret-store";
   
   const isBot = (request) => {
     // If you have bot detection logic such as Fastly Bot Management, implement
     // it here. The SDK uses this to decide which requests must present a
     // valid License token.
     return false;
   };
   
   addEventListener("fetch", (event) => {
     event.respondWith((async () => {
       const secrets = new SecretStore("supertab_config");
       const entry = await secrets.get("MERCHANT_API_KEY");
       const merchantApiKey = entry?.plaintext() ?? "";
   
       return SupertabConnect.fastlyHandleRequests(
         event.request,
         merchantApiKey,
         "YOUR_ORIGIN_BACKEND",
         {
           botDetector: isBot,
           enableRSL: true, // serve /license.xml from the SDK
           merchantSystemUrn: "YOUR_WEBSITE_URN",
           enforcement: EnforcementMode.SOFT
         }
       );
     })());
   });

   Be sure to replace YOUR_ORIGIN_BACKEND with the name of your website origin backend and YOUR_WEBSITE_URN with the name of your Supertab Connect dashboard.

6. Build and deploy the Compute service, and link the supertab_config Secret Store to it.

7. Confirm that the following URL returns your RSL license:

   https://yourdomain.com/license.xml

8. Once you're ready to require valid licenses from identified crawlers, change the enforcement mode in the request handler to enforcement: EnforcementMode.STRICT. In strict mode, Supertab Connect validates the Authorization: License <token> header and blocks identified crawler requests with missing or invalid license tokens.

Follow these steps to use Supertab with a Fastly CDN service.

Start by configuring RSL License publishing:

1. Add a backend to your VCL service with the following configuration:

   Details	Settings
   Name	supertab-connect-backend
   Address	api-connect.supertab.co
   Port	443
   TLS	enabled
   SNI hostname	api-connect.supertab.co
   Certificate hostname	api-connect.supertab.co
   Override host	api-connect.supertab.co

2. Add the following request condition to the backend:

   req.url ~ "^/merchants/systems/YOUR_WEBSITE_URN/license\.xml(\?|$)"

   Be sure to replace YOUR_WEBSITE_URN with the Website URN from the Supertab Connect dashboard.

3. Create the following recv VCL snippet and set the priority level to 100:

   if (req.url.path == "/license.xml") {
     set req.url = "/merchants/systems/YOUR_WEBSITE_URN/license.xml";
   }

This makes your RSL license available at https://yourdomain.com/license.xml.

Next, configure the Compute validator:

1. Create a Compute service.

2. To this service, add

   • a backend for your normal website origin
   • a backend named stc-backend pointing to api-connect.supertab.co:443 with TLS enabled
   • a Secret Store named supertab_config
   • a secret named MERCHANT_API_KEY containing your Supertab Merchant API Key

3. Install the Supertab Connect SDK.

   npm install @getsupertab/supertab-connect-sdk

4. Add the following request handler:

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   /// <reference types="@fastly/js-compute" />
   
   import {
     EnforcementMode,
     SupertabConnect
   } from "@getsupertab/supertab-connect-sdk";
   
   import { SecretStore } from "fastly:secret-store";
   
   const isBot = (request) => {
     // In case you have bot-detection logic, e.g. Fastly Bot Management, implement it here.
     // The SDK uses this to decide which requests must present a valid License token.
     return false;
   };
   
   addEventListener("fetch", (event) => {
     event.respondWith((async () => {
       const secrets = new SecretStore("supertab_config");
       const entry = await secrets.get("MERCHANT_API_KEY");
       const merchantApiKey = entry?.plaintext() ?? "";
   
       return SupertabConnect.fastlyHandleRequests(
         event.request,
         merchantApiKey,
         "YOUR_ORIGIN_BACKEND",
         {
           botDetector: isBot,
           enforcement: EnforcementMode.STRICT
         }
       );
     })());
   });

   Be sure to replace YOUR_ORIGIN_BACKEND with the name of your website origin backend and YOUR_WEBSITE_URN with the name of your Supertab Connect dashboard.

5. Deploy the Compute service and note its automatically assigned domain:

   your-compute-service.edgecompute.app

Then finish the installation:

1. In your VCL service, add a backend named supertab-compute-validator that points to the Compute service domain.

2. On that backend, enable TLS and use the Compute domain you noted previously for the SNI hostname, certificate hostname, and host override.

3. In your VCL service, add a recv VCL snippet:

   if (req.http.Authorization ~ "^License ") {
     set req.backend = F_supertab_compute_validator;
     return (pass);
   }

   NOTE: The generated backend identifier may differ depending on the backend name configured in Fastly.

4. In your VCL service, add a pass VCL snippet:

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   declare local var.scheme STRING;
   
   if (req.is_ssl) {
     set var.scheme = "https";
   } else {
     set var.scheme = "http";
   }
   
   set bereq.http.X-Original-Request-Url =
     var.scheme "://" req.http.host req.url;

   NOTE: The X-Original-Request-Url header is required so Supertab Connect can verify that the license token applies to the requested URL.

5. Activate the new VCL service version.

Requests containing an Authorization: License <token> header will now be routed through the Compute validator. Valid requests will be forwarded to your origin, while invalid tokens will be rejected.

Requests without a license token continue through your existing VCL request flow. To block or redirect unlicensed AI crawlers, configure an additional Bot Management or VCL rule.