# Auth, cross-object calls, and microservices

> Read when the stack authenticates, calls another object (`s.function.run`, `s.api.request`, `s.tool.call`), or reaches a microservice.

Auth & calls:

- `s.security.create_auth_token({ table, id, extras?, expiration?, as? })` — `extras` defaults to `{}`, `expiration` to `86400`s (`0` = never).
- `s.security.create_guid({ as? })` — bind a fresh GUID string. Takes nothing else.
- `s.function.run({ fn, input?, as?, runtime? })` / `s.function.call({ fn, input?, as? })` — run another function; `input` is keyed by the target's input names.
  - `runtime?` runs it in the BACKGROUND: `{ mode: "async-shared" }` or `{ mode: "async-dedicated", cpu?, memory?, timeout?, maxRetry? }` (resources read at dedicated only). An async call DOES NOT return the result — it dispatches and continues, so `as` binds nothing; collect with `s.await({ ids })`. Omit for a normal call. Same block on `s.ai.agent.run`.
- `s.api.call({ api, input?, headers?, auth?, as? })` — invoke an endpoint. `headers` REPLACES the request headers the callee sees and takes the same shapes as `s.api.request`'s — a `{ "Name": value }` record (values may be tagged), a `string[]` of `"Name: value"` lines, or one `Value`. `auth` is `{ token, ignoreExpiration? }`: `token` must be a BARE STRING — a tagged `Value` deploys clean and then fails the run with `Param: token - Text filter requires an integer, float, string or boolean value`, since the engine stores that slot as plain text and never evaluates it. Neither slot authenticates the call today; see `llms/tests.md` for what a workflow-test run actually sees. WORKFLOW-TEST ONLY (see Gotchas in `llms.txt`) — elsewhere it deploys clean and 500s the first real request.
- `s.api.request({ url?, method?, params?, headers?, timeout?, follow_location?, verify_host?, verify_peer?, ca_certificate?, certificate?, certificate_pass?, private_key?, private_key_pass?, description?, output?, as? })` — external HTTP request (`mvp:api_request`). Ergonomic types, each also accepting a dynamic `Value`: `method` suggests the 7 verbs (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE/HEAD/OPTIONS/PATCH), `params` a plain JSON object **or** a FLAT record whose values are tagged `Value`s (`{ count: ref("count") }`, each lifted via a `set` filter — the same record-of-values shape `response: { key: value }` takes); a tagged value NESTED inside an object or array THROWS at encode, so wrap a structured body in `obj({...})`, which encodes any depth as one `const:expr2` (→ query string for GET/HEAD/OPTIONS, body otherwise), `headers` a `{ "Name": value }` record whose values may be tagged (`{ "x-api-key": env("KEY") }`, each pair joined to a `"Name: value"` line) **or** a `string[]` of full header lines — prefer a header over a `?key=` query param for a credential — a URL travels into access logs, proxies and `Referer`. ⚠ Neither spelling is envelope-safe: the `as` envelope's `request` half mirrors `url`, `params` AND `headers`, so never return it raw from a credentialed request — read `response.result`. A NAME outside the header-token charset is refused, and a LITERAL value carrying a newline is refused; a value may hold `:` and spaces (`Bearer a: b` is a valid value). A TAGGED value cannot be checked at build time, so strip CRLF from caller-controlled input before this slot. Literal pairs lead the emitted array and computed ones follow, so the wire order is not the record's key order, `timeout` a `number` in seconds (1–86400), and `follow_location`/`verify_host`/`verify_peer` booleans. `description` (Settings tab) and `output` filters (Output tab) ride the envelope. SSL cert interdependencies (certificate↔private_key, ca_certificate→verify_peer) are checked at build time when statically provable, else by the engine at runtime. The `as` result is typed as the `{request, response}` envelope (`response.status: number`, `response.result: unknown`), so `InferResponse` resolves a `ref` to it. Same typed result on `webflow.request` and `microservice.request`.
- `s.stream.from_request({ url?, method?, …tls, as? })` — streaming external HTTP request (`mvp:streaming_api_request`); same typed field surface as `s.api.request` (no description/output envelope).
- `s.webflow.request({ path?, method?, …tls, as? })` — Webflow API request (`mvp:connect_webflow_api_request`); like `s.api.request` but addressed by `path` (host is engine-supplied).
- `s.task.call` / `s.tool.call` / `s.trigger.call` / `s.middleware.call` / `s.addon.call` — same `{ <target>, input?, as? }` shape against the named kind. `s.task.call` and `s.trigger.call` are WORKFLOW-TEST ONLY (see Gotchas in `llms.txt`); `s.tool.call`, `s.middleware.call` and `s.addon.call` run from any stack.
- `s.action.call({ action, package?, input?, as? })` / `s.action.package.call(…)` — invoke a marketplace action; `package` is its slug.
- `s.cloud.job({ image?, command?, args?, secret?, template?, await?, as? })` — launch a containerized job. ⚠ `await` is SECONDS (default 60), not a boolean.
- `s.cloud.job.status({ id, as? })` · `s.cloud.job.await({ ids, timeout, as? })` — poll one job, or block on several (`ids` a list `Value`, `timeout` in seconds; both required).

Microservices (the `microservice()` def and the statement that calls it):

- `s.microservice.request({ host, path, port?, method?, params?, headers?, timeout?, follow_location?, as? })` — in-cluster microservice call (`mvp:microservice_request`); no TLS fields. ONLY `host`+`path` required; the rest default to the engine's values (`GET`/`{}`/`[]`/`10`/`true`), always emitted. Pass the `microservice()` DEF as `host` — it binds by NAME (how the engine resolves it), so a rename fixes every call site and the port is checked before deploy. `port?` folds into `host` as `"name:port"`: a def exposing ONE `servicePort` resolves automatically, SEVERAL requires it. A raw `"name:port"` string works, unvalidated, and is the only way to reach an instance-level microservice. `tenantDeploy: "manual"` on the def imports the row without starting the workload.
- `s.workflow_test.call({ workflowTest, datasource?, as? })` — run another workflow test from inside one, which is the only place it runs (see Gotchas in `llms.txt`). The odd one out: NO `input` (a workflow test takes none), and it carries `datasource?` instead — same clone caveat as the kind's own field.