Fix Authelia remember_me not actually keeping sessions alive

inactivity (idle timeout) was independent of remember_me and stayed at a
much shorter default (2h), so a long remember_me got silently overridden
by ordinary daily gaps between visits. install_authelia()'s template now
defaults inactivity to match remember_me, and the "Change remember me
duration" menu option now writes both keys together instead of just one.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0148pWopbt3tEKZWHYuHTb3c

CLAUDE.md

@@ -623,6 +623,25 @@ in `services/authelia.sh`) — prompts for a new duration (`12h`, `7d`,
 Sessions persist through reboots regardless of duration (Redis stores
 session state in a volume).
 
+**`inactivity` must track `remember_me`, or a long remember_me is a lie.**
+`inactivity` is a separate session field — how long a session can sit idle
+before Authelia ends it — and it is NOT extended or bypassed by the
+"Remember me" checkbox; the two are independent. Confirmed live: a user
+set `remember_me: 1y` expecting "won't be asked to log in again for a
+year," but the install default left `inactivity` at a much shorter value
+(2h at the time), so ordinary daily gaps between visits (overnight, a
+workday) ended the session on inactivity grounds well before remember_me
+ever came into play — the 1y setting was doing nothing. Fixed at both ends
+so this can't recur silently: `install_authelia()`'s own template now sets
+`inactivity: 7d`, matching its `remember_me: 7d` default instead of a
+shorter one, and `_authelia_set_remember_me()` now writes the SAME new
+duration into both keys on every change, not just `remember_me` alone. If
+you ever hand-edit `session:` instead of using the menu option, keep
+`inactivity` and `remember_me` equal — a mismatch here is exactly the bug
+above, not a valid intentional configuration. `expiration` (the cap for a
+session that never checked "Remember me") is a legitimately different,
+shorter-by-design setting and is untouched by any of this.
+
 **The config key is `remember_me`, not `remember_me_duration`.** Authelia
 renamed it in 4.38; this repo pins `4.39.20`. A stale `remember_me_duration`
 key doesn't error, Authelia just silently ignores it — confirmed against
@@ -635,7 +654,7 @@ touch this by hand instead of the menu option, the current schema is:
 session:
   secret: 'your-existing-secret'
   expiration: 1h
-  inactivity: 5m
+  inactivity: 1y
   remember_me: 1y
   cookies:
     - domain: 'example.com'

services/authelia.sh

@@ -242,7 +242,8 @@ install_authelia() {
         echo "    7) Reconfigure from scratch (regenerates secrets/users — breaks"
         echo "       existing sessions for every domain already on this instance)"
         echo "    8) Show who has universal vs. service-scoped access"
-        echo "    9) Change \"Remember me\" session duration (stay logged in longer)"
+        echo "    9) Change \"Remember me\" session duration (stay logged in longer — also"
+        echo "       raises the inactivity timeout to match, so it can't cut it short)"
         echo "    10) Protect an existing site with this instance (pick a local Caddy site,"
         echo "       or type one on a different box — gates it with a login, same as any"
         echo "       other service already protected this way)"
@@ -501,7 +502,12 @@ access_control:
 session:
   name: authelia_session
   expiration: 12h
-  inactivity: 2h
+  # Matches remember_me below, not a shorter default — an idle timeout
+  # shorter than remember_me silently cuts a "remembered" session short
+  # regardless of its own duration. See _authelia_set_remember_me()'s
+  # comment for the live case this caused. Change both together (that
+  # function does exactly this) rather than one at a time.
+  inactivity: 7d
   remember_me: 7d
   cookies:
     - domain: ${AUTHELIA_DOMAIN}
@@ -2383,6 +2389,19 @@ _authelia_report_access_scope() {
 # earlier version of this very file's own README section) uses the old
 # name, which Authelia would just silently ignore rather than error on.
 #
+# Also writes the SAME value into `inactivity` — a separate session field
+# (default 2h, set alongside remember_me in install_authelia()'s own
+# template) that ends a session after that much idle time regardless of
+# remember_me, since it isn't disabled or extended by the "Remember me"
+# checkbox. Confirmed live: a user who'd set remember_me to 1y still got
+# logged out after ordinary daily gaps (overnight, a workday) because
+# inactivity was still sitting at its 2h default — remember_me alone does
+# NOT deliver "won't be asked to log in again for the duration I set"
+# without this. Tying the two together is what actually delivers that.
+# `expiration` (the session cap when "Remember me" is NOT checked) is left
+# alone — a shorter default there for an un-remembered session is correct,
+# separate behavior, not the same gap.
+#
 # This only controls AUTHELIA's own session — it does not touch how long
 # a native-OIDC app's (Gitea/Mealie/ActualBudget) own session/token lasts
 # after logging in via Authelia. A long remember_me makes re-authenticating
@@ -2398,7 +2417,10 @@ _authelia_set_remember_me() {
     echo ""
     echo "  Current \"remember me\" duration: ${current:-not set}"
     echo "  How long a session lasts when someone checks \"Remember me\" at login —"
-    echo "  applies to every domain this Authelia instance protects."
+    echo "  applies to every domain this Authelia instance protects. Also sets"
+    echo "  \"inactivity\" (idle timeout) to the same value, so a gap between visits"
+    echo "  shorter than this can't log you out early — otherwise inactivity's own"
+    echo "  separate, much shorter default cuts a long remember_me short."
     echo "  Examples: 12h, 7d, 1M (month), 1y. Set to -1 to disable Remember Me entirely."
     local new_duration=""
     prompt_text "  New duration [${current:-7d}]:" "${current:-7d}" new_duration
@@ -2412,8 +2434,13 @@ _authelia_set_remember_me() {
     else
         sed -i "/^session:\$/a\\  remember_me: '${new_duration}'" "$config_file"
     fi
+    if grep -qE '^  inactivity:' "$config_file"; then
+        sed -i "s/^  inactivity:.*/  inactivity: '${new_duration}'/" "$config_file"
+    else
+        sed -i "/^  remember_me:/a\\  inactivity: '${new_duration}'" "$config_file"
+    fi
     chown 1000:1000 "$config_file" 2>/dev/null || true
-    log_success "\"Remember me\" duration set to ${new_duration}."
+    log_success "\"Remember me\" duration and inactivity timeout both set to ${new_duration}."
 
     local restart_auth=""
     prompt_yn "  Restart Authelia to apply? (y/n):" "y" restart_auth
@@ -2425,9 +2452,10 @@ _authelia_set_remember_me() {
 
     echo ""
     log_info "Takes effect for NEW logins where \"Remember me\" is checked at Authelia's"
-    log_info "login page — existing sessions keep whatever expiration they already had."
-    log_info "The checkbox itself is already on the login form by default; this only"
-    log_info "changes how long checking it actually keeps you signed in."
+    log_info "login page — existing sessions keep whatever expiration/inactivity they"
+    log_info "already had. The checkbox itself is already on the login form by default;"
+    log_info "this only changes how long checking it actually keeps you signed in, and"
+    log_info "stops the separate inactivity timeout from cutting that short."
 }
 
 # Export/import accounts (+ optionally 2FA/session state) — for migrating to

services/wolf.sh

@@ -5066,17 +5066,7 @@ PYEOF
     echo "  Online together    → each player launches their own session,"
     echo "                        all connect to the same game server"
     echo ""
-    echo "  4 controllers, one game (e.g. Cemu/Wii U)? Steam Input tells identical"
-    echo "  controllers apart by device path, not just SDL GUID — add the emulator"
-    echo "  to Steam as a non-Steam game instead of launching it from ES-DE:"
-    echo "    ./manage.sh steam-setup-frontends       # ES-DE/RetroArch AppImages into Steam"
-    echo "    ./manage.sh steam-add-nonsteam-game cemu"
-    echo "    ./manage.sh cemu-clone-controller / cemu-sync-controllers"
-    echo "  For the ES-DE/RetroArch Wolf apps directly, force distinct virtual pad"
-    echo "  types per slot instead:  ./manage.sh controllers   (see README.md)"
-    echo ""
-    echo "Manage:  cd $WOLF_DIR && ./manage.sh {start|stop|restart|logs|status|update|cores|reorder|add-web|backup|ge-proton|fix-ea-game|controllers|steam-add-nonsteam-game|steam-setup-frontends|pin}"
-    echo "         ./manage.sh install-completion   # tab-complete every command above"
+    echo "Manage:  cd $WOLF_DIR && ./manage.sh {start|stop|restart|logs|status|pin|update|apps|reorder|add-web|ge-proton|fix-ea-game}"
     echo ""
     echo "── EA GAMES (Battlefront II, etc.) ───────────────────"
     echo ""