feat(api): admin-initiated user creation via POST /admin/users (0.43.0)

Pairs with the ALLOW_SELF_REGISTER toggle from 0.42.0: admins can mint
accounts regardless of the toggle state, so a closed-membership
deployment still has a working enrollment path. The endpoint accepts
{ username, password, is_admin? } so admins can mint co-admins in one
call (avoiding a separate promote + extra audit row for the common
"invite a co-admin" flow).

Implementation:
- POST /api/v1/admin/users guarded by RequireAdmin
- Reuses validate_username / validate_password from api::auth (made
  pub(crate)) so the admin path can never produce an account self-
  register would reject and vice versa
- repo::user::admin_create_user wraps INSERT + admin_audit insert in
  a single tx — same "audit reflects what committed" semantics as the
  existing admin_safe_* fns
- Audit row: action="create_user", payload={username, is_admin}

Frontend:
- createAdminUser() in lib/api/admin.ts
- /admin/users grows a collapsible "Create user" form above the table
  (username, password, "Make admin" checkbox). Errors surface inline;
  the list reloads on success.

Backend tests: 7 new, including the headline
`create_user_works_even_when_self_register_disabled` that pins the
admin-create path is NOT gated by the public toggle.

backend/tests/api_admin_users.rs

@@ -397,3 +397,209 @@ async fn delete_writes_audit_row(pool: PgPool) {
     assert_eq!(payload["username"], b_name);
     assert_eq!(payload["was_admin"], false);
 }
+
+// ---- POST /admin/users (admin-create) --------------------------------------
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_requires_admin(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool);
+    let (_username, cookie) = common::register_user(&h.app).await;
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "newbie", "password": "hunter2hunter2" }),
+            &cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::FORBIDDEN);
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_unauthenticated_is_rejected(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool);
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "newbie", "password": "hunter2hunter2" }),
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::UNAUTHORIZED);
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_happy_path_creates_user_and_audit(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool.clone());
+    let (_a_name, a_cookie, a_id) = seed_admin(&pool, &h.app).await;
+
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "invited01", "password": "freshpass1234" }),
+            &a_cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::CREATED);
+    let body = common::body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["username"], "invited01");
+    assert_eq!(body["is_admin"], false);
+    assert!(body["id"].as_str().is_some());
+    assert!(
+        body.get("password_hash").is_none(),
+        "password_hash must never appear in admin-create response"
+    );
+
+    let target_id =
+        Uuid::parse_str(body["id"].as_str().unwrap()).unwrap();
+    let (actor, action, kind, target, payload): (
+        Option<Uuid>,
+        String,
+        String,
+        Option<Uuid>,
+        serde_json::Value,
+    ) = sqlx::query_as(
+        "SELECT actor_user_id, action, target_kind, target_id, payload \
+           FROM admin_audit ORDER BY at DESC LIMIT 1",
+    )
+    .fetch_one(&pool)
+    .await
+    .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(actor, Some(a_id));
+    assert_eq!(action, "create_user");
+    assert_eq!(kind, "user");
+    assert_eq!(target, Some(target_id));
+    assert_eq!(payload["username"], "invited01");
+    assert_eq!(payload["is_admin"], false);
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_can_mint_an_admin_in_one_call(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool.clone());
+    let (_a_name, a_cookie, _) = seed_admin(&pool, &h.app).await;
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({
+                "username": "newadmin",
+                "password": "freshpass1234",
+                "is_admin": true
+            }),
+            &a_cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::CREATED);
+    let body = common::body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["is_admin"], true);
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_returns_409_on_duplicate(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool.clone());
+    let (_a_name, a_cookie, _) = seed_admin(&pool, &h.app).await;
+    // Seed an existing user via the public register path.
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .clone()
+        .oneshot(common::post_json(
+            "/api/v1/auth/register",
+            json!({ "username": "taken", "password": "hunter2hunter2" }),
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::CREATED);
+
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "Taken", "password": "freshpass1234" }),
+            &a_cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(
+        resp.status(),
+        StatusCode::CONFLICT,
+        "case-insensitive collision via the lower(username) index"
+    );
+    let body = common::body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["error"]["code"], "conflict");
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_rejects_weak_password(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool.clone());
+    let (_a_name, a_cookie, _) = seed_admin(&pool, &h.app).await;
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "okayname", "password": "short" }),
+            &a_cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST);
+    let body = common::body_json(resp).await;
+    assert_eq!(body["error"]["code"], "invalid_input");
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_rejects_invalid_username(pool: PgPool) {
+    let h = common::harness(pool.clone());
+    let (_a_name, a_cookie, _) = seed_admin(&pool, &h.app).await;
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "bad name!", "password": "freshpass1234" }),
+            &a_cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST);
+}
+
+#[sqlx::test(migrations = "./migrations")]
+async fn create_user_works_even_when_self_register_disabled(pool: PgPool) {
+    // The admin-create path must NOT be gated by ALLOW_SELF_REGISTER —
+    // that's the entire point of having an admin-create endpoint.
+    let h = common::harness_with_self_register_disabled(pool.clone());
+    // Bootstrap an admin out-of-band since self-register would refuse.
+    repo::user::bootstrap_admin(&pool, "root", "hunter2hunter2")
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .clone()
+        .oneshot(common::post_json(
+            "/api/v1/auth/login",
+            json!({ "username": "root", "password": "hunter2hunter2" }),
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), StatusCode::OK);
+    let cookie = common::extract_session_cookie(&resp).unwrap();
+
+    let resp = h
+        .app
+        .oneshot(common::post_json_with_cookie(
+            "/api/v1/admin/users",
+            json!({ "username": "invited01", "password": "freshpass1234" }),
+            &cookie,
+        ))
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(
+        resp.status(),
+        StatusCode::CREATED,
+        "admin must be able to mint users even with self-register off"
+    );
+}