feat: add per-IP rate limiting to login endpoint

Add a token-bucket rate limiter (golang.org/x/time/rate) that limits
login attempts per client IP on POST /api/v1/login. Returns 429 Too
Many Requests with a Retry-After header when the limit is exceeded.

Configurable via LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT (requests/sec, default 1) and
LOGIN_RATE_BURST (burst size, default 5). Stale per-IP entries are
automatically cleaned up every 10 minutes.

Only the login endpoint is rate-limited per sneak's instruction —
session creation and registration use hashcash proof-of-work instead.

README.md

@@ -1834,6 +1834,8 @@ directory is also loaded automatically via
 | `METRICS_USERNAME` | string  | `""`                                 | Basic auth username for `/metrics` endpoint. If empty, metrics endpoint is disabled. |
 | `METRICS_PASSWORD` | string  | `""`                                 | Basic auth password for `/metrics` endpoint |
 | `NEOIRC_HASHCASH_BITS` | int | `20`                               | Required hashcash proof-of-work difficulty (leading zero bits in SHA-256) for session creation. Set to `0` to disable. |
+| `LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT` | float   | `1`                                  | Allowed login attempts per second per IP address. |
+| `LOGIN_RATE_BURST`  | int    | `5`                                  | Maximum burst of login attempts per IP before rate limiting kicks in. |
 | `MAINTENANCE_MODE` | bool    | `false`                              | Maintenance mode flag (reserved) |
 
 ### Example `.env` file
@@ -2224,6 +2226,28 @@ creating one session pays once and keeps their session.
 - **Language-agnostic**: SHA-256 is available in every programming language.
   The proof computation is trivially implementable in any client.
 
+### Login Rate Limiting
+
+The login endpoint (`POST /api/v1/login`) has per-IP rate limiting to prevent
+brute-force password attacks. This uses a token-bucket algorithm
+(`golang.org/x/time/rate`) with configurable rate and burst.
+
+| Environment Variable | Default | Description |
+|---------------------|---------|-------------|
+| `LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT`  | `1`     | Allowed login attempts per second per IP |
+| `LOGIN_RATE_BURST`  | `5`     | Maximum burst of login attempts per IP |
+
+When the limit is exceeded, the server returns **429 Too Many Requests** with a
+`Retry-After: 1` header. Stale per-IP entries are automatically cleaned up
+every 10 minutes.
+
+**Why rate limits here but not on session creation?** Session creation is
+protected by hashcash proof-of-work (stateless, no IP tracking needed). Login
+involves bcrypt password verification against a registered account — a
+fundamentally different threat model where an attacker targets a specific
+account. Per-IP rate limiting is appropriate here because the cost of a wrong
+guess is borne by the server (bcrypt), not the client.
+
 ---
 
 ## Roadmap