# ops-mason — Agent Instructions ## Repo Identity **Purpose:** Builder of NetKingdom security infrastructure (AppRoles, policies, KV paths) for ops-warden to route to **Domain:** infotech **Repo slug:** ops-mason **Topic ID:** `cee7bedf-2b48-46ef-8601-006474f2ad7a` **Workplan prefix:** `MASON-` --- ## State Hub Integration The Custodian State Hub tracks work across all domains. Interact via HTTP REST — there is no MCP server for Codex agents. | Context | URL | |---------|-----| | Local workstation | `http://127.0.0.1:8000` | | Remote (railiance01, in-cluster) | `http://10.43.68.154:8000` | | Optional local edge relay | http://127.0.0.1:18080 | When an operator has enabled the edge relay, set API_BASE to the relay URL. Queueable writes return an explicit queued receipt if the central hub is unreachable. Treat that as pending local evidence, then ask the operator to run statehub outbox status/replay after connectivity returns. ### Orient at session start ```bash # Offline brief — works without hub connection cat .custodian-brief.md # Active workplans for this domain curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/workplans/?topic_id=cee7bedf-2b48-46ef-8601-006474f2ad7a&status=active" \ | python3 -m json.tool # Check inbox curl -s "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages/?to_agent=ops-mason&unread_only=true" \ | python3 -m json.tool ``` Mark a message read: ```bash curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/messages//read" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}' ``` ### Log progress (required at session close) ```bash curl -s -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/progress/ \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "summary": "what was done", "event_type": "note", "author": "codex", "workplan_id": "", "task_id": "" }' ``` Omit `workplan_id` / `task_id` when not applicable. ### Update task status ```bash curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"status": "progress"}' # values: wait | todo | progress | done | cancel ``` ### Flag a task for human review ```bash curl -s -X PATCH "http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"needs_human": true, "intervention_note": "reason"}' ``` --- ## Session Protocol **Start:** 1. `cat .custodian-brief.md` — domain goal and open workplans (offline-safe) 2. Check inbox: `GET /messages/?to_agent=ops-mason&unread_only=true`; mark read 3. Scan workplans: `ls workplans/` — note `status: ready`, `active`, or `blocked` files and open tasks 4. Check human-needed tasks: `GET /tasks/?needs_human=true` **During work:** - Update task statuses in workplan files as tasks progress - Record significant decisions via `POST /decisions/` **Close:** 1. Update workplan file task statuses to reflect progress 2. If finishing a workplan: hand off **residuals** as live work records first (intake with `origin: residual` + `origin_ref: `, or a next workplan / decision / engagement). Do not park leftovers only in prose or `SCOPE.md`. Canon: `the-custodian/canon/standards/work-record-types_v0.1.md` § Residuals. 3. Log: `POST /progress/` with a summary of what changed (name handoff ids) 4. After workplan file changes, run: ```bash statehub fix-consistency ``` Coding agents should run this directly; ask the operator only if the CLI or State Hub API is unavailable. This syncs task status from files into the hub DB. --- ## Credential and access routing **Audience:** Codex, Claude Code, Grok, and custodian agents that call **llm-connect** for inference. Run this check **before** requesting secrets, API keys, SSH access, login tokens, or database passwords — in any repo, not only `ops-warden`. ops-warden **issues SSH certificates only** (`warden sign`, `cert_command`). Every other credential need belongs to another subsystem. **Do not** message `ops-warden` on State Hub expecting a secret value; the reply is a pointer, not a key. ### Lookup (do this first) ```bash warden route find "" --json warden route show --json ``` Requires the `warden` CLI from `~/ops-warden` (`uv tool install .` or `uv run warden`). | Agent runtime | How to orient | | --- | --- | | **Codex / Grok** (shell, HTTP State Hub) | `warden route` commands above; inbox `to_agent=ops-mason` is for coordination, not secret vending | | **Claude Code** (MCP when available) | `get_domain_summary("custodian")` for workplans; **still** use `warden route` for credential ownership | | **llm-connect** (inference service) | Never put secret retrieval in prompts; route custody to OpenBao/operator paths surfaced by `warden route` | ### Quick routing table | I need… | Owner | ops-warden executes? | | --- | --- | --- | | SSH cert (`adm`/`agt`/`atm`) | ops-warden | **Yes** — `warden sign` | | API key, DB password, provider token | OpenBao (`railiance-platform`) | No — route only | | Login / OIDC / MFA | key-cape / Keycloak | No — route only | | Authorization decision | flex-auth | No — route only | | activity-core → issue-core emission | activity-core + issue-core | No — `warden route show activity-core-issue-sink` | | SSH tunnel | ops-bridge (+ `cert_command` from warden) | No — route only | ### Anti-patterns (do not do these) - `POST /messages/` to `ops-warden` asking for `ISSUE_CORE_API_KEY`, `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, etc. - Inventing `warden secret`, `warden login`, `warden bao`, `warden tunnel` — they do not exist - Pasting secrets into Git, State Hub, workplans, logs, or chat ### Other capabilities (reuse-surface) Non-credential capabilities are usually discovered through **reuse-surface** federation (`reuse-surface` registry / `capability.*` indexes). Credential routing is inlined in every repo's agent instructions because it is high-frequency, high-risk, and easy to get wrong. **Canon:** `~/ops-warden/wiki/CredentialRouting.md` · catalog `~/ops-warden/registry/routing/catalog.yaml` ## Secrets practice guide From 2026-10-11, secrets practice follows SecurityCanon `SEC-DSM` 1.0.0: `../security-canon/infospace/standards/devops-secrets-management/SecurityCanonDevOpsSecretsManagementStandard.md` Gate House teaches that standard. This repo builds routes inside it. Read these parts before proposing a credential: - §5 preference hierarchy, highest practical mechanism first - §37 decision procedure, questions Q1 through Q5, in order - §35 OpenBao/Vault mapping — a broker is not the default store for every value - §36 Kubernetes mapping — projected workload identity before a secret broker; Kubernetes Secrets are a delivery copy, not the authority - `DSM-ARCH-001` through `DSM-ARCH-004`, `DSM-TRANS-002`, `DSM-TRANS-003`, `DSM-K8S-001` through `DSM-K8S-004` A new static secret, AppRole, or KV path is allowed when Q1–Q3 are no. The plan records that answer, the owner, the consumers, the authority, and how the residual secret is rotated and revoked (`DSM-TRANS-002`). Do not add an issuance layer only to look dynamic (`DSM-TRANS-003`). Do not put secret values in the plan, the workplan, or chat. --- ## Workplan Convention (ADR-001) Work items originate as files in this repo — not in the hub. The hub is a read/cache/index layer that rebuilds from files. **File location:** `workplans/MASON-NNNN-.md` **Archived location:** finished workplans may move to `workplans/archived/YYMMDD-MASON-NNNN-.md`. The `YYMMDD` prefix is the completion/archive date; the frontmatter `id` does not change. **Ad Hoc Tasks:** small opportunistic fixes discovered during a session use `workplans/ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD.md` with task ids `ADHOC-YYYY-MM-DD-T01`, etc. Use this only for low-risk work completed directly; create a normal workplan for anything needing analysis, design, approval, dependencies, or multiple phases. **Frontmatter:** ```yaml --- id: MASON-NNNN type: workplan title: "..." domain: infotech repo: ops-mason status: proposed | ready | active | blocked | backlog | finished | archived owner: codex topic_slug: ... created: "YYYY-MM-DD" updated: "YYYY-MM-DD" state_hub_workstream_id: "" # fix-consistency — do not edit (legacy field name; workplan UUID) --- ``` Use `proposed` for a new draft, `ready` after review against current repo state, and `finished` after implementation. `stalled` and `needs_review` are derived health labels, not frontmatter statuses. **Terminology:** workplan is the fleet term; `workstream` appears only in legacy API/MCP/frontmatter bridges until `STATE-WP-0069` retires them — see `the-custodian/canon/standards/workplan-terminology-fleet_v0.1.md`. **Task block format** (one per `##` section): ``` ## Task Title ` ` `task id: MASON-NNNN-T01 status: wait | todo | progress | done | cancel priority: high | medium | low state_hub_task_id: "" # written by fix-consistency — do not edit ` ` ` Task description text. ``` Status progression: `todo` → `progress` → `done`; use `wait` for waiting/blocked work and `cancel` for stopped work. **Residuals when finishing:** actionable leftovers become live work records before `status: finished` — usually an intake (`origin: residual`, `origin_ref: MASON-NNNN`) or a spawned workplan. Residual is a *role*, not a kind. Fleet list lives on State Hub, not in `SCOPE.md`. To create a new workplan: 1. Write the file following the format above 2. Run `statehub fix-consistency` locally; ask the operator only if the CLI or State Hub API is unavailable. ## OpenBao Access — how to grant a session, and what it authorises ops-mason builds in OpenBao, so it needs a session. Do not hand it your own operator session: that gives everything you have, for as long as you have it, and every action lands in the audit log as you. ```bash ./scripts/bao-session.sh status # what session exists, if any ./scripts/bao-session.sh login # refresh YOUR operator session (OIDC) ./scripts/bao-session.sh grant # mint a scoped token for Claude ./scripts/bao-session.sh revoke # end it immediately ``` With a grant in place, generate a construction plan's section 2 with `./scripts/plan-survey.py --kv-path --policy --approle --consumer [--keyword ]` (metadata only; see `docs/construction-plan-format.md` § 2). `grant` mints a **separate** token into `~/.claude-bao-token` — your own `~/.vault-token` is untouched, and the two revoke independently. The agent uses it as `BAO_TOKEN=$(cat ~/.claude-bao-token) bao `. ### What the grant authorises Policy `ops-mason-survey` (`policies/ops-mason-survey.hcl`), 45 minutes, max one hour, named `claude-`. Read-only, by founder decision 2026-10-07 (MASON-IN-0004, option (c)+(a)); it replaces `ops-mason-build`, now in `policies/retired/` and never to be installed. | Allowed | Denied / not granted | |---|---| | read/list `sys/mounts`, `sys/auth`; list `sys/policies/acl`, read `sys/policies/acl/*` — the phase-2 survey | **any policy write** (no create/update/delete on `sys/policies/acl/*`; explicit deny on its own policy) | | read/list role definitions on `auth/kubernetes/role/*`, `auth/netkingdom/role/*`, `auth/jwt/role/*`; list `auth/approle/role`, read `auth/approle/role/` | **any auth-role write**; AppRole `role-id`, `secret-id`, `secret-id/*`, `secret-id-accessor/*`, `custom-secret-id` (explicit deny) | | read/list KV **metadata** on `platform/`, `operators/` — enough to confirm a delivery landed | **every `*/data/*`** on `platform`, `operators`, `secret` (explicit deny); KV metadata writes | | `sys/capabilities`, `sys/capabilities-self` (query only), `auth/token/lookup-self`, `auth/token/revoke-self` | **token creation of any kind**; revoking other tokens; `sys/mounts/*` | The grant can show what exists and prove what a token can reach; it cannot change anything. That removes the escalation MASON-IN-0004 described — write a policy without the denies, bind it to an AppRole, read the role-id, mint a secret-id, log in — because none of those steps is granted. ### Installing the survey policy (founder act) ops-mason cannot install its own grant. The founder runs, silently and with an absolute path (the warden wrapper refuses output and runs with a temporary `HOME`): ```bash warden access openbao-platform-admin-login --exec -- sh -c \ 'bao policy write ops-mason-survey /home/worsch/ops-mason/policies/ops-mason-survey.hcl >/dev/null 2>&1' ``` Silent check — the installed policy's hash into a 0600 receipt, compared with the repo file's hash outside the wrapper: ```bash warden access openbao-platform-admin-login --exec -- sh -c \ 'umask 077; mkdir -p /home/worsch/.local/state/railiance/receipts; bao policy read ops-mason-survey 2>/dev/null | sha256sum > /home/worsch/.local/state/railiance/receipts/ops-mason-survey.sha256' cat /home/worsch/.local/state/railiance/receipts/ops-mason-survey.sha256 sha256sum < /home/worsch/ops-mason/policies/ops-mason-survey.hcl ``` The two hashes match only if OpenBao returns the file byte-for-byte; if they differ, compare the stored text against the file before concluding the install is wrong (OpenBao may normalise a trailing newline). ### Choosing the task name `grant ` sets `display_name=claude-`, so the audit log attributes an action to a piece of work rather than to a person. Use the workplan task where there is one — `grant MASON-WP-0003-T02` — otherwise something a reader would recognise later. ### When a broader grant is genuinely needed Writing a policy or auth role, minting a secret-id or a token, enabling a mount, reading a value, or touching another subsystem's paths is out of `ops-mason-survey` on purpose. Do not widen the policy to get past a refusal. Builds that need writes are applied by the founder through the railiance-platform delegated applier (`scripts/credential-change.py applier-apply` under `warden access openbao-platform-admin-login --exec`), as for CCR-2026-0033/0034; ops-mason supplies the plan and verifies afterwards. Anything else belongs to another repo or needs its own named policy and its own founder decision.