Prepare the two approval client-side reader admissions

RPF-WP-0035-T06. Adds CCR-2026-0019 (secrets-engine) and CCR-2026-0020
(approval-engine-operator) with their exact-path read policies, reusing the
existing version-1 custody from the verifier activation. No reseed, rotation,
shared reader or verifier Secret reuse; both requests are in_flight and nothing
is applied.

The two shapes were decided by read-only survey rather than assumed.
secrets-engine consumes its client secret through an operator-run CLI reading a
protected file, and its namespace holds no workload, so reader 1 is an attended
operator-workstation OIDC lane rather than an ESO lane; its one missing input is
the operator group claim, which NetKingdom and KeyCape own. approval-engine is
not deployed and no owner source names who presents the operator client, so
reader 2 records the undetermined actor instead of guessing one for the widest
approval scope in the pair. Both declare openbao.auth missing rather than
carrying a placeholder binding.

T06 moves to wait on those two owner inputs.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WLUjpv3ssxNRAEPPgLFnEB

Assistant: claude-code
Assistant-Model: opus
Assistant-Process: 1275505@bnt-lap001
Assistant-Session: 97265baa-f08f-4032-b290-a1e2965a69c5

credential-change-requests/CCR-2026-0019-secrets-engine-approval-client-read.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+id: CCR-2026-0019
+kind: credential-change-request
+schema_version: 1
+request_type: workload-kv-read
+title: secrets-engine client-side read of its approval client secret
+status: in_flight
+created: '2026-09-09'
+updated: '2026-09-09'
+in_flight:
+  missing_fields:
+  - openbao.auth
+  blocking_reason: >-
+    The reader is an attended operator running the secrets-engine CLI on a
+    workstation, not an in-cluster identity. The auth binding is therefore
+    determined in shape but not bindable: method oidc on mount netkingdom, role
+    secrets-engine-approval-client-read, the three standard NetKingdom redirect
+    URIs, scopes openid/profile/email/groups, user_claim sub, groups_claim
+    groups, policy workload-kv-read-secrets-engine-approval-client, ttl 15m --
+    with the one missing input being the exact group claim for the authorized
+    operator, which NetKingdom/KeyCape own. A role cannot be created without it
+    and no placeholder is recorded here. Live inspection on 2026-09-09 found namespace
+    secrets-engine holding only ServiceAccount secrets-engine with no workload,
+    which confirms there is no in-cluster consumer to bind instead.
+  owner: railiance-platform
+requester:
+  agent: claude
+  reason: >-
+    RPF-WP-0035-T06 residual from the completed verifier custody
+    (CCR-2026-0017). The verifier copy lets KeyCape authenticate the
+    secrets-engine-approval client; it does not let secrets-engine present that
+    client. secrets-engine implemented the consumer on 2026-09-09
+    (SECRETS-WP-0009-T03, repo revision 9eb07fd,
+    secrets-engine/docs/approval-service-auth.md) and reads the value from
+    SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE, an explicit protected file. This
+    request establishes the separate exact read that fills that file. It reuses
+    the existing version-1 custody and requests no reseed and no rotation.
+review:
+  required: true
+  required_approvers:
+  - platform-operator
+  - secrets-engine-owner
+  comments:
+  - at: '2026-09-09'
+    reviewer: railiance-platform (claude)
+    decision: shape_determined_actor_pending
+    comment: >-
+      Reader shape determined from owner source rather than assumed: the
+      consumer is an operator-run CLI that exchanges the client secret for a
+      short-lived token immediately before each approval request, holds it only
+      in memory, and has no refresh token, renewal or fallback identity. That
+      makes this an attended operator-workstation lane on the OIDC mount, not an
+      External Secrets lane. The named operator group claim is the one input
+      neither this repo nor secrets-engine can supply; NetKingdom/KeyCape own it.
+target:
+  domain: financials
+  tenant: platform
+  workload: secrets-engine
+  environment: production
+  purpose: >-
+    Let the authorized operator running the secrets-engine approval CLI fetch the
+    secrets-engine-approval client secret into a protected file, without granting
+    any in-cluster reader, any sibling path, or any write on the custody path.
+openbao:
+  mount: platform
+  kv_path: platform/workloads/secrets-engine/approval-client
+  fields:
+  - CLIENT_SECRET
+  policy_name: workload-kv-read-secrets-engine-approval-client
+  policy_file: openbao/policies/workload-kv-read-secrets-engine-approval-client.hcl
+access_frontdoor:
+  type: ops-warden
+  catalog_id: secrets-engine-approval-client
+  selector: secrets-engine approval client secret
+  command: warden access secrets-engine-approval-client --out FILE
+  resolvable: false
+  readiness: pending-review
+delivery:
+  surface: operator-workstation
+  target: >-
+    Protected file consumed as SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE by the
+    secrets-engine approval CLI: owner-only mode, outside any Git work tree,
+    removed at the end of the session. No Kubernetes Secret, no ExternalSecret
+    and no reuse of the sso verifier Secret keycape-secrets-engine-approval-client.
+risk:
+  classification: high
+  notes:
+  - >-
+    This is the presenting copy. Anyone holding it can obtain tokens as
+    service:secrets-engine for approval:read and approval:consume until KeyCape
+    disables the registration. The verifier copy admitted in CCR-2026-0017 does
+    not carry that power; the two must not be conflated because they hold the
+    same value.
+  - >-
+    A file-delivered credential outlives the process that read it. The lane
+    depends on operator hygiene for removal, which is weaker than an
+    ESO-delivered Secret bounded by a pod lifetime. That is a consequence of the
+    consumer being a workstation CLI and is recorded rather than engineered away.
+  - >-
+    approval:consume is a production-effect scope. This lane grants the ability
+    to present the client; it does not grant approval decisions, which remain
+    with access-engine, approval-engine and the existing consume gates.
+  - >-
+    No reseed and no rotation. Custody is the existing version 1 from the
+    verifier activation; a rotation is a distinct version-guarded operation that
+    also invalidates the KeyCape verifier copy and needs both owners.
+verification:
+  positive:
+  - >-
+    The bound operator identity reads CLIENT_SECRET from the exact path into a
+    protected file with no value in chat, argv, shell history or logs.
+  - >-
+    The secrets-engine approval CLI exchanges it for a token with subject
+    service:secrets-engine, audience approval-engine, tenant tenant:platform and
+    the single requested scope, verified against live JWKS.
+  negative:
+  - >-
+    An identity outside the confirmed group claim cannot authenticate through
+    role secrets-engine-approval-client-read.
+  - >-
+    The role cannot read the approval-engine operator-client path, cannot list
+    any parent, and cannot write or patch the custody path.
+  - >-
+    No in-cluster ServiceAccount, including secrets-engine/secrets-engine, gains
+    a read through this lane.
+  - >-
+    The KeyCape verifier role cannot be substituted for this reader, and this
+    reader cannot read the verifier's delivery Secret.
+  activation_conditions:
+  - >-
+    NetKingdom/KeyCape confirm the exact group claim for the authorized operator
+    and it is recorded in openbao.auth.bound_claims with
+    bound_claims_confirmed true.
+  - >-
+    secrets-engine confirms the workstation procedure, file mode and removal step
+    for SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE.
+  - >-
+    Policy and OIDC role applied under attended authority
+    (openbao-platform-admin-login, founder_required) with metadata-only receipts.
+  - Positive and negative results recorded with non-secret request ids.
+  evidence: []
+lifecycle:
+  deactivate: >-
+    Detach the policy from role secrets-engine-approval-client-read and disable
+    the ops-warden catalog entry. The KeyCape verifier lane and its delivery are
+    unaffected.
+  rotate: >-
+    Shared with CCR-2026-0017: the value is one client secret. Rotation is minted
+    by KeyCape and rewritten once under attended authority; both the verifier
+    delivery and this reader then see the new version. No independent rotation
+    exists for this lane alone.
+  compromised: >-
+    KeyCape disables the secrets-engine-approval registration first, since that
+    is what stops token issuance, then the value is rotated and this role's
+    policy detached pending review.
+state_hub:
+  workplan_id: RPF-WP-0035
+  task_id: RPF-WP-0035-T06
+  related_request: CCR-2026-0017

credential-change-requests/CCR-2026-0020-approval-engine-operator-client-read.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+id: CCR-2026-0020
+kind: credential-change-request
+schema_version: 1
+request_type: workload-kv-read
+title: Client-side read of the approval-engine-operator client secret
+status: in_flight
+created: '2026-09-09'
+updated: '2026-09-09'
+in_flight:
+  missing_fields:
+  - openbao.auth
+  blocking_reason: >-
+    The presenting actor is not identified by any owner source. approval-engine
+    verifies this client's tokens but never presents them, and no other repo
+    claims the approver surface that would. Live inspection on 2026-09-09 found
+    no approval-engine namespace, workload or Service in the cluster; the owner
+    deploy manifest targets namespace approval-engine and remains unapplied. An
+    auth method cannot be chosen before it is known whether the presenter is an
+    attended operator, an in-cluster component, or an agent surface, and the
+    three imply different roles, policies and delivery.
+  owner: railiance-platform
+requester:
+  agent: claude
+  reason: >-
+    RPF-WP-0035-T06 residual from the completed verifier custody
+    (CCR-2026-0018). The verifier copy lets KeyCape authenticate the
+    approval-engine-operator client; something must also present it. This request
+    holds the client-side reader open with the determined parts recorded and the
+    undetermined parts named, rather than guessing a reader for the widest scope
+    set in the pair. It reuses existing version-1 custody; no reseed, no rotation.
+review:
+  required: true
+  required_approvers:
+  - platform-operator
+  - approval-engine-owner
+  comments:
+  - at: '2026-09-09'
+    reviewer: railiance-platform (claude)
+    decision: actor_not_determined
+    comment: >-
+      Determined from owner source: the approval-engine-operator registration
+      holds approval:create, read, approve, revoke, supersede, observe and emit,
+      and explicitly not consume; approval-engine itself only verifies presented
+      tokens (approval_engine/api.py identity check) and does not hold this
+      client. approval-engine's own records note the engine does not restrict
+      /entries by principal type, so this client can supply approver evidence
+      today, and whether it should is approval doctrine owned by gate-house. The
+      reader therefore cannot be named here without an owner decision, and
+      naming one anyway would hand the widest approval scope to a guessed
+      identity. Held in_flight deliberately.
+target:
+  domain: financials
+  tenant: platform
+  workload: approval-engine
+  environment: production
+  purpose: >-
+    Establish the separate exact read by which the eventual approval-engine
+    operator surface obtains its client secret, once that surface is named by its
+    owner.
+openbao:
+  mount: platform
+  kv_path: platform/workloads/approval-engine/operator-client
+  fields:
+  - CLIENT_SECRET
+  policy_name: workload-kv-read-approval-engine-operator-client
+  policy_file: openbao/policies/workload-kv-read-approval-engine-operator-client.hcl
+access_frontdoor:
+  type: ops-warden
+  catalog_id: approval-engine-operator-client
+  selector: approval-engine operator client secret
+  resolvable: false
+  readiness: pending-review
+delivery:
+  surface: undetermined
+  target: >-
+    Not determined. The delivery surface follows the actor: an attended operator
+    implies a protected workstation file, an in-cluster component implies an
+    ExternalSecret into the eventual approval-engine namespace, and an agent
+    surface implies neither. No surface is admitted until the owner names one.
+risk:
+  classification: high
+  notes:
+  - >-
+    This is the widest scope set in the pair: create, approve, revoke and
+    supersede. A holder can forge approval lifecycle actions, and because
+    approval-engine records principal_type rather than restricting it, a
+    non-human holder can supply approver evidence. That is why the actor is left
+    unnamed rather than defaulted.
+  - >-
+    approval:consume is absent by design and stays absent. Adding it is a new
+    lane decision, not an edit to this request.
+  - >-
+    The exact-path read policy is written and committed so the eventual reader
+    inherits a bounded grant rather than a broad one drafted under time pressure.
+    Writing the policy is not admitting a reader.
+  - >-
+    No reseed and no rotation; custody is the existing version 1 from the
+    verifier activation.
+verification:
+  positive:
+  - >-
+    Once the actor is named, the bound identity reads CLIENT_SECRET from the
+    exact path into its admitted delivery surface with no value in chat, argv,
+    shell history or logs.
+  - >-
+    The named surface obtains a token with subject service:approval-engine-operator,
+    audience approval-engine and tenant tenant:platform, verified against live JWKS.
+  negative:
+  - >-
+    An identity outside the confirmed binding cannot authenticate through the
+    eventual role.
+  - >-
+    The role cannot read the secrets-engine approval-client path, cannot list any
+    parent, and cannot write or patch the custody path.
+  - The reader is denied approval:consume, and denial is observed rather than assumed.
+  - >-
+    The KeyCape verifier role cannot be substituted for this reader, and this
+    reader cannot read the verifier's delivery Secret.
+  activation_conditions:
+  - >-
+    The approval-engine owner names the presenting actor and its placement, or
+    records that no client-side reader is wanted and this request is cancelled.
+  - >-
+    Given that actor, the auth method, mount, role, bound claims and delivery
+    surface are completed and reviewed as a concrete request.
+  - >-
+    Policy and role applied under attended authority
+    (openbao-platform-admin-login, founder_required) with metadata-only receipts.
+  - Positive and negative results recorded with non-secret request ids.
+  evidence: []
+lifecycle:
+  deactivate: >-
+    Detach the policy from the eventual role and disable the ops-warden catalog
+    entry. The KeyCape verifier lane and its delivery are unaffected.
+  rotate: >-
+    Shared with CCR-2026-0018: one client secret, minted by KeyCape and rewritten
+    once under attended authority. No independent rotation for this lane alone.
+  compromised: >-
+    KeyCape disables the approval-engine-operator registration first, then the
+    value is rotated; emitted approval actions are referred to approval-engine
+    for audit review, since rotation does not retract them.
+state_hub:
+  workplan_id: RPF-WP-0035
+  task_id: RPF-WP-0035-T06
+  related_request: CCR-2026-0018

docs/credential-lane-designs/README.md

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ KeyCape approval-client admission below, which carries executable CCRs
 | [Fluid-telegram operator KV](fluid-telegram-operator-kv.md) | RPF-WP-0033 (finished) / RPF-WP-0035-T03 | MASON-WP-0005; FT-WP-0002 | Tenant acceptance, actual OIDC group, write-capable CCR support |
 | [State Hub preflight signing](state-hub-preflight-signing.md) | RPF-WP-0034 (finished) / RPF-WP-0035-T04 | FLEX-WP-0020-T05; STATE-WP-0085-T09 delivered | Deployment binding, owner-approved custody and rotation window |
 | [KeyCape approval-engine clients](keycape-approval-clients.md) | RPF-WP-0035-T05 | KEY-WP-0013-T02; GLAS-WP-0015 | Owner approval of CCR-2026-0017/0018, attended founder window, KeyCape reading build |
+| [Approval client-side readers](keycape-approval-client-side-readers.md) | RPF-WP-0035-T06 | SECRETS-WP-0009-T03; APPROVAL-WP-0002 | Reader 1: exact operator group claim; Reader 2: the presenting actor is unnamed by any owner source |
 
 The completed design workplans are archived. RPF-WP-0035 is the canonical
 queue for owner review, implementation, and live acceptance still required.

docs/credential-lane-designs/keycape-approval-client-side-readers.md

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+# Approval client-side readers
+
+RPF-WP-0035-T06, the residual handed over by the completed verifier custody
+(T05). Requests:
+[CCR-2026-0019](../../credential-change-requests/CCR-2026-0019-secrets-engine-approval-client-read.yaml)
+and [CCR-2026-0020](../../credential-change-requests/CCR-2026-0020-approval-engine-operator-client-read.yaml).
+Both are `in_flight`, neither is approved, and nothing is applied.
+
+## Why this exists as separate requests
+
+CCR-2026-0017/0018 admitted the **verifier** copies: KeyCape holds the two client
+secrets so it can authenticate credentials presented to it. Presenting them is a
+different power with a different holder, so it needs its own admission. The two
+Warden fetch selectors that the verifier review left unresolved are exactly this
+gap. Both readers use the **existing version-1 custody** — no reseed, no
+rotation, no shared reader, no reuse of the `sso` verifier Secrets.
+
+## Survey, 2026-09-09
+
+Read-only, against owner source and the live cluster.
+
+| Question | Finding |
+| --- | --- |
+| Is there an in-cluster secrets-engine consumer? | No. Namespace `secrets-engine` holds only ServiceAccount `secrets-engine` and no workload. `flex-auth/flex-auth-secrets-engine` is the flex-auth PDP for that consumer, not the service. |
+| How does secrets-engine consume the client secret? | Operator-run CLI reading `SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE`, exchanged for a fresh token before each request, held in memory only, no refresh token or fallback identity. Implemented 2026-09-09, SECRETS-WP-0009-T03, `secrets-engine` revision `9eb07fd`. |
+| Is approval-engine deployed? | No. No namespace, workload or Service. The owner manifest targets namespace `approval-engine` with a digest-pinned image and is unapplied. |
+| Who presents `approval-engine-operator`? | Not identified by any owner source. approval-engine verifies these tokens and never presents them. |
+
+## Reader 1 — secrets-engine-approval (CCR-2026-0019)
+
+Shape is determined; one input is missing.
+
+| Item | Value |
+| --- | --- |
+| Path / field | `platform/workloads/secrets-engine/approval-client` / `CLIENT_SECRET` |
+| Policy | `workload-kv-read-secrets-engine-approval-client` (exact data + metadata read, written and committed) |
+| Auth | `oidc` on mount `netkingdom`, role `secrets-engine-approval-client-read`, standard three redirect URIs, scopes `openid profile email groups`, `user_claim: sub`, `groups_claim: groups`, ttl 15m |
+| Front door | `warden access secrets-engine-approval-client --out FILE` |
+| Delivery | Protected owner-only file outside any Git work tree, consumed as `SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE`, removed at end of session |
+
+**Missing:** the exact group claim for the authorized operator. NetKingdom and
+KeyCape own it; this repo and secrets-engine cannot supply it. The role cannot
+be created without it, so `openbao.auth` is declared missing rather than
+recorded with a placeholder that would later be mistaken for a confirmed
+binding.
+
+This is an operator-workstation lane, not an External Secrets lane — because the
+consumer is a CLI, not a pod. A file-delivered credential outlives the process
+that read it, so removal depends on operator hygiene. That is weaker than the
+pod-lifetime bound of the verifier delivery and is recorded as a consequence of
+the consumer's shape rather than engineered away.
+
+## Reader 2 — approval-engine-operator (CCR-2026-0020)
+
+Held open deliberately. The exact-path read policy
+`workload-kv-read-approval-engine-operator-client` is written and committed so
+the eventual reader inherits a bounded grant rather than one drafted under time
+pressure. Writing the policy is not admitting a reader.
+
+**Missing:** the presenting actor and its placement. This client carries the
+widest scope set in the pair — `approval:create`, `read`, `approve`, `revoke`,
+`supersede`, `observe`, `emit`, and deliberately not `consume`. approval-engine
+records `principal_type` on every entry rather than restricting who may supply
+approver evidence, and its owner records that whether a non-human principal
+*should* is approval doctrine belonging to `gate-house`. Naming a reader here
+would hand the widest approval scope to a guessed identity, so the request names
+what is undetermined instead.
+
+The delivery surface follows the actor: an attended operator implies a protected
+workstation file; an in-cluster component implies an ExternalSecret into the
+eventual `approval-engine` namespace; an agent surface implies neither.
+
+## Not in scope
+
+- No reseed or rotation of either custody path. Rotation is one version-guarded
+  operation shared with the verifier copies and needs both owners.
+- No `approval:consume` on the operator client, now or by later scope edit.
+- No reuse of the `sso` verifier Secrets or the KeyCape verifier roles.
+- No audit-sender custody; that stays with the existing owner records.

openbao/policies/workload-kv-read-approval-engine-operator-client.hcl

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+path "platform/data/workloads/approval-engine/operator-client" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
+
+path "platform/metadata/workloads/approval-engine/operator-client" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}

openbao/policies/workload-kv-read-secrets-engine-approval-client.hcl

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+path "platform/data/workloads/secrets-engine/approval-client" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}
+
+path "platform/metadata/workloads/secrets-engine/approval-client" {
+  capabilities = ["read"]
+}

workplans/RPF-WP-0035-credential-lane-implementation.md

@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ Rotation is a distinct, version-guarded operation.
 
 ```task
 id: RPF-WP-0035-T06
-status: todo
+status: wait
 priority: high
 needs_human: false
 intervention_note: ""
@@ -265,6 +265,39 @@ consumer delivery, cleanup/revocation and rollback, then obtain the required
 owner reviews for those concrete requests. No reseeding, rotation, shared reader,
 reuse of the sso verifier Secret, or implicit operator consume grant.
 
+2026-09-09 preparation return: both exact-reader admissions are prepared as
+`CCR-2026-0019` (secrets-engine) and `CCR-2026-0020` (approval-engine-operator),
+with their exact-path read policies written and committed. Design:
+`docs/credential-lane-designs/keycape-approval-client-side-readers.md`. Both
+reuse existing version-1 custody; no reseed, rotation, shared reader or verifier
+Secret reuse. Both are `in_flight` and unapproved; nothing is applied.
+
+Read-only survey findings that decided the two shapes. Namespace
+`secrets-engine` holds only ServiceAccount `secrets-engine` with no workload,
+and `flex-auth/flex-auth-secrets-engine` is that consumer's PDP, not the
+service; secrets-engine consumes the client secret through an operator-run CLI
+reading `SECRETS_ENGINE_APPROVAL_CLIENT_SECRET_FILE` (SECRETS-WP-0009-T03,
+revision `9eb07fd`). So reader 1 is an attended operator-workstation OIDC lane,
+not an ESO lane. approval-engine has no namespace, workload or Service; its
+manifest is unapplied, and no owner source names who presents the operator
+client — approval-engine verifies these tokens and never holds them.
+
+**Unblock:** reader 1 needs the exact NetKingdom/KeyCape group claim for the
+authorized operator, plus secrets-engine confirming the file mode and removal
+step; `openbao.auth` is declared missing rather than filled with a placeholder
+that would later read as a confirmed binding. Reader 2 needs its owner to name
+the presenting actor and placement, or to record that no client-side reader is
+wanted so the request is cancelled. Naming a reader for the widest approval
+scope without that decision is the failure this task exists to avoid.
+
+**Done when:** each reader has a named actor and placement, a completed and
+reviewed auth binding, admitted delivery, and its owner approvals; positive and
+negative checks pass, including cross-path, wrong-identity and parent-list
+denial and operator `consume` denial; or the request is explicitly cancelled by
+its owner. Rotation stays a distinct version-guarded operation shared with
+CCR-2026-0017/0018.
+
+
 Consumer input supplied 2026-09-09: secrets-engine now implements per-request
 `secrets-engine-approval` exchange from a protected temporary client-secret file,
 with exact approval-engine / tenant:platform / read-or-consume scope, no token