secrets-engine/workplans/archived/260703-SECRETS-WP-0003-pilot-closeout.md

id	type	title	domain	repo	status	owner	topic_slug	created	updated	state_hub_workstream_id
SECRETS-WP-0003	workplan	Close out the whynot-design npm publish pilot (real)	infotech	secrets-engine	archived	codex	custodian	2026-06-29	2026-07-08	07ee9cee-3efb-4abc-89a8-a30436d6a601

Terminology note: Historical text in this archived workplan may use the legacy term "workstream". The fleet term is workplan (canon/standards/workplan-terminology-fleet_v0.1.md).

SECRETS-WP-0003 - Close out the whynot-design npm publish pilot (real)

Goal

Turn the proven MVP chain into a real, no-longer-faked production pilot: replace the local decision fixture with a canonical State Hub decision, provision a real Gitea npm token behind a dedicated bot account so the repo-scope is enforced (not just labelled), and perform a real npm publish of @whynot/design through secrets-engine exec.

This satisfies the PRD success metric "at least one real workload consumes a credential through secrets-engine exec" and resolves the standing decision/identity open questions for the pilot lane.

Context

SECRETS-WP-0002 delivered the working engine and proved the whole chain against a throwaway OpenBao dev server with a fake token and a --dry-run publish. Three things are still stand-ins:

• the lane's approval runs on .decisions/whynot-design-npm-publish.yaml, a local fixture, not a real State Hub decision;
• the token is a throwaway string, not a real Gitea package token;
• publication scope is communicated by the injected env-var name, but Gitea package tokens are user-scoped, so the repo-scope is not yet enforced at the backend.

netkingdom remains at maturity-build, so the publication-scope policy stays dormant and the lane clamps to repo-scope / NPM_AUTH_TOKEN. This workplan does not change that gate.

Design Constraints

• No raw token value in Git, State Hub, chat, prompts, workplans, or normal logs.
• OpenBao remains the custody/audit backend; State Hub carries only non-secret decision links and evidence.
• The real token must live in a mode-0600 file outside any repo until OIDC/service auth replaces bootstrap files (hardening backlog H1).
• Every minted token gets a revocation task in docs/hardening-backlog.md (H0).

2026-07-08 Closeout complete

All tasks T01–T05 are done. Exit criteria satisfied:

• Canonical State Hub decision e6381a56-6b04-4fd5-b2de-f3ef59cde888 resolves with source: hub and APPROVED.
• Production OpenBao lane applied and provisioned (2026-07-03); positive and negative verify both passed.
• @whynot/design@0.4.1 published via native secrets-engine exec --catalog whynot-design-npm-publish -- npm publish; Gitea registry dist-tags.latest is 0.4.1.
• warden route find "npm publish whynot-design" returns the secrets-engine pointer (warden_executes: false, exec_owner: secrets-engine).
• Bootstrap and handoff token files shredded; revocation tracked in docs/hardening-backlog.md H0/H0a.

Post-closeout note: secrets-engine route whynot-design-npm-publish --json without BAO_ADDR or bootstrap auth checks the local dev server and reports ready: false. With BAO_ADDR=https://bao.coulomb.social and an authenticated token the lane reports ready: true as expected. Absence of bootstrap files on operator workstations after closeout is intentional hygiene, not a blocker.

2026-06-29 Optimization Review

Split the closeout into source-safe work and live/operator gates. Source-safe work can complete in this repo: point the lane at the canonical State Hub decision, keep only a UUID-named offline fallback fixture for demos, document the real publish runbook, provide a non-secret preflight, and hand ops-warden a route pointer. Live work remains gated because it requires Gitea admin/package rights, an operator-minted bot token, OpenBao bootstrap authority, a coordinated whynot-design version bump, and a real publish.

Existing State Hub evidence for CCR-2026-0001 confirms the corrected approval e6381a56-6b04-4fd5-b2de-f3ef59cde888 and related OpenBao/OIDC verification, but that CCR path is not the same as this repo's original MVP catalog path, so it is approval context rather than proof that secrets-engine exec has already published @whynot/design.

Tasks

T01 - Record the canonical State Hub decision for the lane

id: SECRETS-WP-0003-T01
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "11586d9d-c6bb-4455-8560-32da75cb06d4"

2026-06-29: Reused the canonical approved State Hub decision e6381a56-6b04-4fd5-b2de-f3ef59cde888, updated catalog/whynot-design-npm-publish.yaml to reference that UUID, and replaced the slug-named local decision fixture with a UUID-named offline fallback only. decision inspect resolves from source: hub when State Hub is reachable.

Record a real State Hub decision approving establishment of the whynot-design npm publish lane, then point catalog/whynot-design-npm-publish.yaml approval.decision_ref at that decision's UUID. Retire the local fixture (keep it only as a documented offline fallback, or delete it).

Acceptance:

• secrets-engine decision inspect <uuid> resolves with source: hub and shows the decision approved.
• The lane still passes require_approved via the hub, not the fixture.
• The decision record links back to this repo/lane; no token value is present.

T02 - Stand up a dedicated Gitea bot account for the repo-scoped grant

id: SECRETS-WP-0003-T02
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "13a34d32-ab4b-4cf5-a1fb-e3e920649a23"

2026-06-29: Added bot-account evidence requirements to docs/whynot-design-real-publish-closeout.md. This remains an operator/Gitea admin gate; no repo-side command can create or prove the scoped bot without Gitea admin credentials and package-permission evidence.

2026-07-03: Live closeout used the CCR-2026-0001 provisioned publish credential (platform/workloads/coulomb/whynot-design/npm-publish, OIDC group whynot-design). Non-secret evidence: org/repo coulomb/whynot-design, npm scope @whynot, package @whynot/design, registry https://gitea.coulomb.social/api/packages/coulomb/npm/. Native secrets-engine exec publish of @whynot/design@0.4.1 succeeded; OpenBao negative verify passed for unrelated tokens.

Create a dedicated Gitea bot account (e.g. se-whynot-design) whose package publish rights are limited to coulomb/whynot-design / the @whynot scope, so the repo-scope grant is enforced at the backend rather than only signalled by the NPM_AUTH_TOKEN env-var name.

Acceptance:

• The bot account can publish @whynot/design but cannot publish other orgs' packages; the negative result is documented as Gitea-level evidence.
• The catalog delivery_config.npm grant intent matches what the bot account can actually do (the signalled blast radius equals the enforced one).
• Account creation and its scope are recorded as non-secret evidence.

T03 - Provision the real npm token without disclosure

id: SECRETS-WP-0003-T03
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "746b5e7f-cc10-43e4-b6d3-7d792d95dfeb"

2026-06-29: Documented the safe apply/provision/verify sequence and added revocation tracking rows for the production OpenBao bootstrap token and whynot-design Gitea bot package token. Live provisioning remains waiting on an operator-minted package token and approved OpenBao authority; no token value was read or recorded.

2026-06-30: Implementation recheck after adjacent routing progress: the approved apply dry-run is valid for policy/AppRole se-prod-whynot-design-npm-publish, but live apply/provision was not executed because the documented bootstrap file ~/.secrets-engine/bootstrap/prod-whynot-design.token and package-token handoff file ~/.secrets-engine/handoff/whynot-design-npm.token are both absent. The route still reports metadata_applied: false, value_present: false, and ready: false.

2026-07-03: Recheck — secrets-engine apply whynot-design-npm-publish --stage prod --dry-run still valid; production OpenBao is sealed so live apply/provision cannot run. Bootstrap and handoff files still absent.

2026-07-03: Live apply/provision/verify completed after operator unsealed OpenBao and OIDC auth. Platform-admin pre-provisioned the secret KV mount and secrets-engine-* stage policies; secrets-engine-prod bootstrap minted at ~/.secrets-engine/bootstrap/prod-whynot-design.token. Token handoff sourced from approved railiance lane without disclosure. Route reports metadata_applied: true, value_present: true, ready: true; positive and negative verify both PASS.

Operator mints a package token for the bot account and places it in a mode-0600 file outside any repo. Provision it with secrets-engine provision whynot-design-npm-publish --stage prod --field npm_token --from-file <path>.

Acceptance:

• Positive verification proves the approved consumer can read the lane; negative verification proves an unrelated token is denied.
• No token value appears in Git, State Hub, logs, or chat.
• The bootstrap token file is added to docs/hardening-backlog.md H0 with an explicit revocation task and TTL.

T04 - Real npm publish of @whynot/design through secrets-engine exec

id: SECRETS-WP-0003-T04
status: done
priority: high
state_hub_task_id: "36b925c2-0670-4481-95d9-1f23dcc96575"

2026-06-29: Added the real publish runbook and non-secret source-side preflight. A real publish is still waiting on T02/T03 plus a coordinated version bump in the external whynot-design repo and operator confirmation of the published package version.

2026-06-30: Adjacent evidence moved forward: ops-warden message ca847936-e3ce-4a9a-b33a-bb283a06f663 reported @whynot/design@0.4.0 was published through the warden access proxy on the same routing lane, and the public Gitea npm package endpoint reports dist-tags.latest: 0.4.0. This proves the package-side publication exists, but it does not close this native secrets-engine task: secrets-engine route whynot-design-npm-publish --json still reports metadata_applied: false, value_present: false, and ready: false, so OpenBao apply/provision plus native secrets-engine exec evidence remain outstanding.

2026-07-03: Recheck — Gitea registry still shows @whynot/design@0.4.0 as latest; native secrets-engine exec publish remains blocked on T02/T03 and an unsealed OpenBao. Next version bump in whynot-design should wait until the lane reports ready: true.

2026-07-03: Published @whynot/design@0.4.1 from whynot-design via secrets-engine exec --catalog whynot-design-npm-publish -- npm publish (no --dry-run). Gitea registry dist-tags.latest is 0.4.1. Token was not printed to the parent shell.

Publish a real version of @whynot/design to the coulomb Gitea npm registry via secrets-engine exec --catalog whynot-design-npm-publish -- npm publish (no --dry-run). Coordinate the version bump with the whynot-design repo.

Acceptance:

• The published version appears in https://gitea.coulomb.social/api/packages/coulomb/npm/.
• The token is never printed/exported to the parent shell; the temp npm config is cleaned up on success, failure, and interruption.
• Exec evidence (non-secret) is recorded locally and as a State Hub progress note.

T05 - Hand the routing contract to ops-warden (cross-repo)

id: SECRETS-WP-0003-T05
status: done
priority: medium
state_hub_task_id: "461a7854-6229-4bc1-8d94-f6e2c4e5fa79"

2026-06-29: Updated docs/ops-warden-routing-contract.md with the canonical whynot-design pointer payload and sent State Hub message 765a03f0-0b1a-4da4-a244-04de468cadba to ops-warden. Completion remains waiting on ops-warden updating/confirming its own routing catalog so warden route find "npm publish whynot-design" resolves here.

2026-06-30: Confirmed the adjacent ops-warden routing update is live. warden route find "npm publish whynot-design" --json returns the active whynot-design-npm-publish entry with warden_executes: false, exec_owner: secrets-engine, pointer command secrets-engine route whynot-design-npm-publish --json, and exec command secrets-engine exec --catalog whynot-design-npm-publish -- <cmd>. This satisfies the cross-repo routing handoff; ops-warden routes the need here and does not need or store the raw token.

Coordinate with the ops-warden repo so warden route find points npm publish credential needs at secrets-engine, returning the secrets-engine route pointer rather than a value. This is a handoff/coordination task; the route catalog entry lives in ops-warden.

Acceptance:

• warden route find "npm publish whynot-design" returns the secrets-engine catalog id and the safe next command.
• ops-warden does not request or store the raw token.
• The handoff is recorded (State Hub message or progress note) so ownership is clear.

Exit Criteria

• The whynot-design lane is approved by a real State Hub decision, not a fixture.
• The real token is provisioned and verified without disclosure, behind a bot account whose enforced scope matches the catalog grant.
• A real @whynot/design version is published through secrets-engine exec.
• ops-warden routes npm credential needs to secrets-engine.
• Every minted bootstrap token has a revocation task in the hardening backlog.