secrets-engine/SCOPE.md

# SCOPE

> Implemented capability boundary for agents and contributors. Aspirational
> direction belongs in `INTENT.md`; current work and operational gates belong in
> `workplans/`.
>
> **Layer declaration (accepted model v0.7):** Engine / Lifecycle. Machine-readable
> form: `layer.yaml`. PEP stance: `pep-stance.yaml`. This file states what the
> implementation currently does inside that layer; it does not restate doctrine.

## One-liner

secrets-engine is the Lifecycle engine for cataloged credential work: a
decision-gated Python CLI that validates non-secret lane metadata and
orchestrates narrowly scoped OpenBao policy, AppRole, provisioning,
verification, delivery, routing, handoff, and revocation actions.

It is a deterministic API over OpenBao, not a vault, not a policy decision
point, not an identity provider, and not a general secrets API.

## Implemented Capabilities

### Catalog and validation

- Loads YAML catalog entries for `kv` and `auth-capability` lanes.
- Models `build`, `test`, and `prod` stages, exact mounts/paths/fields,
  consumers, approvals, delivery modes, verification, lifecycle ownership,
  workload-delivery metadata, and `standard`/`high` risk.
- Distinguishes engine-managed and existing KV mounts, and engine-managed,
  existing, or absent native delivery auth.
- Rejects malformed entries, inline secret-looking values, wildcard paths,
  unsupported modes, bootstrap-only approval for high-risk lanes, and high-risk
  entries without rotation/deactivation owners.
- Records existing ESO/Kubernetes/OIDC workload delivery as metadata only; it
  does not operate those delivery systems.

### Decision-gated planning and OpenBao metadata apply

- Resolves a catalog lane by catalog id or `approval.decision_ref`.
- Resolves legacy lane decisions from State Hub by id, with tracked local YAML
  mirrors retained only for non-production and explicit throwaway demos. This is
  not an access-engine decision record.
- Fails every production live command closed while the two-artifact chain
  cannot be completed — today because approval-engine does not serve the
  approval-claim endpoint. That fail-closed row is the published
  unreachable-engine stance for `prod` in `pep-stance.yaml`. A local
  mirror can unlock a prod-labeled lane only when an explicit unsafe-demo
  switch, disabled Hub URL, and loopback OpenBao target are all present. Plans
  and `apply --dry-run` remain usable.
- Validates the two-artifact authorization chain, split by owning layer per
  `GH-DEC-2026-005`. The approval-engine **approval-claim** supplies the approval
  fact: issuer, `valid_now`, consumption state, freshness, `reason_code`, a
  required `binding.pdp_path` declaration, and the `pdp_digest` tie to this exact
  action. The flex-auth **DecisionEnvelope** supplies the decision: effect,
  structured binding correspondence to the proposed action, canonical request
  digest, lifetime, and the accepted policy package/version pin. Neither layer
  republishes the other's data, and validation is consume-only; this process does
  not evaluate policy.
- Compares the decision binding by structured correspondence rather than
  byte-equality, per flex-auth's published normalization rule: everything the
  engine proposed must survive unchanged, registry enrichment may add only
  `type`/`tenant`/`attributes`, and an enriched tenant must be the request
  tenant. The request digest is verified against the tuple the binding carries.
  The CheckRequest carries the package's `known_tenant`; an absent tenant is a
  `wrong_tenant` denial, not an ignored field.
- The `ActionAuthorization` object is **deferred and never ratified**
  (`FLEX-DEC-2026-006`); nothing validates it. There is no State Hub authority
  constant — State Hub is a read model and holds no runtime approval authority.
  The distinct-approver threshold is folded into `valid_now` by the issuer and is
  no longer an independent consumer-side check, which is correct on layering and
  a real reduction in what this engine verifies alone.
- Renders guarded OpenBao plans for exact consumer ACL policies and AppRoles.
- Applies policy and AppRole metadata idempotently. Existing mounts render a
  non-mutating check and are never created by apply.
- Rejects stage mismatches, wildcard paths, broad-admin names, forbidden
  `sys/`, token, identity, root, or sudo semantics, and auth-capability paths
  outside an exact allowlist.

### KV provisioning

- Imports one declared field from a mode-0600 file outside Git worktrees.
- Generates random values only for non-production lanes.
- Keeps values out of CLI output and evidence records.
- Uses a CAS-aware create/patch primitive. Secret data is passed through a
  mode-0600 temporary JSON input reference that is removed in a `finally` path,
  never as a raw subprocess argument. Existing-path updates preserve unmentioned
  sibling fields and stale-version writes fail closed.

### Verification

- KV positive verification logs in through the lane AppRole and reports field
  presence without printing values. With no `--field`, it checks every declared
  field; an explicit `--field` narrows the check.
- KV negative verification requires a real unrelated token supplied through a
  mode-0600 file outside Git and checks that it cannot read the path. Missing
  unrelated identity material fails closed without a backend probe.
- Auth-capability verification checks the AppRole token's capabilities on exact
  allowlisted and denial-probe paths.

These are bounded policy/presence probes. A throwaway OpenBao integration test
proves an overlapping unrelated policy is detected. Production still needs a
reviewed owner/source for each unrelated identity; the engine does not mint or
select that identity itself. Verification does not yet exercise a provider
operation or produce OpenBao audit-request correlation.

### Exec-time delivery

- `exec-env` fetches one declared field through the lane AppRole and injects it
  into a child process environment.
- `npm-config` creates a temporary mode-0600 npm config containing an environment
  reference rather than the token, injects the value only into the child, and
  deletes the config afterward.
- Child stdout and stderr are combined and streamed through token-pattern and
  exact-value redaction.
- Undeclared fields and undeclared/unsupported exec modes are rejected before
  value fetch.

The OpenBao KV response is parsed in the parent process, so every field stored
at the path crosses that process boundary even though only the selected field is
injected. Exec and verification use scoped AppRole sessions that explicitly
self-revoke in a `finally` path. Non-secret evidence contains only an accessor
fingerprint and establishment/revocation outcome; TTL/use limits remain cleanup
backstops.

### Auth-capability handoff

- Models narrow non-KV AppRole grants such as exact `ssh/sign/<role>` update
  capability.
- Mints `role_id`/`secret_id` material only after approval and writes it to
  distinct mode-0600 files outside Git worktrees without printing the
  `secret_id`.

The cataloged standalone `warden-sign` AppRole is currently parked by governance
and must not be applied as a break-glass or recovery path. OpenBao being sealed
cannot be recovered through that AppRole.

### Routing and evidence

- `route` returns a non-secret pointer containing lane ownership, decision
  status, metadata/value-presence booleans, missing declared field names,
  readiness, and a safe next command. Every declared field must be present.
- Records scrubbed local JSONL evidence and posts a minimal State Hub progress
  event on a best-effort basis. Posts carry stable idempotency/source headers.
  Each requested State Hub delivery receives an append-only local `delivered`,
  `queued`, `failed`, or `skipped-no-topic` companion record; edge-relay queued
  receipts retain only the non-secret outbox id. This trail is attributive:
  completeness is not claimed, and it is not `audit-core`.
- Every live privileged CLI handler records an attempt before lane-approval
  resolution and a terminal success, verification failure, rejection,
  interruption, or typed backend/input failure. Failure evidence contains the
  exception class and approval state, never exception prose.
- `audit` summarizes allowlisted local lane evidence: action/result counts,
  canonical decision references, session cleanup outcomes, and State Hub
  delivery outcomes. It never re-emits arbitrary evidence detail.
- Keeps OpenBao audit logs as the backend source of truth.

The engine recognizes edge-relay queued receipts but does not own or initiate
outbox replay. Direct State Hub failure remains locally visible. Route and audit
do not replace exact-action authorization or OpenBao audit logs.

### Steady-state service-auth scaffold

- Implements an explicit KeyCape `client_credentials` exchange for the
  accepted `secrets-engine-openbao` service identity.
- Reads the confidential-client secret only from a mode-0600 file outside Git,
  sends it through HTTP Basic authentication, and rejects ID/refresh tokens.
- Preflights the exact issuer, subject, audience, principal type, tenant, role,
  scope, assurance, RS256 algorithm, and 15-minute lifetime. The in-memory JWT
  is excluded from object representations and is renewed at the three-minute
  boundary.
- Never retries into or falls back to bootstrap, operator, or AppRole auth.

The CLI now has a named `service-jwt` provider that logs in through that
scaffold when the platform JWT mount/role contract is present, then
self-revokes the issued OpenBao token. Signature verification and token
issuance remain with the platform-owned exact-bound OpenBao JWT role, whose
mount/role contract is still outstanding. Until it is published, `--auth auto`
keeps named bootstrap/env providers and never treats them as a fallback from
service-jwt failure.
Treat their output as operational guidance, not complete attestation for
high-risk lanes.

### Revocation currently available

- For engine-managed native auth, live `revoke` deletes the AppRole and policy.
- For KV lanes, ordinary revoke explicitly preserves all KV metadata/versions.
- Externally managed delivery auth and workload delivery are reported as
  preserved and are not mutated.
- `lifecycle suspend` removes only the managed AppRole and preserves its policy
  for reviewed re-apply.
- `lifecycle deactivate` removes managed native AppRole/policy objects while
  preserving KV custody.
- `lifecycle destroy --dry-run` renders managed-auth removal plus irreversible
  KV metadata deletion. Live destroy is currently disabled even with exact
  catalog-id confirmation; it will remain closed until the canonical
  exact-action approval contract in `SECRETS-WP-0007-T04` is enforced.

These operations do not manage external workload delivery. `session revoke`
revokes an already-issued token accessor or lease id the operator already
holds; evidence is fingerprint-only. `rotate` replaces one declared KV field
through the merge-safe write path. Persistent overlay states
(`active`/`suspended`/`deactivated`/`compromised`) live under the evidence
directory; they do not recreate OpenBao objects and do not rotate provider
credentials.

## CLI Surface

```text
secrets-engine catalog list|show
secrets-engine decision inspect
secrets-engine plan
secrets-engine apply [--dry-run]
secrets-engine provision
secrets-engine verify
secrets-engine handoff
secrets-engine exec
secrets-engine policy publication
secrets-engine route
secrets-engine revoke [--dry-run]
secrets-engine lifecycle suspend|deactivate|destroy
secrets-engine audit <catalog-id> [--json]
secrets-engine evidence heartbeat|drain|classify
```

The implemented exec adapters are `exec-env`, `npm-config`, and `exec-file`.
`read-check` is verification and `approle-login` is auth-capability handoff
metadata. `secrets-engine wrap` implements response-wrapped operator handoff.

## Proven Operationally

- The whynot-design npm pilot completed a real publish through native
  `secrets-engine exec` without placing the token in the parent shell.
- Throwaway OpenBao integration tests exercise plan, apply, provisioning,
  positive/negative verification, exec delivery, routing, revocation, and
  idempotent metadata apply.
- Five existing high-risk `platform` mount lanes have reviewed catalog metadata
  and guarded dry-run plans. Their native AppRoles are not live: workplan
  `SECRETS-WP-0006` waits on per-lane approval, production authority, live
  positive/negative verification, and routing cutover.

## Not Implemented

- A service API, daemon, UI, queue, scheduler, or remote multi-user service.
- Platform JWT mount/role materialization for the implemented KeyCape
  service-auth / `service-jwt` provider.
- Provider-side / workload consumer rotation. Overlay lane state is local and
  non-secret only; it is not an OpenBao-side state machine.
- Protocol step 1 in production: approval-engine does not yet serve the
  approval-claim endpoint (`APPROVAL-WP-0002-T03`), so `resolve_consume_binding`
  returns no binding and live production remains fail-closed. Step 2 is served
  and proven — a real CheckRequest against the deployed `flex-auth-secrets-engine`
  pin returns a validated v2 decision over the owner-documented access path
  (`docs/pdp-access-path.md`).
- Responder authentication for the decision channel. `flex-auth.decision-record.v1`
  carries no signature and pins serve plain HTTP, so a responder knowing the
  published package and version could return a well-formed allow. Fail-closed
  protects against a PDP that is absent, not one that lies (`FLEX-DEC-2026-010`).
  The enforced loopback address shape stands in for this until `FLEX-WP-0024`
  ships detached signatures.
- Direct access-engine evaluation, JWT signature verification, or identity
  authentication. KeyCape claims receive only a consumer preflight; OpenBao is
  responsible for cryptographic JWT validation.
- Runtime tenancy isolation; `org`, `repo`, consumers, and stages are catalog
  metadata plus local path/policy guards, not a tenant control plane.
- Management or health verification of ESO, Kubernetes Secrets, deployments,
  provider accounts, SSH issuance, tunnels, or remote transport.
- Any backend other than the local `bao`/`vault` CLI speaking to OpenBao.
- An SSH-CA signing engine API. The contract is
  `docs/ssh-ca-signing-contract.md`; ops-warden still signs through its
  declared OpenBao gap.
- A secret-use evidence engine API for kings-guard. The contract is
  `docs/secret-use-evidence-contract.md`. `route` and `audit` are operator
  summaries over local JSONL, not that observation surface.
- Emission to `audit-core`. Load-bearing records are queued locally; drain
  requires a sender binding that does not exist yet. Completeness is not
  claimed.
- Security-zone membership as a request claim. PEP scope is catalog stage.
- Drain of the load-bearing outbox into a live `audit-core` sender binding.

## System Boundary

- **OpenBao / railiance-platform** (Tooling) owns custody, policy enforcement,
  leases, and backend audit. secrets-engine is the Lifecycle API over it.
- **access-engine (`flex-auth`)** owns authorization decisions. secrets-engine
  consumes a decision record or applies its published unreachable-engine stance;
  it does not evaluate policy.
- **approval-engine** owns the durable approval object. secrets-engine may
  consume an approval as an input claim and must not store or mutate one.
- **gate-house** owns security doctrine. Doctrine reaches this engine only as it
  already reached the decision, never as a side channel.
- **audit-core** owns evidence custody and integrity. Local JSONL and State Hub
  notes are not that archive.
- **user-engine / key-cape** own identity, OIDC, MFA, and claims.
- **ops-warden** issues SSH certificates (Staff PEP) and routes non-SSH
  credential needs here; it does not vend their values. The SSH-CA write
  surface is a proposed engine API, not a transferred lane.
- **ops-bridge** owns tunnels and remote execution transport and may consume a
  scoped delivery path.
- **workload/platform repositories** own ESO/Kubernetes delivery, provider
  rotation, and application health.
- **info-tech-canon / net-kingdom** own canonical terminology and the
  cross-system security boundary. **gate-house** owns the layer model.

Canonical boundary:
`net-kingdom/docs/secrets-engine-security-infrastructure-boundary.md`.
Layer model: `net-kingdom/canon/standards/security-layer-model_v0.7.md`.
Working companion: `net-kingdom/SECURITY-COMPANION.md`.

## Security Rules

- Never place raw secret values in Git, State Hub, chat, prompts, workplans,
  normal logs, or evidence.
- Never render or cache an authorization decision. Catalog admission, a dry-run,
  an old workload CCR, or a local fixture is not an access-engine allow.
- Never treat silence from `access-engine` as permission. Production live
  actions fail closed; any unreachable-engine residue must be the published
  stance, recorded, never implicit.
- Never mutate an existing shared mount or replace workload delivery by
  implication.
- Never add KV destruction back to ordinary `revoke`; irreversible custody
  destruction requires `lifecycle destroy`, exact confirmation, and a distinct
  approved action. The live path remains disabled until that approval contract
  exists.
- Keep bootstrap and handoff material outside repositories with mode 0600 and
  explicit expiry/revocation handling. Bootstrap is not an implicit fallback
  from service identity.
- Never claim that local evidence or a missing record proves occurrence or
  non-occurrence. Completeness is not claimed.

## Layer-model obligations (current vs intended)

| Obligation | Current | Intended |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Layer declaration | `INTENT.md` frontmatter + `layer.yaml` | Keep in this repository's own voice |
| One decision point | Two-artifact consumer validation (approval-claim + DecisionEnvelope); step 2 proven against the deployed pin, step 1 unserved so production live stays fail-closed from `pep-stance.yaml` | Consume an access-engine decision record before every protected side effect |
| PEP stance | Runtime loads `pep-stance.yaml`; named stance fields on privileged evidence | Unchanged map; T02 replaces fail-open residue with a decision record |
| Evidence bound | `evidence-classification.yaml`; load-bearing local outbox; heartbeat command | Drain to `audit-core` once that sender is admitted |
| SSH-CA surface | Contract at `docs/ssh-ca-signing-contract.md`; not shipped | Engine API after ops-warden assent |
| Secret-use evidence | Contract at `docs/secret-use-evidence-contract.md`; not shipped | Engine surface after kings-guard assent |
| Agent credential | Bootstrap token file still accepted; KeyCape scaffold unwired to OpenBao | Per-task, time-bounded service identity; no standing engine credential |

## Where Current Work Lives

- `workplans/` is the source of truth for open work and operational gates.
- `docs/hardening-backlog.md` tracks exit from bootstrap mode.
- `history/` contains dated capability and intent assessments.
- `INTENT.md` remains the stable aspirational direction.
- `layer.yaml`, `pep-stance.yaml`, and `evidence-classification.yaml` are the
  layer-model declaration surface.

## Provided Capabilities

```capability
type: security
title: Guarded OpenBao lane planning and metadata apply
description: Validates cataloged KV and auth-capability lanes, renders exact policy/AppRole plans,
  and applies approved metadata while rejecting missing decisions, stage mismatches, wildcards,
  broad-admin names, and forbidden capability paths. Existing mounts are check-only.
keywords: [secrets, openbao, policy, approle, catalog, decision, stage, least-privilege]
```

```capability
type: security
title: AppRole-scoped exec delivery
description: Fetches one declared KV field through a lane AppRole and injects it into a child
  process using exec-env or a temporary npm config, with output redaction, explicit scoped-token
  self-revocation, and non-secret cleanup evidence. This is CLI-local delivery; exec-file, wrapping,
  and service delivery are absent.
keywords: [secrets, delivery, exec, npm, injection, redaction, openbao]
```

```capability
type: security
title: Scoped OpenBao auth-capability handoff
description: Generates an exact-path policy/AppRole plan and writes role-id/secret-id material to
  strict out-of-repo files after approval. Operational use remains subject to lane-specific governance.
keywords: [openbao, approle, auth-capability, handoff, least-privilege]
```

```capability
type: governance
title: Non-secret routing and evidence pointers
description: Reports decision/readiness metadata and records scrubbed local and best-effort State Hub
  evidence without returning secret values. Append-only delivery receipts expose State Hub failures,
  and an allowlisted audit command summarizes lane operations and cleanup. KV verification can attest a
  supplied real unrelated identity, but the engine does not own identity selection. This is attributive
  local evidence, not audit-core and not a secret-use observation API.
keywords: [routing, evidence, state-hub, audit, secrets]
```