secrets-engine/docs/secret-use-evidence-contract.md
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Implement SECRETS-WP-0008 unblocked layer-model obligations
Load pep-stance.yaml as the live unreachable-engine gate and record named
stance fields on privileged evidence. Classify evidence, queue load-bearing
records in a local outbox, and add heartbeat/drain commands that never sit
on a mutation path. Publish proposed SSH-CA and secret-use evidence
contracts without adding an OpenBao SSH-CA write.

T02 (access-engine decision records) and T06 (no standing credential) stay
wait on external endpoints.

Assistant: grok
Assistant-Session: 01a04cea-cb33-7c63-bad7-c1b0f9f0076b
2026-08-29 12:52:55 +02:00

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3.3 KiB
Markdown

# Secret-use evidence engine contract (proposed)
Status: **proposed**. `layer.yaml` owner_status remains `proposed` until this
surface ships. kings-guard must assent or contest before it is treated as an
observation input.
Standard: NetKingdom Security Layer Model v0.7 §9.6. Companion:
`net-kingdom/SECURITY-COMPANION.md` §6.
## What this is
A read-only Lifecycle engine surface of **non-secret** lease, revocation,
mount, rotation, and delivery-session metadata, so kings-guard can evaluate
secret-abuse posture without a vault client.
`secrets-engine route` and `secrets-engine audit` are operator summaries over
local JSONL. They are not this surface.
## Bound (normative)
The archive proves the records it holds were not altered or truncated after
arrival. It does **not** prove a record was sent. Absence of a record is **not**
evidence of non-occurrence. Completeness is not claimed.
This surface cannot close adversarial omission at a compromised source. Cadence
for load-bearing classes is a heartbeat (`secrets-engine evidence heartbeat`),
not rate monitoring.
## Fields (non-secret)
| Field | Meaning | Freshness |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `as_of` | UTC timestamp of the snapshot | Snapshot time |
| `catalog_id` | Lane id | Catalog load |
| `stage` | `build` \| `test` \| `prod` | Catalog load |
| `kind` | `kv` \| `auth-capability` | Catalog load |
| `mount` | OpenBao mount name | Catalog load |
| `path` | KV path or allowlisted auth path, never a value | Catalog load |
| `field_names` | Declared field names, never values | Catalog load |
| `ready` | All declared fields present (boolean) | Last route/verify |
| `session_handle` | Accessor fingerprint only | Last exec/verify |
| `revocation_attempted` | Boolean | Last session |
| `revocation_succeeded` | Boolean | Last session |
| `lifecycle_operation` | `suspend` \| `deactivate` \| `destroy` \| `revoke` if one ran | Last lifecycle |
| `decision_id` | Present only where a decision was rendered | Last privileged action |
| `stance_stage` / `stance_failure_mode` | Named PEP residue | Last privileged action |
| `evidence_kind` | `load-bearing` \| `attributive` \| `heartbeat` | Per record |
Forbidden in this surface: secret values, tokens, passwords, AppRole
`secret_id`, raw accessors, certificate private keys, subprocess argv, and
exception prose.
## Freshness
Every row carries `as_of`. There is no cached authorization verdict. A consumer
must not treat a stale snapshot as a standing allow. Recommended maximum age
for posture evaluation is the heartbeat interval declared in
`evidence-classification.yaml` (`1d`) until a tighter contract is assented.
## Destination
Intended owner of custody is `audit-core`. Today the engine queues load-bearing
records in `evidence_dir/outbox/` and writes attributive records to local
JSONL. Drain to `audit-core` is best-effort and is never on the mutation path.
kings-guard reads this engine surface, not OpenBao.
## Non-responsibilities
This surface does not decide whether an action is permitted, does not expose an
approval-validity query, does not prove omission at source, and does not
observe production events kings-guard has not received. Companion §10 still
holds: nothing is observed in production until kings-guard reports otherwise.
## Assent
A coordination message to kings-guard records this contract. Assent or contest
belongs in kings-guard's own voice.