10 KiB
OpsBridgeFrs
Functional requirements specification for OpsBridge
OpsBridge Functional Requirements Specification
Operations Access Bridges for Humans and Automation Agents
Version: 0.1 Status: Draft Date: 2026-03-11
1. Definition
The OpsBridge Functional Requirements Specification (FRS) defines the externally observable behaviors and capabilities that the OpsBridge system must provide in order to support controlled operational access bridges between infrastructure components.
OpsBridge enables human operators and automation agents to establish, inspect, and manage temporary infrastructure access paths, typically realized through secure connectivity mechanisms such as reverse SSH tunnels.
This specification describes system behavior from the perspective of users, external systems, and observable outputs, without prescribing implementation methods or internal system design.
The FRS provides the functional contract that guides system design, development, verification, and operational validation.
2. Context
OpsBridge operates within infrastructure environments where controlled access between systems must be established dynamically for operational purposes such as diagnostics, maintenance, and remediation.
These environments may involve interactions between:
- human operators
- automation agents
- remote execution environments
- infrastructure control services
- identity management systems
The FRS translates the product intent defined in the OpsBridge PRD into precise functional expectations that describe how the system must behave when interacting with users, external services, and infrastructure components.
Within the system documentation hierarchy:
- PRD defines the product intent and scope
- FRS defines externally observable system behavior
- design specifications describe the internal architecture that realizes those behaviors
3. Core Concepts
Bridge
A Bridge represents a controlled operational access path between two infrastructure contexts.
The bridge enables connectivity between:
- a remote host environment
- a local service or endpoint
Bridges are created, monitored, and terminated through OpsBridge system functions.
Actor
An Actor represents an entity initiating a bridge operation.
Actors may include:
- human operators
- automation agents
- automated maintenance systems
Actor identity is used for operations attribution and auditability.
Target
A Target represents an infrastructure component that can be accessed via a bridge.
Targets may include:
- hosts
- services
- containers
- Kubernetes workloads
- operations control interfaces
Targets provide a structured orientation model for infrastructure access.
Bridge State
A Bridge State represents the externally observable operational status of a bridge.
Examples include:
- stopped
- starting
- connected
- degraded
- failed
Bridge state information must be visible to users and external systems.
Bridge Lifecycle Event
A Bridge Lifecycle Event represents a state transition or operational occurrence related to a bridge.
Examples include:
- bridge creation
- bridge connection established
- bridge disconnection
- health check failure
Lifecycle events must be observable through system outputs such as logs or status queries.
4. Scope and Non-Scope
In Scope
This specification defines functional requirements for:
- creation and termination of bridges
- inspection of bridge state and lifecycle
- actor attribution for bridge operations
- health monitoring of bridged services
- visibility of reachable infrastructure targets
- interaction with external identity systems
- generation of operational audit information
The FRS focuses on externally observable system behavior.
Out of Scope
The following aspects are intentionally excluded from this specification:
- technical implementation details
- internal system architecture
- specific algorithms or process models
- command-line interface layout or formatting
- performance or scalability characteristics unless functionally expressed
- security mechanisms beyond observable behavior
These aspects are defined in design and architecture specifications.
5. Functional Requirements
The following sections define the functional behavior required from the OpsBridge system.
Requirement statements are written in a declarative form suitable for verification.
5.1 Bridge Creation
FR-1 — Bridge Initiation
The system shall allow an actor to initiate the creation of a bridge using a defined bridge identifier.
FR-2 — Bridge Configuration Retrieval
Upon initiation of a bridge, the system shall retrieve the configuration associated with the specified bridge identifier.
FR-3 — Bridge Establishment
The system shall establish an operational access bridge according to the retrieved configuration.
FR-4 — Bridge State Notification
Upon successful establishment of a bridge, the system shall report the bridge state as connected.
5.2 Bridge Termination
FR-5 — Bridge Termination Request
The system shall allow an actor to terminate an active bridge.
FR-6 — Bridge Shutdown
Upon termination request, the system shall stop the active bridge.
FR-7 — State Update After Termination
After termination, the system shall update the bridge state to stopped.
5.3 Bridge Restart
FR-8 — Bridge Restart Request
The system shall allow an actor to request the restart of a bridge.
FR-9 — Restart Execution
Upon receiving a restart request, the system shall terminate the active bridge and initiate a new bridge using the existing configuration.
5.4 Bridge Status Inspection
FR-10 — Bridge Status Query
The system shall allow actors to query the operational status of bridges.
FR-11 — Status Reporting
For each bridge, the system shall report:
- bridge identifier
- current bridge state
- associated actor
- remote host
- uptime or connection duration if available
5.5 Bridge Lifecycle Monitoring
FR-12 — Disconnection Detection
The system shall detect when an established bridge becomes disconnected.
FR-13 — Automatic Reconnection
If a bridge disconnects unexpectedly, the system shall attempt to re-establish the bridge according to the bridge configuration.
FR-14 — State Reporting During Reconnection
During reconnection attempts, the system shall report the bridge state as reconnecting or equivalent.
5.6 Health Monitoring
FR-15 — Health Check Execution
The system shall support optional health checks associated with a bridge.
FR-16 — Health Status Reporting
The system shall report the result of health checks associated with a bridge.
FR-17 — Degraded State
If a health check indicates failure while the bridge remains connected, the system shall report the bridge state as degraded.
5.7 Actor Attribution
FR-18 — Actor Identification
The system shall associate each bridge with a defined actor.
FR-19 — Actor Visibility
The system shall include actor identification information in bridge status reports.
FR-20 — Actor Attribution in Events
The system shall include actor identity information in operations event records.
5.8 Infrastructure Target Discovery
FR-21 — Target Catalog Query
The system shall allow actors to retrieve a list of defined infrastructure targets.
FR-22 — Target Reachability Inspection
The system shall allow actors to inspect which bridges provide access to a given target.
FR-23 — Infrastructure Orientation
The system shall provide a representation of infrastructure targets and their reachable access paths.
5.9 Audit Logging
FR-24 — Lifecycle Event Logging
The system shall record lifecycle events related to bridges.
FR-25 — Actor Attribution in Logs
Audit records shall include actor identity information associated with bridge operations.
FR-26 — Operations Event Visibility
Operations events shall be retrievable by actors for inspection.
5.10 Identity Integration
FR-27 — Identity Provider Interaction
The system shall support interaction with external identity systems to obtain credentials required for bridge establishment.
FR-28 — Credential Use
The system shall use credentials obtained from external identity systems when establishing bridges.
FR-29 — Identity Attribution
The system shall associate the identity of actors provided by external identity systems with bridge lifecycle events.
External identity systems may include:
- privacyIDEA
6. Functional Constraints
The following constraints influence system behavior.
FC-1 — Configuration Dependency
Bridge operations depend on the existence of valid bridge configuration entries.
FC-2 — External Connectivity
Bridge establishment requires network connectivity to the remote host defined in the configuration.
FC-3 — Credential Availability
Bridge establishment requires valid credentials available through the configured identity integration mechanism.
7. Traceability
Each functional requirement defined in this document traces back to the product intent defined in the OpsBridge PRD.
Primary traceability relationships include:
| PRD Concept | FRS Requirement Group |
|---|---|
| Operations Access Bridges | FR-1 to FR-14 |
| Actor Attribution | FR-18 to FR-20 |
| Infrastructure Orientation | FR-21 to FR-23 |
| Operations Observability | FR-10 to FR-17 |
| Identity Integration | FR-27 to FR-29 |
This traceability enables downstream artifacts such as:
- design specifications
- system tests
- acceptance criteria
- validation procedures
to map back to the originating product requirements.
8. Related Concepts
The OpsBridge Functional Requirements Specification relates to several adjacent artifacts.
- Product Requirements Document (PRD) – Defines product intent and scope.
- Non-Functional Requirements (NFR) – Define performance, reliability, and security expectations.
- System Design Specification (SDS) – Describes the architecture used to implement the defined functions.
- Use Case Specifications – Provide scenario-level interaction descriptions for system behavior.
Together these artifacts form a layered documentation structure supporting the full system lifecycle.
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