Files
ops-warden/SCOPE.md
2026-03-28 00:45:43 +00:00

130 lines
4.7 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
# SCOPE
> This file helps you quickly understand what this repository is about,
> when it is relevant, and when it is not.
> It is intentionally lightweight and may be incomplete.
---
## One-liner
SSH Certificate Authority and credential issuance for the ops fleet — signs short-lived
certificates for `adm`/`agt`/`atm` actors; provides the `cert_command` interface consumed
by ops-bridge and other tooling.
---
## Core Idea
Implements `wiki/AccessManagementDirective.md` §§15. Owns the CA key, actor identity
inventory, signing logic, and scorecard. Two backends: `local` (ssh-keygen, for labs /
non-Vault use) and `vault` (HashiCorp Vault SSH engine, for production). Both expose the
same CLI surface and the same `cert_command` interface — callers never need to know which
backend is in use.
---
## In Scope
- Local CA backend (`ssh-keygen -s`) — fully functional without Vault
- Vault SSH engine backend — production-grade signing via Vault API
- Actor identity registry (`inventory.yaml`) — maps actors to principals and TTL policy
- `cert_command` interface: `warden sign <actor> --pubkey <path>` → cert text on stdout
- TTL policy enforcement per `ActorType` (`adm` 48 h, `agt` 24 h, `atm` 8 h)
- Certificate status inspection (`warden status`)
- Stale-cert cleanup and scorecard checks (cert-side; see §5 of directive)
- `warden issue` — generate keypair + sign in one step (for `agt`/`atm` actors)
- `ops-ssh-wrapper` script — wraps SSH commands with automatic cert acquisition
---
## Out of Scope
- Tunnel lifecycle management → `ops-bridge`
- Host-side principal deployment (`/etc/ssh/auth_principals/`) → `railiance-infra` Ansible
- SSH key generation for human admins (self-service: `ssh-keygen`)
- Vault cluster setup, HA, or PKI secrets engine
- Session recording, SIEM forwarding, audit log aggregation
- SSO / Teleport integration (trigger when §6.2 scale thresholds are hit)
- Host-side scorecard checks (password auth disabled, root login disabled) → `railiance-infra`
---
## Relevant When
- Issuing or refreshing a cert for any `adm`/`agt`/`atm` actor
- Checking cert validity or running the compliance scorecard
- `ops-bridge` needs a `cert_command` to be defined for a tunnel
- Adding a new actor to the principals inventory
- Bootstrapping the CA for a new environment
---
## Not Relevant When
- Managing tunnel lifecycle (→ `ops-bridge`)
- Deploying SSH principal config to hosts (→ `railiance-infra`)
- All access is via static keys with no TTL (ops-bridge static key mode handles this)
- Human admins manually managing their own certificates
---
## Current State
- Status: planned — WARDEN-WP-0001 not yet started
- Implementation: scaffolding only (models, config, CA, inventory, scorecard, CLI stubs)
---
## How It Fits
- Upstream: CA key (file or Vault); actor inventory in Git
- Downstream consumers: `ops-bridge` calls `warden sign` via `cert_command`; any other
tool needing short-lived SSH certs can use the same interface
- Often used with: `ops-bridge` (primary consumer), `railiance-infra` (host-side principal sync)
---
## Terminology
- `ActorType`: `adm` (human operator), `agt` (LLM agent), `atm` (deterministic automation)
- `cert_command`: shell command that a caller (e.g. ops-bridge) runs to obtain a cert
- `CertSpec`: signing request (actor name, pubkey path, TTL, principals)
- `CertRecord`: result of signing (identity, valid_before, cert_path, signed_at)
- `principals`: SSH roles embedded in the cert, matched against `/etc/ssh/auth_principals/%u`
- `inventory.yaml`: authoritative registry of actor → principals + TTL policy
- `LocalCA`: file-based CA backend using `ssh-keygen -s`
- `VaultCA`: Vault SSH engine backend
---
## Related / Overlapping Repositories
- `ops-bridge` — primary consumer; calls `warden sign` via `cert_command` in tunnel config
- `railiance-infra` — owns host-side principal deployment and host-side scorecard checks
- `the-custodian/state-hub` — domain/workstream registry
---
## Provided Capabilities
```capability
type: security
title: SSH certificate issuance
description: Issues short-lived CA-signed SSH certificates for adm/agt/atm actors via a
pluggable cert_command interface; supports local CA (ssh-keygen) and Vault SSH engine backends.
keywords: [ssh, certificate, ca, credential, warden, ops-warden, pki, vault]
```
---
## Getting Oriented
- Start with: `SCOPE.md` (this file), then `wiki/AccessManagementDirective.md`
- Config reference: `wiki/OpsWardenConfig.md`
- cert_command contract: `wiki/CertCommandInterface.md`
- Config files: `~/.config/warden/warden.yaml`, `~/.config/warden/inventory.yaml`
- State: `~/.local/state/warden/` (certs, generated keypairs)
- Entry point: `warden --help`
- Workplan: `workplans/WARDEN-WP-0001-initial-implementation.md`