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cfb1e44a7a762a12a0e547022632db15eb2460f5
ops-warden/SCOPE.md
tegwick ffc2722006 docs(WP-0010): sharpen mission to "issue SSH, route the rest" + pointer catalog 
Implements WARDEN-WP-0010 (charter + pointer catalog). ops-warden issues
short-lived SSH certificates and routes every other credential need to the
subsystem that owns it — no desk metaphor, one execution lane.

- wiki/AccessRouting.md: role/boundary, issue-vs-route matrix, anti-patterns
- registry/routing/catalog.yaml: machine-readable pointer layer (6 active + 1
  draft). No-double-source rule enforced structurally — authored steps/cert_command
  only on the warden_executes:true SSH entry; every wiki_ref anchor resolves
- wiki/CredentialRouting.md: catalog-keyed index + no-duplicate-interfaces note
- INTENT/SCOPE/AGENTS/repo-boundary/capability: aligned to the new framing;
  SCOPE notes A3 -> A4 lands with WP-0011 warden route CLI
- WP-0011/0012 + WP-0010: state_hub id writeback; WP-0010 marked done

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-18 20:44:53 +02:00

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SCOPE

This file helps you quickly understand what this repository is about, when it is relevant, and when it is not. Aspirational direction lives in INTENT.md.

One-liner

Operational access steward for the NetKingdom security model — issues short-lived SSH certificates for adm/agt/atm actors, documents how to obtain other credential types from the right platform subsystems, and keeps ops access guidance aligned with NetKingdom canon.

Where we are (2026-06-18)

ops-warden issues short-lived SSH certificates and routes every other credential need to the subsystem that owns it. SSH signing is production-verified on Railiance OpenBao (warden sign against https://bao.coulomb.social, host CA trust deployed). The routing material — wiki/AccessRouting.md, the credential routing wiki, NetKingdom security map, and a machine-readable pointer catalog (registry/routing/catalog.yaml, WARDEN-WP-0010) — is operational. The opt-in flex-auth pre-sign gate is coded but off in production until flex-auth publishes ssh-certificate policies (WARDEN-WP-0009).

INTENT alignment: SSH issuance mission met in production. Remaining distance is integration breadth (ops-bridge cert_command on live tunnels), authorization depth (flex-auth), and operator hygiene — not missing signing code.

Issue vs route

ops-warden executes exactly one lane and points at the owner for the rest.

Need Subsystem ops-warden role
SSH cert for host/ops access (adm/agt/atm) ops-warden Issue (warden sign)
API key / DB cred / dynamic lease OpenBao Route — point at path
"May I perform action X?" flex-auth Route — point at policy
Login / OIDC / MFA key-cape / Keycloak Route — point at IAM Profile
SSH tunnel / port forward ops-bridge Route — supply cert_command
Host principal deployment railiance-infra Route — point at Ansible

Full role and boundary: wiki/AccessRouting.md. The catalog is a pointer layer — it never restates an owner's procedure (authored steps exist only for the SSH lane).

Full gap analysis: history/2026-06-18-post-wp0008-intent-scope-reassessment.md

INTENT gap snapshot

INTENT success criterion Status
Worker knows which subsystem for each credential type Met
SSH short-lived, inventoried, audited Met (production)
ops-bridge integrates via stable cert_command Partial — contract yes; tunnels still static-key
NetKingdom evolution reflected in docs Met
Non-SSH secrets stay out of ops-warden Met

Maturity vector: D5 / A3 / C4 / R3 (Discovery / Availability / Completeness / Reliability)

Dimension Level Meaning today
D5 Discovery Routing wiki + security map + pointer catalog + NK canon cross-links
A3 Availability CLI + opt-in policy gate + machine-readable routing catalog; warden route lookup (A4) lands with WARDEN-WP-0011
C4 Completeness SSH lane prod-verified; flex-auth policies external
R3 Reliability Live OpenBao sign evidence on Railiance

Core Idea

Today: implements the SSH certificate lane from wiki/AccessManagementDirective.md §§1–5 — CA signing, actor inventory, TTL policy, cert-side scorecard, and the cert_command interface for ops-bridge. Production path uses OpenBao SSH engine (backend: vault).

Direction (INTENT): issue short-lived SSH certificates and route dev workers to key-cape, flex-auth, OpenBao, ops-bridge, and railiance components for everything else — implementing only the SSH certificate lane directly, pointing at the owner for the rest.

In Scope

Implemented (SSH lane)

  • Local CA backend (ssh-keygen -s)
  • OpenBao / Vault-compatible SSH engine backend (production-verified)
  • Actor identity registry (inventory.yaml)
  • cert_command: warden sign <actor> --pubkey <path> → cert on stdout
  • TTL enforcement per ActorType (adm 48 h, agt 24 h, atm 8 h)
  • warden status, cleanup, scorecard, signatures log
  • warden issue and ops-ssh-wrapper (local backend; vault uses sign-only)
  • Runbooks for OpenBao config and Inter-Hub bootstrap SSH envelope

Stewardship (documentation and alignment)

  • NetKingdom security routing guidance — which subsystem owns which credential type
  • Wiki and config references aligned with OpenBao-first platform standard
  • Capability registry entry for SSH certificate issuance
  • Keeping ops access patterns consistent with net-kingdom platform architecture

Shipped workplans

WP Focus
WP-0006 Credential routing, security map, inventory patterns, OpenBao checklist
WP-0007 Opt-in flex-auth policy gate (policy.enabled)
WP-0008 Production sign verification, stewardship closeout, archive hygiene
WP-0010 "Issue SSH, route the rest" wording + wiki/AccessRouting.md + pointer catalog

Active / wait

WP Status Focus
WP-0009 wait flex-auth ssh-certificate policies + policy.enabled production smoke
WP-0011 ready warden route lookup CLI over the pointer catalog (A3 → A4)
WP-0012 backlog Routing scenario playbooks (draft until owner paths ship)

Known gaps (not yet workplanned)

Gap Owner Notes
ops-bridge cert_command on live tunnels ops-bridge Tunnels use agt-claude-* static keys today
Operator token hygiene Operator Prefer OIDC + warden-sign; retire root from shell profile
Principals sync warden ↔ railiance-infra ops-warden + infra inventory.yaml hosts vs ssh_principals.yaml
NK-WP-0009 joint SSH tutorial net-kingdom Parallel coordination track

The integration-closeout strand (ops-bridge tunnel migration, token runbook) from reassessment §6 is not yet workplanned; WARDEN-WP-0010 was used for the access-routing charter instead. Open a new WP when tunnel migration becomes priority.

Out of Scope

  • Issuing non-SSH secrets (API keys, DB creds, S3 STS, Inter-Hub keys) → OpenBao with flex-auth policy where required; ops-warden documents paths only
  • Identity / OIDC / MFA → key-cape, Keycloak
  • Authorization policy decisions → flex-auth
  • Tunnel lifecycle → ops-bridge
  • Host principal deployment → railiance-infra
  • OpenBao / Vault cluster deployment → railiance-platform
  • Human admin SSH key generation (self-service ssh-keygen)
  • Session recording, SIEM, SSO / Teleport at scale

Relevant When

  • Issuing or refreshing an SSH cert for adm/agt/atm
  • A dev worker needs to know where to get credentials in the NetKingdom stack
  • ops-bridge needs a cert_command for a tunnel
  • Adding actors to the principals inventory
  • Inter-Hub or bootstrap tasks need a short-lived agent SSH envelope
  • Checking cert-side compliance (scorecard)

Not Relevant When

  • Storing or vending API keys or runtime secrets (→ OpenBao)
  • Policy decisions on resource access (→ flex-auth)
  • Managing tunnels without SSH cert issuance (→ ops-bridge)
  • Static-key-only legacy access (ops-bridge static key mode)

Current State

  • SSH CLI: v0.1.0 — local + OpenBao backends
  • Production sign: verified 2026-06-18 (history/2026-06-17-openbao-production-verify.md)
  • Policy gate: shipped, policy.enabled: false in prod until WP-0009
  • Active workplan: WP-0009 (wait — flex-auth)
  • Latest assessment: history/2026-06-18-post-wp0008-intent-scope-reassessment.md

How It Fits (NetKingdom)

key-cape / Keycloak     identity claims
        → flex-auth     authorization decisions
        → OpenBao       runtime secrets & dynamic credentials
        → ops-warden    SSH certs + operational access guidance
        → ops-bridge    tunnel transport (cert_command consumer)
        → railiance-*   deployment and host enforcement

Upstream: OpenBao SSH engine (production) or local CA (labs). Actor inventory in operator config or Git-tracked patterns.

Downstream: ops-bridge (primary), kaizen agents, CI automations, human operators.

Terminology

  • ActorType: adm | agt | atm
  • cert_command: shell command returning a cert on stdout
  • inventory.yaml: actor → principals + TTL registry
  • LocalCA / VaultCA: signing backends (backend: local | vault)

Related Repositories

Repo Relationship
net-kingdom Canonical security architecture; ops-warden aligns to it
ops-bridge Primary cert_command consumer
railiance-infra Host-side SSH principals and hardening
railiance-platform OpenBao deployment and platform secrets
flex-auth Authorization; opt-in pre-sign policy gate (policy.enabled)
key-cape Identity / IAM Profile lightweight mode
state-hub Workstream registry

Provided Capabilities

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; documents NetKingdom operational access routing;
  supports local CA and OpenBao/Vault-compatible SSH engine backends.
keywords: [ssh, certificate, ca, credential, warden, ops-warden, pki, openbao, vault, netkingdom]

Getting Oriented

Read first Purpose
INTENT.md Why ops-warden exists and where it is going
SCOPE.md What is implemented today (this file)
history/2026-06-18-post-wp0008-intent-scope-reassessment.md Latest INTENT ↔ SCOPE gap analysis
wiki/AccessRouting.md What ops-warden issues vs routes (role and boundary)
wiki/CredentialRouting.md Which subsystem for each credential need
registry/routing/catalog.yaml Machine-readable routing pointer catalog
wiki/NetKingdomSecurityMap.md Platform security component map
examples/warden.production.example.yaml Production warden.yaml template
wiki/AccessManagementDirective.md SSH actor model
wiki/OpsWardenConfig.md warden.yaml and OpenBao
wiki/CertCommandInterface.md cert_command contract
wiki/PolicyGatedSigning.md flex-auth opt-in gate
net-kingdom/docs/platform-identity-security-architecture.md Platform security canon
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