# certctl — Self-Hosted Certificate Lifecycle Platform

A self-hosted certificate lifecycle platform. Track, renew, and deploy TLS certificates across your infrastructure with a web dashboard, REST API, and agent-based architecture where private keys never leave your servers.

[![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-BSL%201.1-blue.svg)](LICENSE)
[![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/shankar0123/certctl)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/shankar0123/certctl)
![Status: v1.0.0](https://img.shields.io/badge/status-v1.0.0-brightgreen)

## What It Does

certctl gives you a single pane of glass for every TLS certificate in your organization. The **web dashboard** shows your full certificate inventory — what's healthy, what's expiring, what's already expired, and who owns each one. The **REST API** (55 endpoints) lets you automate everything. **Agents** deployed on your infrastructure generate private keys locally and submit CSRs — private keys never leave your servers.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    subgraph "Control Plane"
        API["REST API + Dashboard\n:8443"]
        PG[("PostgreSQL")]
    end

    subgraph "Your Infrastructure"
        A1["Agent"] --> T1["NGINX"]
        A2["Agent"] --> T2["F5 BIG-IP"]
        A3["Agent"] --> T3["IIS"]
    end

    API --> PG
    A1 & A2 & A3 -->|"CSR + status\n(no private keys)"| API
    API -->|"Signed certs"| A1 & A2 & A3
    API -->|"Issue/Renew"| CA["Certificate Authorities\nLocal CA · ACME"]
```

### Screenshots

| | |
|---|---|
| ![Dashboard](docs/screenshots/dashboard.png) | ![Certificates](docs/screenshots/certificates.png) |
| **Dashboard** — certificate stats, expiry timeline, recent jobs | **Certificates** — full inventory with status, environment, owner filters |
| ![Agents](docs/screenshots/agents.png) | ![Jobs](docs/screenshots/jobs.png) |
| **Agents** — fleet health, hostname, heartbeat tracking | **Jobs** — issuance, renewal, deployment job queue |
| ![Notifications](docs/screenshots/notifications.png) | ![Policies](docs/screenshots/policies.png) |
| **Notifications** — threshold alerts grouped by certificate | **Policies** — enforcement rules with enable/disable and delete |
| ![Issuers](docs/screenshots/issuers.png) | ![Targets](docs/screenshots/targets.png) |
| **Issuers** — CA connectors with test connectivity | **Targets** — deployment targets (NGINX, F5, IIS) |
| ![Audit Trail](docs/screenshots/audit-trail.png) | |
| **Audit Trail** — immutable log of every action | |

## Quick Start

### Docker Compose (Recommended)

```bash
git clone https://github.com/shankar0123/certctl.git
cd certctl
docker compose -f deploy/docker-compose.yml up -d --build
```

Wait ~30 seconds, then open **http://localhost:8443** in your browser.

The dashboard comes pre-loaded with 15 demo certificates, 5 agents, policy rules, audit events, and notifications — a realistic snapshot of a certificate inventory so you can explore immediately.

Verify the API:
```bash
curl http://localhost:8443/health
# {"status":"healthy"}

curl -s http://localhost:8443/api/v1/certificates | jq '.total'
# 15
```

### Manual Build

```bash
# Prerequisites: Go 1.22+, PostgreSQL 16+
go mod download
make build

# Set up database
export CERTCTL_DATABASE_URL="postgres://certctl:certctl@localhost:5432/certctl?sslmode=disable"
export CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE=none
make migrate-up

# Start server
./bin/server

# Start agent (separate terminal)
export CERTCTL_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:8443
export CERTCTL_API_KEY=change-me-in-production
export CERTCTL_AGENT_NAME=local-agent
export CERTCTL_AGENT_ID=agent-local-01
./bin/agent --agent-id=agent-local-01
```

## Documentation

| Guide | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| [Concepts](docs/concepts.md) | TLS certificates explained from scratch — for beginners who know nothing about certs |
| [Quick Start](docs/quickstart.md) | Get running in 5 minutes with accurate API examples |
| [Demo Walkthrough](docs/demo-guide.md) | 5-7 minute guided stakeholder presentation |
| [Advanced Demo](docs/demo-advanced.md) | Issue a certificate end-to-end with technical deep-dives |
| [Architecture](docs/architecture.md) | System design, data flow diagrams, security model |
| [Connectors](docs/connectors.md) | Build custom issuer, target, and notifier connectors |

## Architecture

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    subgraph "Control Plane (certctl-server)"
        DASH["Web Dashboard\nReact SPA"]
        API["REST API\nGo 1.22 net/http"]
        SVC["Service Layer"]
        REPO["Repository Layer\ndatabase/sql + lib/pq"]
        SCHED["Scheduler\nRenewal · Jobs · Health · Notifications"]
    end

    subgraph "Data Store"
        PG[("PostgreSQL 16\n14 tables\nTEXT primary keys")]
    end

    subgraph "Agents"
        AG["certctl-agent\nKey generation · CSR · Deployment"]
    end

    DASH --> API
    API --> SVC --> REPO --> PG
    SCHED --> SVC
    AG -->|"Heartbeat + CSR"| API
    API -->|"Cert + Chain"| AG
```

### Key Design Decisions

- **Private keys isolated from the control plane.** Agents generate ECDSA P-256 keys locally and submit CSRs (public key only). The server signs the CSR and returns the certificate — private keys never touch the control plane. Server-side keygen is available via `CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE=server` for demo/development only.
- **TEXT primary keys, not UUIDs.** IDs are human-readable prefixed strings (`mc-api-prod`, `t-platform`, `o-alice`) so you can identify resource types at a glance in logs and queries.
- **Handler → Service → Repository layering.** Handlers define their own service interfaces for clean dependency inversion. No global service singletons.
- **Idempotent migrations.** All schema uses `IF NOT EXISTS` and seed data uses `ON CONFLICT (id) DO NOTHING`, safe for repeated execution.

### Database Schema

| Table | Purpose |
|-------|---------|
| `managed_certificates` | Certificate records with metadata, status, expiry, tags |
| `certificate_versions` | Historical versions with PEM chains and CSRs |
| `renewal_policies` | Renewal window, auto-renew settings, retry config, alert thresholds |
| `issuers` | CA configurations (Local CA, ACME, etc.) |
| `deployment_targets` | Target systems (NGINX, F5, IIS) with agent assignments |
| `agents` | Registered agents with heartbeat tracking, OS/arch/IP metadata |
| `jobs` | Issuance, renewal, deployment, and validation jobs |
| `teams` | Organizational groups for certificate ownership |
| `owners` | Individual owners with email for notifications |
| `policy_rules` | Enforcement rules (allowed issuers, environments, metadata) |
| `policy_violations` | Flagged non-compliance with severity levels |
| `audit_events` | Immutable action log (append-only, no update/delete) |
| `notification_events` | Email and webhook notification records |
| `certificate_target_mappings` | Many-to-many cert ↔ target relationships |

## Configuration

All server environment variables use the `CERTCTL_` prefix:

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `CERTCTL_SERVER_HOST` | `127.0.0.1` | Server bind address |
| `CERTCTL_SERVER_PORT` | `8080` | Server listen port |
| `CERTCTL_DATABASE_URL` | `postgres://localhost/certctl` | PostgreSQL connection string |
| `CERTCTL_DATABASE_MAX_CONNS` | `25` | Connection pool size |
| `CERTCTL_LOG_LEVEL` | `info` | Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error` |
| `CERTCTL_LOG_FORMAT` | `json` | Log format: `json` or `text` |
| `CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE` | `api-key` | Auth mode: `api-key`, `jwt`, or `none` |
| `CERTCTL_AUTH_SECRET` | — | Required for `api-key` and `jwt` auth types |
| `CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE` | `agent` | Key generation mode: `agent` (production) or `server` (demo only) |
| `CERTCTL_ACME_DIRECTORY_URL` | — | ACME directory URL (e.g., Let's Encrypt staging) |
| `CERTCTL_ACME_EMAIL` | — | Contact email for ACME account registration |

Agent environment variables:

| Variable | Default | Description |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `CERTCTL_SERVER_URL` | `http://localhost:8080` | Control plane URL |
| `CERTCTL_API_KEY` | — | Agent API key |
| `CERTCTL_AGENT_NAME` | `certctl-agent` | Agent display name |
| `CERTCTL_AGENT_ID` | — | Registered agent ID (required) |
| `CERTCTL_KEY_DIR` | `/var/lib/certctl/keys` | Directory for storing private keys (agent keygen mode) |

Docker Compose overrides these for the demo stack (see `deploy/docker-compose.yml`): port `8443`, auth type `none`, database pointing to the postgres container.

## API Overview

All endpoints are under `/api/v1/` and return JSON. List endpoints support pagination (`?page=1&per_page=50`).

### Certificates
```
GET    /api/v1/certificates              List (filter: status, environment, owner_id, team_id)
POST   /api/v1/certificates              Create
GET    /api/v1/certificates/{id}          Get
PUT    /api/v1/certificates/{id}          Update
DELETE /api/v1/certificates/{id}          Archive (soft delete)
GET    /api/v1/certificates/{id}/versions Version history
POST   /api/v1/certificates/{id}/renew    Trigger renewal → 202 Accepted
POST   /api/v1/certificates/{id}/deploy   Trigger deployment → 202 Accepted
```

### Agents
```
GET    /api/v1/agents                     List
POST   /api/v1/agents                     Register
GET    /api/v1/agents/{id}                Get
POST   /api/v1/agents/{id}/heartbeat      Record heartbeat
POST   /api/v1/agents/{id}/csr            Submit CSR for issuance
GET    /api/v1/agents/{id}/certificates/{certId}  Retrieve signed certificate
GET    /api/v1/agents/{id}/work            Poll for pending deployment jobs
POST   /api/v1/agents/{id}/jobs/{jobId}/status  Report job completion/failure
```

### Infrastructure
```
GET    /api/v1/issuers                    List issuers
POST   /api/v1/issuers                    Create
GET    /api/v1/issuers/{id}               Get
PUT    /api/v1/issuers/{id}               Update
DELETE /api/v1/issuers/{id}               Delete
POST   /api/v1/issuers/{id}/test          Test connectivity

GET    /api/v1/targets                    List deployment targets
POST   /api/v1/targets                    Create
GET    /api/v1/targets/{id}               Get
PUT    /api/v1/targets/{id}               Update
DELETE /api/v1/targets/{id}               Delete
```

### Organization
```
GET    /api/v1/teams                      List teams
POST   /api/v1/teams                      Create
GET    /api/v1/teams/{id}                 Get
PUT    /api/v1/teams/{id}                 Update
DELETE /api/v1/teams/{id}                 Delete
GET    /api/v1/owners                     List owners
POST   /api/v1/owners                     Create
GET    /api/v1/owners/{id}                Get
PUT    /api/v1/owners/{id}                Update
DELETE /api/v1/owners/{id}                Delete
```

### Operations
```
GET    /api/v1/jobs                       List (filter: status, type)
GET    /api/v1/jobs/{id}                  Get
POST   /api/v1/jobs/{id}/cancel           Cancel

GET    /api/v1/policies                   List policy rules
POST   /api/v1/policies                   Create
PUT    /api/v1/policies/{id}              Update (enable/disable)
DELETE /api/v1/policies/{id}              Delete
GET    /api/v1/policies/{id}/violations   List violations for rule

GET    /api/v1/audit                      Query audit trail
GET    /api/v1/notifications              List notifications
POST   /api/v1/notifications/{id}/read    Mark as read
```

### Auth
```
GET    /api/v1/auth/info                  Auth mode info (no auth required)
GET    /api/v1/auth/check                 Validate credentials
```

### Health
```
GET    /health                            Server health check
GET    /ready                             Readiness check
```

## Supported Integrations

### Certificate Issuers
| Issuer | Status | Type |
|--------|--------|------|
| Local CA (self-signed) | Implemented | `GenericCA` |
| ACME v2 (Let's Encrypt, Sectigo) | Implemented (HTTP-01) | `ACME` |
| step-ca | Planned (V2) | — |
| OpenSSL / Custom CA | Planned (V2) | — |
| ADCS (Active Directory CS) | Planned (V2) | — |
| Vault PKI | Planned | — |
| DigiCert | Planned | — |

### Deployment Targets
| Target | Status | Type |
|--------|--------|------|
| NGINX | Implemented | `NGINX` |
| Apache httpd | Implemented | `Apache` |
| HAProxy | Implemented | `HAProxy` |
| F5 BIG-IP | Interface only (V2) | `F5` |
| Microsoft IIS | Interface only (V2) | `IIS` |
| Kubernetes Secrets | Planned | — |

### Notifiers
| Notifier | Status | Type |
|----------|--------|------|
| Email (SMTP) | Implemented | `Email` |
| Webhooks | Implemented | `Webhook` |
| Slack | Planned | — |

## Development

```bash
# Install dev tools (golangci-lint, migrate CLI, air)
make install-tools

# Run tests
make test

# Run with coverage
make test-coverage

# Lint
make lint

# Format
make fmt
```

### Docker Compose

```bash
make docker-up          # Start stack (server + postgres + agent)
make docker-down        # Stop stack
make docker-logs-server # Server logs
make docker-logs-agent  # Agent logs
make docker-clean       # Stop + remove volumes
```

## Security

### Private Key Management
- **Agent keygen mode (default)**: Agents generate ECDSA P-256 keys locally and store them with 0600 permissions in `CERTCTL_KEY_DIR` (default `/var/lib/certctl/keys`). Only the CSR (public key) is sent to the control plane. Private keys never leave agent infrastructure.
- **Server keygen mode (demo only)**: Set `CERTCTL_KEYGEN_MODE=server` for development/demo with Local CA. The control plane generates RSA-2048 keys server-side. A log warning is emitted at startup.

### Authentication
- Agent-to-server: API key (registered at agent creation)
- API key and JWT auth types supported; `none` for demo/development
- Auth type and secret configured via `CERTCTL_AUTH_TYPE` and `CERTCTL_AUTH_SECRET`

### Audit Trail
- Immutable append-only log in PostgreSQL (`audit_events` table)
- Every action attributed to an actor with timestamp and resource reference
- No update or delete operations on audit records

## Roadmap

### V1 (v1.0.0 released)
All nine development milestones (M1–M9) are complete. The backend covers the full certificate lifecycle: Local CA and ACME v2 issuers, NGINX/F5/IIS target connectors, threshold-based expiration alerting, agent-side ECDSA P-256 key generation, API auth with rate limiting, and a React dashboard with 11 views wired to the real API. The CI pipeline runs build, vet, test with coverage gates (service layer 30%+, handler layer 50%+), frontend type checking, Vitest test suite, and Vite production build on every push. 220+ tests total: 170+ Go tests across service, handler, integration, and connector layers, plus 53 frontend Vitest tests covering API client functions and utility helpers. Docker images are published to GitHub Container Registry on every version tag via the release workflow.

### V2: Operational Maturity
- **M10: Agent Metadata + Targets** ✅ — agents report OS, architecture, IP, hostname, version via heartbeat; Apache httpd and HAProxy target connectors
- **M11: Policy + Ownership** — crypto policy enforcement (key algo/size validation), certificate ownership tracking, dynamic device grouping, renewal approval UI
- **M12: DNS-01 + step-ca** — ACME DNS-01 challenges (wildcard certs, Cloudflare/Route53 adapters), step-ca issuer connector
- **M13: GUI Operations** — bulk cert operations, deployment timeline, inline policy editor, target config wizard, audit export
- **M14: Enterprise Connectors** — SSE/WebSocket real-time updates, F5 BIG-IP, IIS, ADCS, OpenSSL/Custom CA implementations
- **M15: Team Adoption** — OIDC/SSO, RBAC, CLI tool, Slack/Teams/PagerDuty/OpsGenie notifiers, bulk cert import
- **M16: Observability** — expiration calendar, health scores, compliance scoring, Prometheus metrics, deployment rollback
- **M17: Integrations** — MCP server (OpenClaw/Claude/Cursor), CT Log monitoring, DigiCert issuer, filesystem cert discovery

### V3: Discovery, Visibility & Cloud
Discovery engine (passive/active scanning, cert chain validation, Nmap/Qualys import, unknown cert detection, triage workflows), cloud targets (AWS ALB, Azure Key Vault, Palo Alto, FortiGate, Citrix ADC, Kubernetes Secrets), extended issuers (Entrust, GlobalSign, Google CAS, EJBCA, Vault PKI), ServiceNow integration, Ansible module, compliance mapping docs

### V4+: Platform & Scale
Kubernetes CRD, Terraform provider, multi-region, HA control plane, HSM support, LDAP auth, API key scoping, multi-tenancy

## License

Certctl is licensed under the [Business Source License 1.1](LICENSE). The source code is publicly available and free to use, modify, and self-host. The one restriction: you may not offer certctl as a managed/hosted certificate management service to third parties.