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shankar0123
02438ad9e1
Twelve findings from the architecture diligence audit's Phase 3 bundle
closed in one PR. All touch the CI workflows + small doc-drift fixes
across the production Go tree + migration headers.
CI workflow changes
====================
TEST-H1 — Race detection on ./... -short
.github/workflows/ci.yml:106 was a 9-package explicit list. Audit
finding TEST-H1 flagged that 25+ packages (internal/auth/*,
internal/repository/*, internal/mcp, internal/scep, internal/pkcs7,
internal/api/router, internal/api/acme, internal/cli, internal/cms,
internal/config, internal/deploy, internal/integration,
internal/ratelimit, internal/secret, internal/trustanchor, all of
cmd/) silently dropped off race coverage.
Post-fix: 'go test -race -short ./... -count=1 -timeout 600s'.
76 testing.Short() guards already cover testcontainers + live-DB
integration suites, so -short keeps the long-running tests out.
TEST-H2 — Cross-platform build matrix
New 'cross-platform-build' job in ci.yml. Matrix:
ubuntu-latest + windows-latest + macos-latest, fail-fast: false.
Builds cmd/server + cmd/agent + cmd/cli + cmd/mcp-server on each.
Catches Windows-specific regressions (path separators, file
permissions, exec.Command semantics) the pre-Phase-3 Ubuntu-only
CI missed.
TEST-L1 — actions/setup-go cache: true (explicit)
setup-go v5 defaults cache: true; making it explicit so a future
setup-go upgrade can't silently flip it. Re-runs hit the Go module
+ build cache instead of recompiling cold.
TEST-M1 — Mutation-testing floor at 55%
security-deep-scan.yml::go-mutesting step rewritten. Removed
continue-on-error + per-package '|| true'. New post-loop check
extracts every 'The mutation score is X.YZ' line and fails the
step if any package drops below 0.55. Floor rationale: starter
ratio catches major regressions without rejecting the audit's
'this is OK' steady state; raise quarterly.
TEST-M2 — 3 advisory deep-scan gates promoted to blocking
Removed continue-on-error: true from:
- gosec (filtered to G201/G202/G304/G108 high-signal rules:
SQL-injection + path-traversal + pprof-exposed)
- osv-scanner (multi-ecosystem CVE; complements govulncheck
which is already blocking in ci.yml)
- trivy image scan (--severity HIGH,CRITICAL --exit-code 1)
continue-on-error count: 15 → 11.
ZAP / schemathesis / nuclei / testssl stay advisory because their
false-positive rates on https://localhost:8443-targeted DAST runs
are high.
TEST-M3 — Playwright harness stub
web/package.json adds '@playwright/test' devDep + 'e2e' / 'e2e:install'
npm scripts. web/playwright.config.ts ships single chromium project
with webServer block pointing at 'npm run dev'. web/src/__tests__/
e2e/smoke.spec.ts proves the harness wires through. The full 15-flow
suite ships in frontend-design-audit Phase 8 (TEST-H1 in THAT audit);
this is the wiring + a single smoke test as the regression floor.
New Makefile target: 'make e2e-test'.
Doc/code drift fixes
====================
TEST-M4 + ARCH-L2 — Skip inventory artifact + CI guard
scripts/skip-inventory.sh walks every t.Skip site under cmd/ +
internal/ + deploy/test/ and emits docs/testing/skip-inventory.md
grouped by package with file:line:expression triples. Current
inventory: 142 t.Skip sites, 76 testing.Short() guards.
scripts/ci-guards/skip-inventory-drift.sh regenerates and fails on
diff (excluding the 'Last reviewed' timestamp line which drifts
daily). The Markdown is the canonical acquisition-diligence artifact
for 'what tests are being skipped and why.'
ARCH-H3 — MCP catalogue floor reconciliation
Audit framing was '121 vs floor 150 — doc/code drift.' Live count
via the test's actual regex over all 5 tool files (tools.go +
tools_audit_fix.go + tools_auth.go + tools_auth_bundle2.go +
tools_est.go): 155 unique 'Name: "certctl_*"' declarations.
Pre-Phase-3 audit measured tools.go in isolation (121) and missed
the other 4 files (+34 unique names). The test at
internal/ciparity/surface_parity_test.go::TestSurfaceParity_MCP
passes today (155 ≥ 150). Added a clarifying comment near
mcpBaselineFloor explaining the measurement scope so future
reviewers don't repeat the audit's framing error.
STATUS: stale — no code drift, just a measurement scoping error in
the audit.
ARCH-L1 — panic() rationale comments
5 panic sites in production Go (excluding _test.go):
- internal/repository/postgres/tx.go:84
- internal/service/issuer.go:861 (mustJSON)
- internal/service/est.go:728 (mustParseTime)
- internal/service/acme.go:1288 (rand source failure — already documented)
- internal/pkcs7/certrep.go:270 (OID marshal — already documented)
Added ARCH-L1 rationale comments to the 3 sites that didn't have
them. All 5 are defensible impossible-path / rethrow / hardcoded-
constant guards.
ARCH-L3 — Migration IF-NOT-EXISTS carve-outs
4 migrations skip the literal 'IF NOT EXISTS' token but ARE
idempotent via different Postgres patterns:
- 000014_policy_violation_severity_check.up.sql: ALTER TABLE
ADD CONSTRAINT CHECK doesn't accept IF NOT EXISTS; idempotency
via DROP CONSTRAINT IF EXISTS preamble.
- 000018_audit_events_worm.up.sql: CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION
+ DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS + CREATE TRIGGER + DO $$ pg_roles
existence check. CREATE TRIGGER doesn't take IF NOT EXISTS.
- 000030_rbac_admin_perms.up.sql: INSERT ... ON CONFLICT DO NOTHING.
- 000039_audit_crit1_perms.up.sql: same INSERT + ON CONFLICT pattern.
Added ARCH-L3 header comments to each explaining the carve-out so
reviewers don't flag the missing literal token.
STATUS: largely stale — migrations are already idempotent.
ARCH-L4 — TODO/FIXME → see #<descriptor>
5 TODOs rewritten to the allowed 'see #<descriptor>' pattern:
- internal/repository/postgres/auth.go:220 → see #bundle-2-scope-fk
- internal/connector/discovery/gcpsm/gcpsm.go:547 → see #gcpsm-pagination
- internal/service/audit.go:244 → see #audit-pagination-count
- internal/service/job.go:295, 299 → see #validation-job-impl
New CI guard scripts/ci-guards/no-todo-in-prod.sh grep-fails any
new TODO/FIXME in cmd/ + internal/ (excluding _test.go); allows
'see #N' / 'see #<descriptor>' patterns.
Sandbox limitation
==================
The 6.1 GB certctl working tree fills the sandbox volume; go1.25.10
toolchain download fails with 'no space left on device' (sandbox has
1.25.9; go.mod requires 1.25.10). Local 'go test' / 'go build' NOT
run in this commit. Operator must run 'make verify' on their
workstation before push per CLAUDE.md operating rules.
The smoke.spec.ts NOT executed in the sandbox (no chromium installed).
Operator runs 'cd web && npm install && npx playwright install
--with-deps chromium && npm run e2e' on first wire-up.
All CI guards (no-todo-in-prod, skip-inventory-drift, G-3
env-docs-drift, doc-rot-detector, and every existing guard) verified
clean by running each individually.
Closes: cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-H1,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-H2,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-M1,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-M2,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-M3,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-M4,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-TEST-L1,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-ARCH-H3,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-ARCH-L1,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-ARCH-L2,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-ARCH-L3,
cowork/certctl-architecture-diligence-audit.html#fix-ARCH-L4
certctl Documentation
Last reviewed: 2026-05-12
The full docs index, organized by audience. Pick the section that matches what you need to do; each link below opens a focused doc rather than a wall of text.
For the elevator pitch and quickstart commands, see the repo README.md at the root. For the marketing site, see certctl.io.
Getting Started
You're new to certctl, just cloned the repo, or want to understand what it does before installing.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Concepts | TLS certificates explained for beginners — CAs, ACME, EST, private keys, the full glossary |
| Quickstart | Five-minute setup with Docker Compose, dashboard tour, API tour |
| Examples | Five turnkey scenarios — ACME+NGINX, wildcard DNS-01, private CA+Traefik, step-ca+HAProxy, multi-issuer |
| Advanced demo | End-to-end certificate lifecycle with technical depth at each step |
| Why certctl | Positioning vs ACME clients, agent-based SaaS, enterprise platforms; when to look elsewhere |
Reference
You're operating certctl in production or building integrations and need authoritative technical detail.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Architecture | System design, data flow, security model, deployment topologies |
| Profiles | CertificateProfile policy object — issuer wiring, EKUs, RequiresApproval gate (with profile-edit closure) |
| API | OpenAPI 3.1 spec, integration patterns, client SDK generation |
| CLI | certctl-cli command reference and CI/CD integration patterns |
| Configuration | CERTCTL_* environment variable reference (scheduler, rate limits, deploy verify, audit, agent) |
| MCP server | Model Context Protocol integration for AI assistants |
| Release verification | Cosign / SLSA / SBOM verification procedure |
| Intermediate CA hierarchy | Multi-level CA tree management — RFC 5280 §3.2/§4.2.1.9/§4.2.1.10 enforcement |
| Auth standards implemented | RFC + CWE evidence for the API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass surface (NOT a compliance-mapping doc) |
| Deployment model | Atomic write, post-deploy verify, rollback semantics across all targets |
| Vendor matrix | Tested vendor versions per target connector |
Connectors
The connector index is the canonical catalog (interfaces, registry, scanners, plus an inline reference per built-in). Per-connector deep-dive siblings cover operator-grade material — vendor edges, troubleshooting, rotation playbooks, when-to-use vs alternatives.
Issuers (13 deep-dives): ACME · ADCS · AWS ACM Private CA · DigiCert · EJBCA / Keyfactor · Entrust · GlobalSign Atlas HVCA · Google CAS · Local CA · OpenSSL / Custom CA · Sectigo SCM · step-ca / Smallstep · Vault PKI
Targets (15 deep-dives): Apache · AWS Certificate Manager · Azure Key Vault · Caddy · Envoy · F5 BIG-IP · HAProxy · IIS · Java Keystore · Kubernetes Secrets · NGINX · Postfix / Dovecot · SSH (agentless) · Traefik · Windows Certificate Store
Protocols
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ACME server | Run certctl as an RFC 8555 + RFC 9773 ARI ACME server |
| ACME server threat model | Security posture for the ACME server endpoint |
| SCEP server | RFC 8894 native SCEP server — RA cert config, multi-profile dispatch, must-staple, mTLS sibling route |
| SCEP for Microsoft Intune | Intune-specific deployment guide — NDES replacement playbook |
| EST server | RFC 7030 EST server — 802.1X / Wi-Fi enrollment, IoT bootstrap, channel binding |
| CRL & OCSP | RFC 5280 CRL + RFC 6960 OCSP responder for relying parties |
| Async CA polling | Bounded polling for async-CA issuer connectors |
Operator
You're running certctl in production and need operational guidance.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Security posture | Auth, rate limits, encryption at rest, key rotation, RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass, bootstrap |
| Secret custody | Where private keys live; FileDriver vs HSM/KMS; encryption wire format; env-seeded vs DB-seeded plaintext policy |
| Observability | Metrics surface, Prometheus exposition vs client_golang, tracing scope, log structure, rate-limit semantics across restarts/replicas |
| RBAC operator reference | Roles, permissions, scopes, scope-down + day-0 bootstrap |
| Auth threat model | API-key + RBAC + OIDC + sessions + break-glass — token forgery, session hijacking, IdP compromise, role-grant abuse, bootstrap-token leak, audit-mutation |
| OIDC / SSO runbooks | Per-IdP setup guides — Keycloak, Authentik, Okta, Auth0, Entra ID, Google Workspace |
| Control plane TLS | Self-signed bootstrap, operator-supplied Secret, cert-manager Certificate CR |
| Database TLS | PostgreSQL transport encryption |
| Approval workflow | Two-person integrity gate for high-stakes issuance + profile-edit closure |
| Helm deployment | Kubernetes installation via the bundled chart |
| Performance baselines | Operator-runnable benchmarks for regression spot checks |
| Auth benchmarks | Session + OIDC validation p99 targets and measured baselines |
| Legacy clients (TLS 1.2) | Reverse-proxy runbook for embedded EST/SCEP clients on TLS 1.2 |
Runbooks
| Runbook | When |
|---|---|
| Cloud targets | AWS ACM + Azure Key Vault deployment, debugging, rollback |
| Expiry alerts | Per-policy multi-channel routing matrix, severity tiers |
| Disaster recovery | CRL cache, OCSP responder cert, CA private-key rotation, Postgres restore |
| Config-encryption upgrade | Force v1/v2 → v3 re-seal across the database; passphrase rotation procedure |
| PostgreSQL backup | Operator-run backup recipe (docker-compose + Kubernetes); recommended cadence; quarterly DR dry-run |
Migration
You're moving from another cert-management tool to certctl, or running both in parallel.
| From | Doc |
|---|---|
| Certbot | migration/from-certbot.md |
| acme.sh | migration/from-acmesh.md |
| cert-manager (coexistence, not replacement) | migration/cert-manager-coexistence.md |
| Caddy ACME (point Caddy at certctl) | migration/acme-from-caddy.md |
| cert-manager ACME (point cert-manager at certctl) | migration/acme-from-cert-manager.md |
| Traefik ACME (point Traefik at certctl) | migration/acme-from-traefik.md |
| API keys → RBAC (v2.0.x → v2.1.0) | migration/api-keys-to-rbac.md — AUDIT YOUR API KEYS post-upgrade |
| Enable OIDC SSO | migration/oidc-enable.md — step-by-step OIDC onboarding for an existing API-key + RBAC deployment |
Contributor
You're contributing to certctl, running tests locally, or trying to understand the CI pipeline.
| Doc | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Testing strategy | What we test and why; per-PR fast gates vs daily deep-scan |
| Test environment | Local environment with real CAs (Pebble, step-ca, etc.) |
| QA prerequisites | Before running QA: stack boot, demo data baseline, env vars |
| QA test suite | qa_test.go reference for release QA |
| GUI QA checklist | Manual GUI verification pass for release |
| Release sign-off | Release-day checklist — code state, automated gates, manual QA, artefact verification |
| CI pipeline | CI shape, regression guards, adding new checks |
| CI guards | Per-class CI guards (code-shape, contract-parity, build/dep, operational); how to add one |
Archive
Historical docs preserved for reference. Most operators don't need these.
| Doc | Why archived |
|---|---|
| Upgrade to TLS (v2.2) | Pre-v2.2 HTTPS-everywhere upgrade procedure |
| Upgrade past v2 JWT removal | G-1 milestone JWT auth removal procedure |
Reading order by role
First-time operator: Concepts → Quickstart → Examples. About 90 minutes end to end.
Production operator: Architecture → Security posture → Control plane TLS → Disaster recovery runbook. About 4 hours end to end.
PKI engineer: ACME server → SCEP server → EST server → Intermediate CA hierarchy. About 6 hours end to end.
Contributor: Architecture → Testing strategy → Test environment → CI pipeline. About 3 hours end to end.