Files
certctl/docs
shankar0123 53e6de7db9 auth-bundle-1 Phase 9 + 10: approval-bypass closure + RBAC GUI
# Phase 9 — approval-bypass closure (Decision 9, option a)

* Migration 000033_approval_kinds.up.sql: ALTER TABLE
  issuance_approval_requests ADD COLUMN approval_kind +
  payload JSONB; relax certificate_id + job_id to nullable;
  CHECK (approval_kind IN ('cert_issuance','profile_edit'))
  + CHECK (per-kind nullability invariant) + index on
  approval_kind. Idempotent throughout via DO blocks.
* domain.ApprovalKind enum (cert_issuance / profile_edit) +
  IsValidApprovalKind. ApprovalRequest gains Kind +
  Payload []byte for the pending profile diff.
* postgres.ApprovalRepository.Create + scanApprovalRow extended
  to round-trip the new columns; certificate_id + job_id
  switched to sql.NullString so profile_edit rows persist
  cleanly. Default Kind=cert_issuance preserves back-compat
  for every Phase-7-2026-05-03 caller.
* ApprovalService.RequestProfileEditApproval: new entry point
  that creates a pending profile-edit row carrying the
  serialized profile diff. Bypass mode (CERTCTL_APPROVAL_BYPASS)
  short-circuits the same way it does for cert_issuance.
* ApprovalService.SetProfileEditApply hook: cmd/server/main.go
  registers a closure that deserializes req.Payload + persists
  via profileRepo.Update + emits a profile.edit_applied audit
  row with category=auth. The hook avoids the Approval ↔
  Profile import cycle.
* ProfileService.UpdateProfile: gates when (a) the live
  profile carries RequiresApproval=true, OR (b) the proposed
  edit would set it true. Returns ErrProfileEditPendingApproval
  with the new approval ID; ProfileHandler maps to HTTP 202
  Accepted + {pending_approval_id}. Both arms close the
  flip-flop loophole because every transition through an
  approval-tier profile fires the gate.
* TestProfileEdit_RequiresApprovalLoopholeClosed pins all 3
  bypass attempts (flip-off / kept-on / flip-on) gated; nil-
  approval-service preserves pre-Phase-9 direct-apply for
  test fixtures.
* Approval service tests gain 4 profile_edit rows: pending row
  shape; same-actor self-approve rejected with
  ErrApproveBySameActor (load-bearing two-person integrity);
  approve fails-closed when apply callback unwired;
  apply callback invoked on approve.
* docs/reference/profiles.md (new) explains the gate +
  edit response shape (202) + same-actor invariant + bypass
  + audit hooks.

# Phase 10 — RBAC management GUI

* useAuthMe hook (web/src/hooks/useAuthMe.ts): TanStack Query
  fetches /api/v1/auth/me on app boot, caches for 60s, exposes
  hasPerm(p) + hasAnyPerm + isAdmin predicates. Every Phase-10
  page consumes this on mount + gates affordances against the
  cached effective_permissions slice. Server-side enforcement
  is the load-bearing gate; client-side hide/disable is UX.
* New routes:
   - /auth/roles — list (auth.role.list); create-role modal
     (auth.role.create) hidden when missing.
   - /auth/roles/:id — detail + permissions; edit
     (auth.role.edit), delete (auth.role.delete), add/remove
     permission affordances each gated.
   - /auth/keys — list of every actor with role grants; assign
     + revoke modals (auth.role.assign). actor-demo-anon
     flagged system-managed; mutation buttons hidden for it.
   - /auth/settings — stub showing /v1/auth/me identity +
     bootstrap-endpoint availability via /v1/auth/bootstrap.
* AuditPage extended with category filter ('All categories'
  + the 3 enum values from migration 000032). Selection flows
  to the API call params + the URL-driven query state.
* Layout: 3 new nav entries (Roles / API Keys / Auth Settings).
* api/client.ts: 12 new exported functions for the RBAC
  surface (authMe, list/get/create/update/delete role,
  list/add/remove role permissions, list keys, assign/revoke
  key role, bootstrap-availability probe).
* data-testid attributes on every interactive element so a
  future Playwright suite can assert behavior without brittle
  CSS selectors.
* Empty state, error state, and unsaved-changes warnings on
  every form per the prompt's implementation rules.

# Frontend tests

* RolesPage.test.tsx (6 tests): list render, empty state,
  error state, hide-create-button-without-perm,
  show-create-button-with-perm, submit-create-modal.
* KeysPage.test.tsx (3 tests): demo-anon flagged
  system-managed (no buttons), permission-gated affordance
  hide for auditor caller, assign-modal-POST contract.
* AuthSettingsPage.test.tsx (2 tests): identity surface,
  bootstrap-OPEN-status surface.
* AuditPage.test.tsx (+1): category-filter select renders
  with the 4 documented options.

15 frontend tests total in src/pages/auth/ + the audit
category-filter test; all pass via npx vitest run.

# Verifications

* go vet ./... clean.
* staticcheck across internal/auth + handler + router + cli +
  service + repository + cmd + domain: clean.
* gofmt -l clean repo-wide.
* go test -short -count=1 green across internal/service,
  internal/api/handler, internal/api/router, internal/auth,
  internal/auth/bootstrap, internal/service/auth,
  internal/domain/auth, cmd/server, cmd/cli, internal/cli.
* npx tsc --noEmit clean.
* npm run build green (vite build produces dist/index.html
  + 946KB JS bundle; chunk-size warning is pre-existing).
* npx vitest run src/pages/auth/ src/pages/AuditPage.test.tsx
  green (15 tests, 4 files).
2026-05-09 21:03:59 +00:00
..
2026-05-05 18:18:29 +00:00

certctl Documentation

Last reviewed: 2026-05-05

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
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
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
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
Helm deployment Kubernetes installation via the bundled chart
Performance baselines Operator-runnable benchmarks for regression spot checks
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

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

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

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: ConceptsQuickstartExamples. About 90 minutes end to end.

Production operator: ArchitectureSecurity postureControl plane TLSDisaster recovery runbook. About 4 hours end to end.

PKI engineer: ACME serverSCEP serverEST serverIntermediate CA hierarchy. About 6 hours end to end.

Contributor: ArchitectureTesting strategyTest environmentCI pipeline. About 3 hours end to end.