Add HMAC auth, user permissions, snake_case rename

Each request is signed with HMAC-SHA256 over timestamp+body using a
per-user secret loaded from a --secrets file (never env vars or git).
Users have a canApprove list controlling who may approve queued actions.
Queue entries track submitted_by for permission checks on approve/deny.

Also renames all identifiers to snake_case throughout the codebase.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitignore

@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 node_modules/
+secrets.json

client/auth.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import { createHmac } from "crypto";
+
+export function sign_request(secret, username, body_string) {
+	const timestamp = String(Date.now());
+	const signature = createHmac("sha256", secret)
+		.update(timestamp + "." + body_string)
+		.digest("hex");
+	return {
+		"X-Conduit-User":      username,
+		"X-Conduit-Timestamp": timestamp,
+		"X-Conduit-Signature": signature,
+	};
+}

client/conduit.mjs

@@ -1,22 +1,35 @@
 // Conduit client module — import this when using conduit programmatically.
-// Designed for use by Claude or other tools that want to call conduit actions.
+// Usage: const client = create_conduit_client("agent", secret); await client.call_action("list-actions");
+
+import { sign_request } from "./auth.mjs";
 
 const BASE_URL = process.env.CONDUIT_URL || "http://localhost:3015";
 
-export async function callAction(action, params = {}) {
+export function create_conduit_client(username, secret) {
+	function auth_headers(body_string) {
+		return sign_request(secret, username, body_string);
+	}
+
+	async function call_action(action, params = {}) {
+		const body_string = JSON.stringify({ action, ...params });
 		const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/action`, {
 			method: "POST",
-		headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+			headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", ...auth_headers(body_string) },
-		body: JSON.stringify({ action, ...params }),
+			body: body_string,
 		});
 		return res.json();
 	}
 
-export async function listActions() {
+	async function list_actions() {
-	return callAction("list-actions");
+		return call_action("list-actions");
 	}
 
-export async function getQueue() {
+	async function get_queue() {
-	const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/queue`);
+		const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/queue`, {
+			headers: auth_headers(""),
+		});
 		return res.json();
 	}
+
+	return { call_action, list_actions, get_queue };
+}

client/index.mjs

@@ -1,25 +1,44 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 // Conduit client — thin CLI wrapper for Claude to call the conduit server.
 // Usage:
-//   node client/index.mjs <action> [key=value ...]
+//   node client/index.mjs --secrets /path/to/secrets.json --user agent <action> [key=value ...]
-//   node client/index.mjs list-actions
+//   node client/index.mjs --secrets /path/to/secrets.json --user agent list-actions
-//   node client/index.mjs edit-file filename=/workspace/foo.js
+//   node client/index.mjs --secrets /path/to/secrets.json --user agent edit-file filename=/workspace/foo.mjs
+
+import { readFileSync } from "fs";
+import { sign_request } from "./auth.mjs";
 
 const BASE_URL = process.env.CONDUIT_URL || "http://localhost:3015";
 
-async function callAction(action, params = {}) {
+function get_arg(argv, flag) {
+	const i = argv.indexOf(flag);
+	return i !== -1 ? argv[i + 1] : null;
+}
+
+async function call_action(action, params, auth_headers) {
+	const body_string = JSON.stringify({ action, ...params });
 	const res = await fetch(`${BASE_URL}/action`, {
 		method: "POST",
-		headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+		headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json", ...auth_headers(body_string) },
-		body: JSON.stringify({ action, ...params }),
+		body: body_string,
 	});
-
 	const body = await res.json();
 	return { status: res.status, body };
 }
 
-function parseArgs(argv) {
+function parse_args(argv) {
-	const [, , action, ...rest] = argv;
+	// Skip --secrets and --user flags and their values
+	const filtered = [];
+	let i = 2;
+	while (i < argv.length) {
+		if (argv[i] === "--secrets" || argv[i] === "--user") {
+			i += 2;
+		} else {
+			filtered.push(argv[i]);
+			i++;
+		}
+	}
+	const [action, ...rest] = filtered;
 	const params = {};
 	for (const arg of rest) {
 		const eq = arg.indexOf("=");
@@ -33,13 +52,36 @@ function parseArgs(argv) {
 }
 
 async function main() {
-	if (process.argv.length < 3) {
+	const secrets_path = get_arg(process.argv, "--secrets");
-		console.error("Usage: conduit <action> [key=value ...]");
+	const username = get_arg(process.argv, "--user");
+
+	if (!secrets_path || !username) {
+		console.error("Usage: conduit --secrets <path> --user <name> <action> [key=value ...]");
 		process.exit(1);
 	}
 
-	const { action, params } = parseArgs(process.argv);
+	let secrets;
-	const { status, body } = await callAction(action, params);
+	try {
+		secrets = JSON.parse(readFileSync(secrets_path, "utf8"));
+	} catch (err) {
+		console.error(`Cannot read secrets file: ${err.message}`);
+		process.exit(1);
+	}
+
+	const user_entry = secrets.users?.[username];
+	if (!user_entry) {
+		console.error(`User '${username}' not found in secrets file`);
+		process.exit(1);
+	}
+
+	const { action, params } = parse_args(process.argv);
+	if (!action) {
+		console.error("Usage: conduit --secrets <path> --user <name> <action> [key=value ...]");
+		process.exit(1);
+	}
+
+	const auth_headers = (body_string) => sign_request(user_entry.secret, username, body_string);
+	const { status, body } = await call_action(action, params, auth_headers);
 
 	console.log(JSON.stringify(body, null, 2));
 	process.exit(status >= 400 ? 1 : 0);

secrets.example.json

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+	"users": {
+		"agent": { "secret": "change-me-agent", "canApprove": [] },
+		"user":  { "secret": "change-me-user",  "canApprove": ["agent"] }
+	}
+}

server/actions.mjs

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Action registry — defines all available actions, their parameters, and policies.
 // policy: "auto-accept" | "auto-deny" | "queue"
 
-import { resolvePath, exec } from "./helpers.mjs";
+import { resolve_path, exec } from "./helpers.mjs";
 
 export const actions = {
 	"list-actions": {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export const actions = {
 		params: [{ name: "filename", required: true, type: "path" }],
 		policy: "auto-accept",
 		handler: async ({ filename }) => {
-			const resolved = resolvePath(filename);
+			const resolved = resolve_path(filename);
 			await exec("xdg-open", [resolved]);
 			return { opened: resolved };
 		},
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ export const actions = {
 		params: [{ name: "path", required: true, type: "path" }],
 		policy: "auto-accept",
 		handler: async ({ path }) => {
-			const resolved = resolvePath(path);
+			const resolved = resolve_path(path);
 			await exec("xdg-open", [resolved]);
 			return { opened: resolved };
 		},
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export const actions = {
 		params: [{ name: "path", required: false, type: "path" }],
 		policy: "queue",
 		handler: async ({ path }) => {
-			const resolved = path ? resolvePath(path) : process.env.HOME;
+			const resolved = path ? resolve_path(path) : process.env.HOME;
 			await exec("xdg-open", [resolved]);
 			return { opened: resolved };
 		},

server/auth.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { createHmac, timingSafeEqual } from "crypto";
+
+export function create_auth_middleware(users) {
+	return function hmac_auth(req, res, next) {
+		const username  = req.headers["x-conduit-user"];
+		const timestamp = req.headers["x-conduit-timestamp"];
+		const signature = req.headers["x-conduit-signature"];
+
+		if (!username || !timestamp || !signature) {
+			return res.status(401).json({ error: "Missing auth headers" });
+		}
+
+		const ts = parseInt(timestamp, 10);
+		if (!Number.isFinite(ts) || Date.now() - ts > 30_000) {
+			return res.status(401).json({ error: "Request expired" });
+		}
+
+		const user = users[username];
+		if (!user) {
+			return res.status(401).json({ error: "Unknown user" });
+		}
+
+		const raw_body = req.raw_body ?? "";
+		const expected = createHmac("sha256", user.secret)
+			.update(timestamp + "." + raw_body)
+			.digest("hex");
+
+		const sig_buf      = Buffer.from(signature, "hex");
+		const expected_buf = Buffer.from(expected, "hex");
+
+		if (sig_buf.length !== expected_buf.length || !timingSafeEqual(sig_buf, expected_buf)) {
+			return res.status(401).json({ error: "Invalid signature" });
+		}
+
+		req.conduit_user = username;
+		next();
+	};
+}
+
+export function check_can_approve(users, requester_name, submitter_name) {
+	const requester = users[requester_name];
+	if (!requester) {
+		return false;
+	}
+	return requester.canApprove.includes(submitter_name);
+}

server/helpers.mjs

@@ -4,10 +4,10 @@ import path from "path";
 const WORKSPACE_ROOT = process.env.CONDUIT_ROOT || "/workspace";
 
 // Resolve a path param relative to WORKSPACE_ROOT, preventing traversal.
-export function resolvePath(userPath) {
+export function resolve_path(user_path) {
-	const resolved = path.resolve(WORKSPACE_ROOT, userPath.replace(/^\//, ""));
+	const resolved = path.resolve(WORKSPACE_ROOT, user_path.replace(/^\//, ""));
 	if (!resolved.startsWith(WORKSPACE_ROOT)) {
-		throw new Error(`Path escapes workspace root: ${userPath}`);
+		throw new Error(`Path escapes workspace root: ${user_path}`);
 	}
 	return resolved;
 }

server/index.mjs

@@ -1,16 +1,37 @@
 import express from "express";
 import { actions } from "./actions.mjs";
-import { enqueue, getEntry, listPending, resolve } from "./queue.mjs";
+import { enqueue, get_entry, list_pending, resolve } from "./queue.mjs";
+import { load_secrets } from "./secrets.mjs";
+import { create_auth_middleware, check_can_approve } from "./auth.mjs";
 
 const PORT = process.env.CONDUIT_PORT || 3015;
 
-const app = express();
+function get_arg(argv, flag) {
-app.use(express.json());
+	const i = argv.indexOf(flag);
+	return i !== -1 ? argv[i + 1] : null;
+}
 
-// Validate that all required params are present.
+const secrets_path = get_arg(process.argv, "--secrets");
-function validateParams(actionDef, params) {
+let secrets;
+try {
+	secrets = load_secrets(secrets_path);
+} catch (err) {
+	console.error(`Fatal: ${err.message}`);
+	process.exit(1);
+}
+const { users } = secrets;
+
+const app = express();
+app.use(express.json({
+	verify: (req, _res, buf) => {
+		req.raw_body = buf.toString("utf8");
+	},
+}));
+app.use(create_auth_middleware(users));
+
+function validate_params(action_def, params) {
 	const errors = [];
-	for (const p of actionDef.params) {
+	for (const p of action_def.params) {
 		if (p.required && (params[p.name] === undefined || params[p.name] === null)) {
 			errors.push(`Missing required param: ${p.name}`);
 		}
@@ -31,7 +52,7 @@ app.post("/action", async (req, res) => {
 		return res.status(404).json({ error: `Unknown action: ${action}` });
 	}
 
-	const errors = validateParams(def, params);
+	const errors = validate_params(def, params);
 	if (errors.length) {
 		return res.status(400).json({ error: "Invalid params", details: errors });
 	}
@@ -50,25 +71,28 @@ app.post("/action", async (req, res) => {
 	}
 
 	if (def.policy === "queue") {
-		const id = enqueue(action, params);
+		const id = enqueue(action, params, req.conduit_user);
 		return res.status(202).json({ status: "queued", id });
 	}
 });
 
 // GET /queue — list pending items
 app.get("/queue", (req, res) => {
-	res.json(listPending());
+	res.json(list_pending());
 });
 
 // POST /queue/:id/approve — user approves a queued action
 app.post("/queue/:id/approve", async (req, res) => {
-	const entry = getEntry(req.params.id);
+	const entry = get_entry(req.params.id);
 	if (!entry) {
 		return res.status(404).json({ error: "Not found" });
 	}
 	if (entry.status !== "pending") {
 		return res.status(409).json({ error: "Already resolved" });
 	}
+	if (!check_can_approve(users, req.conduit_user, entry.submitted_by)) {
+		return res.status(403).json({ error: "Not authorized to approve this entry" });
+	}
 
 	resolve(req.params.id, "approved");
 
@@ -83,13 +107,16 @@ app.post("/queue/:id/approve", async (req, res) => {
 
 // POST /queue/:id/deny — user denies a queued action
 app.post("/queue/:id/deny", (req, res) => {
-	const entry = getEntry(req.params.id);
+	const entry = get_entry(req.params.id);
 	if (!entry) {
 		return res.status(404).json({ error: "Not found" });
 	}
 	if (entry.status !== "pending") {
 		return res.status(409).json({ error: "Already resolved" });
 	}
+	if (!check_can_approve(users, req.conduit_user, entry.submitted_by)) {
+		return res.status(403).json({ error: "Not authorized to deny this entry" });
+	}
 
 	resolve(req.params.id, "denied");
 	res.json({ status: "denied" });

server/queue.mjs

@@ -1,32 +1,32 @@
-// Pending queue — holds actions awaiting user approval.
-
 import { randomUUID } from "crypto";
 
 const pending = new Map();
 
-export function enqueue(action, params) {
+export function enqueue(action, params, submitted_by) {
 	const id = randomUUID();
 	const entry = {
 		id,
 		action,
 		params,
+		submitted_by,
 		status: "pending",
-		createdAt: new Date().toISOString(),
+		created_at: new Date().toISOString(),
 	};
 	pending.set(id, entry);
 	console.log(`\n[QUEUE] New request #${id.slice(0, 8)}`);
 	console.log(`  Action:       ${action}`);
 	console.log(`  Params:       ${JSON.stringify(params)}`);
+	console.log(`  Submitted by: ${submitted_by}`);
 	console.log(`  Approve: POST /queue/${id}/approve`);
 	console.log(`  Deny:    POST /queue/${id}/deny\n`);
 	return id;
 }
 
-export function getEntry(id) {
+export function get_entry(id) {
 	return pending.get(id) ?? null;
 }
 
-export function listPending() {
+export function list_pending() {
 	return [...pending.values()].filter((e) => e.status === "pending");
 }
 
@@ -36,6 +36,6 @@ export function resolve(id, decision) {
 		return null;
 	}
 	entry.status = decision; // "approved" | "denied"
-	entry.resolvedAt = new Date().toISOString();
+	entry.resolved_at = new Date().toISOString();
 	return entry;
 }

server/secrets.mjs

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import { readFileSync } from "fs";
+
+export function load_secrets(file_path) {
+	if (!file_path) {
+		throw new Error("--secrets <path> is required");
+	}
+	let raw;
+	try {
+		raw = readFileSync(file_path, "utf8");
+	} catch (err) {
+		throw new Error(`Cannot read secrets file at ${file_path}: ${err.message}`);
+	}
+	let parsed;
+	try {
+		parsed = JSON.parse(raw);
+	} catch (err) {
+		throw new Error(`Secrets file is not valid JSON: ${err.message}`);
+	}
+	if (!parsed.users || typeof parsed.users !== "object") {
+		throw new Error("Secrets file must have a top-level 'users' object");
+	}
+	return parsed;
+}