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groupsky merged 1 commit into from
Nov 6, 2026
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docs: warn that nodkey is work in progress and gives no guarantee #160

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26 changes: 23 additions & 3 deletions README.md
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -3,8 +3,28 @@
nodkey lets an AI coding agent use a secret or an SSH key only after a
person approves that one request on a phone.

**Status:** on 2026-10-15, the code of version 1 is on `main`, and the
test with a real Telegram bot
> [!WARNING]
> **nodkey is work in progress.** It is new, it has had no outside
> security audit, and it may have bugs that leak a secret. Do not use it
> as the only thing that keeps a secret safe.
>
> **nodkey does not protect you from a malicious agent once you
> approve.** It makes the agent ask before each use, and it keeps the
> keys off the agent's machine. But once you approve a request, the agent
> can read or keep that secret, or use that SSH login for other things.
> A tap helps only if you read the request well, and even then the
> command and the reason are only what the agent claims. Some ways to
> reach a secret skip nodkey: root on the broker host, a login to the
> secret store on the agent machine, or your Telegram account logged in
> there. The full list of limits is in
> [THREAT-MODEL.md section 5](THREAT-MODEL.md#5-what-nodkey-does-not-promise).
>
> nodkey comes with **no warranty**, as the [license](LICENSE) says. You
> use it at your own risk. We are not responsible for a secret that leaks
> or is lost, or for what an agent does with it.

**Status:** work in progress. On 2026-10-15, the code of version 1 is
on `main`, and the test with a real Telegram bot
([#17](https://github.com/code6x/nodkey/issues/17)) is done. The latest
release is on the
[release page](https://github.com/code6x/nodkey/releases/latest).
Expand All @@ -22,7 +42,7 @@ Try it on a test setup first. See the
- When the agent needs a secret, it runs
`nodkey run --secret GH_TOKEN=github-token -- gh release create v1.2.0`.
The value goes only into that one command's environment. nodkey never
prints it.
prints it, but the command itself can (see the warning above).
- When `ssh`, `git` or Ansible need a signature, `nodkey ssh-agent` sends
the request to the broker. The key stays on the broker.
- When a request needs approval, you get a Telegram message with
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