Picoclaw Security Guardian#

Detailed architecture/operator docs: wiki/modules/picoclaw-security-guardian.md.

Vercel Skills Installation#

Install with the Vercel Skills CLI for this harness:

bash

npx skills add prompt-security/clawsec --skill picoclaw-security-guardian -a openclaw -y

Release Artifact Verification#

For standalone installs, verify the signed release manifest before trusting SKILL.md, skill.json, or the archive. The skill.json file is the package metadata/SBOM source, and the release pipeline signs checksums.json with the ClawSec release key.

bash

set -euo pipefail

SKILL_NAME="picoclaw-security-guardian"
VERSION="0.0.6"
REPO="prompt-security/clawsec"
TAG="${SKILL_NAME}-v${VERSION}"
BASE="https://github.com/${REPO}/releases/download/${TAG}"
ZIP_NAME="${SKILL_NAME}-v${VERSION}.zip"
TMP_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
trap 'rm -rf "$TMP_DIR"' EXIT

RELEASE_PUBKEY_SHA256="711424e4535f84093fefb024cd1ca4ec87439e53907b305b79a631d5befba9c8"

curl -fsSL "$BASE/checksums.json" -o "$TMP_DIR/checksums.json"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/checksums.sig" -o "$TMP_DIR/checksums.sig"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/signing-public.pem" -o "$TMP_DIR/signing-public.pem"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/$ZIP_NAME" -o "$TMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/SKILL.md" -o "$TMP_DIR/SKILL.md"
curl -fsSL "$BASE/skill.json" -o "$TMP_DIR/skill.json"

ACTUAL_PUBKEY_SHA256="$(openssl pkey -pubin -in "$TMP_DIR/signing-public.pem" -outform DER | shasum -a 256 | awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "$ACTUAL_PUBKEY_SHA256" != "$RELEASE_PUBKEY_SHA256" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: signing-public.pem fingerprint mismatch" >&2
  exit 1
fi

openssl base64 -d -A -in "$TMP_DIR/checksums.sig" -out "$TMP_DIR/checksums.sig.bin"
openssl pkeyutl -verify -rawin -pubin \
  -inkey "$TMP_DIR/signing-public.pem" \
  -sigfile "$TMP_DIR/checksums.sig.bin" \
  -in "$TMP_DIR/checksums.json" >/dev/null

hash_file() {
  if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    shasum -a 256 "$1" | awk '{print $1}'
  else
    sha256sum "$1" | awk '{print $1}'
  fi
}

verify_manifest_file() {
  asset="$1"
  path="$2"
  expected="$(jq -r --arg asset "$asset" '.files[$asset].sha256 // empty' "$TMP_DIR/checksums.json")"
  if [ -z "$expected" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: checksums.json missing $asset" >&2
    exit 1
  fi
  actual="$(hash_file "$path")"
  if [ "$actual" != "$expected" ]; then
    echo "ERROR: checksum mismatch for $asset" >&2
    exit 1
  fi
}

expected_archive="$(jq -r '.archive.sha256 // empty' "$TMP_DIR/checksums.json")"
if [ -z "$expected_archive" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: checksums.json missing archive.sha256" >&2
  exit 1
fi
actual_archive="$(hash_file "$TMP_DIR/$ZIP_NAME")"
if [ "$actual_archive" != "$expected_archive" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: archive checksum mismatch" >&2
  exit 1
fi

verify_manifest_file "SKILL.md" "$TMP_DIR/SKILL.md"
verify_manifest_file "skill.json" "$TMP_DIR/skill.json"

echo "Signed release manifest, archive, SKILL.md, and skill.json verified."

Only install or extract the archive after this verification succeeds.

Goal#

Provide Picoclaw with the same support-matrix security capabilities ClawSec tracks for mature platform modules:

Skill namesupported platformsecurity feedconfig driftagent posture-review lanechain of supply verificationpicoclaw-security-guardianPicoclawYesYesSeparate packageYes

Threat model#

Picoclaw is a lightweight AI gateway that can expose chat channels, a Web UI, tool execution, MCP servers, credentials, schedulers, and embedded/router deployments. This skill focuses on the trust boundaries where those features become security-sensitive.

Default safety posture#

• Read-only by default.
• No scheduler creation in v0.0.1.
• No outbound network by default.
• Writes only explicit report/profile outputs under $PICOCLAW_HOME/security/clawsec/ unless the operator supplies test-local temporary paths.
• Advisory checks fail closed when verification state is not verified unless the operator passes --allow-unsigned for a documented emergency/offline window.

Security advisory awareness#

Use scripts/check_advisories.mjs with a local feed/cache and verification state:

bash

node scripts/check_advisories.mjs   --feed ~/.picoclaw/security/clawsec/feed.json   --state ~/.picoclaw/security/clawsec/feed-verification-state.json

The script filters advisories for picoclaw, ai-gateway, empty/all-platform advisories, or affected package entries containing picoclaw. The expected feed input is the consolidated signed ClawSec advisory feed, so it can contain NVD CVEs, approved community advisories, and provisional GHSA-without-CVE records.

Drift protection#

Generate a deterministic profile:

bash

node scripts/generate_profile.mjs   --output ~/.picoclaw/security/clawsec/current-profile.json

Compare against an approved baseline:

bash

node scripts/check_drift.mjs   --baseline ~/.picoclaw/security/clawsec/baseline-profile.json   --current ~/.picoclaw/security/clawsec/current-profile.json   --fail-on critical

Critical drift includes public Web UI enablement, Web UI auth disablement, workspace restriction disablement, unsigned/insecure verification mode, verified-feed regression, and watched-file/release-artifact fingerprint changes.

Chain-of-supply verification#

Verify a Picoclaw release artifact against a checksum manifest plus detached signature. Signed manifest verification is required for a passing supply-chain verdict:

bash

node scripts/verify_supply_chain.mjs \
  --artifact ./picoclaw \
  --checksums ./checksums.json \
  --signature ./checksums.json.sig \
  --public-key ./feed-signing-public.pem

Checksum-only mode is integrity-only, not provenance. Use --allow-unsigned-checksums only for short, documented offline triage windows; it should not satisfy production install verification.

Operator review notes#

• Treat public UI binding ( 0.0.0.0, -public) as a critical review item until auth and network allowlists are proven.
• Treat MCP servers as separate trust boundaries; review each server's filesystem, network, and credential access.
• Treat third-party OpenWrt/LuCI wrappers as separate supply-chain artifacts. Verify provenance before installing them on routers.
• Never leave unsigned advisory mode enabled in recurring or production checks.

Validation#

bash

python utils/validate_skill.py skills/picoclaw-security-guardian
node skills/picoclaw-security-guardian/test/profile.test.mjs
node skills/picoclaw-security-guardian/test/drift.test.mjs
node skills/picoclaw-security-guardian/test/supply_chain.test.mjs
bash -n skills/picoclaw-security-guardian/test/picoclaw_security_guardian_sandbox_regression.sh

Pre-release install regression#

Before publishing v0.0.1 release artifacts, run the isolated install lane from the repo root:

bash

skills/picoclaw-security-guardian/test/picoclaw_security_guardian_sandbox_regression.sh

The regression installs the skill through Picoclaw's own find_skills / install_skill path from a local ClawHub-compatible registry into an isolated Docker-hosted Picoclaw workspace with isolated HOME, PICOCLAW_HOME, and PICOCLAW_WORKSPACE. It verifies signed release-artifact preflight inputs, confirms Picoclaw's skill loader can list/load the installed skill, then runs the installed copy's profile, drift, advisory fail-closed, advisory filtering, and supply-chain verification paths against Picoclaw-style config.json and launcher-config.json files.