4.0 KiB
Credential Rotation Enforcer - Overview
A Crystal daemon that tracks credentials, enforces rotation policies as code, and executes the four-step rotation contract against AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault, GitHub fine-grained PATs, and local .env files. Single binary. Live TUI. Bidirectional Telegram bot. Tamper-evident audit log. Signed compliance evidence export.
What This Project Demonstrates
| Concept | What you'll see in the code |
|---|---|
| Compile-time-checked policy DSL | policies/*.cr evaluated by the Crystal compiler; typo'd action symbols, missing fields, or bad credential property references all fail crystal build |
| Bus + plugin architecture | Typed events fan out across Crystal channels; subscribers (audit, TUI, Telegram, log) react independently; rotators register at compile time via register_as :kind macro |
| 4-step rotation contract | generate -> apply -> verify -> commit, dual-version safe (AWSCURRENT / AWSPENDING analog), with rollback on failure between apply and commit |
| Tamper-evident audit log | SHA-256 hash chain + ratcheting HMAC-SHA256 + Ed25519-signed Merkle batches (3 independent layers of integrity) |
| AEAD envelope encryption | AES-256-GCM with per-row DEKs wrapped by a KEK; AAD-bound to `tenant_id |
| Hand-rolled live TUI | ANSI escapes only (no crysterm dependency); event-driven repaints coalesced to a tick interval; works against any IO so it's testable |
Prerequisites
- Crystal 1.20.0+ (see
https://crystal-lang.org/install/) - For Tier 1 demo: nothing else
- For Tier 2 demo: Docker + Docker Compose
- For Tier 3 (real cloud): AWS account, Vault server, GitHub Apps token
Three-Tier Demo Path
Each tier teaches a different lesson. Run them in order to see the system evolve.
Tier 1 - Zero Deps
$ git clone <repo> && cd credential-rotation-enforcer
$ shards install && shards build cre
$ ./bin/cre demo
What you'll see:
- A temp
.envfile withAPI_KEY=oldvalue-aaa - A simulated 60-day-old credential triggering policy violation
- Live narration of all 4 rotation steps
- The same
.envfile with a fresh randomAPI_KEY=...value - Audit chain verification confirming integrity
Runtime: under 1 second.
Tier 2 - Docker Compose
$ just demo-full
Brings up: PostgreSQL 16, LocalStack (AWS Secrets Manager), HashiCorp Vault dev mode, a fake-GitHub Flask service. CRE connects to all four and rotates one credential through each rotator. Demonstrates real network calls, real auth (SigV4 to LocalStack, token to Vault, bearer to fake-GitHub), real persistence to Postgres, real append-only audit triggers.
Setup time: ~2 minutes (mostly image pulls).
Tier 3 - Real Cloud
Copy config/demo-full.cr.example and edit env vars to point at your real AWS account / Vault server / GitHub. Run cre run headless or cre watch for the live TUI.
Subcommand Cheat Sheet
| Command | Purpose |
|---|---|
cre run |
Headless daemon (production / systemd) |
cre watch |
Engine + live TUI in one process |
cre check |
One-shot policy eval, exit code by violations (CI-friendly) |
cre rotate <id> |
Manual rotation of a single credential |
cre policy list |
List compiled-in policies |
cre policy show <name> |
Inspect one policy in detail |
cre export --framework=soc2 |
Generate signed compliance evidence ZIP |
cre audit verify |
Verify hash chain + HMAC + Merkle batch signatures |
cre demo |
Tier 1 zero-deps demo |
cre version |
Print version |
Where to Read Next
- Architecture ->
02-ARCHITECTURE.md(event bus, persistence, crypto layers) - Concepts ->
01-CONCEPTS.md(rotation theory, NIST/SOC2 framework controls, real breaches) - Code walkthrough ->
03-IMPLEMENTATION.md(key functions, where to make changes) - Extension ideas ->
04-CHALLENGES.md(add a 5th rotator, ML-KEM hybrid wrap, web UI)