+/* set up file descriptor pipe for writing (child process pid gets
+ stored in pid, fd is returned)*/
+int create_writing_pipe(pid_t* pid, const char* path, char* const argv[]);
+
+/* return 0 if userid matches the monkeysphere spec for ssh host user IDs */
+int validate_ssh_host_userid(const char* userid);
+
+/* how many bytes will it take to write out this datum in OpenPGP MPI form? */
+size_t get_openpgp_mpi_size(gnutls_datum_t* d);
+
+/* write the MPI stored in gnutls_datum_t to file descriptor fd: */
+int write_openpgp_mpi_to_fd(int fd, gnutls_datum_t* d);