From: Daniel Kahn Gillmor <dkg@fifthhorseman.net>
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 06:04:56 +0000 (-0500)
Subject: added website stubs about validation agent
X-Git-Tag: monkeysphere_0.29~32
X-Git-Url: https://codewiz.org/gitweb?a=commitdiff_plain;h=298e62bbdd6cb8865e046072f32a38130caa8f96;p=monkeysphere.git

added website stubs about validation agent
---

diff --git a/website/validation-agent.mdwn b/website/validation-agent.mdwn
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+++ b/website/validation-agent.mdwn
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+[[!meta title="Monkeysphere Validation Agent"]]
+
+# Monkeysphere Validation Agent #
+
+The Monkeysphere Validation Agent offers a local service for systems
+to validate certificates (both X.509 and OpenPGP) and other public
+keys in their proper contexts.  
+
+Among other reasons, having a validation agent is a good thing
+because:
+
+* Multiple tools can rely on the same PKI (e.g. the user's web browser
+  and the user's ssh client).
+* A single validation agent can present a consistent UI to the user
+  (when used in an end-user context), or provide a unified trust model
+  to various services (when used in a server-side context).
+* Authentication/certificate validation code can potentially be
+  isolated to a protected environment.
+ 
+## Implementations ##
+
+There are currently two implementations of the validation agent:
+
+ * msva-perl
+ * msva-ruby
+
+## Protocol ##
+
+The Monkeysphere Validation Agent protocol (MSVA) is defined as a
+minimal HTTP server with JSON-encapsulated requests and responses.
+You may want to read [more protocol details](protocol).
+
diff --git a/website/validation-agent/protocol.mdwn b/website/validation-agent/protocol.mdwn
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+[[!meta title="Validation Agent Protocol"]]
+
+# Validation Agent Protocol #
+
+In its current form, the validation agent is conceived of as a
+minimalistic HTTP server that accepts two different requests:
+
+ GET /  -- initial contact query, protocol version compatibility.
+  (no query parameters)
+  (returns: protoversion, server, available)
+
+ POST /reviewcert  -- request validation of a certificate
+  (query parameters: uid, context, pkc)
+  (returns: valid, message)
+
+Query parameters are posted as a JSON blob (*not* as
+www-form-encoded).
+
+The variables that are returned are application/json as well.
+
+* PKC means: public key carrier: raw key, OpenPGP cert, or X.509 cert
+* UID means: User ID (like in OpenPGP)
+* context refers to the setting in which the certificate is offered.  For example, "https" means: "this certificate was offered by an HTTPS server"