added website stubs about validation agent

[monkeysphere.git] / 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).
+