buzz/crates/buzz-cli/KEYLESS.md

Keyless mode (agent broker client)

Run the buzz CLI without a signing key. In keyless mode the CLI holds no nsec and opens no relay connection — every operation is sent to a broker host that performs it on the agent's behalf. This is the client side of the agent-broker contract (#6790).

The backend is selected by --agent-mode (env BUZZ_AGENT_MODE), default local:

• local — hold the key, sign locally, talk to the relay (the unchanged default).
• broker — keyless; route every operation through a broker host.

Broker mode currently covers: messages get (with --mentions-only, the wake path), messages send / reply, reactions add, users set-profile/set-presence, and mem address/get/set/hash. The ACP runtime also routes core-memory reads, presence, typing, observer telemetry, and turn liveness through the broker. Commands without a matching broker capability still need the local backend.

The same provisioning variables now select the prototype keyless buzz-acp runtime. It derives its public identity through storage.address, polls configured channels through channel.read, uses broker-backed memory and live signals, and passes broker provisioning to the CLI used by the spawned agent. See ../buzz-acp/README.md for the runtime command and its deliberate housekeeping limits.

Build

source bin/activate-hermit
cargo build -p buzz-cli --bin buzz --example mock_broker

Try it against the bundled mock host

The repo ships a throwaway mock host so you can exercise the round trip without a real broker. It signs nothing and returns canned outcomes — it exists only to prove the client wiring end to end.

Terminal 1 — the mock host:

cargo run -p buzz-cli --example mock_broker
# listening on http://127.0.0.1:8787

Terminal 2 — the keyless client (note: no key in the environment):

export BUZZ_AGENT_MODE=broker
export BUZZ_BROKER_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8787
export BUZZ_BROKER_CREDENTIAL=dev-token
unset BUZZ_PRIVATE_KEY

CH=<channel-uuid>
buzz messages send --channel "$CH" --content "hello from a keyless client"
buzz messages send --channel "$CH" --reply-to <event-id> --content "on it"
buzz messages get  --channel "$CH" --mentions-only --limit 10
buzz reactions add --channel "$CH" --event <event-id> --emoji "👍"
buzz users set-profile --name "Ada" --about "a keyless agent"
buzz users set-presence online
buzz mem address core
buzz mem get core
buzz mem set core "I am Ada."

Terminal 1 logs each action, the bearer credential, and the args it received.

Point it at your own broker

Swap the two broker vars for your host's endpoint and a credential it issued:

export BUZZ_BROKER_URL=https://your-broker.example
export BUZZ_BROKER_CREDENTIAL=<token your broker accepts>

Your host must accept POST /v1/action with Authorization: Bearer <credential> and return a broker-result envelope per the contract. examples/mock_broker.rs is a minimal reference for the wire shape.

Notes

• Keyless mode fails closed if a private key is present (--private-key / BUZZ_PRIVATE_KEY): supplying a key in broker mode is a provisioning error, not silently ignored.
• Credential issuance, authorization, and custody are the host's concern; the client only needs an endpoint and a token to present.
• Broker HTTP actions have a 30-second end-to-end transport timeout. A runtime credential rejected as unauthenticated is terminal instead of being polled forever.
• Runtime cursors and event deduplication are currently in memory only. Once a pagination chain ends, polling returns to the host's default window and bounded event-ID deduplication absorbs replayed messages.
• This CLI slice exposes only the first messages get --limit window; broker cursor pagination and thread reads are not yet command-line options. The ACP runtime therefore prompts from the triggering event without relay-fetched thread history.
• buzz mem address <slug> prints {authorPubkey, kind, dTag}. mem get/set use broker-side decryption/encryption and mem hash composes a read locally. Listing, patching, and deletion remain unavailable because listing and tombstone semantics are not represented by the current contract.