openbotauth

Cryptographic identity for AI agents. Register once, then sign HTTP requests (RFC 9421) anywhere. Optional browser integrations via per-request signing proxy.

When to trigger

User wants to: browse websites with signed identity, authenticate a browser session, sign HTTP requests as a bot, set up OpenBotAuth headers, prove human-vs-bot session origin, manage agent keys, sign scraping sessions, register with OBA registry, set up enterprise SSO for agents.

Tools

Bash

Instructions

This skill is self-contained — no npm packages required. Core mode uses Node.js (v18+) + curl; proxy mode additionally needs openssl.

Compatibility Modes

Core Mode (portable, recommended):

• Works with: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Goose, any shell-capable agent
• Uses: Node.js crypto + curl for registration
• Token needed only briefly for POST /agents

Browser Mode (optional, runtime-dependent):

• For: agent-browser, OpenClaw Browser Relay, CUA tooling
• Bearer token must NOT live inside the browsing runtime
• Do registration in CLI mode first, then browse with signatures only

Key Storage

Keys are stored at ~/.config/openbotauth/key.json in OBA's canonical format:

{
  "kid": "<thumbprint-based-id>",
  "x": "<base64url-raw-public-key>",
  "publicKeyPem": "-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY-----\n...",
  "privateKeyPem": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\n...",
  "createdAt": "..."
}

The OBA token lives at ~/.config/openbotauth/token (chmod 600).

Agent registration info (agent_id, JWKS URL) should be saved in agent memory/notes after Step 3.

Token Handling Contract

The bearer token is for registration only:

• Use it ONLY for POST /agents (and key rotation)
• Delete ~/.config/openbotauth/token after registration completes
• Never attach bearer tokens to browsing sessions

Minimum scopes: agents:write + profile:read

• Only add keys:write if you need /keys endpoint

Never use global headers with OBA token:

• agent-browser's set headers command applies headers globally
• Use origin-scoped headers only (via open --headers)

---

Step 1: Check for existing identity

cat ~/.config/openbotauth/key.json 2>/dev/null && echo "---KEY EXISTS---" || echo "---NO KEY FOUND---"

If a key exists: read it to extract kid, x, and privateKeyPem. Check if the agent is already registered (look for agent_id in memory/notes). If registered, skip to Step 4 (signing).

If no key exists: proceed to Step 2.

---

Step 2: Generate Ed25519 keypair (if no key exists)

Run this locally. Nothing leaves the machine.

node -e "
const crypto = require('node:crypto');
const fs = require('node:fs');
const os = require('node:os');
const path = require('node:path');

const { publicKey, privateKey } = crypto.generateKeyPairSync('ed25519');
const publicKeyPem = publicKey.export({ type: 'spki', format: 'pem' }).toString();
const privateKeyPem = privateKey.export({ type: 'pkcs8', format: 'pem' }).toString();

// Derive kid from JWK thumbprint (matches OBA's format)
const spki = publicKey.export({ type: 'spki', format: 'der' });
if (spki.length !== 44) throw new Error('Unexpected SPKI length: ' + spki.length);
const rawPub = spki.subarray(12, 44);
const x = rawPub.toString('base64url');
const thumbprint = JSON.stringify({ kty: 'OKP', crv: 'Ed25519', x });
const hash = crypto.createHash('sha256').update(thumbprint).digest();
const kid = hash.toString('base64url').slice(0, 16);

const dir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config', 'openbotauth');
fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'key.json'), JSON.stringify({
  kid, x, publicKeyPem, privateKeyPem,
  createdAt: new Date().toISOString()
}, null, 2), { mode: 0o600 });

console.log('Key generated!');
console.log('kid:', kid);
console.log('x:', x);
"

Save the kid and x values — needed for registration.

---

Step 3: Register with OpenBotAuth (if not yet registered)

This is a one-time setup that gives your agent a public JWKS endpoint for signature verification.

3a. Get a token from the user

Ask the user:

I need an OpenBotAuth token to register my cryptographic identity. Takes 30 seconds:

1. Go to https://openbotauth.org/token
2. Click "Login with GitHub"
3. Copy the token and paste it back to me

The token looks like oba_ followed by 64 hex characters.

When they provide it, save it:

node -e "
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');
const os = require('node:os');
const dir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config', 'openbotauth');
fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
const token = process.argv[1].trim();
fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'token'), token, { mode: 0o600 });
console.log('Token saved.');
" "THE_TOKEN_HERE"

3b. Register the agent

node -e "
const fs = require('node:fs');
const path = require('node:path');
const os = require('node:os');

const dir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.config', 'openbotauth');
const key = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(path.join(dir, 'key.json'), 'utf-8'));
const tokenPath = path.join(dir, 'token');
const token = fs.readFileSync(tokenPath, 'utf-8').trim();

const AGENT_NAME = process.argv[1] || 'my-agent';
const API = 'https://api.openbotauth.org';

fetch(API + '/agents', {
  method: 'POST',
  redirect: 'error',  // Never follow redirects with bearer token
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + token,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    name: AGENT_NAME,
    agent_type: 'agent',
    public_key: {
      kty: 'OKP',
      crv: 'Ed25519',
      kid: key.kid,
      x: key.x,
      use: 'sig',
      alg: 'EdDSA'
    }
  })
})
.then(r => { if (!r.ok) throw new Error('HTTP ' + r.status); return r.json(); })
.then(async d => {
  console.log('Agent registered!');
  console.log('Agent ID:', d.id);

  // Fetch session to get username for JWKS URL
  const session = await fetch(API + '/auth/session', {
    redirect: 'error',  // Never follow redirects with bearer token
    headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer ' + token }
  }).then(r => { if (!r.ok) throw new Error('Session HTTP ' + r.status); return r.json(); });
  const username = session.profile?.username || session.user?.github_username;
  if (!username) throw new Error('Could not resolve username from /auth/session');
  const jwksUrl = API + '/jwks/' + username + '.json';

  // Write config.json for the signing proxy
  fs.writeFileSync(path.join(dir, 'config.json'), JSON.stringify({
    agent_id: d.id,
    username: username,
    jwksUrl: jwksUrl
  }, null, 2), { mode: 0o600 });
  console.log('Config written to ~/.config/openbotauth/config.json');

  // Delete token — no longer needed after registration
  fs.unlinkSync(tokenPath);
  console.log('Token deleted (no longer needed)');

  console.log('');
  console.log('JWKS URL:', jwksUrl);
  console.log('');
  console.log('Save this to memory:');
  console.log(JSON.stringify({
    openbotauth: {
      agent_id: d.id,
      kid: key.kid,
      username: username,
      jwks_url: jwksUrl
    }
  }, null, 2));
})
.catch(e => console.error('Registration failed:', e.message));
" "AGENT_NAME_HERE"

3c. Verify registration

curl https://api.openbotauth.org/jwks/YOUR_USERNAME.json

You should see your public key in the keys array. This is the URL that verifiers will use to check your signatures.

Save the agent_id, username, and JWKS URL to memory/notes — you'll need the JWKS URL for the Signature-Agent header in every signed request.

Token Safety Rules

Do	Don't
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer ..." https://api.openbotauth.org/agents	Set bearer token as global browser header
Delete token after registration	Keep token in browsing session
Use origin-scoped headers for signing	Use set headers with bearer tokens
Store token at ~/.config/openbotauth/token (chmod 600)	Paste token into chat logs

---

Step 4: Sign a request

Generate RFC 9421 signed headers for a target URL. The output is a JSON object for agent-browser open --headers or set headers --json (OpenClaw).

Required inputs:

• TARGET_URL — the URL being browsed
• METHOD — HTTP method (GET, POST, etc.)
• JWKS_URL — your JWKS endpoint from Step 3 (the Signature-Agent value)

node -e "
const { createPrivateKey, sign, randomUUID } = require('crypto');
const { readFileSync } = require('fs');
const { join } = require('path');
const { homedir } = require('os');

const METHOD = (process.argv[1] || 'GET').toUpperCase();
const TARGET_URL = process.argv[2];
const JWKS_URL = process.argv[3] || '';

if (!TARGET_URL) { console.error('Usage: node sign.js METHOD URL JWKS_URL'); process.exit(1); }

const key = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(homedir(), '.config', 'openbotauth', 'key.json'), 'utf-8'));
const url = new URL(TARGET_URL);
const created = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
const expires = created + 300;
const nonce = randomUUID();

// RFC 9421 signature base
const lines = [
  '\"@method\": ' + METHOD,
  '\"@authority\": ' + url.host,
  '\"@path\": ' + url.pathname + url.search
];
const sigInput = '(\"@method\" \"@authority\" \"@path\");created=' + created + ';expires=' + expires + ';nonce=\"' + nonce + '\";keyid=\"' + key.kid + '\";alg=\"ed25519\"';
lines.push('\"@signature-params\": ' + sigInput);

const base = lines.join('\n');
const pk = createPrivateKey(key.privateKeyPem);
const sig = sign(null, Buffer.from(base), pk).toString('base64');

const headers = {
  'Signature': 'sig1=:' + sig + ':',
  'Signature-Input': 'sig1=' + sigInput
};
if (JWKS_URL) {
  headers['Signature-Agent'] = JWKS_URL;
}

console.log(JSON.stringify(headers));
" "METHOD" "TARGET_URL" "JWKS_URL"

Replace the arguments:

• METHOD — e.g., GET
• TARGET_URL — e.g., https://example.com/page
• JWKS_URL — e.g., https://api.openbotauth.org/jwks/your-username.json

For strict verifiers: If a site rejects signatures from this inline signer, use @openbotauth/bot-cli (recommended) or the openbotauth-demos/packages/signing-ts reference signer.

Step 5: Apply headers to browser session

For single signed navigation (demo / Radar proof):

agent-browser open <url> --headers '<OUTPUT_FROM_STEP_4>'

This uses origin-scoped headers (safer than global).

For real browsing (subresources/XHR): Use the signing proxy (Step A-C below).

OpenClaw browser:

set headers --json '<OUTPUT_FROM_STEP_4>'

With named session:

agent-browser --session myagent open <url> --headers '<OUTPUT_FROM_STEP_4>'

Important: re-sign before each navigation. Because RFC 9421 signatures are bound to @method, @authority, and @path, you must regenerate headers (Step 4) before navigating to a different URL. For continuous browsing, use the proxy instead.

---

Step 6: Show current identity

node -e "
const { readFileSync, existsSync } = require('fs');
const { join } = require('path');
const { homedir } = require('os');
const f = join(homedir(), '.config', 'openbotauth', 'key.json');
if (!existsSync(f)) { console.log('No identity found. Run Step 2 first.'); process.exit(0); }
const k = JSON.parse(readFileSync(f, 'utf-8'));
console.log('kid:        ' + k.kid);
console.log('Public (x): ' + k.x);
console.log('Created:    ' + k.createdAt);
"

---

Enterprise SSO Binding — Roadmap

Status: Not yet implemented. This describes the planned direction.

For organizations using Okta, WorkOS, or Descope: OBA will support binding agent keys to enterprise subjects issued by your IdP. OBA is not replacing your IdP directory — it attaches verifiable agent keys and audit trails to identities you already manage.

Planned flow:

1. Authenticate via your IdP (SAML/OIDC)
2. Bind an agent public key to that enterprise subject
3. Signatures from that agent carry the enterprise identity anchor

This complements (not competes with) IdP-native agent features — you get portable keys + web verification surface.

---

Signed Headers Reference

Every signed request produces these RFC 9421-compliant headers:

Header	Purpose
Signature	sig1=:<base64-ed25519-signature>:
Signature-Input	Covered components (@method @authority @path), created, expires, nonce, keyid, alg
Signature-Agent	JWKS URL for public key resolution (from OBA Registry)

The Signature-Input encodes everything a verifier needs: which components were signed, when, by whom (keyid), and when it expires.

OpenClaw Session Binding

When running inside OpenClaw, you can include the session key in the nonce or as a custom parameter to bind the signature to the originating chat:

agent:main:main                              # Main chat session
agent:main:discord:channel:123456789         # Discord channel
agent:main:subagent:<uuid>                   # Spawned sub-agent

This lets publishers trace whether a request came from the main agent or a sub-agent.

---

Sub-Agent Identity (Tier 2 — TBD)

Sub-agent key derivation (HKDF from parent key) is planned but not yet implemented in a cryptographically sound way. For now, sub-agents should:

1. Generate their own independent keypair (Step 2)
2. Register separately with OBA (Step 3)
3. Optionally, the parent agent can publish a signed attestation linking the sub-agent's kid to its own

A proper delegation/attestation protocol is being designed.

---

Per-Request Signing via Proxy (Recommended for Real Browsing)

RFC 9421 signatures are per-request — they are bound to the specific method, authority, and path. Setting headers once (Steps 4-5) only works for the initial page load. Sub-resources, XHRs, and redirects will carry stale signatures and get blocked.

Solution: Start a local signing proxy. It intercepts every HTTP/HTTPS request and adds a fresh signature automatically. No external packages needed — uses only Node.js built-ins and openssl.

Step A: Write the proxy to a temp file

cat > /tmp/openbotauth-proxy.mjs << 'PROXY_EOF'
import { createServer as createHttpServer, request as httpRequest } from "node:http";
import { request as httpsRequest } from "node:https";
import { createServer as createTlsServer } from "node:tls";
import { connect, isIP } from "node:net";
import { createPrivateKey, sign as cryptoSign, randomUUID, createHash } from "node:crypto";
import { readFileSync, writeFileSync, existsSync, mkdirSync, unlinkSync } from "node:fs";
import { join } from "node:path";
import { homedir } from "node:os";
import { execFileSync } from "node:child_process";

const OBA_DIR = join(homedir(), ".config", "openbotauth");
const KEY_FILE = join(OBA_DIR, "key.json");
const CONFIG_FILE = join(OBA_DIR, "config.json");
const CA_DIR = join(OBA_DIR, "ca");
const CA_KEY = join(CA_DIR, "ca.key");
const CA_CRT = join(CA_DIR, "ca.crt");

// Load credentials
if (!existsSync(KEY_FILE)) { console.error("No key found. Run keygen first."); process.exit(1); }
const obaKey = JSON.parse(readFileSync(KEY_FILE, "utf-8"));
let jwksUrl = null;
if (existsSync(CONFIG_FILE)) { const c = JSON.parse(readFileSync(CONFIG_FILE, "utf-8")); jwksUrl = c.jwksUrl || null; }

// Strict hostname validation (blocks shell injection & path traversal)
const HOSTNAME_RE = /^[a-zA-Z0-9]([a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?(\.[a-zA-Z0-9]([a-zA-Z0-9-]{0,61}[a-zA-Z0-9])?)*$/;
function isValidHostname(h) {
  return typeof h === "string" && h.length > 0 && h.length <= 253 && (HOSTNAME_RE.test(h) || isIP(h) > 0);
}

// Ensure CA exists
mkdirSync(CA_DIR, { recursive: true, mode: 0o700 });
if (!existsSync(CA_KEY) || !existsSync(CA_CRT)) {
  console.log("Generating proxy CA certificate (one-time)...");
  execFileSync("openssl", ["req", "-x509", "-new", "-nodes", "-newkey", "ec", "-pkeyopt", "ec_paramgen_curve:prime256v1", "-keyout", CA_KEY, "-out", CA_CRT, "-days", "3650", "-subj", "/CN=OpenBotAuth Proxy CA/O=OpenBotAuth"], { stdio: "pipe" });
  execFileSync("chmod", ["600", CA_KEY], { stdio: "pipe" });
}

// Per-domain cert cache
const certCache = new Map();
function getDomainCert(hostname) {
  if (!isValidHostname(hostname)) throw new Error("Invalid hostname: " + hostname.slice(0, 50));
  if (certCache.has(hostname)) return certCache.get(hostname);
  // Use hash for filenames to prevent path traversal
  const hHash = createHash("sha256").update(hostname).digest("hex").slice(0, 16);
  const tk = join(CA_DIR, `_t_${hHash}.key`), tc = join(CA_DIR, `_t_${hHash}.csr`);
  const to = join(CA_DIR, `_t_${hHash}.crt`), te = join(CA_DIR, `_t_${hHash}.ext`);
  try {
    execFileSync("openssl", ["ecparam", "-genkey", "-name", "prime256v1", "-noout", "-out", tk], { stdio: "pipe" });
    execFileSync("openssl", ["req", "-new", "-key", tk, "-out", tc, "-subj", `/CN=${hostname}`], { stdio: "pipe" });
    writeFileSync(te, `subjectAltName=DNS:${hostname}\nbasicConstraints=CA:FALSE\nkeyUsage=digitalSignature,keyEncipherment\nextendedKeyUsage=serverAuth`);
    execFileSync("openssl", ["x509", "-req", "-sha256", "-in", tc, "-CA", CA_CRT, "-CAkey", CA_KEY, "-CAcreateserial", "-out", to, "-days", "365", "-extfile", te], { stdio: "pipe" });
    const r = { key: readFileSync(tk, "utf-8"), cert: readFileSync(to, "utf-8") };
    certCache.set(hostname, r);
    return r;
  } finally { for (const f of [tk, tc, to, te]) try { unlinkSync(f); } catch {} }
}

// RFC 9421 signing
function signReq(method, authority, path) {
  const created = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000), expires = created + 300, nonce = randomUUID();
  const lines = [`"@method": ${method.toUpperCase()}`, `"@authority": ${authority}`, `"@path": ${path}`];
  const sigInput = `("@method" "@authority" "@path");created=${created};expires=${expires};nonce="${nonce}";keyid="${obaKey.kid}";alg="ed25519"`;
  lines.push(`"@signature-params": ${sigInput}`);
  const sig = cryptoSign(null, Buffer.from(lines.join("\n")), createPrivateKey(obaKey.privateKeyPem)).toString("base64");
  const h = { signature: `sig1=:${sig}:`, "signature-input": `sig1=${sigInput}` };
  if (jwksUrl) h["signature-agent"] = jwksUrl;
  return h;
}

const verbose = process.argv.includes("--verbose") || process.argv.includes("-v");
const port = parseInt(process.argv.find((a,i) => process.argv[i-1] === "--port")) || 8421;
let rc = 0;
function log(id, msg) { if (verbose) console.log(`[${id}] ${msg}`); }

const server = createHttpServer((cReq, cRes) => {
  const id = ++rc, url = new URL(cReq.url), auth = url.host, p = url.pathname + url.search;
  const sig = signReq(cReq.method, auth, p);
  log(id, `HTTP ${cReq.method} ${auth}${p} → signed`);
  const h = { ...cReq.headers }; delete h["proxy-connection"]; delete h["proxy-authorization"];
  Object.assign(h, sig); h.host = auth;
  const fn = url.protocol === "https:" ? httpsRequest : httpRequest;
  const pr = fn({ hostname: url.hostname, port: url.port || (url.protocol === "https:" ? 443 : 80), path: p, method: cReq.method, headers: h }, (r) => { cRes.writeHead(r.statusCode, r.headers); r.pipe(cRes); });
  pr.on("error", (e) => { log(id, `Error: ${e.message}`); cRes.writeHead(502); cRes.end("Proxy error"); });
  cReq.pipe(pr);
});

server.on("connect", (req, cSock, head) => {
  const id = ++rc, [host, ps] = req.url.split(":"), tp = parseInt(ps) || 443;
  // Validate host and port before processing
  if (!isValidHostname(host) || tp < 1 || tp > 65535) {
    log(id, `CONNECT rejected: invalid ${host}:${tp}`);
    cSock.write("HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request\r\n\r\n"); cSock.end(); return;
  }
  log(id, `CONNECT ${host}:${tp} → MITM`);
  cSock.write("HTTP/1.1 200 Connection Established\r\nProxy-Agent: openbotauth-proxy\r\n\r\n");
  const dc = getDomainCert(host);
  const tls = createTlsServer({ key: dc.key, cert: dc.cert }, (ts) => {
    let data = Buffer.alloc(0);
    ts.on("data", (chunk) => {
      data = Buffer.concat([data, chunk]);
      const he = data.indexOf("\r\n\r\n");
      if (he === -1) return;
      const hs = data.subarray(0, he).toString(), body = data.subarray(he + 4);
      const ls = hs.split("\r\n"), [method, path] = ls[0].split(" ");
      const rh = {};
      for (let i = 1; i < ls.length; i++) { const c = ls[i].indexOf(":"); if (c > 0) rh[ls[i].substring(0, c).trim().toLowerCase()] = ls[i].substring(c + 1).trim(); }
      const cl = parseInt(rh["content-length"]) || 0, fp = path || "/";
      const sig = signReq(method, host + (tp !== 443 ? `:${tp}` : ""), fp);
      log(id, `HTTPS ${method} ${host}${fp} → signed`);
      Object.assign(rh, sig);
      const pr = httpsRequest({ hostname: host, port: tp, path: fp, method, headers: rh, rejectUnauthorized: true }, (r) => {
        let resp = `HTTP/1.1 ${r.statusCode} ${r.statusMessage}\r\n`;
        const rw = r.rawHeaders; for (let i = 0; i < rw.length; i += 2) resp += `${rw[i]}: ${rw[i+1]}\r\n`;
        resp += "\r\n"; ts.write(resp); r.pipe(ts);
      });
      pr.on("error", (e) => { log(id, `Error: ${e.message}`); ts.end("HTTP/1.1 502 Bad Gateway\r\nContent-Length: 0\r\n\r\n"); });
      if (body.length > 0) pr.write(body);
      if (cl <= body.length) { pr.end(); } else {
        let recv = body.length;
        const bh = (d) => { recv += d.length; pr.write(d); if (recv >= cl) { pr.end(); ts.removeListener("data", bh); } };
        ts.on("data", bh);
      }
    });
  });
  tls.listen(0, "127.0.0.1", () => {
    const lc = connect(tls.address().port, "127.0.0.1", () => { lc.write(head); lc.pipe(cSock); cSock.pipe(lc); });
    lc.on("error", () => cSock.end()); cSock.on("error", () => lc.end());
    cSock.on("close", () => { tls.close(); lc.end(); });
  });
});

server.listen(port, "127.0.0.1", () => {
  console.log(`openbotauth signing proxy on http://127.0.0.1:${port}`);
  console.log(`  kid: ${obaKey.kid}`);
  if (jwksUrl) console.log(`  Signature-Agent: ${jwksUrl}`);
  console.log("Every request gets a fresh RFC 9421 signature.");
});
PROXY_EOF
echo "Proxy written to /tmp/openbotauth-proxy.mjs"

Step B: Start the proxy

node /tmp/openbotauth-proxy.mjs --verbose

This starts the signing proxy on 127.0.0.1:8421. Every HTTP and HTTPS request flowing through it gets a fresh RFC 9421 Ed25519 signature.

Step C: Browse through the proxy

In another terminal (or from agent-browser):

# For demos (ignore cert warnings):
agent-browser --proxy http://127.0.0.1:8421 --ignore-https-errors open https://example.com

# For production: install ~/.config/openbotauth/ca/ca.crt as trusted CA

TLS Note: The proxy MITMs HTTPS by generating per-domain certs signed by a local CA. Either:

• Use --ignore-https-errors for demos/testing
• Install ~/.config/openbotauth/ca/ca.crt as a trusted CA for clean operation

The proxy:

• Signs every outgoing request with a fresh RFC 9421 signature
• Handles both HTTP and HTTPS (generates a local CA for HTTPS MITM)
• Includes the Signature-Agent header (JWKS URL) on every request
• Runs on 127.0.0.1:8421 by default (configurable with --port)
• Requires openssl (pre-installed on macOS/Linux) for HTTPS certificate generation

Security warning: ~/.config/openbotauth/ca/ca.key is a local MITM root key. Treat it as sensitive as a private key — if stolen, an attacker can intercept traffic on that machine.

Limitations:

• HTTP/2, WebSockets, and multiplexed connections are not reliably supported
• Best for demos and basic browsing; not a production-grade proxy
• IP-based hostnames: If the CONNECT target is an IP address, consider rejecting it or use subjectAltName=IP:<ip> instead of DNS: (current code uses DNS, which strict clients may reject)

When to use Steps 4-5 instead: Simple single-page-load scenarios where you control every navigation and can re-sign before each one.

---

Important Notes

• Private keys live at ~/.config/openbotauth/key.json with 0600 permissions — never expose them
• The OBA token at ~/.config/openbotauth/token is also sensitive — never log or share it
• Signature-Agent must point to a publicly reachable JWKS URL for verification to work
• All crypto uses Node.js built-in crypto module — no npm dependencies required
• Security: Never send private keys or OBA tokens to any domain other than api.openbotauth.org
• Token lifecycle: Delete ~/.config/openbotauth/token after registration. You won't need it for signing.
• Browser sessions: After registration, only signatures travel over the wire. The token stays local and should be deleted.
• Global headers warning: Never use set headers with bearer tokens in agent-browser. Use open --headers for origin-scoped injection.

---

File Layout

~/.config/openbotauth/
├── key.json       # kid, x, publicKeyPem, privateKeyPem (chmod 600)
├── key.pub.json   # Public JWK for sharing (chmod 644)
├── config.json    # Agent ID, JWKS URL, registration info
├── token          # oba_xxx bearer token (chmod 600)
└── ca/            # Proxy CA certificate (auto-generated)
    ├── ca.key     # CA private key
    └── ca.crt     # CA certificate

Runtime Compatibility

Runtime	Support	Notes
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex	✅ Full	Recommended path - CLI registration
agent-browser	✅ Full	Use scoped headers, not global
OpenClaw Browser Relay	✅ After registration	Register via CLI first
CUA / Browser Control	⚠️ Caution	Treat control plane as hostile
skills.sh	✅ Full	curl-based registration is safe

For browser runtimes: Complete registration in CLI mode. The signing proxy only needs the private key (local) and JWKS URL (public). No bearer token needed during browsing.

Official Packages

For production integrations, prefer the official packages:

• @openbotauth/verifier-client — verify signatures
• @openbotauth/registry-signer — key generation and JWK utilities
• @openbotauth/bot-cli — CLI for signing requests
• @openbotauth/proxy — signing proxy

For strict RFC 9421 signing, use the reference signer from openbotauth-demos (packages/signing-ts).

Links

• Website: https://openbotauth.org
• API: https://api.openbotauth.org
• Spec: https://github.com/OpenBotAuth/openbotauth
• IETF: Web Bot Auth Architecture draft