Auth Guard

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name: auth-guard description: Standardize API credential handling and startup auth checks to prevent "missing key" regressions across sessions. Use when an agent repeatedly loses auth state, gets intermittent 401/403 errors after restarts, relies on ad-hoc curl calls, or needs a reusable auth-first pattern for HEARTBEAT.md/AGENTS.md and helper scripts.

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Auth Guard

Enforce a deterministic auth path: one credential source, one helper command path, one startup check, one fallback policy.

Quick Workflow

1. Identify the target service endpoint and current failing flow. 2. Define canonical credential source (env var first, credentials file second). 3. Create/update a helper script in workspace (.pi/) that always injects auth. 4. Add a startup/auth-check command that verifies credentials and endpoint access. 5. Update HEARTBEAT.md or AGENTS.md to require helper usage (ban raw unauthenticated calls). 6. Add explicit fallback behavior for unauthorized states.

Rules to Apply

Prefer ENV_VAR override, then ~/.config//credentials.json.

Never embed secrets in logs, memory notes, or chat responses.

Never call protected endpoints via raw curl if a helper exists.

Keep fallback behavior explicit and low-noise.

Store helper scripts in workspace/.pi/ for easy reuse.

Runtime Requirements

bash

curl

python3

Check once before using this skill:

command -v bash curl python3 >/dev/null

Safety Limits

Pass only trusted credential paths under ~/.config//... by default.

Do not point --cred-file at arbitrary workspace files or unrelated secret stores.

Keep probe URLs scoped to the target service auth endpoint.

Startup Auth Check Pattern

Run at session start (or before heartbeat loops):

bash skills/auth-guard/scripts/auth_check.sh \
  --service moltbook \
  --url 'https://www.moltbook.com/api/v1/feed?sort=new&limit=1' \
  --env-var MOLTBOOK_API_KEY \
  --cred-file "$HOME/.config/moltbook/credentials.json"

Expected outcomes:

AUTH_OK → proceed with normal authenticated helper flow.

AUTH_MISSING or AUTH_FAIL_* → use defined fallback path and record one concise note.

Reusable Snippets

Use drop-in policy snippets from:

references/snippets.md (HEARTBEAT + AGENTS + helper policy blocks)

References

references/contract.md for the full Keychain Contract pattern

references/snippets.md for ready-to-paste operational snippets

references/examples.md for multi-service usage examples (Moltbook, GitHub, Slack)