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-rw-r--r--website/validation-agent/protocol.mdwn23
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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"