xmtp-admin

name

xmtp-admin

description

Administer an xmtp-signet as an orchestrating agent or owner — bootstrap the daemon, initialize and rotate keys, create managed wallets, create and remove operators, define policies, issue and revoke credentials, create and link managed inboxes, verify seals and walk seal history, and drive the privileged `xs` command surface that sets agents up to operate against the signet. Use this skill whenever someone asks how to set up a signet for agents, how to issue or revoke a credential, how to provision an operator with a scoped policy, how to rotate or export operator keys, how to link an inbox to an operator, how to verify a seal chain, or how to run privileged admin flows. For day-to-day agent use (messaging, reading, inspecting credentials and seals, harness connection), use the `xmtp` skill.

Administering xmtp-signet

[!IMPORTANT] You are the orchestrator. You set things up so other agents can operate through the signet safely. You do not hold raw message content, and you cannot read operator messages without an explicit, owner-approved elevation. Every flow below leans on that boundary — the signet enforces it structurally, not by policy alone.

[!NOTE] The current runtime model is v1: owner, admin, operator, credential, seal. The public CLI is credential-native.

Companion skill: for the conceptual model (owner/admin/operator/ credential/seal, projection pipeline, event types, harness lifecycle) and for day-to-day agent use (messaging, inspecting, harness connection), use the xmtp skill. This skill focuses on the privileged half of the CLI.

If xs is not installed yet

Before you can provision operators, credentials, or adapters, the machine needs an xmtp-signet checkout and a runnable CLI.

Canonical path: clone and bootstrap

git clone https://github.com/galligan/xmtp-signet.git
cd xmtp-signet
bun run bootstrap
bun packages/cli/src/bin.ts --help

From a plain clone, the repo entrypoint is the reliable path. If you want xs as a shell command, create an alias for the current session:

alias xs='bun packages/cli/src/bin.ts'

Convenience path: one-shot installer

curl -fsSL https://xmtp.fyi/install.sh | bash

Repo-backed fallback:

curl -fsSL \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/galligan/xmtp-signet/main/scripts/install.sh \
  | bash

That installer clones the repo, runs bun run bootstrap, and writes xs wrappers into an XDG-aware bin directory.

If xs is still not found in a new shell, add the installer's printed wrapper path to your shell profile. Common defaults are:

# Linux / XDG
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

# macOS fallback (only if the installer chose ~/bin)
export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"

Trust boundary at a glance

Owner      -> anchors trust, approves owner-gated operations (biometric)
Admin      -> manages operators, credentials, policies, inboxes, keys
Operator   -> conversational agent profile (per-chat or shared)
Credential -> time-bound, chat-scoped, policy-driven authorization
Seal       -> public declaration of operator scope in a chat

You will spend most of your time at the Admin layer, occasionally asking the Owner to approve something that requires elevation.

Bootstrap

First-run init

xs init --env dev --label owner

Creates the local key hierarchy, writes a config when needed, sets defaults.profileName from --label if it's still unset.

Presets:

• xs init — recommended defaults
• xs init trusted-local — shared identity mode, lower ceremony for local smoke tests
• xs init hardened — stricter gates, shorter-lived defaults

Run xs init --help for the current preset deltas.

Daemon lifecycle

xs daemon start
xs daemon status
xs daemon stop
xs status --json          # scheme, identity mode, network, connected inboxes
xs reset                  # wipe local state — destructive

Agent-setup helpers

xs agent setup            # interactive bootstrap for a new operator+cred
xs agent status
xs agent doctor           # diagnose keys, daemon, credential, seal health

Use agent setup for happy-path provisioning and agent doctor as the first thing you run when something feels off.

For OpenClaw specifically, the happy-path adapter bootstrap is:

xs agent setup openclaw

Follow with xs agent status openclaw only when you want a verification pass, and xs agent doctor openclaw when setup or wiring looks wrong.

Keys

Keys are per-operator. xs key init is not redundant with xs init — xs init sets up the owner/admin hierarchy and daemon; xs key init provisions key material for a specific operator profile.

xs key init --operator op_...             # create key material for an operator
xs key rotate                             # operational rotation, chain preserved
xs key list
xs key info <key-id-or-identity-id>
xs key export-public [identity-id]        # safe: public material only; defaults to first

Key material lives in the local encrypted vault. The Swift signet-signer CLI in signet-signer/ handles Secure Enclave operations on macOS when available.

Never export, paste, or log raw private material. The CLI doesn't surface it; if you find yourself reaching for it, stop and reconsider.

Wallets

Managed wallets back operator identities.

xs wallet create --label ops-wallet
xs wallet list
xs wallet info wallet_...
xs wallet provider list    # deferred: provider management stub
xs wallet provider set <name> --path <path>   # deferred

xs wallet provider ... is the one surface that isn't fully live. Everything else in wallet and key is.

Operators

xs operator create --label "support-bot" --scope per-chat
xs operator list
xs operator info op_...
xs operator rename op_... --label "support-bot-v2"
xs operator rm op_...

Scope choices:

• per-chat — isolated state per conversation (default, strongest isolation)
• shared — one context across multiple chats

Role levels (set at create time via --role, defaults to operator):

• operator — can only act within its own credentials
• admin — can manage operators and resources it created
• superadmin — can manage anything, but still cannot read messages without owner-approved elevation

Policies

Policies are reusable allow/deny bundles over the 30 permission scopes (categories: messaging, group-management, metadata, access, observation, egress).

xs policy create --label "helper" --allow send,reply,react
xs policy list
xs policy info  policy_...
xs policy update policy_... --deny forward-to-provider
xs policy rm policy_... --force

Design rule of thumb:

• helper/chat bot — allow send, reply, react; deny group-management
• observer / summarizer — allow read-messages, stream-messages; deny all egress scopes (forward-to-provider, store-excerpts, use-for-memory)
• research assistant with LLM egress — allow observation scopes and forward-to-provider explicitly; keep read-history deliberate

Deny always wins. When in doubt, deny and add back.

Credentials

xs cred is the canonical credential lifecycle surface. A credential binds operator + chat scope + effective permission set (policy + inline overrides) + content-type allowlist + TTL + status.

# Issue — --ttl is seconds (integer). 86400 == 24h.
xs cred issue \
  --op op_a7f3 \
  --chat conv_9e2d1a4b8c3f7e60 \
  --policy policy_helper \
  --allow send,reply \
  --ttl 86400

# Inspect
xs cred list
xs cred list --op op_a7f3
xs cred info cred_b2c1

# Adjust scopes or policy in place
xs cred update cred_b2c1 --deny forward-to-provider
xs cred update cred_b2c1 --policy policy_restricted

# Revoke (dry-run by default; pass --force to execute)
xs cred revoke cred_b2c1 --force

When an update reconnects the harness vs when it doesn't

Not every credential change requires reconnection.

• In place, no reconnect — narrowing scopes, adjusting the content- type allowlist, extending an existing reveal
• Reauthorization required — expanding scopes, adding egress permissions, granting group management (issue a new credential and revoke the old one)

On reauth the signet emits credential.reauthorization_required and terminates the connection. The harness should re-auth with a fresh token.

Revocation publishes a public seal

xs cred revoke terminates the WebSocket connection and publishes a xmtp.org/agentRevocation:1.0 seal to affected chats. The revocation is public by design — participants can see that the operator no longer has scope.

Managed inboxes

Inboxes are the daemon-backed mailbox surface for operators.

xs inbox create --label qa-inbox
xs inbox list
xs inbox info inbox_...
xs inbox link   inbox_... --op op_...
xs inbox unlink inbox_...
xs inbox rm     inbox_...

inbox complements the direct bootstrap path exposed through xs init. Link is how you attach an inbox to an operator for ongoing use.

Seal verification and history

xs seal list and xs seal info are covered in the xmtp skill. The admin-side verification flows:

xs seal verify seal_...                       # Ed25519 signature + chain integrity
xs seal history cred_... --chat conv_...      # full chain for a credential in a chat

Verification checks:

• source availability
• build provenance
• release signing
• seal signature validity
• seal chain integrity (predecessor IDs, monotonic timestamps)
• schema compliance

Trust tiers surfaced on seals: source-verified (hardware-backed root key) or unverified (software vault).

Owner-gated elevations

Some flows require the human owner to unlock through a biometric gate. Common triggers:

• reading projected message content as an admin (not ambient)
• approving actions for credentials that require confirmation
• approving certain rotations or key exports that exceed operational scope

Ordinary admin auth is not ambient message access. The dangerous- looking flag on search/message-inspection flows isn't theatre — it's asking the daemon to request or reuse a short-lived, chat-scoped admin read elevation:

xs search "incident" --type messages --dangerously-allow-message-read
xs msg list --from conv_... --dangerously-allow-message-read

Don't paper over the noise — it's the mechanism telling you that this call is crossing a boundary.

Typical orchestration flows

Stand up a new helper agent from scratch

# 1. Admin layer should already exist (xs init done once)
xs daemon status

# 2. Provision an operator profile
xs operator create --label "helper" --scope per-chat
xs key init --operator op_helper
xs key export-public op_helper        # share with chat participants if needed

# 3. Define (or reuse) a policy
xs policy create --label "helper" --allow send,reply,react

# 4. Attach an inbox (or create one linked in a single step via `--op`)
xs inbox create --label helper-inbox
xs inbox link inbox_helper --op op_helper

# 5. Issue a credential for the chat (ttl in seconds — 86400 == 24h)
xs cred issue --op op_helper --chat conv_... --policy policy_helper --ttl 86400

# 6. Hand the credential token to the harness; it connects via WebSocket

Rotate an operator's key without breaking continuity

xs key rotate                                 # operational rotation, seal chain preserved
xs seal history cred_... --chat conv_...      # confirm the new seal was stamped

End a credential

xs cred revoke cred_... --force
xs seal history cred_... --chat conv_...      # revocation seal is now on-chain

Expand scopes mid-run

Expanding scopes is reauthorization-gated — issue a new credential and revoke the old one rather than mutating in place:

xs cred issue --op op_... --chat conv_... --policy policy_expanded --ttl 86400
xs cred revoke cred_old --force
# Harness receives credential.reauthorization_required on the old cred
# and reconnects with the new token.

Safety posture

• No raw keys flow through the CLI. If you're being asked to paste private material, something is wrong — stop and verify.
• Revocation is public. Expect participants to see the revocation seal. Use --reason thoughtfully.
• Deny wins. Prefer additive policies with narrow defaults.
• Elevation is opt-in. Never normalize --dangerously-allow-message- read in scripts; each use is a deliberate crossing.
• Keep operators scoped. Per-chat is the default for a reason.

Error taxonomy

Handler failures use the shared categories from @xmtp/signet-schemas:

Category	When
validation	Input fails schema validation or a business rule
not_found	Resource does not exist
permission	Caller lacks the required scope
auth	Invalid or expired admin token or credential
internal	Unexpected runtime failure
timeout	Operation exceeded its deadline
cancelled	Operation cancelled via abort signal

auth in v1 generally means an invalid/expired admin token or credential; permission means authenticated but out of scope.

When in doubt

xs --help, xs <group> --help, and xs <group> <command> --help are the authoritative surface. If flags or options here look stale, trust the help output and flag it.