chitin-moat

name

chitin-moat

description

Enforce contextual permission boundaries for AI agents based on communication surface. Constrains agent capabilities (exec, file I/O, secrets, messaging) by channel trust level rather than message content, preventing social engineering and prompt injection in group chats. Use when: (1) configuring agent permissions per channel/group, (2) setting up read-only mode for public Discord/Telegram, (3) implementing sovereign/trusted/guarded/observer/silent trust tiers, (4) auditing agent channel permissions, or (5) the user mentions "trust channels", "channel permissions", or "read-only mode."

Chitin Moat

Enforce contextual agent permissions based on where a conversation happens.

Trust Levels

Level	Name	Capabilities
0	sovereign	Full autonomy (1:1 with verified owner)
1	trusted	Read/write, scoped tools, no secrets (private known group)
2	guarded	Respond on @mention only, no tools (semi-public)
3	observer	React only (public channels)
4	silent	No interaction (blocked surfaces)

Configuration

Create chitin-trust-channels.yaml in the agent workspace root:

version: "0.1"

owner:
  telegram: "<owner_user_id>"

channels:
  - id: "telegram:<owner_user_id>"
    level: sovereign

  - id: "discord:<server_id>"
    level: guarded
    overrides:
      - channel: "owners-lounge"
        level: trusted
      - channel: "pro-*"
        level: trusted

  - id: "telegram:group:*"
    level: observer

defaults:
  unknown_channel: observer
  unknown_dm: guarded

Setup

1. Copy the example config: cp references/example-config.yaml chitin-trust-channels.yaml
2. Edit with your channel IDs and owner identity
3. Run the validator: python3 scripts/validate_config.py chitin-trust-channels.yaml
4. Run the audit: python3 scripts/audit_channels.py chitin-trust-channels.yaml

Permission Matrix

See references/permission-matrix.md for the full capability × trust-level matrix.

Scripts

• scripts/validate_config.py <config> — Validate a trust channels config file
• scripts/audit_channels.py <config> — Audit current channel bindings against the config and report mismatches
• scripts/resolve_channel.py <config> <channel_id> — Resolve the trust level for a specific channel ID

Integration with AGENTS.md

Add to the agent's workspace instructions:

## Chitin Moat
Before responding in any channel, resolve the trust level using `chitin-trust-channels.yaml`.
Constrain capabilities to the resolved level. Never escalate beyond the channel ceiling.