hmbown/knock

Knock

Bypass access friction through legitimate unlock paths: key rotation, permission requests, and recovery workflows.

What This Skill Does

Knock is specifically about restoring legitimate access through authorized channels. It is NOT about: - Performance optimization (slow queries, throughput issues) → different spell

• Removing safety controls (approval gates, compliance checks) → different spell
• Simple bug fixes (typos, wrong ports) → different spell
• Breaking constraints (resource limits, CPU throttling) → different spell
• Security analysis (encryption schemes, certificate inspection) → different spell In this grimoire, Knock is treated as a literal spell with a prototype delivery profile. Canonical reference input: Knock (spell).

When To Use

• Activate this spell when the user's request contains an access barrier with a legitimate recovery path. Look for these patterns:
• Expired/rotated credentials: "credentials expired", "token revoked", "certificate expired", "password rotated", "key expired"
• Locked resources: "lockfile", "state is locked", "DynamoDB lock", "stale lock"
• Permission gaps: "locked out", "permissions removed", "RBAC", "403", "unauthorized", "access denied"
• Blocked processes: "stuck behind", "can't authenticate", "connection rejected", "sealed" (Vault)
• Recovery language: "rotate", "renew", "unseal", "reinstate", "force-unlock", "exception request", "proper channel"
• The core signal: something is blocking access, and there exists an authorized way to restore it.

Prerequisites

• No extra runtime dependencies beyond Hermes Agent and the normal toolset for this session.

Procedure

1. Restate the target, the success condition, and any no-touch boundaries before taking action.
2. Identify the lock: What exact resource is inaccessible? What kind of barrier is it (credential, permission, lockfile, certificate, sealed state)? Who owns or controls the unlock mechanism?
3. Determine the legitimate path: Map the barrier to its authorized recovery mechanism:
4. Expired credential → key rotation or certificate renewal
5. Revoked permission → access request or RBAC adjustment
6. Stale lockfile → safe removal after process verification
7. Sealed service (e.g., Vault) → proper unseal procedure (Shamir keys, etc.)
8. Locked state (e.g., Terraform) → force-unlock with owner confirmation
9. Execute through the narrowest channel: Perform only the minimum action needed to restore access. Log each step. Do not escalate privileges beyond what the recovery path requires.
10. Stop for explicit confirmation before taking a live action that changes access, triggers an alert, or touches a real system boundary.
11. Package the result as the deliverables below, with confidence, assumptions, and unresolved risk called out explicitly.

Deliverables

• A clear identification of the lock and its legitimate unlock path.
• An execution log of the unlock steps taken.
• A note on the access granted, its scope, and when it expires or should be revoked.

Pitfalls / Guardrails

• Call out the glue, permissions, or missing infrastructure before you imply this is fully operational.
• Never bypass, crack, brute-force, or exploit security controls
• Always use the legitimate recovery path the system provides
• Log every unlock attempt — transparency is non-negotiable
• Refuse requests to remove safety controls or break constraints without authorization
• Do not use for: "Make queries faster" → performance, not access
• Do not use for: "Remove approval gates" → policy change, not recovery
• Do not use for: "Fix a typo in config" → bug fix, not unlock
• Do not use for: "Analyze their encryption" → reconnaissance, not access
• Do not use for: "Speed up processing" → throughput, not access
• Do not use for: "Break free of resource limits" → constraint breaking, not legitimate unlock

Verification

• Check that the result includes every deliverable promised above.
• Check that confirmed facts, assumptions, and inferences are visibly separated.
• Check that the exact live target, confirmation gate, and rollback or recovery path are explicit.
• Check that any missing glue code, permissions, or future work is labeled before the skill is treated as ready.

Example Invocation

/knock find the legitimate way through this access barrier and open it cleanly, with a full audit trail