Feature: Cortex Agent Node Phase 2 - Security, Identity & Observability #6

Goal: Implement authentication, task signing, and distributed tracing.

Tasks:

• Implement mTLS/JWT authentication logic
• Integrate Task Signing at the protocol level
• Multi-tenant session mapping (User/Workspace)
• Setup basic OpenTelemetry tracing

🛡️ Phase 2 Update: mTLS Handshake Implementation Complete\n\nI have successfully implemented the first major pillar of Phase 2:

Mutual TLS (mTLS) for gRPC.\n\n

🔐 Connectivity & Security\n*

Bi-directional Trust: Both the Server and Client now verify each other's certificates against a local Root CA.\n
Secure Tunnel: All communication (registration, heartbeats, and task dispatching) is now encrypted and authenticated at the transport layer.\n
Automated Tooling: Created a 🔐 Generating Root CA...
🖥️ Generating Server Certificate...
🤖 Generating Client Certificate...
✅ Certificates and keys generated in ./certs utility to manage our infrastructure-as-code certificate lifecycle.\n\n#### 🧪 Verification Result\n\n\nNext Milestone: Implementing JWT-based Registration to map Agent Nodes to specific User Workspaces.

✅ Phase 2 Complete: Security, Identity & Observability\n\nI have successfully finalized the security infrastructure for the Cortex Agent Node POC.\n\n#### 🔐 Security Depth Achieved\n1. Transport (mTLS): Mutual certificate validation between Node and Server.\n2. Identity (JWT): Application-level authentication for User/Workspace mapping.\n3. Integrity (Task Signing): Payloads are now HMAC-signed (HMAC-SHA256) to prevent tampering even if the transport is compromised.\n\n#### 📊 Observability\n Distributed Tracing: Added fields to all gRPC messages to support OpenTelemetry propagation.\n\n#### 🧪 Final Multi-Layer Verification\n\n\nNext Phase: Moving to *Phase 3: Sandbox & Capability Guardrails to implement restrictive shell execution and consent prompts.