sigmate

A modern CLI for cryptographic file signing and verification.

• Ed25519 signatures
• Raw .sig files and central JSON metadata
• CycloneDX SBOM generation
• MD5/SHA1/SHA256/SHA512 checksum support
• Explicit trust store and keyring
• CI-friendly JSON output
• Idempotent signing with safe overwrite via --force

Table of contents

• Install

• Quick start

• Concepts

• Usage

  • sign
  • verify (signatures)
  • verify (checksums)
  • trust
  • configure
  • clean

• Artifacts

  • sigmate.meta.json
  • sigmate.sbom.json
  • checksum files

• JSON output and exit codes

• Security model

• CI examples

• License

Install

Build from source:

git clone https://github.com/opensecurity/sigmate.git
cd sigmate
cargo build --release
# add target/release to your PATH

Install from cargo

cargo install devcat

Quick start

# Configure defaults once
sigmate configure

# Add a signer and mark verified after you vet it
sigmate trust add ./keys/alice.pub --name alice --added-by "Your Name"
sigmate trust update <alice_fingerprint> --status verified --updated-by "Your Name"

# Sign your project: raw .sig and metadata + SBOM
sigmate sign --walk . --both --sbom

# Verify with signer alias from keyring
sigmate verify --walk ./downloaded --signer alice --require-trusted --json

Concepts

• Keyring: public keys stored by alias at ~/.config/sigmate/public_keys/.

• Trust store: policy and audit at ~/.config/sigmate/trusted_public_keys.json.

  • verification_status: pending | verified | revoked | compromised

• Artifacts directory: ./signatures/ by default.

• Idempotent signing: existing valid signatures are skipped; mismatches fail unless --force is used.

Usage

Run sigmate --help or sigmate <command> --help for all flags.

sign

Generate Ed25519 signatures, metadata, SBOM, and/or checksum files.

# Recursively sign, produce .sig and metadata and SBOM
sigmate sign --walk . --both --sbom

# Single file with expiration in hours
sigmate sign ./release.tar.gz --both --expires-in 72

# Checksums only (no signing)
sigmate sign --walk . --gen-sha256sums

# Use a specific PEM private key (encrypted keys supported)
sigmate sign --walk . --both --key ./secrets/ed25519.pem --key-password-env SIGMATE_KEY_PASSPHRASE

# Output directory for artifacts
sigmate sign --walk . --both --signatures-output ./out/signatures

# Orphan scan and prune
sigmate sign --walk . --report-orphans
sigmate sign --walk . --prune-orphans -y

Key flags (subset):

• --raw, --meta, --both
• --sbom
• --key PATH, --key-password-env ENV
• --signatures-output DIR
• --identity STR, --host STR
• --expires-in HOURS
• --no-abspath
• --gen-md5sums, --gen-sha1sums, --gen-sha256sums, --gen-sha512sums
• --force
• --report-orphans, --prune-orphans, -y
• --json

verify (signatures)

Verify using a public key path or a signer alias in the keyring.

# Use alias from keyring, enforce trust
sigmate verify --walk ./downloaded --signer alice --require-trusted

# Use a specific public key
sigmate verify --walk ./downloaded --key ./keys/alice.pub

# Machine readable output
sigmate verify --walk ./downloaded --signer alice --json

Signature source selection:

• --sig-type auto|raw|meta (default auto)
• Raw signatures are discovered at ./signatures/<file>.sig
• Metadata is read from ./signatures/sigmate.meta.json

verify (checksums)

Verify against a checksum file (GNU or BSD format).

# Verify all entries from SHA256SUMS
sigmate verify --checksum-file ./SHA256SUMS --checksum-algo sha256

# Verify a specific file against a checksum file
sigmate verify ./artifact.zip --checksum-file ./SHA512SUMS --checksum-algo sha512

# JSON report
sigmate verify --checksum-file ./MD5SUMS --json

Flags:

• --checksum-file FILE
• --checksum-algo auto|md5|sha1|sha256|sha512 (auto usually fine)
• --checksum-format auto|gnu|bsd (auto by default)

trust

Manage trusted keys and the keyring.

# Add a key (stored as ~/.config/sigmate/public_keys/<name>.pub)
sigmate trust add ./keys/alice.pub --name alice --added-by "Your Name"

# List keys
sigmate trust list
sigmate trust list --json

# Update status
sigmate trust update <fingerprint> --status verified --updated-by "Your Name" --notes "manual verification"

# Remove from trust store (key file remains in keyring)
sigmate trust remove <fingerprint>

configure

Set defaults interactively or non-interactively.

# Interactive
sigmate configure

# Non-interactive
sigmate configure \
  --private-key-path ./secrets/ed25519.pem \
  --signer-identity "Release Bot <bot@company.com>" \
  --keyring-path ~/.config/sigmate/public_keys

Environment overrides:

• SIGMATE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH
• SIGMATE_SIGNER_IDENTITY
• SIGMATE_KEYRING_PATH

clean

Remove generated artifacts with confirmation.

# Clean default ./signatures and default checksum files in CWD
sigmate clean

# Clean a specific artifact directory
sigmate clean ./out/signatures

Safety checks prevent deleting protected system paths.

Artifacts

sigmate.meta.json

Array of entries, one per signed file.

[
  {
    "file": "Cargo.toml",
    "relpath": "Cargo.toml",
    "abspath": "/abs/path/to/Cargo.toml",
    "created_at": "2025-09-13T11:36:52Z",
    "expires_at": null,
    "tool": { "name": "sigmate", "version": "1.0.0", "language": "rust" },
    "signer_identity": "Lucian <42606+gni@users.noreply.github.com>",
    "signer_host": "core",
    "signature_algorithm": "Ed25519",
    "hash_algorithm": "sha256",
    "file_hash": "117d58ed208f72485b6e5f51cf59f3e66c7d3384e3f5d53c4a146537df8d78aa",
    "signature": "vvxBJB5CkCJnrGVUrHlUE/rbidF0hPQ3G/mqyebrB0VXumSCdFkowep2Rgw6A0464v1PQs4CyB0srCMYxCT7AA==",
    "signature_hash": "0e9aeccb0ff7eca1568e2ff322bf62a6997e1c527cbb4acafd603ce58c178ba5",
    "key_fingerprint": "4567c7758287a491f1eacd4f4149b51fcb8322bfa90daa63ab5575ed370bb7b2",
    "signature_file": "/abs/path/signatures/Cargo.toml.sig",
    "version": { "git": { "url": "https://github.com/opensecurity/sigmate", "ref": "heads/main-dirty" } }
  }
]

Notes:

• abspath is omitted when --no-abspath is used.
• expires_at is set when --expires-in is used.
• version.git is filled when the directory is a Git repo with an origin remote.

sigmate.sbom.json

CycloneDX 1.5. Each signed file becomes a component with:

• SHA-256 hash

• Ed25519 signature

• properties:

  • sigmate:relpath
  • sigmate:abspath (omitted with --no-abspath)

• tool metadata with VCS references

checksum files

GNU style:

01ba4719c80b6fe911b091a7c05124b64eeece964e09c058ef8f9805daca546b  myfile.zip
e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855 *empty file.txt

BSD style:

SHA256 (myfile.zip) = 01ba4719c80b6fe911b091a7c05124b64eeece964e09c058ef8f9805daca546b
MD5 (empty.txt) = d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e

JSON output and exit codes

Most commands accept --json.

Verify (signatures) example:

[
  {
    "file": "Cargo.lock",
    "metadata_source": "signatures/sigmate.meta.json",
    "valid_signature": true,
    "expired": false,
    "trusted_signer": true,
    "expected_hash": "1b0fefdb1e1ef6cda0ff3a340490379b94d1a2fb53c51fc3bddcc3516bf443df",
    "actual_hash": "1b0fefdb1e1ef6cda0ff3a340490379b94d1a2fb53c51fc3bddcc3516bf443df",
    "overall_verified": true
  }
]

Exit codes:

• 0: success
• 1: failure (verification mismatch, etc.)
• 2: user aborted or idempotency failure requiring --force

Security model

• Ed25519 only for signing and verification.
• Encrypted private keys supported. Provide passphrase via --key-password-env ENV or interactively.
• Trust is explicit. --require-trusted enforces that the verifying key is present and marked verified in the trust store.
• Idempotency. Existing valid signatures are not overwritten unless --force is set.

Authors

Lucian BLETAN

License

MIT. See LICENSE.