Pocket Agent plugin

Pocket Agent is short-lived, TTL-ticket remote-access tooling. It lets an operator reach a target machine to perform a bounded task, with a security model designed so the target never has to open a port or trust an inbound connection.

[!WARNING] Pocket Agent is not a mobile companion app. The name refers to a small, on-demand remote-access agent, not a phone client. For the mobile client see the iOS / mobile bridge plugin.

It runs host-native and talks to the gateway over the contract.

Facts

Field	Value
Version	0.1.0
Port	8814
Runtime	host-native

What it is

A way to run a bounded action on a remote target without standing infrastructure on that target. Instead of a daemon listening for inbound commands, the model is ticket-driven and outbound-only:

An operator issues a ticket — a short-lived (TTL-bounded) grant for a specific task.
The target runs a signed bootstrap that verifies the ticket.
The target then enters an outbound poll loop, reaching out to fetch work and report results.

When the ticket’s TTL expires, the access is gone. There is nothing persistent left listening.

The security model

[!NOTE] The whole point of Pocket Agent is the security posture, not convenience. Understand it before deploying:

Short-lived tickets (TTL). Access is time-bounded; an expired ticket grants nothing.

Signed bootstrap. The target only proceeds after verifying a signed bootstrap tied to the ticket.

Outbound poll loop only. The target initiates all connections. There is no inbound socket to attack and no push channel.

Allowlist. Targets and actions are constrained by an allowlist.

Audit. Activity is recorded for review.

Because there is no inbound listener and no push, the attack surface on the target is minimal: an attacker cannot connect to the target through Pocket Agent, and access automatically lapses when the ticket expires.

How it is used

An operator issues a ticket for a specific task; the target picks it up via the signed bootstrap and the outbound poll loop, performs the allowlisted work, and reports back. Each step is bounded by the ticket TTL and recorded in the audit trail.

operator issues TTL ticket ─▶ target verifies signed bootstrap ─▶ target polls outbound ─▶ allowlisted work ─▶ audit

Installation

Install Pocket Agent in one click from the marketplace in the admin UI. The host-native deployer downloads the plugin, runs its install step, renders a sandboxed systemd unit and waits for health before marking it ready — see Install & updates. No containers are involved.

Security and limits

TTL-ticket access only — bounded in time, not a standing remote session.
Outbound-only — no inbound socket, no push channel on the target.
Allowlist + signed bootstrap + audit enforce who can do what, and record it.
Not a companion app — this is operator-driven remote access, not a phone client.
Host-native — runs under systemd, not in a container.