`omnitrail` attestor

Captures a content-addressed trail of every file and directory under the working directory, with POSIX metadata, suitable for cross-tool provenance correlation.

Name	`omnitrail`
Predicate type	`https://aflock.ai/attestations/omnitrail/v0.1`
Lifecycle	`prematerial`
Default binary?	No
Recommended trace	off — no syscall tracing needed
Auto-attaches when	Not auto-detected — attach explicitly with `-a`.

The facts in this box are generated from the cilock binary's own catalog (cilock tools list). Do not hand-edit — run npm run gen:catalog.

What it captures

The attestor wraps the upstream omnitrail-go factory, which walks ctx.WorkingDir() and produces a single Envelope with three default plugins active: file, directory, and POSIX.

The attestor struct itself has exactly one json-tagged field:

Field	Type	Description
`Envelope`	`*omnitrail.Envelope`	Trail envelope — header + per-path mapping

Envelope.Header.Features records which hash algorithms were enabled (SHA1 is on by default). Envelope.Mapping is a map[string]*Element keyed by path. Each Element records:

type — file or directory
sha1, sha256 — content hashes (when the corresponding algorithm is enabled)
gitoid:sha1, gitoid:sha256 — OmniBOR artifact dependency graph identifiers
posix — atime, ctime, mtime, creation_time, file_inode, file_device_id, file_system_id, file_type, file_flags, hard_link_count, owner_uid, owner_gid, permissions, size, extended_attributes, metadata_ctime

Note: Despite the name, omnitrail does not auto-detect toolchains (go, cargo, node, pip, gcc, etc.). It is a filesystem trail, not a tool inventory. For toolchain provenance, layer in command-run or language-specific attestors.

When to use

Use omnitrail when downstream verifiers need a stable, content-addressed reference for every input file in the workspace — particularly for OmniBOR/ADG-based correlation across pipeline stages or between independent reproducible builds. Because it runs in the prematerial phase, it sees the workspace before any user command mutates it.

Flags

None. The attestor exposes no CLI flags; the upstream library is constructed with defaults (SHA1 enabled, no allow-list, all three plugins active).

Output shape

{
  "Envelope": {
    "header": {
      "features": {
        "sha1": { "algorithms": ["sha1"] }
      }
    },
    "mapping": {
      "src/main.go": {
        "type": "file",
        "sha1": "…",
        "gitoid:sha1": "gitoid:blob:sha1:…",
        "posix": {
          "mtime": "2026-05-21T12:00:00Z",
          "owner_uid": "501",
          "permissions": "0644",
          "size": "4096"
        }
      },
      "src": {
        "type": "directory",
        "sha1": "…",
        "gitoid:sha1": "gitoid:tree:sha1:…"
      }
    }
  }
}

Gotchas

Windows exclusion. omnitrail.go carries //go:build !windows. Custom binaries built for Windows via cilock build silently omit this attestor; policies that require it will fail on Windows runners.
POSIX plugin is Unix-only. Upstream posix_plugin_unix.go is gated on Unix; even on macOS/Linux the POSIX fields depend on filesystem support for the relevant syscalls.
No allow-list wiring. The upstream SetAllowList hook exists but the cilock adapter never calls it — every file under the working directory is walked. Large workspaces produce large envelopes.
No tool detection. This attestor records files, not toolchain binaries. Documentation that claims otherwise (including any prior version of this page) was wrong.
SHA256 off by default. NewTrail() enables SHA1 unless an option flips SHA256 on; the cilock adapter passes no options.

CLI example

Real omnitrail SBOM emission tied to a real material set.

cilock run --step omnitrail-emit \
  --signer-file-key-path key.pem --outfile attestation.json --workingdir . \
  --attestations omnitrail \
  -- echo "captured omnitrail bom" 

Validated against a real material set. See the full real-data example at https://github.com/aflock-ai/attestor-compliance-examples/tree/main/12-omnitrail.

What it captures​

When to use​

Flags​

Output shape​

Gotchas​

CLI example​

See also​