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The ConfirmChallenge is the simplest verification step in Attesta’s challenge system. It presents the operator with a summary of the action and asks for a Y/N confirmation. A built-in minimum review timer ensures the operator has enough time to actually read the summary before responding.

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When It Is Used

By default, ConfirmChallenge is assigned to MEDIUM risk actions (score 0.3–0.6). These are typically state-changing operations that are well-understood and reversible — things like creating resources, updating configurations, or sending notifications.
ParameterDefaultDescription
min_review_seconds3.0Minimum seconds before a response is accepted without rubber-stamp flagging

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How It Works

  1. The operator is shown a panel with the action name, arguments, risk score, and risk level
  2. A timer starts counting from the moment the panel is displayed
  3. The operator types Y (approve) or N (deny)
  4. If the response arrives before min_review_seconds, the approval is still accepted but flagged as a rubber stamp in the audit trail
MEDIUM RISK — Approval Required Action: create_user | Arguments: name="Jane Doe", role="editor" | Risk: 0.42 (MEDIUM) | Agent: content-bot Approve this action? [Y/n]

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Usage

from attesta.challenges import ConfirmChallenge

# Default: 3-second minimum review
confirm = ConfirmChallenge()

# Custom: require 5 seconds of review
confirm = ConfirmChallenge(min_review_seconds=5.0)

# Use in a custom challenge map
from attesta import Attesta, RiskLevel

attesta = Attesta(
    challenge_map={
        RiskLevel.LOW: None,
        RiskLevel.MEDIUM: ConfirmChallenge(min_review_seconds=5.0),
        RiskLevel.HIGH: "quiz",
        RiskLevel.CRITICAL: "multi_party",
    }
)

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Rubber-Stamp Detection

If the operator responds in less than min_review_seconds, Attesta does not block the approval. Instead, it records the event with min_review_met: false in the audit trail. This allows security teams to retroactively identify patterns of insufficient review. 
{
  "action_name": "create_user",
  "challenge_type": "confirm",
  "challenge_passed": true,
  "review_duration_seconds": 0.8,
  "min_review_met": false
}
Rubber-stamped approvals are valid but flagged. Use audit.find_rubber_stamps() to query all approvals that did not meet the minimum review time. Persistent rubber-stamping may indicate that the operator is not genuinely reviewing actions.

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Querying Rubber Stamps

from attesta import AuditLogger

audit = AuditLogger("./audit.jsonl")

# Find all rubber-stamped approvals
stamps = audit.find_rubber_stamps()
for entry in stamps:
    print(f"{entry.action_name}: {entry.review_duration_seconds}s "
          f"(min: {entry.min_review_seconds}s)")

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Confirm as a Sub-Challenge

ConfirmChallenge also appears as a sub-challenge in MultiPartyChallenge. When multi-party approval is required, each approver receives a different sub-challenge in a rotating pattern. Confirm is the lightest sub-challenge in the rotation (after teach-back and quiz).

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Configuration via YAML

attesta.yaml
policy:
  challenge_map:
    medium: confirm

  min_review_seconds:
    confirm: 5.0
For environments where operators are trained and trusted, you can reduce min_review_seconds to 1.0. For high-compliance environments (healthcare, finance), consider increasing it to 10.0 or higher.

QuizChallenge

Next level up: auto-generated comprehension questions

Audit Trail

How rubber stamps and review times are recorded