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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.

When It Is Used

By default, ConfirmChallenge is assigned to MEDIUM risk actions (score 0.30.6). These are typically state-changing operations that are well-understood and reversible — things like creating resources, updating configurations, or sending notifications.

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]

Usage


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.
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.

Querying Rubber Stamps


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).

Configuration via YAML

attesta.yaml
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