QU3 - Quantum-Safe MCP Client

This project provides a client application (qu3-app) for secure interaction with Quantum-Safe Multi-Compute Provider (MCP) environments. It leverages post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards for establishing secure communication channels, ensuring client authenticity, and verifying server attestations.

This client is designed to work with MCP servers that support the QU3 interaction protocols. For development and testing, a compatible mock server implementation is included in scripts/mock_mcp_server.py.

Architecture & Flow

Secure Communication Flow

The following diagram illustrates the end-to-end secure communication pattern implemented between the QU3 Client and the MCP Server:

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client as QU3 Client (CLI)
    participant Server as MCP Server

    Note over Client,Server: Initial Setup (First Run / Keys Missing)
    Client->>+Server: GET /keys (Fetch Server Public Keys)
    Server-->>-Client: Server KEM PK, Server Sign PK (Base64)
    Client->>Client: Store Server Public Keys Locally

    Note over Client,Server: Establish Secure Session
    Client->>+Server: POST /kem-handshake/initiate { Client KEM PK, Client Sign PK }
    Server->>Server: Encapsulate Shared Secret (using Client KEM PK)
    Server->>Server: Derive AES-256 Session Key & Store Session Details
    Server-->>-Client: { KEM Ciphertext }
    Client->>Client: Decapsulate Shared Secret & Derive AES-256 Session Key
    Client->>Client: Store AES Session Key

    Note over Client,Server: Secured Inference Request
    Client->>Client: Prepare Secure Request (Sign Payload, Encrypt with AES Key)
    Client->>+Server: POST /inference { Client KEM PK, nonce, ciphertext }
    Server->>Server: Process Secure Request (Lookup Session, Validate Timestamp, Decrypt, Verify Signature)
    Server->>Server: Execute Model(input_data) -> output_data
    Server->>Server: Prepare Secure Response (Prepare Attestation, Sign, Encrypt with AES Key)
    Server-->>-Client: { resp_nonce, resp_ciphertext }
    Client->>Client: Process Secure Response (Decrypt, Verify Attestation)
    Client->>Client: Process Result

    Note over Client,Server: Secured Policy Update
    Client->>Client: Prepare Secure Policy (Read, Sign, Encrypt with AES Key)
    Client->>+Server: POST /policy-update { Client KEM PK, policy_nonce, policy_ciphertext, policy_sig }
    Server->>Server: Process Secure Policy (Lookup Session, Validate Timestamp, Decrypt, Verify Signature)
    Server->>Server: Process Policy (Mock)
    Server->>Server: Prepare Secure Status (Sign Status, Encrypt with AES Key)
    Server-->>-Client: { status_nonce, status_ciphertext, status_sig }
    Client->>Client: Process Secure Status (Decrypt, Verify Signature)
    Client->>Client: Display Status

Client Component Interaction

This diagram shows how the main Python modules within the client application interact:

graph TD
    A("User CLI (Typer)") --> B("src_main");
    B -- Initiates --> C("src_mcp_client (MCPClient)");
    B -- Uses --> D("src_config_utils");
    C -- Uses --> E("src_pqc_utils");
    C -- Uses --> G("requests Session");
    D -- Uses --> H("PyYAML");
    D -- Manages --> I("Key Files");
    D -- Uses --> G;
    E -- Uses --> J("liboqs_python");
    E -- Uses --> K("cryptography");

    subgraph Cryptography
        J
        K
    end

    subgraph Networking
        G
    end

    subgraph "Configuration & Keys"
        H
        I
    end

Key Management Overview

Keys are crucial for the security protocols. Here's how they are managed:

graph LR
    subgraph Client Side
        A["CLI: generate-keys"] --> B{"src_main.py"};
        B --> C["src_pqc_utils.py"]:::pqc --> D{"Generate KEM/Sign Pairs"};
        D --> E["src_config_utils.py"]:::config --> F["Save Client Keys (.pub, .sec)"];

        G["CLI: run-inference/etc."] --> B;
        B --> H{"Initialize Client"};
        H --> E --> I{"Load Client Keys?"};
        I -- Found --> J["Use Keys"];
        I -- Not Found --> D;

        H --> E --> K{"Load Server Keys?"};
        K -- Found --> J;
        K -- Not Found --> L{"Fetch Server Keys?"};
        L -- Calls --> E --> M["GET /keys"]:::net;
        M -- Response --> E --> N["Save Server Keys (.pub)"];
        N --> J;
        L -- Fetch Fail --> O["(Error - Cannot Proceed)"];
    end

    subgraph "Server Side (Mock)" 
        P["Server Startup"] --> Q["scripts_mock_mcp_server.py"];
        Q --> R["src_config_utils.py"]:::config --> S{"Load/Generate Server Keys"};
        S --> T["Save Server Keys (.pub, .sec)"];
        Q --> U["Register /keys Endpoint"];
        U -- Request for /keys --> V{"Return Server Public Keys"};
    end

    subgraph "Filesystem (Key Dir)"
        F
        T
        N
    end

    classDef pqc fill:#f9d,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef config fill:#cfc,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;
    classDef net fill:#cdf,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px;

Core Components

• src/main.py: Command-line interface (CLI) built with Typer. Handles user commands, orchestrates client operations, and displays results. Includes commands for key generation, inference, agent workflows, and policy updates.
• src/mcp_client.py: The main client class (MCPClient) responsible for:
  • Managing PQC keys.
  • Defining request (MCPRequest) and response (MCPResponse) data structures.
  • Establishing secure sessions via KEM handshake (connect).
  • Sending signed and encrypted requests (send_request).
  • Processing and verifying encrypted/signed responses.
  • Handling disconnection (disconnect).
• src/pqc_utils.py: Utility functions for PQC operations (Kyber KEM, SPHINCS+ signing) using liboqs-python, AES-GCM encryption/decryption using cryptography, and HKDF key derivation.
• src/config_utils.py: Handles loading configuration from config.yaml, loading/saving keys from/to files, and fetching server public keys from the /keys endpoint.
• scripts/mock_mcp_server.py: A FastAPI development/test server that simulates an MCP environment. Implements the server-side logic for KEM handshake, request decryption/verification, basic model execution, attestation signing, response encryption, policy updates, and key distribution.
• config.yaml: Configuration file for storing settings like the default key directory (key_directory) and server URL (server_url).
• tests/: Directory containing unit tests (unittest) for core components (pqc_utils, config_utils, mcp_client).

Features

• PQC Algorithms: Uses NIST PQC finalists:
  • KEM: Kyber-768
  • Signature: SPHINCS+-SHA2-128f-simple
• PQC Key Management: Generates and loads Kyber and SPHINCS+ key pairs.
• Secure Session Establishment: Uses Kyber KEM over a network handshake (/kem-handshake/initiate) to establish a shared secret.
• Key Derivation: Derives a 32-byte AES-256 key from the KEM shared secret using HKDF-SHA256.
• Encrypted Communication: Encrypts request/response payloads (after KEM handshake) using AES-256-GCM with the derived session key.
• Client Authentication: Client signs requests using SPHINCS+; server verifies.
• Server Attestation: Server signs responses (attestation data) using SPHINCS+; client verifies.
• Configuration: Loads key directory and server URL from config.yaml.
• Automated Server Key Fetching: Client automatically fetches server public keys from the /keys endpoint if not found locally.
• CLI Commands:
  • generate-keys: Creates client key pairs.
  • run-inference: Sends a single, secured inference request.
  • run-agent: Executes a sequential workflow (modelA->modelB), passing outputs as inputs (wraps non-dict output), with step-by-step reporting and robust failure handling.
  • update-policy: Sends an encrypted and signed policy file to the server.
• Mock Server: Includes endpoints (/, /keys, /kem-handshake/initiate, /inference, /policy-update) implementing the corresponding server-side PQC and communication logic for testing. Provides example models model_caps and model_reverse.
• Unit Tests: Includes unit tests covering core cryptographic utilities, configuration management, and client communication logic (with network mocking).

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd qu3-app
   

2. Create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

   (Note: liboqs-python might require system dependencies like a C compiler and the liboqs C library. Refer to its documentation if installation fails.)
4. (Optional) Configure config.yaml: Modify key_directory or server_url if needed. The default key directory is ~/.qu3/keys/.

Quick Start

# Easy installation
./scripts/install.sh
# Validate setup
python -m src.main validate-config
# Test connection
python -m src.main test-connection
# Run benchmarks
python -m src.main benchmark

Running the Mock Server

In one terminal, run:

# Ensure virtual environment is active
source venv/bin/activate

python -m scripts.mock_mcp_server

The server will start (usually on http://127.0.0.1:8000) and automatically generate its own key pairs in the configured key directory if they don't exist.

Running the Client CLI

In another terminal (with the virtual environment activated):

1. Generate Client Keys: (Only needs to be done once unless --force is used)

   python -m src.main generate-keys
   

2. Fetch Server Keys (Automatic): The client will attempt to fetch keys from the server's /keys endpoint during initialization (run-inference, run-agent, update-policy) if server_kem.pub and server_sign.pub are not found in the key directory specified in config.yaml. Ensure the mock server is running before executing client commands that require connection.

3. Run Single Inference:

   # Example using mock server's model_caps
   python -m src.main run-inference model_caps '{"text": "process this data"}'
   
   # Example specifying server URL
   python -m src.main run-inference model_reverse '{"text": "backward"}' --server-url http://127.0.0.1:8000
   

4. Run Agent Workflow:

   # Example chaining two mock models
   python -m src.main run-agent "model_caps -> model_reverse" '{"text": "flow start"}'
   

5. Update Policy: Create a policy file (e.g., my_policy.txt) with some content.

   echo "Allow model_caps access." > my_policy.txt
   python -m src.main update-policy --policy-file my_policy.txt
   

Running Tests

To run the unit tests:

# Ensure virtual environment is active
source venv/bin/activate

python -m unittest discover tests

Or run specific test files:

python -m unittest tests.test_pqc_utils
python -m unittest tests.test_config_utils
python -m unittest tests.test_mcp_client

🆕 Latest Updates

The newest release includes significant improvements to developer experience:

New CLI Commands

• validate-config: Comprehensive environment and configuration validation
• inspect-keys: Detailed key inspection and status reporting
• test-connection: Server connectivity testing without operations
• benchmark: Performance measurement for quantum-safe operations

Enhanced Installation

• Automated installation script (scripts/install.sh) handles complex dependencies
• Docker development environment improvements
• Better error handling and diagnostics

Documentation & Examples

• Comprehensive troubleshooting guide (TROUBLESHOOTING.md)