lantern 0.1.4

lantern 0.1.4

The assessment flow now takes an instruction in words, not just flags.
lantern ask runs the same pipeline as lantern run, but the operator's
directive — a sentence or a whole framework — travels with the flow instead
of a fixed mission string.

lantern ask

lantern ask --target shop.example.com --scope "shop.example.com" --file framework.md
lantern ask --target example.com --scope "example.com" --prompt "Check TLS and headers, defensive only"
echo "Check DNS and TLS on example.com" | lantern ask --target example.com --scope "example.com"

The full text is stored verbatim as a retention-tracked directive.md
artifact with the flow; each role objective and the plan phase see its
3,000-character head, so a 35-section framework fits the 6,000-token working
set. A framework excerpt measured here reports 7,257 in / 16 out tokens (scripted - estimate) with peak 369/6,000 — headroom confirmed, not assumed.

Intent is read, authority is not moved

The prompt is reduced to intent deterministically — no model call, no tokens,
covered by tests:

• action verbs and gated tool names (exploit, hydra, sqlmap, active
  testing) mean active testing; coverage nouns alone do not (a framework
  listing "privilege escalation" as a checklist item is a topic, not an
  instruction to escalate);
• an explicit restraint (defensive only, do not exploit, read-only)
  always wins — even over --offensive;
• contract fields (SYSTEM_NAME through SPECIAL_INSTRUCTIONS) parse out,
  and --target stays the authority: if it disagrees with the contract's
  TARGETS line, the run warns naming both and the flag governs.

The rule, stated once: the prompt can restrain --offensive, never grant
it. Ask for exploitation without the flag and you get reconnaissance plus the
flag named; pass the flag with a defensive-only prompt and the prompt wins.
Both cases say why, on screen, before anything runs:

instruction : Exploit the login form with hydra and run sqlmap against search
intent      : active testing requested
contract    : none declared (TARGETS etc. all empty)
note        : prompt asks for active testing but --offensive was not passed: running reconnaissance only (re-run with --offensive to allow it)

run and ask report a finished flow through one shared outcome block, so
the two lines at the end — spend and context — read identically either way.

Verified

• 227 tests pass, 1 ignored (the live NVD query), 0 warnings — up from 213
  at 0.1.3. Fourteen new: ten for intent (including restraint-beats-verbs and
  nouns-are-not-instructions), three for the ask gate, one proving the
  directive artifact lands and the flow options record its length.
• All four gate paths run live against --dry-run: recon restraint,
  exploit-ask downgrade, flag-vs-restraint, contract parse with eight fields,
  --target mismatch warning, and piped-stdin instruction.
• run --dry-run: 0.34–0.99 s for the full pipeline; ask --dry-run:
  0.36–0.66 s. lantern doctor exits 0 in 36–39 ms.
• No warnings across cargo check --workspace --all-targets, and no line
  added here passes the 100-column style.
• The 20% disk floor did its job on the author again: at 5.82 GB free against
  a 6.16 GB floor, run refused with both numbers in the message — and the
  first "benchmark" pass of this release measured those 5 ms refusals, not
  runs. The timings above are re-measured after clearing regenerable build
  weight.

Upgrade

git pull
cargo build --release          # ~/.cargo/bin/cargo if it is not on PATH
./target/release/lantern doctor

No database schema change: the directive length joins the flow-options blob,
so flows recorded on 0.1.0–0.1.3 still render. No new required variables and
no new required flags — ask reuses --target, --scope, --roles,
--steps, --interactive and --offensive with their existing meanings.

Attached: lantern-v0.1.4-aarch64-linux-gnu (8,612,232 bytes), built on Debian
13 / glibc 2.41 / aarch64. For anything else, build from source as above.