> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.decepticon.red/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Tradecraft & OPSEC

> DO and DON'T principles for autonomous red team operation — codified into Decepticon's middleware.

**Tradecraft** is the techniques and procedures of espionage — used in red teaming interchangeably with TTPs. **OPSEC** (Operational Security) is the discipline of identifying critical information and controlling whether your actions can be observed by the adversary (in our case, the blue team).

Decepticon does not treat tradecraft as a postscript. The DO and DON'T principles below are codified into agent middleware, skill defaults, and the bash tool's prompt detection — so the agent operates the way a competent human red teamer would, by default.

## DO

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Log everything" icon="clipboard-list">
    Every command, every output, every finding — to PostgreSQL, with engagement tag and timestamp. No silent actions.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Consult skills before execution" icon="book-open">
    The SKILL-FIRST rule: agents must load the relevant skill before acting on a matching trigger. Skills carry tradecraft warnings inline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Understand tool artifacts" icon="magnifying-glass">
    Each skill documents what artifacts the tool leaves — registry keys, log entries, parent-process anomalies — so OPSEC tradeoffs are explicit.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Minimize C2 callbacks" icon="satellite-dish">
    Tier C2 by exposure. Long-haul callbacks for persistence, short-haul for active objectives, interactive only when needed.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Situational awareness post-access" icon="eye">
    After every initial access or pivot, run lightweight enumeration before noisy actions. Know the host before you make noise on it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Built-ins before binaries" icon="terminal">
    Prefer PowerShell, bash, and OS utilities to dropped binaries. Smaller artifact footprint, fewer EDR signals.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## DON'T

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Use untested tools on targets" icon="circle-x">
    Decepticon's skills only reference tools that have been validated in the sandbox. Novel binaries are an OPSEC failure waiting to happen.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Use unencrypted C2" icon="circle-x">
    Sliver channels default to mTLS, HTTPS, or DNS. Plaintext C2 is forbidden by default in every Decepticon profile.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Execute from non-standard paths" icon="circle-x">
    Drop into `%TEMP%` or unwritable system directories with care — these are the first paths defenders look at. Skills steer toward expected locations.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Exfiltrate PII / HIPAA / PCI" icon="circle-x">
    The EngagementContext middleware refuses objectives that would exfiltrate regulated data. Proof-of-access is not proof-of-exfil.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Skip deconfliction calls" icon="circle-x">
    If the operator pauses the engagement, the agent halts new objective scheduling. Deconfliction overrides momentum.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Operate outside the RoE" icon="circle-x">
    The EngagementContextMiddleware checks every iteration against the RoE. Out-of-scope actions are refused, not warned.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How Tradecraft Is Codified

These principles are not aspirational — they are middleware.

| Principle          | Enforcement Mechanism                                                                                   |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Log everything     | All tool calls persisted via the bash tool's tier-1 capture, then to PostgreSQL                         |
| RoE compliance     | `EngagementContextMiddleware` injects RoE/ConOps into every LLM call and rejects out-of-scope actions   |
| OPSEC defaults     | Skill frontmatter `metadata.opsec_level` informs the orchestrator of risk tier per action               |
| C2 tier discipline | OPPLAN objectives carry `c2_tier` (`INTERACTIVE`, `SHORT_HAUL`, `LONG_HAUL`); orchestrator enforces use |
| Built-ins first    | The `shared/opsec` skill is loaded by default and steers agents toward LOLBins and OS utilities         |
| Deconfliction      | CLI pause primitive halts new objective scheduling without tearing down sessions                        |

## Tradecraft and the Threat Profile

Tradecraft is not generic — it is profile-specific. AUTOBANK's tradecraft is loud-and-fast (financially motivated, smash-and-grab); CYBERSNAKE's is slow-and-patient (espionage). Decepticon enforces *the active profile's* tradecraft, not an abstract ideal.

When the orchestrator schedules an objective, it asks: *"Would the threat actor in our profile do this, this way, at this cadence?"* If the answer is no, the objective is reframed or rejected.

<Tip>
  The DO/DON'T taxonomy is adapted from [redteam.guide's tradecraft page](https://redteam.guide/docs/Planning/red-team-tradecraft/). Decepticon's contribution is enforcement — moving the principles from a checklist to runtime middleware.
</Tip>

<Card title="OPPLAN System" icon="clipboard-list" href="/en/features/opplan-system">
  How OPPLAN objectives carry the tradecraft constraints into agent execution.
</Card>