Security
How Mantler handles authentication, access control, and data in transit.
Mantler is designed with a clear boundary between what runs on your hardware and what runs on Mantler's servers. This page covers the security posture for each part of the system.
Machine daemon (mantlerd)
mantlerd runs on your hardware and communicates outbound-only with the control plane. It does not accept inbound connections except:
- The local Unix domain socket (used by the
mantlerCLI on the same machine) - The LAN model-sharing server on port 7433 — disabled by default, must be explicitly enabled
The daemon only executes typed commands from a known allowlist. It cannot be instructed to run arbitrary shell commands. Full details: Security & trust model.
Inference traffic
Inference requests from external clients flow through api.mantler.ai (the mantler-api gateway), then over an encrypted WebSocket relay to mantlerd on the target machine, then to the local runtime backend (Ollama, vLLM, etc.).
For multi-stage pipeline execution:
- Stage payloads are encrypted with ephemeral X25519 keys (AES-256-GCM).
- Each machine holds independent keypairs for encryption (X25519) and signing (Ed25519).
- Stage integrity is verified with Ed25519 signatures.
- The relay (
mantler-api) is blind to stage content — it sees routing and billing metadata only, not the payload. - Pipelines fail closed on contract violations.
API keys
External API keys use the prefix mk_live_. Each key is:
- Bound to an organization
- Optionally restricted to specific mantles, machines, or rate limits
- Revocable immediately from the web app
Authentication (web app)
The Mantler web app uses GitHub OAuth and email OTP login. Sessions are managed by Supabase. All database access uses row-level security (RLS) — each user can only read and write records that belong to their organization.
Data handling
- Mantler does not log inference request content. Logs contain token counts and latency, not prompts or completions.
mantlerdincludes an audit log of every server-originated command on your machine (type, outcome, denial reason). See Audit log.- Per-stage audit rows are written for pipeline execution. These record stage type, machine, and timing — not content.
What Mantler does not claim
Mantler does not currently hold SOC 2, HIPAA, or other compliance certifications. If compliance requirements are a factor in your evaluation, contact us to discuss your specific needs.
Reporting a vulnerability
Do not report security vulnerabilities through public GitHub issues.
Email security@mantler.dev with a description, reproduction steps, the affected version, and your severity assessment. We aim to acknowledge within 48 hours.