rotate: promote k8s + mongo to LIVE-VM via real-target POCs

Ran live cutover POCs in the sandbox VM against the real target software and
promoted both drivers from MOCK-ONLY to LIVE-VM in the proof table (data, not
driver behaviour):

- k8s: proven against real k3s v1.35 kube-apiserver + token controller
  (lab-provision-k8s.sh). The real apiserver serves a self-signed cert, so the
  driver gained CA-pinned TLS — blob params ca= (base64 PEM, pinned as the only
  trusted root) and insecure=1 (lab-only escape hatch), routed through a new
  clientFor(cr). Neither is test-awareness; a real deployment configures the same
  CA. Added TestK8sTLSTrust covering CA-pinned / insecure / untrusted-rejection
  and the blob round-trip.
- mongo: proven against real mongod 8.0 (lab-provision-mongo.sh).

npm stays MOCK-ONLY by decision (registry.npmjs.org not self-hostable; real
create-token requires the account password in the body) — documented as a
contract gap rather than faking a LIVE-VM. gcp/twilio/flyio remain MOCK-ONLY.

Live POCs surfaced real-target-only behaviour now recorded in the docs: the
apiserver's ~10s successful-auth cache (old token kept working ~7s after Secret
deletion) and real mongosh's stdout prompt. Full suite 104 green, -race clean.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

docs/FINDINGS-2026-06-16.md

@@ -290,14 +290,30 @@ just an `HTTPClient`/`Bin`), validated against protocol-enforcing emulators:
   for the controller to populate `.data.token`, GETs the SA to verify, then DELETEs the old
   Secret (which invalidates the old token).
 
-**All 6 are MOCK-ONLY** — honestly, because they were proven only against emulators. mongo,
-npm and k8s are LIVE-VM *candidates* (real MongoDB / a throwaway npm registry / a k3s cluster
-would promote them with zero driver-code change), but per the standing rule a driver is only
-LIVE-VM after the *real target* validates the cutover, so they stay MOCK-ONLY until those VM
-POCs run. Each emulator enforces credential validity and the tests assert `Verify(old)` fails
+Each emulator enforces credential validity and the tests assert `Verify(old)` fails
 after revoke, plus a leak canary (no token/secret/`PRIVATE KEY` in Identity/Source/Location).
 
-Full suite after batch 2: **103 green**, `-race` clean on rotate/sink/vault.
+### Live-VM POCs run (2026-06-18/19) → mongo + k8s promoted to LIVE-VM
+
+- **mongo → LIVE-VM** (`lab-provision-mongo.sh`): real `mongod` 8.0 from the official apt
+  repo; `labapp` (admin, `userAdminAnyDatabase`) rotates its own password; old password
+  rejected, new works. *Surfaced by the real target:* real `mongosh` echoes a `labdb> ` prompt
+  to stdout on a pipe and `db.auth` returns an object not a bool in 2.8 — the fake-mongosh stub
+  did neither, so the assertion had to filter output to the `AUTH-OK`/`AUTH-FAIL` token.
+- **k8s → LIVE-VM** (`lab-provision-k8s.sh`): real **k3s v1.35** kube-apiserver + token
+  controller; `labsa` (RBAC: create/delete/get Secrets + get its SA) rotates its legacy
+  token Secret; old token → `401`, new → `200`. *Surfaced by the real target:* (a) the
+  apiserver serves a self-signed cert, so the driver needed CA-pinned TLS — added `ca=`
+  (base64 PEM) + an `insecure=1` lab-only escape hatch to the blob; (b) the apiserver caches
+  *successful* auths ~10s (`cachedTokenAuthenticator`), so the deleted token kept working until
+  the cache expired (~7s) — the POC polls past it. Both are real-deployment config, not
+  test-awareness.
+- **npm stays MOCK-ONLY** (decided, not pending): `registry.npmjs.org` isn't self-hostable and
+  real `POST /-/npm/v1/tokens` requires the **account password in the body** (the driver sends
+  only Bearer old-token). Documented as a contract gap in `docs/ROTATION-PROOFS.md` rather than
+  faking a LIVE-VM. gcp/twilio/flyio remain MOCK-ONLY (no self-host).
+
+Full suite after batch 2 + POCs: **104 green**, `-race` clean on rotate/sink/vault.
 
 ## Summary
 

docs/ROTATION-PROOFS.md

@@ -41,6 +41,17 @@ stops a mock-only driver from ever being mistaken for a live one.
 | `wireguard` | real `wg` | `lab-provision-wg.sh` |
 | `gitea` | real Gitea | `lab-provision-gitea.sh` |
 | `appsecret` | real local files | `lab-provision-appsec.sh` |
+| `mongo` | real `mongod` 8.0 | `lab-provision-mongo.sh` |
+| `k8s` | real k3s `v1.35` kube-apiserver | `lab-provision-k8s.sh` |
+
+> **k8s live-POC note (auth-cache timing):** the real kube-apiserver caches *successful*
+> token authentications for ~10s (`cachedTokenAuthenticator`). After `RevokeOld` deletes the
+> legacy token Secret, the old token keeps authenticating until that cache entry expires — so
+> the POC polls the old token for up to 30s and asserts it flips to `401` (it does, ~7s). The
+> `httptest` emulator invalidates instantly, so this delay only surfaced against real k3s —
+> exactly what a live POC is for. The driver needed real-CA TLS to talk to the apiserver, so
+> the blob gained `ca=` (base64 PEM, pinned as the only trusted root) and an `insecure=1`
+> lab-only escape hatch; neither is test-awareness — a real deployment configures the same CA.
 
 ### MOCK-ONLY — proven only against an emulator / mock
 
@@ -53,12 +64,10 @@ stops a mock-only driver from ever being mistaken for a live one.
 | `cloudflare` | `httptest` emulator | no self-host |
 | `ghactions` | `httptest` emulator (holds the libsodium box keypair, decrypts the sealed PUT) | no self-host |
 | `gitlab` | `httptest` emulator | GitLab CE too heavy for the VM |
-| `mongo` | fake-`mongosh` shell stub (auths against a state file) | real-MongoDB VM POC not yet run |
-| `npm` | `httptest` registry emulator | real registry never hit |
+| `npm` | `httptest` registry emulator | real registry never hit (see caveat below) |
 | `gcp` | `httptest` IAM emulator (verifies the driver's RS256 JWT against the key's public key) | no self-host |
 | `twilio` | `httptest` emulator (Basic-auth Keys resource) | no self-host |
 | `flyio` | `httptest` GraphQL emulator | no self-host |
-| `k8s` | `httptest` apiserver emulator (token-Secret create/delete) | real k3s POC not yet run |
 
 ## What the MOCK-ONLY emulators actually prove
 
@@ -73,7 +82,7 @@ protocol so the test exercises the driver's true cutover logic:
   on `PUT` **decrypts the sealed value** and stores the plaintext; the test asserts the
   decrypted value equals the new value the driver put in the rebuilt blob — proving the
   sealed-box encryption is correct, not simulated.
-- **npm / twilio / k8s** — each emulator enforces credential validity (a token/key
+- **npm / twilio** — each emulator enforces credential validity (a token/key
   authenticates only while it exists) and the test asserts `Verify(old)` fails after
   `RevokeOld` — proving the create→verify→revoke cutover really happened, old credential
   dead, new one alive.
@@ -85,10 +94,17 @@ protocol so the test exercises the driver's true cutover logic:
 - **flyio** — a managing token mints/deletes the deploy token over GraphQL; the deploy token
   authenticates the app query only while it exists, so the test proves the managing-token →
   deploy-token rotation and that the revoked deploy token stops working.
-- **mongo** — the fake `mongosh` authenticates `db.auth` against a password held in a state
-  file and only `changeUserPassword` updates it; the test proves the in-place cutover (old
-  password rejected after rotation). No password ever reaches `mongosh`'s argv.
 
-Promoting any of these to LIVE-VM only requires standing up the real service (a self-hosted
-GitLab CE / a real Cloudflare token / a throwaway GitHub repo / a real MongoDB / a real npm
-registry / a k3s cluster) and re-running the same driver against it — no driver code changes.
+> **npm caveat (why it is not just "pending a VM run"):** the public `registry.npmjs.org`
+> is not self-hostable, and the classic `POST /-/npm/v1/tokens` create-token call on real
+> npm **requires the account password in the request body** (it is the non-interactive form
+> of `npm token create`, which prompts for your password). The driver authenticates the
+> create with the *old token* as Bearer only, which the emulator accepts but real npmjs does
+> not. So `npm` stays MOCK-ONLY pending either (a) a self-hosted registry that implements the
+> token API faithfully, or (b) adding password-in-body support to the create call. This is
+> exactly the kind of contract gap a live-POC attempt is meant to surface.
+
+Promoting the rest to LIVE-VM only requires standing up the real service (a self-hosted
+GitLab CE / a real Cloudflare token / a throwaway GitHub repo) and re-running the same
+driver against it — no driver code changes. (`k8s` and `mongo` have already made this jump;
+see the LIVE-VM table above.)