tailscale / tailscale/tailcat

Question/docs request: Is a `tailcat` address a secret?

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Description

The tailcat docs say:

Is a tailcat address sensitive?

Yes. The address grants access to a specific connection. Treat it like a password. Don’t log it, commit it to source control, or share it with anyone who shouldn’t have access. Definitely don’t tweet it.

That pretty clearly states that a tailcat address should be treated like a secret.

But the tailcat blogpost says:

generates a tailcat address, which is a string of the form: tc + base64(CBOR( public key + DERP bootstrap info ))

you then share that address string with somebody out of band, either directly, or by putting it in a DNS TXT record, and sharing that DNS hostname out of band

Which (at least the way I interpret it) implies that the tailcat address is not a secret, because you can put it in a TXT record.

Is this an error in the docs? Or am I misunderstanding the docs?

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by comparing the linked tailcat documentation section with the tailcat blog post passages quoted in the issue. Confirm the intended security implications of publishing an address in DNS, then update the relevant documentation so both explanations agree and clearly describe when sharing is safe.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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