feat: outbound file attachments (agent → Discord)

[chaodu-agent]

Summary

Agents running through OpenAB can receive files from users, but have no native path to send files back to the chat. This PR adds an opt-in, config-driven, rate-limited pathway: agents include ![alt](~/.oab/outgoing/file.png) markdown in their reply, OpenAB validates the path, uploads the file as a native attachment, and strips the marker from the visible text.

Closes #298. Addresses #355.

Credits

This PR is based on the design and research from:

• PR feat: outbound image/file attachments from agent → Discord #300 by @DrVictorChen — original outbound attachments implementation with comprehensive prior art research (OpenClaw, Hermes Agent comparison)
• PR feat: outbound file attachments (addresses #355, opt-in, rate-limited) #401 by @DrVictorChen — v2 addressing all security items from feat: outbound file attachments from agent → Discord (with security hardening) #355

Both PRs were auto-closed due to rebase/discussion-URL requirements. This PR reimplements the feature on current main with two key design changes (see below).

Design Change 1: Hardcoded ~/.oab/outgoing/ Directory

PR #300/#401 used a configurable allowed_dirs list (default: /tmp/, /var/folders/). This PR replaces that with a single hardcoded directory: ~/.oab/outgoing/.

Why:

• Zero configuration — no allowlist to maintain or misconfigure
• Explicit intent — the agent must cp files to the outgoing dir, which is a deliberate action (not an accidental markdown reference)
• Minimal blast radius — OAB only reads from one directory; path traversal and symlink escape are blocked by canonicalize + Path::starts_with
• No false positives — ![alt](/tmp/screenshot.png) in agent prose won't accidentally trigger uploads

Trade-off: agents need one extra step (cp to ~/.oab/outgoing/), but this is trivial for any coding agent with filesystem access.

Design Change 2: Image-Only Restriction (Anti-Exfiltration)

PR #300/#401 allowed any file type. This PR restricts outbound attachments to image files only, validated by magic bytes (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP).

The threat model:

Even with a locked-down outgoing directory, a prompt-injected agent could:

1. env > ~/.oab/outgoing/leak.txt (dump secrets)
2. ![leak](~/.oab/outgoing/leak.txt) (exfiltrate via attachment)

The outgoing directory prevents OAB from reading arbitrary paths, but it cannot prevent the agent from copying sensitive data into it. The agent has full filesystem access — that's the agent runtime's security boundary, not OAB's.

Our mitigation: validate file content via magic bytes. Only files whose first bytes match known image format signatures are accepted. This blocks the most obvious exfiltration vector (text/binary dumps) while preserving the primary use case (screenshots, diagrams, generated charts).

What this does NOT prevent:

• Secrets embedded in image metadata (EXIF, PNG tEXt chunks)
• Steganography (data hidden in pixel values)
• Agent pasting secrets directly in reply text (this is already possible without outbound attachments)

Why this is acceptable: the image-only check raises the attack bar significantly. A naive env > file.txt exfil is blocked. Encoding secrets into valid image bytes requires a sophisticated, multi-step attack that is unlikely from a prompt injection. And the fundamental truth remains: if you don't trust your agent's text output, you shouldn't trust its file output either — outbound attachments don't make the existing text-exfil risk worse.

Flow

Agent generates image → cp /tmp/result.png ~/.oab/outgoing/result.png
Agent responds: "Here it is ![screenshot](~/.oab/outgoing/result.png)"
OAB: regex extract → canonicalize → verify under ~/.oab/outgoing/
   → magic bytes check (must be image) → size check
   → CreateAttachment::path() → Discord native upload
   → strip marker from displayed text

Changes

New modules:

• src/outbound_rate.rs — HashMap<channel_key, VecDeque<Instant>> sliding-window rate limiter
• src/media.rs::extract_outbound_attachments() — regex extraction + canonicalize + directory check + magic bytes + size/count validation
• src/media.rs::is_image_file() — magic bytes validation for PNG/JPEG/GIF/WebP/BMP

Modified:

• src/config.rs — OutboundConfig (enabled, max_file_size_mb, max_per_message, max_per_minute_per_channel)
• src/adapter.rs — ChatAdapter::send_file_attachments (default no-op), AdapterRouter wiring
• src/discord.rs — DiscordAdapter::send_file_attachments via serenity CreateAttachment::path
• src/main.rs — module registration + config passthrough
• config.toml.example — documented [outbound] section

Security Checklist (from #355)

#	Requirement	Implementation
1	Symlink resolution	std::fs::canonicalize() before directory check
2	Path traversal (..)	Covered by canonicalize
3	Directory restriction	Hardcoded ~/.oab/outgoing/ (no configurable allowlist needed)
4	Opt-in default	OutboundConfig::default().enabled == false
5	Rate limiting	Per-message cap + per-channel per-minute sliding window
6	Component-wise check	Path::starts_with on canonical paths
7	Content validation (new)	Magic bytes check — only image files accepted

Config (opt-in)

[outbound]
enabled = true
max_file_size_mb = 25
max_per_message = 10
max_per_minute_per_channel = 30

Verified

• cargo check ✅
• cargo clippy ✅ (non-test targets; pre-existing bool_assert_comparison in cron.rs tests)
• cargo test — 190 passed, 0 failed (15 new: 10 outbound extraction + 5 rate limiter)

Test coverage:

• Disabled-by-default no-op
• Happy path (PNG in outgoing dir)
• Blocks path outside outgoing dir
• Blocks /tmp/ paths
• Blocks symlink escape
• Blocks path traversal
• Blocks text file exfiltration (magic bytes check)
• Accepts real PNG (magic bytes check)
• Enforces max_per_message cap
• Enforces max_file_size_mb
• Rate limiter: admits up to limit, partial admit, channel independence, prunes old entries

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Discord Discussion URL: https://discord.com/channels/1491295327620169908/1499016289086341250

[thepagent]

Close in favor of #652
Demo https://discord.com/channels/1491295327620169908/1491365150664560881/1499490944045547562