Undercover Mode — notes / nt and undercover / uc

EXP

A real, SD-backed Notes app that doubles as a disguise. To an onlooker the device just looks like a phone’s notepad — while your passive tools keep running and logging underneath.

  1. Commands
  2. Using the Notes UI
  3. Security & OPSEC
  4. Boot-cover
  5. Panic key
  6. See also

Commands 

CMD> notes            # standalone Notes cover UI (no silent mode)
CMD> undercover       # silent Notes disguise (the real cover)
CMD> uc set           # set a secret exit passphrase
CMD> uc clear         # remove the exit passphrase
CMD> uc status        # show passphrase + boot-cover state
CMD> uc boot on       # boot directly into Notes (no splash)
CMD> uc boot off      # restore normal boot
CMD> uc panic set     # arm an instant-hide key (press the key to bind it)
CMD> uc panic off     # disable the instant-hide key

notes just runs the cover UI. undercover runs the same UI and raises the covert flag: notification sounds and the hidden-SSID beep go silent, and the real AL-ANQA status bar stays hidden. Passive tools (wguard, macwatch, espchat, …) keep running and logging to SD underneath — only the audible/visible tells go quiet.

Using the Notes UI

Action Result
Tap a card / trackball up-down + click Open a note
Tap a line inside a note Move the cursor there
Type / Backspace / Enter Edit the note in place
Trackball up / down (in a note) Move cursor a line at a time
Trackball left / right (in a note) Move cursor a character at a time (wraps across lines)
Tap the save icon Save to SD (toast: “Saved” or “No SD”)
Tap the + FAB New note
Tap the back chevron Return to the list
Type the secret passphrase (uc only) Exit silently to the CLI
Press the panic key (default @) Instantly drop into the cover from anywhere
[q] Exit — fallback only, disabled once a passphrase is set

Notes are stored at /apps/notes/NNN.txt. No SD card → notes still work for the session (edit/navigate) but nothing persists across a reboot — no crash, just no save.

Security & OPSEC

  • The passphrase is stored as SHA-256(salt + phrase) in /config/undercover.conf — never in plaintext.
  • On a passphrase-match exit the open note is deliberately not saved, so the phrase’s own keystrokes (typed into the note before the match is detected) never reach the SD card.
  • Typos you backspace-correct while typing the passphrase are handled — the match tracks your edited text.

Boot-cover

uc boot on boots the device straight into the Notes disguise — no AL-ANQA splash, no CLI flash. SD is read first so the flag is known before anything draws. If a lock PIN is also set (lock new + lock boot on), the lock screen fires after the passphrase exits Notes — so from cold boot through unlock an observer only ever sees Notes.

Panic key

uc panic set arms a single key as an instant-hide trigger. Pressing it anywhere — even mid-command (a scan, a monitor, an attack) — drops straight into the cover; type the passphrase to return. Default is @ (Sym+P), chosen to avoid clashing with index targeting like ps #2. It only fires once an exit passphrase is set (so there’s always a way back); reserved keys (', q, space, Enter, Backspace) are rejected. While armed, that key can’t be typed in commands (it hides instead); inside the cover it types normally again.

Touch wake (undercover only) — one tap wakes a half-dimmed screen; a double-tap (within 500 ms) wakes a fully screen-off device. The plain terminal and standalone notes never wake on touch.

Still TODO: a duress/decoy passphrase (a second phrase that opens a clean notepad under coercion) — not currently planned.

See also