# Cleanup Template

> Cleanup & restoration plan generator — artifact inventory, persistence removal commands, pre-engagement baseline, post-engagement verification.

- Skill: `purpleailab/cleanup-template` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add purpleailab/cleanup-template`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/purpleailab/cleanup-template/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: purpleailab (https://skillmd.com/u/purpleailab)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/purpleailab/cleanup-template

---


# Cleanup & Restoration Plan Generator

The cleanup plan is the **anti-foothold roster** — every artifact the kill chain will create must have a concrete removal command and a verifier, or dummy accounts / scheduled tasks / beacons routinely outlive the engagement.

## When to Use

- After CONOPS is written (the kill chain phases dictate what artifacts will exist)
- User says "create cleanup plan", "list what we'll leave behind", "post-engagement teardown"

## Workflow

### Step 1: Map Kill Chain Phases → Expected Artifact Types

For every phase in CONOPS.kill_chain, infer which `CleanupArtifact.artifact_type` entries will be produced:

| Kill Chain Phase | Likely artifact_types |
|---|---|
| recon | `tool` (installed scanners), `network-rule` (firewall whitelist) |
| initial-access | `account` (test users), `file` (uploaded payloads), `tool` (web shells) |
| post-exploit | `persistence-mechanism` (scheduled-task / service / registry-run), `account` (created backdoor users), `file` (dropped binaries) |
| c2 | `beacon` (C2 implants), `network-rule` (egress allow), `tool` (sliver / cobalt-strike payloads) |
| exfiltration | `file` (staged exfil archives), `network-rule` (DNS tunneling) |

### Step 2: Seed CleanupArtifact entries

For each expected artifact, set:
- `artifact_type` — category above
- `host` — placeholder (e.g. ``"<initial-access target>"``) — operations agents replace at run time
- `path` — likely filesystem / registry / account-name location
- `persistence_mech` — concrete mechanism if applicable
- `removal_command` — idempotent shell or API call to remove
- `verifier_command` — zero-exit on success
- `created_by_objective` — left blank; operations agents fill on creation
- `removed=False`, `removed_at=""`

### Step 3: Pre-engagement Baseline

Set `pre_engagement_baseline` to whatever snapshot reference the operator gives during the interview (volume ID, AWS AMI, hypervisor snapshot, manual filesystem hash list). If no baseline is available, record that explicitly — it's a critical risk signal for the engagement owner.

### Step 4: Completion Criteria

Default schema text covers most engagements. Override only when the engagement specifies different completion semantics (e.g. "leave honeyfile FILE_X in place for blue team training" — note as a cancellation_reason on that artifact later).

## Validation Checklist

Before writing `plan/cleanup.json`:

- [ ] Every CONOPS phase that creates persistence has a matching artifact entry
- [ ] Every artifact has a non-empty `removal_command`
- [ ] No artifact's `path` references an out-of-scope host
- [ ] `pre_engagement_baseline` is either set or explicitly marked "no baseline available"

## Anti-patterns

- Leaving `removal_command` empty — operations agents will skip the artifact entirely
- Putting absolute paths from the operator's machine (engagement workspace is `/workspace/<eng>` inside the sandbox; cleanup runs on TARGETS not the workspace)
- Forgetting C2 beacons — the kill chain's c2 phase is the most common omission

## Output

Write to `plan/cleanup.json` validating against `decepticon.core.schemas.CleanupPlan`.

