ctf_status.py

Reads the README.md of every repo in the GitLab challenges group (REST API, no clone) and shows which categories have challenges in which state, at which difficulty — in the terminal and as a HedgeDoc note.

Setup

cp ctf_status.env.example ctf_status.env && chmod 600 ctf_status.env
$EDITOR ctf_status.env      # GitLab group URL + token, HedgeDoc note

Use

./ctf_status.py                          # terminal summary
./ctf_status.py -o overview.md           # + HedgeDoc markdown to a file
./ctf_status.py --stdout | wl-copy       # straight to clipboard, paste into HedgeDoc
./ctf_status.py --update                 # overwrite the note in HEDGEDOC_NOTE
./ctf_status.py --update <note-url>      # ... or an explicit one

The token is a fine-grained personal access token on the challenges group with Project: Read (to list the repos) and Repository: Read (to download the READMEs). A plain .env with GL_PAT= / GITLAB_URL= is read as well.

Keeping a HedgeDoc note up to date

--update overwrites an existing note in place, so the URL you share stays the same. Every run rewrites the whole body, starting with

---
tags: Logistics, h4tum CTF 2026
---

and a **Last updated:** <date> <time> <tz> line under the heading, so a stale note is obvious at a glance. Tags come from HEDGEDOC_TAGS (or --tags).

The note's permission has to be freely (Menu → Permission), because the run is anonymous. HedgeDoc 1.x has no REST API for editing a note, so the script talks the editor's own engine.io/socket.io + OT protocol over long-polling — it reads the current text, sends one "delete everything, insert this" operation, waits for the server's ack, and reads the note back to confirm. Anyone with the note open sees the change live. Still requests-only, no new dependencies.

--hedgedoc <instance> (POST a new note) is unrelated and only works where anonymous note creation is enabled — on hedgedoc.cit.tum.de it is not.

challs.txt for the deployment repo

--challs commits the clone URL of every challenge at Testing Ready or beyond to CHALLS_PATH (default 2026/challs.txt) in the deployment repo CHALLS_REPO_URL, one per line, the same format as last year's:

git@gitlab.lrz.de:h4tum-ctf/h4tum-ctf-2026/challenges/baby_rsa.git
...

It only commits when the list actually changed, with a message naming what was added and removed (Update 2026/challs.txt from challenge status: +jwt -safe). A challenge that falls back below Testing Ready drops out again. Preview without committing:

./ctf_status.py -q --challs-out -

The token additionally needs Repository: Read and Repository: Write on the deployment project. If the branch is protected, the token's user must be allowed to push to it. Without CHALLS_BRANCH, the default branch is looked up, which also needs Project: Read there.

Every 30 minutes, on a server

Copy the repo to the server, create ctf_status.env there (it is gitignored, so it does not travel with the code), then:

./install-timer.sh

It writes systemd user units into ~/.config/systemd/user/, substituting whatever directory the repo actually sits in, enables the timer, turns on lingering so it keeps firing when you are not logged in, and does one run to prove it works. Re-run it any time; it just overwrites the units.

systemctl --user list-timers ctf-status.timer   # when it next fires
journalctl --user -u ctf-status.service -n 50   # what it did
systemctl --user start ctf-status.service       # run it now
systemctl --user disable --now ctf-status.timer # stop it

The timer fires at :00 and :30 with up to a minute of jitter, and Persistent=true catches up a run missed while the machine was down. Plain cron works too, if you would rather:

*/30 * * * * /path/to/planner/ctf_status.py --update --challs --quiet

--quiet keeps a successful run silent, so you only hear about it when the note changed or something broke. Overlapping runs are prevented by a lock file, and the HedgeDoc write is retried (--retries, default 3) before the run gives up with a one-line error and a non-zero exit.

What the note shows

✅ Ready for infra testing — first thing in the note: every challenge at Testing Ready, Tested or Ready, linked to its repo, so infra knows what it can deploy and test against right now.
Status by category — how many challenges each category has per stage (⚪ Planning → 🟠 PoC Draft → 🟡 Testing Ready → 🔵 Tested → 🟢 Ready).
Category × difficulty — one dot per challenge, coloured by its status, so gaps and stragglers show up at a glance.
Challenges — one table per category, linked to the repo, with event, author, tester and the repo's last activity.
Needs attention — see below.

Reading the README

Only the template's header block is parsed:

### Challenge Name
- Category: crypto
- Difficulty: medium
- Event: TUM student CTF
- Author: ...
- Tester: ...
- Status: Testing Ready

People fill it in loosely, so values are normalised:

Status is matched against the five stages ("Tested with …" → Tested, "PoC" → PoC Draft). If it names several ("Planning to PoC Draft", a half-deleted option list) the least advanced one counts and it is flagged as unclear.
Difficulty ranges written as medium-hard, medium/hard or easy to medium become their own column; otherwise the first level named wins.
Category: the first one named counts ("rev, misc" → rev); the full value is shown next to the challenge. Categories outside the usual list (e.g. ai) get their own row.

What it flags

challenge at Testing Ready or beyond with no tester ([Tester Name], ??, None, not found yet all count as none)
status / difficulty / category missing or unclear
no challenge name in the README
repos whose README is missing or still the untouched template — these are left out of the counts

Repos GitLab has scheduled for deletion, and archived repos, are skipped.

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