Signals end every command, not only ssh to and ssh install (closes #48)

SIGINT, SIGTERM and SIGHUP were caught for the whole run, but only the
ssh and sftp children acted on them: the mnemonic prompt waited for
Enter, and an interrupted `age encrypt -o` went on to put the
encryption of the cut-off input in place. Now `ssh to` and
`ssh install` catch them from once the mnemonic is read until their
cleanup has run, and `age encrypt -o` and `age decrypt -o` catch them
while they write, to remove the unfinished file and exit with status 1;
everywhere else they end the tool at once. Tests cover an interrupted
`age encrypt -o` and `age decrypt -o` and the install working directory
on a signal.

Model: opus-5-5

README.md

@@ -106,9 +106,8 @@ order; the first one found wins:
 
 1. `--mnemonic-command <command>`: a shell command, run with `sh -c`, whose
    standard output is the mnemonic. Example:
-   `--mnemonic-command 'secret get foo'`. Whitespace around the output is
-   dropped. If the command exits with a non-zero status, the tool prints its
-   standard error and exits with status 1.
+   `--mnemonic-command 'secret get foo'`. If the command exits with a non-zero
+   status, the tool prints its standard error and exits with status 1.
 2. Environment variable `KEYFUNC_MNEMONIC_COMMAND`: the same, as a shell command
    held in the environment.
 3. Environment variable `KEYFUNC_MNEMONIC`: the mnemonic itself.
@@ -116,7 +115,9 @@ order; the first one found wins:
 
 If none of these is available and standard input is not a terminal, the tool
 refuses and exits with status 1. A mnemonic that fails the BIP-39 checksum is
-refused with a message saying so.
+refused with a message saying so. Keys are derived from the mnemonic's words
+joined by single spaces, whatever whitespace is around or between them, so one
+word per line, tabs or extra spaces give the same keys.
 
 `KEYFUNC_MNEMONIC` and `KEYFUNC_MNEMONIC_COMMAND` are removed from the
 environment before the system `ssh` (`keyfunc ssh to`) and `sftp`
@@ -162,21 +163,23 @@ Adds the `pub` line to `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` on the host. No command is run
 on the host: the file is fetched, changed here, and written back with the system
 `sftp` client in batch mode.
 
-The first connection lists `~/.ssh` and then fetches `~/.ssh/authorized_keys`
-from it. The file reads as empty in two cases only: `sftp` reported `~/.ssh`
-itself as not being there, or the listing came up and the file was not in it.
-Any other outcome of that connection fails the run — a `~/.ssh` that is there
-but cannot be entered, an `authorized_keys` that is there but cannot be read, or
-a connection that did not come up — and the tool prints what `sftp` said and
-exits with status 1 without writing anything, rather than put a file back
-holding the new key alone. The listing is what tells a missing directory from
-one shut to the user, which `sftp` reports on a fetch the same way; the wording
-of a missing file elsewhere does not count either, since `ssh` writes
-`No such file or directory` about an `-i` it cannot find on a session that then
-authenticates through the agent. If an identical line is already in the file,
-the tool prints `already present` and connects no further. Otherwise the line is
-added (after a newline, if the file did not end with one) and a second
-connection:
+The first connection lists `~/.ssh`, then `~/.ssh/.`, and then fetches
+`~/.ssh/authorized_keys`. The file reads as empty in two cases only: `sftp`
+reported `~/.ssh` itself as not being there, or both listings came up and the
+file was not found. Any other outcome of that connection fails the run — a
+`~/.ssh` that is there but cannot be read or entered, an `authorized_keys` that
+is there but cannot be read, or a connection that did not come up — and the tool
+prints what `sftp` said and exits with status 1 without writing anything, rather
+than put a file back holding the new key alone. The listings are what tell a
+missing directory from one shut to the user, which `sftp` reports on a fetch the
+same way: one that cannot be read fails the first listing, and one that can be
+read but not entered fails the second, after which the tool says that `~/.ssh`
+cannot be entered. The wording of a missing file elsewhere does not count
+either, since `ssh` writes `No such file or directory` about an `-i` it cannot
+find on a session that then authenticates through the agent. If an identical
+line is already in the file, the tool prints `already present` and connects no
+further. Otherwise the line is added (after a newline, if the file did not end
+with one) and a second connection:
 
 - makes `~/.ssh` and sets it to mode `0700`, but only when the first connection
   found none; a `~/.ssh` that was already there keeps the mode it had;
@@ -199,7 +202,10 @@ error, so the tool's own standard output is only `added` or `already present`.
 Anything after `--` is passed to `sftp` unchanged, which is where the port goes
 (`-P 2222`, not `-p`). How the connection authenticates is up to the user's
 normal `ssh` setup, except that batch mode does not prompt: a key or an agent
-has to do it, not a typed password.
+has to do it, not a typed password. Nor does it ask whether to trust a host key
+it has not seen, so the host has to be in `known_hosts` already, or the run
+fails with `Host key verification failed`. Connect to the host once with `ssh`
+first, or pass `-o StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new` after `--`.
 
 ### `keyfunc ssh to <host> [ssh arguments...]`
 
@@ -260,10 +266,18 @@ A child mnemonic is a full mnemonic in its own right: it can seed another
 `keyfunc`, another wallet, or `secret`, and it never has to be written down,
 since it can be derived again.
 
-Test vector: the child-mnemonic step is checked against BIP-85's own published
-vectors, which derive from the specification's master key
-`xprv9s21ZrQH143K2LBWUUQRFXhucrQqBpKdRRxNVq2zBqsx8HVqFk2uYo8kmbaLLHRdqtQpUm98uKfu3vca1LqdGhUtyoFnCNkfmXRyPXLjbKb`.
-At key index 0 the 12-word English child mnemonic is:
+Test vector, mnemonic
+`abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon abandon about`:
+
+```
+index 0: prosper short ramp prepare exchange stove life snack client enough purpose fold
+```
+
+The child-mnemonic step is also checked against BIP-85's own published vectors.
+Those start from the specification's master key
+`xprv9s21ZrQH143K2LBWUUQRFXhucrQqBpKdRRxNVq2zBqsx8HVqFk2uYo8kmbaLLHRdqtQpUm98uKfu3vca1LqdGhUtyoFnCNkfmXRyPXLjbKb`
+rather than from a mnemonic, so they cannot be given to `keyfunc`; at key index
+0 the 12-word English child mnemonic of that key is:
 
 ```
 girl mad pet galaxy egg matter matrix prison refuse sense ordinary nose
@@ -276,12 +290,12 @@ passes through `ssh`'s own exit status.
 
 SIGINT, SIGTERM and SIGHUP end any command at once, at the mnemonic prompt too,
 with the status a shell gives a program killed by that signal (130 for SIGINT).
-An interrupted `age encrypt -o` or `age decrypt -o` leaves the named file as it
-was; the unfinished file it was writing stays beside it, named
-`<file>.<digits>`. While `ssh to` or `ssh install` has `ssh` or `sftp` running,
-the signal ends that program instead, the tool removes its agent socket or
-working files, and it exits with status 1, or for `ssh to` with `ssh`'s own
-status if `ssh` reported one.
+An interrupted `age encrypt -o` or `age decrypt -o` leaves no file: it removes
+the unfinished file it was writing, leaves a file already at the named path as
+it was, and exits with status 1. While `ssh to` or `ssh install` has `ssh` or
+`sftp` running, the signal ends that program instead, the tool removes its agent
+socket or working files, and it exits with status 1, or for `ssh to` with
+`ssh`'s own status if `ssh` reported one.
 
 ## Entrypoints
 

internal/cli/age/age.go

@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/signal"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	"sneak.berlin/go/keyfunc/internal/agekey"
@@ -185,16 +187,38 @@ func output(cmd *cobra.Command) (io.Writer, func(error) error, error) {
 		}, nil
 	}
 
+	// From before the new file is made until it is renamed or removed,
+	// a signal removes it and ends the tool with status 1, even while
+	// the work is blocked reading its input, so an interrupted run
+	// leaves no file.
+	signals := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
+	signal.Notify(signals, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGHUP)
+
 	// The file is made in the same directory so that putting it in
 	// place is a rename and never a copy, and it is readable only by
 	// its owner, which is the mode it keeps once renamed.
 	file, err := os.CreateTemp(filepath.Dir(name), filepath.Base(name)+".")
 	if err != nil {
+		signal.Stop(signals)
+
 		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("creating a file beside %s: %w", name, err)
 	}
 
+	go func() {
+		if _, received := <-signals; received {
+			_ = os.Remove(file.Name())
+
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}()
+
 	return file, func(failed error) error {
-		return finish(file, name, failed)
+		finished := finish(file, name, failed)
+
+		signal.Stop(signals)
+		close(signals)
+
+		return finished
 	}, nil
 }
 

internal/cli/age_test.go

@@ -94,32 +94,49 @@ func TestARefusedDecryptionLeavesTheOutputFileAlone(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, "what was already there\n", string(kept))
 }
 
-func TestASignalStopsAnEncryptionAndPutsNoFileInPlace(t *testing.T) {
+func TestASignalStopsAnEncryptionAndLeavesNoFile(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Setenv(mnemonic.Variable, example())
 
 	for _, ending := range []os.Signal{
 		syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGHUP,
 	} {
-		encryptionInterrupted(t, ending.String(), ending)
+		interrupted(t, ending, "encrypt", "the start of the secret\n")
 	}
 }
 
-// encryptionInterrupted runs "age encrypt -o" as a subprocess reading
-// from a pipe that stays open, waits until the tool has begun writing
-// the file beside the one it was named, and sends it the signal. The
-// tool has to end on the signal alone, with a failure, and leave
-// nothing at the name it was given. A tool that went on reading would
-// not end until the input did, and would then put the encryption of the
-// cut-off input in place.
-func encryptionInterrupted(t *testing.T, name string, signal os.Signal) {
+func TestASignalStopsADecryptionAndLeavesNoFile(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv(mnemonic.Variable, example())
+
+	// All of an encryption but its last byte, so the tool reads the
+	// header and then waits for the rest.
+	sealed := run(t, "age", "encrypt", written(t, "notes.txt", "the secret\n"))
+	cut := sealed[:len(sealed)-1]
+
+	for _, ending := range []os.Signal{
+		syscall.SIGTERM, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGHUP,
+	} {
+		interrupted(t, ending, "decrypt", cut)
+	}
+}
+
+// interrupted runs "age encrypt -o" or "age decrypt -o", as the
+// operation says, as a subprocess writing into a directory of its own
+// and reading the input from a pipe that stays open. It waits until the
+// tool has begun writing the file beside the one it was named, and
+// sends it the signal. The tool has to end on the signal alone, with
+// status 1, and leave the directory empty. A tool that went on reading
+// would not end until the input did; one that did not remove the file
+// it was writing would leave it there, with what it had written so far.
+func interrupted(t *testing.T, signal os.Signal, operation, input string) {
 	t.Helper()
 
+	name := operation + " " + signal.String()
 	directory := t.TempDir()
-	sealed := filepath.Join(directory, "notes.age")
 
 	//nolint:gosec // the binary is this test's own, re-run as the tool
 	command := exec.CommandContext(
-		t.Context(), os.Args[0], "age", "encrypt", "-o", sealed,
+		t.Context(), os.Args[0], "age", operation,
+		"-o", filepath.Join(directory, "notes"),
 	)
 
 	command.Env = append(os.Environ(), runAsTool+"=1")
@@ -128,11 +145,11 @@ func encryptionInterrupted(t *testing.T, name string, signal os.Signal) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NoError(t, command.Start())
 
-	_, err = io.WriteString(producer, "the start of the secret\n")
+	_, err = io.WriteString(producer, input)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// The file beside the named one is made once the mnemonic has been
-	// read, just before the encryption starts.
+	// read, before any input is.
 	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
 		entries, err := os.ReadDir(directory)
 
@@ -142,8 +159,11 @@ func encryptionInterrupted(t *testing.T, name string, signal os.Signal) {
 	require.NoError(t, command.Process.Signal(signal))
 	waitForTool(t, name, command)
 
-	require.False(t, command.ProcessState.Success(), name)
-	require.NoFileExists(t, sealed, name)
+	require.Equal(t, 1, command.ProcessState.ExitCode(), name)
+
+	left, err := os.ReadDir(directory)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Empty(t, left, name)
 }
 
 // written puts the contents in a file of that name in a directory of

internal/cli/cli.go

@@ -69,9 +69,11 @@ func Root() *cobra.Command {
 //
 // SIGINT, SIGTERM and SIGHUP end the tool at once, as they end any Go
 // program, so a command waiting at the mnemonic prompt or reading what
-// it encrypts or decrypts goes no further. The exception is "ssh to"
-// and "ssh install" while they have ssh or sftp running: they catch the
-// signals there, so the child ends and their own cleanup still runs.
+// it encrypts or decrypts goes no further. The exceptions catch the
+// signals to clean up first: "ssh to" and "ssh install" while they
+// have ssh or sftp running, so the child ends and their own cleanup
+// still runs, and "age encrypt -o" and "age decrypt -o" while they
+// write, so the unfinished file is removed.
 func Main() int {
 	err := Root().Execute()
 	if err == nil {

internal/cli/cli_test.go

@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ const (
 		"0I4FKs+eVUulTPHfk9VtXw1tMF"
 )
 
+// The child mnemonic the README says the example mnemonic gives at
+// index 0.
+const childZero = "prosper short ramp prepare exchange stove life " +
+	"snack client enough purpose fold"
+
 // The two child mnemonic lengths the tests ask for.
 const (
 	twelve     = 12
@@ -45,6 +50,28 @@ func TestTheReadmeTestVectors(t *testing.T) {
 		vectorOne+" keyfunc/ssh/1",
 		strings.TrimSpace(run(t, "ssh", "pub", "-n", "1")),
 	)
+	require.Equal(t,
+		childZero, strings.TrimSpace(run(t, "mnemonic", "-n", "0")),
+	)
+}
+
+func TestTheSpacingBetweenTheWordsDoesNotChangeTheKeys(t *testing.T) {
+	words := strings.Fields(example())
+
+	for name, spaced := range map[string]string{
+		"one word per line": strings.Join(words, "\n"),
+		"double spaces":     strings.Join(words, "  "),
+		"tabs":              strings.Join(words, "\t"),
+	} {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Setenv(mnemonic.Variable, spaced)
+
+			require.Equal(t,
+				vectorZero+" keyfunc/ssh/0",
+				strings.TrimSpace(run(t, "ssh", "pub", "-n", "0")),
+			)
+		})
+	}
 }
 
 func TestTheCommentCanBeChosen(t *testing.T) {

internal/cli/ssh/install.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
@@ -34,6 +35,12 @@ const (
 	localMode     = 0o600
 )
 
+// ErrCannotEnter is the refusal of a host whose .ssh is there but
+// cannot be entered, so that nothing in it can be read or written.
+var ErrCannotEnter = errors.New(
+	"~/.ssh is there on the host but cannot be entered",
+)
+
 // install returns the command that adds the public key to a host.
 func install() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
@@ -212,30 +219,39 @@ func merge(content, line string) (string, bool) {
 
 // fetch brings the host's authorized_keys into the given path and
 // returns what is in it, and whether the .ssh directory was already
-// there. The one session lists .ssh and then gets the file, so the
-// listing settles the state of the directory before the get is read.
+// there. The one session lists .ssh, then .ssh/., and then gets the
+// file, so the listings settle the state of the directory before the
+// get is read.
 //
 // The file reads as empty in just two cases: sftp reported .ssh itself
-// as not there, or the listing succeeded and the get then reported the
-// file as not there. Anything else — the listing refused, the file
+// as not there, or both listings succeeded and the get then reported
+// the file as not there. Anything else — a listing refused, the file
 // there but unreadable, the connection down — fails the run and writes
 // nothing, because writing back over what was not read would leave the
 // host with the new key and nothing else. sftp cannot tell a missing
-// file from one in a directory it cannot enter, so the listing does:
-// a directory that is there but cannot be read is a failure, not an
-// empty file.
+// file from one in a directory it cannot enter, so the listings do: a
+// directory that is there but cannot be read fails the first, and one
+// that can be read but not entered fails the second, because nothing in
+// it can be looked up, not even ".". The first listing of such a
+// directory comes up empty, as the server leaves out every name it
+// cannot look up.
 func fetch(
 	cmd *cobra.Command, host string, options []string, into string,
 ) (string, bool, error) {
 	said, err := session(cmd, host, options, []string{
 		"ls -1 " + directory,
+		"ls -1 " + directory + "/.",
 		"get " + authorized + " " + quoted(into),
 	})
 	if err != nil {
-		if directoryAbsent(said) {
+		if listingNotFound(said, directory) {
 			return "", false, nil
 		}
 
+		if listingNotFound(said, directory+"/.") {
+			return "", false, ErrCannotEnter
+		}
+
 		if absent(said) {
 			return "", true, nil
 		}
@@ -252,18 +268,18 @@ func fetch(
 	return string(content), true, nil
 }
 
-// directoryAbsent says whether sftp reported .ssh itself as not being
-// there, which is the one listing failure read as a host that has no
-// authorized_keys yet. The reading is taken only from the line in which
-// sftp reports on that directory: any other failure of the listing, in
-// particular a directory that is there but cannot be entered, is left
-// as a failure, so that no key is written to a host whose keys were
-// never read.
-func directoryAbsent(said string) bool {
+// listingNotFound says whether sftp reported the path it was asked to
+// list as not being there. For .ssh that is the one listing failure
+// read as a host that has no authorized_keys yet; for .ssh/., once .ssh
+// itself has been listed, it is a .ssh that is there but cannot be
+// entered. The reading is taken only from the line in which sftp
+// reports on that path: any other failure of a listing, in particular a
+// directory that is there but cannot be read, is left as a failure, so
+// that no key is written to a host whose keys were never read.
+func listingNotFound(said, path string) bool {
 	for line := range strings.Lines(said) {
 		named, is := reportedCannotList(strings.TrimSpace(line))
-		if is && (named == directory ||
-			strings.HasSuffix(named, "/"+directory)) {
+		if is && (named == path || strings.HasSuffix(named, "/"+path)) {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
@@ -272,9 +288,9 @@ func directoryAbsent(said string) bool {
 }
 
 // reportedCannotList returns the path an sftp line reports it cannot
-// list for want of the directory, and whether the line is such a
-// report. The client writes this one wording when the directory a
-// listing names is not there, giving the path the server expanded.
+// list for want of it, and whether the line is such a report. The
+// client writes this one wording when it cannot look up the path a
+// listing names, giving the path the server expanded.
 func reportedCannotList(line string) (string, bool) {
 	const (
 		before = `Can't ls: "`

internal/cli/ssh/install_test.go

@@ -80,8 +80,11 @@ func TestAbsenceIsReadOnlyFromWhatSFTPSaidAboutAuthorizedKeys(t *testing.T) {
 
 // TestTheDirectoryIsReadAsAbsentOnlyFromTheListingSayingSo holds the
 // wordings the OpenSSH client was seen to use when a listing fails: a
-// directory it cannot find is reported one way, and one it cannot enter
-// another, and only the first is read as a host with no .ssh yet.
+// directory it cannot find is reported one way, and one it cannot read
+// another, and only the first is read as a host with no .ssh yet. A
+// .ssh that can be read but not entered lists as empty, and the
+// listing of .ssh/. that follows reports that path, not .ssh, as not
+// found.
 func TestTheDirectoryIsReadAsAbsentOnlyFromTheListingSayingSo(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
@@ -102,11 +105,16 @@ func TestTheDirectoryIsReadAsAbsentOnlyFromTheListingSayingSo(t *testing.T) {
 				`Can't ls: "/home/someone/.ssh" not found` + "\n",
 			want: true,
 		},
-		"the directory is there and cannot be entered": {
+		"the directory is there and cannot be read": {
 			said: listed +
 				`remote readdir("/home/someone/.ssh/"): Permission denied` + "\n",
 			want: false,
 		},
+		"the directory is there and cannot be entered": {
+			said: listed + "sftp> ls -1 .ssh/.\n" +
+				`Can't ls: "/home/someone/.ssh/." not found` + "\n",
+			want: false,
+		},
 		"some other directory is not there": {
 			said: listed + `Can't ls: "/home/someone/.config" not found` + "\n",
 			want: false,
@@ -122,7 +130,7 @@ func TestTheDirectoryIsReadAsAbsentOnlyFromTheListingSayingSo(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Parallel()
 
-			if directoryAbsent(listing.said) != listing.want {
+			if listingNotFound(listing.said, directory) != listing.want {
 				t.Errorf(
 					"read as absent: %t, wanted %t, from:\n%s",
 					!listing.want, listing.want, listing.said,

internal/cli/ssh_test.go

@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 // notADirectory is what a test puts where the .ssh directory belongs
-// to make a step of the write session fail.
+// to make a .ssh that is listed but cannot be entered.
 const notADirectory = "a file where the directory belongs\n"
 
 // missingIdentity is a path with no file at it, handed to sftp after
@@ -106,9 +106,11 @@ const marker = "KEYFUNC_TEST_MARKER"
 // another for a file that is there and cannot be read, which is a
 // failure. A directory shut to the user is stood in for by mode 000,
 // which the listing reads off the mode itself so that the test does not
-// turn on the user it runs as. An -i naming a file that is not here
-// draws the warning ssh writes for it, which carries the wording of a
-// missing file into a session that goes on to authenticate.
+// turn on the user it runs as, and one the user can enter but not write
+// to by mode 500, which the put reads off the same way. An -i naming a
+// file that is not here draws the warning ssh writes for it, which
+// carries the wording of a missing file into a session that goes on to
+// authenticate.
 const installer = `
 [ -n "$KEYFUNC_TEST_ENVIRONMENT" ] && env > "$KEYFUNC_TEST_ENVIRONMENT"
 previous=
@@ -160,7 +162,13 @@ while IFS= read -r line; do
 			printf 'remote open "%s": Permission denied\n' "$home/$2" >&2
 		fi
 		;;
-	put) cp "$2" "$home/$3" 2>/dev/null || worked=no ;;
+	put)
+		if [ "$(stat -c '%a' "$(dirname "$home/$3")")" = 500 ]; then
+			worked=no
+		else
+			cp "$2" "$home/$3" 2>/dev/null || worked=no
+		fi
+		;;
 	mkdir) mkdir "$home/$2" 2>/dev/null || worked=no ;;
 	chmod) chmod "$2" "$home/$3" 2>/dev/null || worked=no ;;
 	rename) mv "$home/$2" "$home/$3" 2>/dev/null || worked=no ;;
@@ -339,6 +347,29 @@ func TestAnUnreadableDirectoryIsNotWrittenInto(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, 1, connections(t, pretend))
 }
 
+func TestADirectoryThatCannotBeEnteredIsRefusedBeforeAnyUpload(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv(mnemonic.Variable, example())
+
+	pretend := pretendHost(t)
+
+	// A file where .ssh belongs is listed and cannot be entered, which is
+	// how sftp sees a directory that can be read but not entered: the
+	// listing of .ssh comes up and the listing of .ssh/. finds nothing.
+	inTheWay := filepath.Join(pretend.home, keptUnder)
+	require.NoError(t,
+		os.WriteFile(inTheWay, []byte(notADirectory), fileMode),
+	)
+
+	printed, _, err := attempt(t, host)
+	require.ErrorIs(t, err, ssh.ErrCannotEnter)
+	require.Empty(t, printed)
+
+	// The read and nothing after it: no upload was tried, and what was
+	// on the host is still what is on the host.
+	require.Equal(t, 1, connections(t, pretend))
+	require.Equal(t, notADirectory, read(t, inTheWay))
+}
+
 func TestAnExistingDirectoryKeepsItsModeAndIsNotRemade(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Setenv(mnemonic.Variable, example())
 
@@ -402,27 +433,30 @@ func TestAFailedStepNamesTheUploadedFileAndChangesNothing(t *testing.T) {
 
 	pretend := pretendHost(t)
 
-	// A file where the .ssh directory belongs: the listing shows it and
-	// so the directory reads as already there, but then the put has
-	// nowhere to put anything, so the write session ends at the put.
-	inTheWay := filepath.Join(pretend.home, keptUnder)
-	require.NoError(t,
-		os.WriteFile(inTheWay, []byte(notADirectory), fileMode),
-	)
+	// A .ssh that can be listed and entered but not written to: the
+	// fetch finds no file in it, and then the put has nowhere to put
+	// anything, so the write session ends at the put.
+	const unwritable = 0o500
+
+	directory := filepath.Join(pretend.home, keptUnder)
+	require.NoError(t, os.Mkdir(directory, unwritable))
 
 	printed, said, err := attempt(t, host)
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	require.Empty(t, printed)
 	require.Contains(t, said, "put failed")
 
-	// The put is the first and last command the write session got to,
-	// and the file it was uploading is the one the message names.
+	// The put, after the three commands of the fetch, is the first and
+	// last command the write session got to, and the file it was
+	// uploading is the one the message names.
 	sent := recorded(t, pretend.batch)
-	require.Len(t, sent, 3)
-	require.Equal(t, "put", strings.Fields(sent[2])[0])
-	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), strings.Fields(sent[2])[2])
+	require.Len(t, sent, 4)
+	require.Equal(t, "put", strings.Fields(sent[3])[0])
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), strings.Fields(sent[3])[2])
 
-	require.Equal(t, notADirectory, read(t, inTheWay))
+	left, err := os.ReadDir(directory)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Empty(t, left)
 
 	// The same run again, this way for the status it ends with.
 	given := os.Args

internal/mnemonic/mnemonic.go

@@ -104,10 +104,11 @@ func ask() (string, error) {
 	return checked(string(typed))
 }
 
-// checked drops the surrounding whitespace and refuses a mnemonic that
-// does not pass the BIP-39 checksum.
+// checked joins the words with single spaces, whatever whitespace
+// separated them, since the seed is computed over the string itself,
+// and refuses a mnemonic that does not pass the BIP-39 checksum.
 func checked(words string) (string, error) {
-	words = strings.TrimSpace(words)
+	words = strings.Join(strings.Fields(words), " ")
 
 	if !bip39.IsMnemonicValid(words) {
 		return "", ErrChecksum