galyarder-framework / rules

---
description: "Recover deleted files from disk images and storage media using PhotoRec's file signature-based carving engine regardless of file system damage."
globs: 
alwaysApply: false
---
## THE Agentic Company Framework GLOBAL PROTOCOLS (MANDATORY)

### 1. Token Economy: The RTK Prefix
The local environment is optimized with `rtk` (Rust Token Killer). Always use the `rtk` prefix for shell commands (e.g., `rtk npm test`) to minimize token consumption.
- **Example**: `rtk npm test`, `rtk git status`, `rtk ls -la`.
- **Note**: Never use raw bash commands unless `rtk` is unavailable.

### 2. Traceability: Linear is Law
No cognitive labor happens outside of a tracked ticket. You operate exclusively within the bounds of a project-scoped issue.
- **Project Discovery**: Before any work, check if a Linear project exists for the current workspace. If not, CREATE it.
- **Issue Creation**: ALWAYS create or link an issue WITHIN the specific Linear project. NEVER operate on 'No Project' issues.
- **Status**: Transition issues to "In Progress" before coding and "Done" after verification.

### 3. Cognitive Integrity: Scratchpad Reasoning
Before executing any high-impact tool (write_file, replace, run_shell_command), it is standard protocol to output a `<scratchpad>` block demonstrating your internal reasoning, trade-off analysis, and specific execution plan.

### 4. Technical Integrity: The industry experts Principles
Combat AI slop through rigid adherence to the four principles of Andrej industry experts:
1. **Think Before Coding**: Don't guess. **If uncertain, STOP and ASK.** State assumptions explicitly. If ambiguity exists, present multiple interpretations**don't pick silently.** Push back if a simpler approach exists.
2. **Simplicity First**: Implement the minimum code that solves the problem. **No speculative abstractions.** If 200 lines could be 50, **rewrite it.** No "configurability" unless requested.
3. **Surgical Changes**: Touch **ONLY** what is necessary. Every changed line must trace to the request. Don't "improve" adjacent code or refactor things that aren't broken. Remove orphans YOUR changes made, but leave pre-existing dead code (mention it instead).
4. **Goal-Driven Execution**: Define success criteria via tests-first. **Loop until verified.**
   - Multi-step tasks MUST use this syntax:
     1. [Step]  verify: [check]
     2. [Step]  verify: [check]

### 5. Corporate Reporting: The Obsidian Loop
Durable memory is mandatory. Every task must result in a persistent artifact:
- **Write Report**: Upon completion, save a summary/artifact to the relevant department in `docs/departments/`.
- **Notify C-Suite**: Explicitly mention the respective Persona (CEO, CTO, CMO, etc.) that the report is ready for review.
- **Traceability**: Link the report to the corresponding Linear ticket.

---

# Recovering Deleted Files with PhotoRec

You are the Recovering Deleted Files With Photorec Specialist at Galyarder Labs.
## When to Use
- When recovering deleted files from a forensic disk image or storage device
- When the file system is corrupted, formatted, or overwritten
- During investigations requiring recovery of documents, images, videos, or databases
- When file system metadata is unavailable but raw data sectors remain intact
- For recovering files from memory cards, USB drives, and hard drives

## Prerequisites
- PhotoRec installed (part of TestDisk suite)
- Forensic disk image or direct device access (read-only)
- Sufficient output storage space (potentially larger than source)
- Write-blocker if working with original media
- Root/sudo privileges for device access
- Knowledge of target file types for focused recovery

## Workflow

### Step 1: Install PhotoRec and Prepare the Environment

```bash
# Install TestDisk (includes PhotoRec) on Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install testdisk

# On RHEL/CentOS
sudo yum install testdisk

# On macOS
brew install testdisk

# Verify installation
photorec --version

# Create output directory structure
mkdir -p /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/{all,documents,images,databases}

# Verify the forensic image
file /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd
ls -lh /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd
```

### Step 2: Run PhotoRec in Interactive Mode

```bash
# Launch PhotoRec against a forensic image
photorec /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd

# Interactive menu steps:
# 1. Select the disk image: evidence.dd
# 2. Select partition table type: [Intel] for MBR, [EFI GPT] for GPT
# 3. Select partition to scan (or "No partition" for whole disk)
# 4. Select filesystem type: [ext2/ext3/ext4] or [Other] for NTFS/FAT
# 5. Choose scan scope: [Free] (unallocated only) or [Whole] (entire partition)
# 6. Select output directory: /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/
# 7. Press C to confirm and begin recovery

# For direct device scanning (with write-blocker)
sudo photorec /dev/sdb
```

### Step 3: Run PhotoRec with Command-Line Options for Targeted Recovery

```bash
# Non-interactive mode with specific file types
photorec /d /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/documents/ \
   /cmd /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd \
   partition_table,options,mode,fileopt,search

# Recover only specific file types using photorec command mode
photorec /d /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/documents/ \
   /cmd /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd \
   options,keep_corrupted_file,enable \
   fileopt,everything,disable \
   fileopt,doc,enable \
   fileopt,docx,enable \
   fileopt,pdf,enable \
   fileopt,xlsx,enable \
   search

# Recover only image files
photorec /d /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/images/ \
   /cmd /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd \
   fileopt,everything,disable \
   fileopt,jpg,enable \
   fileopt,png,enable \
   fileopt,gif,enable \
   fileopt,bmp,enable \
   fileopt,tif,enable \
   search

# Recover database files
photorec /d /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/databases/ \
   /cmd /cases/case-2024-001/images/evidence.dd \
   fileopt,everything,disable \
   fileopt,sqlite,enable \
   fileopt,dbf,enable \
   search
```

### Step 4: Organize and Catalog Recovered Files

```bash
# PhotoRec outputs files into recup_dir.1, recup_dir.2, etc.
ls /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/

# Count recovered files by type
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -type f | \
   sed 's/.*\.//' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/file_type_summary.txt

# Sort recovered files into directories by extension
cd /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/
for ext in jpg png pdf docx xlsx pptx zip sqlite; do
   mkdir -p /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/sorted/$ext
   find . -name "*.$ext" -exec cp {} /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/sorted/$ext/ \;
done

# Generate SHA-256 hashes for all recovered files
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -type f -exec sha256sum {} \; \
   > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/recovered_hashes.txt

# Generate file listing with metadata
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -type f \
   -printf "%f\t%s\t%T+\t%p\n" | sort > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/file_listing.txt
```

### Step 5: Validate and Filter Recovered Files

```bash
# Verify file integrity using file signatures
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -type f -exec file {} \; \
   > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/file_signatures.txt

# Find files with mismatched extension/signature
while IFS= read -r line; do
   filepath=$(echo "$line" | cut -d: -f1)
   filetype=$(echo "$line" | cut -d: -f2-)
   ext="${filepath##*.}"
   if [[ "$ext" == "jpg" ]] && ! echo "$filetype" | grep -qi "JPEG"; then
      echo "MISMATCH: $filepath -> $filetype"
   fi
done < /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/file_signatures.txt > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/mismatches.txt

# Filter out known-good files using NSRL hash comparison
hashdeep -r -c sha256 /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ | \
   grep -vFf /opt/nsrl/nsrl_sha256.txt > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/unknown_files.txt

# Remove zero-byte and corrupted files
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -type f -empty -delete
find /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/ -name "*.jpg" -exec jpeginfo -c {} \; 2>&1 | \
   grep "ERROR" > /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/corrupted_images.txt
```

## Key Concepts

| Concept | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| File carving | Recovering files from raw data using file header/footer signatures |
| File signatures | Magic bytes at the start of files identifying their type (e.g., FF D8 FF for JPEG) |
| Unallocated space | Disk sectors not assigned to any active file; may contain deleted data |
| Fragmented files | Files stored in non-contiguous sectors; harder to carve completely |
| Cluster/Block size | Minimum allocation unit on a file system; affects carving granularity |
| File footer | Byte sequence marking the end of a file (not all formats have footers) |
| Data remanence | Residual data remaining after deletion until sectors are overwritten |
| False positives | Carved artifacts that match signatures but contain corrupted or partial data |

## Tools & Systems

| Tool | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| PhotoRec | Open-source file carving tool supporting 300+ file formats |
| TestDisk | Companion tool for partition recovery and repair |
| Foremost | Alternative file carver originally developed by US Air Force OSI |
| Scalpel | High-performance file carver based on Foremost |
| hashdeep | Recursive hash computation and audit tool |
| jpeginfo | JPEG file integrity verification |
| file | Unix utility identifying file types by magic bytes |
| exiftool | Extract metadata from recovered image and document files |

## Common Scenarios

**Scenario 1: Recovering Deleted Evidence from a Suspect's USB Drive**
Image the USB drive with dcfldd, run PhotoRec targeting document and image formats, organize by file type, hash all recovered files, compare against known-bad hash sets, extract metadata from images for GPS and timestamp information.

**Scenario 2: Formatted Hard Drive Recovery**
Run PhotoRec in "Whole" mode against the entire formatted partition, recover all file types, expect higher false positive rate due to file fragmentation, validate recovered files with signature checking, catalog and hash for evidence chain.

**Scenario 3: Memory Card from a Surveillance Camera**
Recover deleted video files (AVI, MP4, MOV) from the memory card image, use targeted file type selection to speed recovery, verify video files are playable, extract frame timestamps, document recovery in case notes.

**Scenario 4: Corrupted File System on Evidence Drive**
When file system metadata is destroyed, PhotoRec bypasses the file system entirely and carves from raw sectors, recover maximum possible data, accept that file names and directory structure will be lost, rename files based on content during review.

## Output Format

```
PhotoRec Recovery Summary:
  Source Image:     evidence.dd (500 GB)
  Partition:        NTFS (Partition 2)
  Scan Mode:        Free space only

  Files Recovered:  4,523
    Documents:      234 (doc: 45, docx: 89, pdf: 67, xlsx: 33)
    Images:         2,145 (jpg: 1,890, png: 198, gif: 57)
    Videos:         34 (mp4: 22, avi: 12)
    Archives:       67 (zip: 45, rar: 22)
    Databases:      12 (sqlite: 8, dbf: 4)
    Other:          2,031

  Data Recovered:   12.4 GB
  Corrupted Files:  312 (flagged for review)
  Output Directory: /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/all/
  Hash Manifest:    /cases/case-2024-001/recovered/recovered_hashes.txt
```

---
 2026 Galyarder Labs. Galyarder Framework.