Mantis can generate 22 server-backed artifacts, in two classes. Most are document formats that embed the key URL so the trigger fires when a viewer renders the file; NFC and Wallet artifacts fire through the platform action they are designed for. The credential and config stores are different — they sit where an intruder who already has a shell goes looking, and fire when the URL inside them is used, not when the file is opened.

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Credential and config stores

The remaining eight formats are a different class of bait. Instead of beaconing when a viewer renders them, they carry the trigger URL in the slot a real file of that kind would — and fire when someone (or a tool they point at it) uses that URL. These are the files an intruder who already has a shell goes looking for, and the ones infostealer and forensic tooling greps by name, so a bait URL in one is found by exactly the person you want to catch. Every embedded secret is a documented example value (AWS’s own AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE, Stripe’s published test key) or generated nonsense, so nothing here is a live credential anywhere. Because the filename is the disguise, most of these keep the name the real thing has rather than taking the memo — a cookie jar named payroll-laptop.txt is not a cookie jar. See self-hosted apps for per-app recipes (Immich, Paperless, Joplin, Vaultwarden, dashboards, code hosts, etc.).
In the dashboard, use new to choose the file type first, or bulk to create separate keys and download their artifacts in one ZIP. For documents and credential bait, the first download marks that format on the key’s detail page. Give each format its own key so you can identify the artifact from its hit history. Office reader caveats:
  • ✅ Microsoft Office desktop apps — fetch external image on render (subject to Protected View for files marked “from internet”; first “Enable Editing” click triggers).
  • ✅ LibreOffice (Writer/Calc/Impress) — fetches external content by default.
  • ⚠ Office on the web / Office 365 in browser — depends on tenant policy.
  • ❌ macOS Quick Look — does not render external content.
PDF reader caveats:
  • ✅ Adobe Acrobat Reader — follows /OpenAction → /URI (may show a one-time trust prompt for the host).
  • ✅ Foxit Reader, PDF-XChange — typically follows OpenAction.
  • ⚠ Chrome, Edge, Firefox built-in viewers — OpenAction not honored; mantis fires only if user clicks the visible “View the latest version online” link.
  • ❌ macOS Preview — OpenAction not honored; click-the-link fallback works.
When you supply no body text, the document formats (.docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .pdf, .html, .md, .eml, .rtf) fall back to a built-in multi-paragraph internal-memo body that opens CONFIDENTIAL — INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY. It deliberately reads as a genuine document — an earlier default that described itself as placeholder text gave the canary away to the first person who opened it — so editing the file to look authentic afterwards is optional polish, not a required step. The credential/config stores carry their own fixed content and use neither the body nor the memo — except bookmarks, where the memo becomes the visible name of the bait bookmark, so give that key a memo that reads like a real bookmark rather than one that names it as a canary. The .svg / .ics / .vcf / NFC / Wallet formats have no multi-paragraph document body to fall back on either — instead they surface the key memo/title in their title, summary, name, or pass field, and .ics / .vcf route any body you do supply into the event DESCRIPTION / contact NOTE (falling back to that same title when you give none). The key memo and title flow into these artifacts (document properties, calendar/contact fields), so Mantis sanitizes them on generation: control bytes illegal in XML 1.0 are stripped from the Office / SVG / HTML formats, and a lone carriage return is normalized in the line-oriented .ics / .vcf formats — both so a memo carrying stray control characters can’t produce a file that silently fails to open or that injects a forged property line. Apple Wallet artifacts require an Apple Developer Pass Type ID certificate. Set the APPLE_PASS_* env vars on the server (see Configuration); admins can check the current state at /settings/wallet. If Wallet is not configured, format=apple-wallet returns 503 not_configured.