diff --git a/crates/tor-keymgr/semver.md b/crates/tor-keymgr/semver.md
index 85bd805af..b1c29478b 100644
--- a/crates/tor-keymgr/semver.md
+++ b/crates/tor-keymgr/semver.md
@@ -3,3 +3,6 @@ ADDED: `SshKeypairData` (re-exported from `ssh-key`)
 REMOVED: `KeyType::to_ssh_format`
 BREAKING: re-export `ssh_key` rather than just `ssh_key::private::KeypairData`
 BREAKING: ssh-key is bumped to 0.6.0 (we re-export `ssh_key`)
+ADDED: ArtiPathComponent is TryFrom<String>
+ADDED: ArtiPathComponent is AsRef<str>
+ADDED: ArtiPathComponent is Hash, Eq, PartialEq, Ord, PartialOrd
diff --git a/crates/tor-keymgr/src/key_specifier.rs b/crates/tor-keymgr/src/key_specifier.rs
index 18bc2bed7..0627470e8 100644
--- a/crates/tor-keymgr/src/key_specifier.rs
+++ b/crates/tor-keymgr/src/key_specifier.rs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ impl ArtiPath {
     /// Create a new [`ArtiPath`].
     ///
     /// This function returns an error if `inner` is not a valid `ArtiPath`.
+    // TODO HSS this function (and validate_str) should have a bespoke error type
     pub fn new(inner: String) -> Result<Self> {
         if let Some(e) = inner
             .split(PATH_SEP)
@@ -48,6 +49,7 @@ impl ArtiPath {
 #[derive(
     Clone, Debug, derive_more::Deref, derive_more::DerefMut, derive_more::Into, derive_more::Display,
 )]
+#[derive(Hash, Eq, PartialEq, Ord, PartialOrd)]
 pub struct ArtiPathComponent(String);
 
 impl ArtiPathComponent {
@@ -84,6 +86,19 @@ impl ArtiPathComponent {
     }
 }
 
+impl TryFrom<String> for ArtiPathComponent {
+    type Error = crate::Error; // TODO HSS should be bespoke error type
+    fn try_from(s: String) -> Result<ArtiPathComponent> {
+        Self::new(s)
+    }
+}
+
+impl AsRef<str> for ArtiPathComponent {
+    fn as_ref(&self) -> &str {
+        &self.0
+    }
+}
+
 /// The path of a key in the C Tor key store.
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, derive_more::Deref, derive_more::DerefMut)]
 pub struct CTorPath(String);