Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public and private repositories by Copilot · Pull Request #21287 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-03-16T21:01:18Z

The determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs runtime check previously auto-emitted lockdown=true for public repos. This switches it to instead auto-configure min_integrity and repos guard policy fields on the GitHub MCP server for all repositories, and stops emitting the lockdown field automatically.

Behavior changes

determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs

For public repos: outputs min_integrity=approved if not already configured; outputs repos=all if not already configured
For private/internal repos: outputs min_integrity=none if not already configured; outputs repos=all if not already configured
Always emits min_integrity and repos outputs so the guard-policies block in the GitHub MCP config is never populated with empty values
Pre-configured values are always passed through via setOutput (never overridden)
No longer emits lockdown output
Configured values are passed via GH_AW_GITHUB_MIN_INTEGRITY / GH_AW_GITHUB_REPOS env vars (set at compile time from tools.github guard policy config), so the step won't override explicit configuration
Writes a step summary table showing the resolved repos and min-integrity values, with a Source column indicating whether each came from the workflow config or was automatically applied (automatic (public repo) / automatic (private repo))

Step generation condition (mcp_github_config.go)

Step is now skipped when guard policy is fully configured (both repos + min-integrity set), rather than when lockdown is explicitly set

MCP config rendering (mcp_renderer_github.go, mcp_environment.go)

Replaces GITHUB_MCP_LOCKDOWN → GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_MIN_INTEGRITY + GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_REPOS env vars sourced from step outputs
When step is active, guard-policies section is rendered with bash variable refs that resolve at runtime:

"guard-policies": {
  "allow-only": {
    "min-integrity": "$GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_MIN_INTEGRITY",
    "repos": "$GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_REPOS"
  }
}

For private repos, min-integrity resolves to none and repos to all, ensuring a valid (permissive) guard policy is always applied. Explicit lockdown: true in workflow config continues to work unchanged.

Original prompt

Update the runtime check for public repositories to enable lockdown.

There is a JavaScript file called detects-lockdown (or similar) where this check currently runs for public repositories. Keep using the same condition for detecting public repos, but change the behavior as follows:

, check whether it has min_integrity configured on the GitHub MCP server.

If min_integrity is not configured, automatically set mi_integrity to approved on the GitHub MCP server.

If repos is not configured, automatically set repos to all.

Do not emit the lockdown field automatically anymore.

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github-actions · 2026-03-16T21:21:58Z

Hey @pelikhan 👋 — thanks for kicking off this work on the lockdown autodetect refactor! Changing the public-repo branch of determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs to emit min_integrity/repos instead of lockdown — and threading those values through mcp_github_config.go, mcp_environment.go, and the renderer stack — is a well-scoped, impactful change.

Right now, though, the PR is still in pure planning state: the only commit is "Initial plan" with zero file changes and all 10 checklist items remain unchecked. Here's what needs to happen before this is ready for review:

Complete all checklist items — the implementation across the six source files hasn't started yet.
Add/update tests — both determine_automatic_lockdown.test.cjs (Vitest) and github_lockdown_autodetect_test.go (Go table-driven tests in pkg/workflow/) need to cover the new min_integrity/repos output paths and the removed lockdown emission.
Run make agent-finish — required before the PR is ready for review; this runs build, test, lint, recompile, fmt, and lint-errors.

If you'd like to hand this off to a coding agent, here's a ready-to-use prompt:

Implement the lockdown autodetect refactor described in PR #21287.

Work through each checklist item in the PR body:

1. **`actions/setup/js/determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs`** — for public repos, output `min_integrity` (value: `approved`) and `repos` (value: `all`) as step outputs instead of emitting `lockdown`. Keep the same condition for detecting public repos.

2. **`pkg/workflow/mcp_github_config.go`** — in `generateGitHubMCPLockdownDetectionStep()`, pass the configured guard policy values (min_integrity, repos) as env vars to the step; update the skip condition accordingly.

3. **`pkg/workflow/mcp_environment.go`** — reference the new step outputs (`min_integrity`, `repos`) instead of `lockdown` when collecting MCP environment variables.

4. **`pkg/workflow/mcp_renderer_types.go`** — add a `GuardPoliciesFromStep` field to the relevant options structs.

5. **`pkg/workflow/mcp_renderer_github.go`** — render guard policies using env var refs when the autodetect step is used; remove the auto-lockdown rendering path.

6. **`pkg/workflow/mcp_setup_generator.go`** — pass the new guard policy env vars (`min_integrity`, `repos`) to the gateway container setup.

7. **`actions/setup/js/determine_automatic_lockdown.test.cjs`** — update Vitest tests to cover the new output paths.

8. **`pkg/workflow/github_lockdown_autodetect_test.go`** — update Go table-driven tests to reflect the new step output field names.

9. Run `make recompile` to regenerate lock files.

10. Run `make agent-finish` and fix any failures before marking the PR ready for review.

Generated by Contribution Check · ◷

…ckdown - Change determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs to output min_integrity/repos for public repos instead of lockdown field - Update Go code to pass configured guard policy values as env vars to step - Use step outputs (min_integrity, repos) in Start MCP Gateway via new env vars GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_MIN_INTEGRITY and GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_REPOS - Render guard-policies with env var refs when step is used (no explicit guard policy) - Remove GITHUB_MCP_LOCKDOWN from auto-detection flow (kept for explicit lockdown) - Recompile all 172 lock files with updated guard policy behavior - Update tests to match new behavior Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-03-16T21:51:49Z

actions/setup/js/determine_automatic_lockdown.cjs

@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@
 */
 async function determineAutomaticLockdown(github, context, core) {


@copilot render resolved repos/min-integrity to the step summary.

Done in 5646c57. The step now writes a summary table with the resolved repos and min-integrity values, showing whether each came from the workflow config or was automatically set for a public repository:

Field Value Source

min-integrity approved automatic (public repo)

repos all automatic (public repo)

Render the resolved repos and min-integrity values to the step summary as a table, showing both the resolved value and whether it came from the workflow config or was automatically set for a public repository. Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the GitHub MCP “automatic lockdown” behavior for public repositories to instead auto-apply GitHub MCP guard policy defaults (min-integrity=approved, repos=all) via step outputs and runtime env var wiring, while stopping automatic emission of the lockdown output.

Changes:

Replace GITHUB_MCP_LOCKDOWN plumbing with GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_MIN_INTEGRITY / GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_REPOS env vars sourced from the determine step.
Render GitHub MCP guard-policies.allow-only in generated MCP configs using runtime-resolved env var references.
Update wasm golden fixtures, Codex MCP config rendering test expectations, and regenerate many workflow lockfiles accordingly.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 184 out of 184 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/testdata/wasm_golden/TestWasmGolden_CompileFixtures/with-imports.golden	Updates golden output to use guard policy env vars and render `guard-policies` instead of lockdown.
pkg/workflow/testdata/wasm_golden/TestWasmGolden_CompileFixtures/basic-copilot.golden	Updates golden output to use guard policy env vars and render `guard-policies` instead of lockdown.
pkg/workflow/mcp_setup_generator.go	Passes guard policy env vars into MCP gateway container environment passthrough list.
pkg/workflow/mcp_renderer_types.go	Extends GitHub MCP renderer option structs with `GuardPoliciesFromStep`.
pkg/workflow/mcp_environment.go	Collects new guard policy env vars from determine-step outputs when applicable.
pkg/workflow/codex_engine_test.go	Updates expected rendered MCP config to include `guard-policies` section in JSON gateway config.
.github/workflows/video-analyzer.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/typist.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/tidy.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/test-workflow.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/test-project-url-default.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/test-dispatcher.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/test-create-pr-error-handling.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/terminal-stylist.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/super-linter.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/step-name-alignment.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/static-analysis-report.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/sergo.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/semantic-function-refactor.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/security-review.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/security-compliance.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/schema-consistency-checker.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/safe-output-health.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/repo-tree-map.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/release.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/q.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/prompt-clustering-analysis.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/pdf-summary.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/metrics-collector.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/mergefest.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/lockfile-stats.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/layout-spec-maintainer.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/jsweep.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/instructions-janitor.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/gpclean.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/go-pattern-detector.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/go-fan.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/github-mcp-tools-report.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/github-mcp-structural-analysis.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/firewall.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/example-workflow-analyzer.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/example-permissions-warning.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/duplicate-code-detector.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/dev.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/dev-hawk.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/delight.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/deep-report.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-security-red-team.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-safe-outputs-conformance.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-function-namer.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-fact.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-code-metrics.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/daily-choice-test.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/craft.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/copilot-session-insights.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/copilot-agent-analysis.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/commit-changes-analyzer.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/codex-github-remote-mcp-test.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/cloclo.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/cli-version-checker.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/changeset.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/blog-auditor.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/audit-workflows.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/artifacts-summary.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/archie.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/ai-moderator.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.
.github/workflows/ace-editor.lock.yml	Replaces lockdown env/header wiring with guard policy env vars and `guard-policies` config.

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pkg/workflow/mcp_environment.go

+		// Add guard policy env vars if the determine-automatic-lockdown step will be generated.
+		// Skip when a GitHub App is configured or when guard policy is already explicitly set —
+		// in those cases, the determine-automatic-lockdown step is not generated.
+		// Security: Pass step outputs through environment variables to prevent template injection.
+		guardPoliciesExplicit := len(getGitHubGuardPolicies(githubTool)) > 0
+		if !guardPoliciesExplicit && !appConfigured {
+			envVars["GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_MIN_INTEGRITY"] = "${{ steps.determine-automatic-lockdown.outputs.min_integrity }}"
+			envVars["GITHUB_MCP_GUARD_REPOS"] = "${{ steps.determine-automatic-lockdown.outputs.repos }}"
 		}


pelikhan · 2026-03-16T22:17:26Z

@copilot apply comment and use repos: all and min-integrity: none for private repos.

Private/internal repositories now always emit min_integrity=none and repos=all outputs (unless already configured), so the guard-policies block in the GitHub MCP config is never populated with empty values. Pre-configured values are always passed through via setOutput regardless of whether they were auto-set or came from the workflow config. Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-03-16T22:23:28Z

@copilot apply comment and use repos: all and min-integrity: none for private repos.

Done in 34f5df7. Private/internal repositories now always emit min_integrity=none and repos=all (as defaults), so the guard-policies block is never populated with empty values. Pre-configured values are always passed through via setOutput in both cases. The step summary also shows the correct source label (automatic (private repo) vs automatic (public repo)).

github-actions · 2026-03-16T22:26:12Z

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Agent Container Tool Check

Tool	Status	Version
bash	✅	5.2.21
sh	✅	available
git	✅	2.53.0
jq	✅	1.7
yq	✅	4.52.4
curl	✅	8.5.0
gh	✅	2.87.3
node	✅	20.20.1
python3	✅	3.12.3
go	✅	1.24.13
java	✅	21.0.10
dotnet	✅	10.0.102

Result: 12/12 tools available ✅

Overall Status: PASS

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Update runtime check for public repositories to enable lockdown~~ Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public repositories Mar 16, 2026

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Copilot AI changed the title ~~Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public repositories~~ Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public and private repositories Mar 16, 2026

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pelikhan merged commit 8e878d7 into main Mar 16, 2026
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pelikhan deleted the copilot/update-runtime-check-lockdown branch March 16, 2026 22:33

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Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public and private repositories#21287

Replace automatic lockdown with automatic guard policy for public and private repositories#21287
pelikhan merged 4 commits intomainfrom
copilot/update-runtime-check-lockdown

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		@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@
		*/
		async function determineAutomaticLockdown(github, context, core) {

Field	Value	Source
min-integrity	approved	automatic (public repo)
repos	all	automatic (public repo)

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