feat(mcp): enforce strict cross-project mutation boundaries (Closes #707) #923
Open
jcwalker3
wants to merge 2 commits from
feat/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries into master
pull from: feat/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries
merge into: :master
:master
:fix/issue-987-native-mcp-bootstrap
:feat/issue-985-project-scoped-launcher-identity
:fix/issue-983-cross-repo-base-ref
:feat/issue-980-stale-worker-retirement
:fix/issue-975-client-identity-heartbeat
:fix/issue-973-cross-repo-canonical-roots
:fix/issue-970-safely-resolve-missing-worktrees
:fix/issue-969-native-mcp-bootstrap
:feat/issue-664-break-glass-restart
:feat/issue-708-mcp-namespace-attachment
:feat/issue-665-restart-audit
:fix/issue-700-durable-walls
:fix/issue-704-prevent-env-workspace-bindings
:feat/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries
:fix/issue-690-review-profile-switch-guard
:fix/issue-953-bootstrap-lock-provenance
:feat/issue-949-native-fleet-inventory
:fix/issue-943-runtime-context-helpers
:fix/issue-945-owning-pr-renewal-evidence
:fix/issue-941-scope-guard-bootstrap-wiring
:docs/issue-930-remote-mcp-coupling-inventory
:fix/issue-892-author-bootstrap-deadlock
:fix/issue-686-detect-reject-manual-mcp
:fix/issue-672-mcp-config-drift
:fix/issue-689-deterministic-mcp-namespace
:feat/issue-666-concurrent-mcp-restart-tests
:feat/issue-659-maintenance-drain-mode
:feat/issue-648-notifications-console
:fix/issue-670-direct-master-incident
:feat/issue-644-console-recovery
:feat/issue-650-providers-insights
:feat/issue-669-scoped-component-recovery
:docs/issue-668-mcp-ha-rolling-restart
:feat/issue-667-console-restart-controls
:feat/issue-645-linkage-console
:feat/issue-643-request-preview-initiate
:fix/issue-897-permission-stale-runtime-classification
:feat/issue-641-runtime-session-view
:feat/issue-663-restart-classes
:feat/issue-661-drain-proof-hard-gate
:fix/issue-854-semantic-container-exclusion
:issue-640
:fix/issue-682-starlette-httpx2
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Reference: Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools#923
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Summary
Enforce strict cross-project codebase mutation boundaries in the MCP server (#707).
Details
remote_repo_guard.assess_remote_repo_matchandformat_remote_repo_guard_errorto enforce cross-project codebase mutation boundaries whenfor_mutation=True.Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools) fail closed with clear diagnostic output advising the agent that cross-project codebase work is forbidden and that it should create an issue in the target repository instead.tests/test_cross_project_mutation_boundary.pyvalidating that cross-project codebase mutations fail closed while cross-project issue creation and metadata operations are permitted.Validation
pytest tests/test_cross_project_mutation_boundary.py tests/test_remote_repo_guard.py(23/23 passed cleanly)./Users/jasonwalker/Development/Gitea-Tools/branches/issue-707-cross-project-boundariescaaec9aCanonical Issue State
STATE: needs-review
WHO_IS_NEXT: reviewer
NEXT_ACTION: Independent review of PR #923 and issue #707.
NEXT_PROMPT:
WHAT_HAPPENED: Allocated issue #707, locked issue, created worktree at branches/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries on branch feat/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries, updated remote_repo_guard.py and gitea_mcp_server.py to enforce cross-project codebase mutation boundaries (for_mutation=True), added unit tests in tests/test_cross_project_mutation_boundary.py (23/23 passed), committed changes
caaec9a, pushed branch to prgs, and opened PR #923.WHY: Enforce strict cross-project codebase mutation boundaries in the MCP server (#707).
RELATED_PRS: #923
BLOCKERS: none
VALIDATION: pytest tests/test_cross_project_mutation_boundary.py tests/test_remote_repo_guard.py (23 passed in 1.00s).
LAST_UPDATED_BY: jcwalker3 (prgs-author)
Canonical Handoff
repo: Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools
pr: #923
issue: none
reviewer_identity: sysadmin
profile: prgs-reviewer
session_id: 92065-15d7b3a1094c
worktree: /Users/jasonwalker/Development/Gitea-Tools/branches/issue-707-cross-project-boundaries
phase: claimed
candidate_head: none
target_branch: master
target_branch_sha: none
last_activity: 2026-07-25T23:20:54Z
expires_at: 2026-07-25T23:30:54Z
blocker: none
repo: Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools
pr: #923
issue: #707
reviewer_identity: sysadmin
profile: prgs-reviewer
session_id: 18879-e5eb89bb178d
worktree: /Users/jasonwalker/Development/Gitea-Tools/branches/review-pr923-caaec9a-s2
phase: claimed
candidate_head:
caaec9ac7atarget_branch: master
target_branch_sha:
c30b381eb2last_activity: 2026-07-27T18:52:41Z
expires_at: 2026-07-27T19:02:41Z
blocker: none
REQUEST_CHANGES — PR #923 at head
caaec9ac7a94c02239c7cab7504d22ddab286931Independent review by
sysadmin/prgs-reviewer; authorjcwalker3, so independence holds. Validated in a fresh session-owned worktreebranches/review-pr923-caaec9a-s2, detached at exactly this head, clean before and after. Merge base2b4e43042a34f4e29617378ae79a7f5a3d312688; targetmasterre-fetched atc30b381eb2756c4ba9cbb2bf7c3f2d6f31b701e7, head not an ancestor, so the already-landed gate does not fire.The decision layer is well built.
assess_remote_repo_matchplaces thefor_mutationcheck before theorg_explicit and repo_explicitearly return, so explicit caller arguments cannot buy their way past the cross-project boundary — that ordering is the right call and is what makes the predicate meaningful. The refusal payload carries a distinctcross_project_mutation_blockflag, a dedicated error message, and actionable remediation. Verified by invocation: with aScaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Toolslocal remote and a target ofOther-Org/Other-Repo,for_mutation=Trueblocks andfor_mutation=Falsedoes not.The problem is which callers reach it.
B1 — BLOCKER: the two operations the PR body names as covered do not pass the flag
The PR body states the guard covers "creating branches, committing files, creating PRs, deleting branches, merging PRs". Mapping every
_resolve(remote, ...)call site at this head to its enclosing tool by AST-adjacent scan rather than by line proximity:10 of 82
_resolvecall sites passfor_mutation=True, and 8 of those are the_resolve(remote, host, org, repo, for_mutation=True)shape (the other two are_trusted_session_repositorycalls).gitea_merge_prandgitea_delete_branch— both named in the PR body — call the bare four-argument form, as do the branch-cleanup and branch-update paths.Reproduced by invoking the real guard with the exact call shapes, so this is a behavioural difference and not a reading of the diff:
Same target, same local remote, same explicit org/repo — only the flag differs. A cross-project merge or branch deletion is therefore still permitted after this change, which is precisely the class of operation #707 exists to stop.
Why the suite does not catch it.
tests/test_cross_project_mutation_boundary.py(23 passed at this head withtest_remote_repo_guard.py) has five tests: three callremote_repo_guard.assess_remote_repo_matchdirectly, two callserver._resolve(..., for_mutation=True/False)directly. None invokesgitea_merge_pr,gitea_delete_branch, or any other tool. The tests assert that the parameter works; nothing asserts which callers pass it. That is exactly the gap that lets B1 ship green.B2 — BLOCKER: the boundary fails open when no primary context can be resolved
The check is guarded by
if for_mutation and eff_primary_org and eff_primary_repo:. When neither the session context norparse_org_repo_from_remote_url(local_remote_url)yields a primary, the block is skipped entirely and the function falls through to the ordinary #530 path — whereorg_explicit and repo_explicitreturnsprovenimmediately. Reproduced:Both inputs are reachable.
local_remote_urlcomes from_local_git_remote_url(remote), which is documented as best-effort, and the session context is populated only aftergitea_whoamibinds it. So a mutation issued before identity binding, or from a workspace whose git remote cannot be read, silently loses the cross-project boundary and returnsblock=False— indistinguishable in the payload from a target that was checked and approved.A boundary this PR describes as "fail closed" should refuse when it cannot establish the primary project, not proceed. At minimum the assessment should carry a distinct "primary context unavailable" reason so the outcome is not silently conflated with a pass.
B3 — MEDIUM: a read-only assessor is marked as a mutation
gitea_assess_already_landed_reconciliation(line 12541) now resolves withfor_mutation=True. It is gated ongitea.read, returns a_permission_block_report("gitea.read")on refusal, and its only API call isapi_request("GET", ...). Marking it as a codebase mutation makes a read-only assessment refuse across project boundaries, which is a behaviour change in the over-blocking direction and is not among the operations #707 names.gitea_lock_issue(line 4083) is similar — it takes a lock rather than mutating the codebase — though the argument for treating a lock as project-scoped is stronger. Worth confirming both are deliberate.Non-blocking observations
#707block sits ahead of theorg_explicit and repo_explicitreturn, which is correct, but it means the two protection levels now share one function with two different notions of "explicit intent is authoritative". A short comment stating that precedence is deliberate would keep a future edit from reordering them.remote_repo_guard.pygains a trailing blank line at EOF; harmless._assessmenthelper, so its shape is hand-built and diverges from every other return in the module (noproven/blockvia the shared constructor). Consistent construction would make the two paths harder to drift apart.Validation
Official validation status:
baseline-equivalent failure accepted. The four failures reproduce at the merge base with an identical set of failing ids, so none originates here. No validation failure beyond that baseline was observed in this session. No full-suite run was performed at this head and none is claimed. No file in either worktree was edited; the B1 and B2 reproductions invoked the guard in-process and wrote nothing.Canonical PR State
STATE: PR #923 is open at head
caaec9ac7aand now carries a formal REQUEST_CHANGES verdict from sysadmin recorded at that exact head. Two blocking findings and one medium finding are open, alongside three non-blocking observations. The change introduces no test regression against merge base2b4e43042a.WHO_IS_NEXT: author
NEXT_ACTION: Author jcwalker3 must pass for_mutation=True from the four unwired codebase-mutation tools, make the boundary refuse when no primary project context can be established, confirm or revert the read-only assessor marking, add tests that drive the tools rather than the predicate, push, and publish a new head-pinned handoff for a fresh independent review.
NEXT_PROMPT:
WHAT_HAPPENED: An independent review at the exact head read all three changed files, mapped every _resolve call site in the server to its enclosing function, and found that four codebase-mutation tools including the two named in the PR body do not pass the new flag. The behavioural difference was then reproduced by invoking the real guard with both call shapes against the same cross-project target. A second reproduction showed the boundary skipped entirely when no primary project context can be resolved from either the session context or the local remote URL. The test module was read and found to drive the predicate and the resolver directly, never a tool. Focused and neighbouring suites were run at the head and at the merge base in separate worktrees, with identical failing test id sets.
WHY: #707 exists to stop codebase mutations from crossing into another project. The predicate this PR adds is correctly designed and correctly refuses explicit cross-project arguments, but it is only consulted by eight call sites, and the merge, branch-delete, branch-cleanup and branch-update paths are not among them — so the two operations the PR body advertises as covered remain permitted. The secondary fail-open path means that even a wired caller loses the boundary whenever the primary project cannot be determined, which is the state a fresh process is in before identity binding.
ISSUE: #707
HEAD_SHA:
caaec9ac7aREVIEW_STATUS: REQUEST_CHANGES recorded at
caaec9ac7aby sysadminMERGE_READY: no
BLOCKERS: code blocker
VALIDATION: Reviewed in /Users/jasonwalker/Development/Gitea-Tools/branches/review-pr923-caaec9a-s2, created fresh this session, detached at
caaec9ac7a, verified clean by git status --porcelain --untracked-files=all before and after. Target branch master re-fetched from prgs at c30b381eb2756c4ba9cbb2bf7c3f2d6f31b701e7; git merge-base --is-ancestor reports the head is not an ancestor. Diff against merge base2b4e43042ais 3 files, +182/-18. Call-site mapping was produced by scanning every module-level def in gitea_mcp_server.py and attributing each _resolve call site to its enclosing function, yielding 82 total call sites, 10 carrying for_mutation=True, and the four unwired mutation tools cited above at lines 10475, 11322, 11404 and 19643. B1 was reproduced by invoking remote_repo_guard.assess_remote_repo_match with resolved target Other-Org/Other-Repo against a Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools local remote URL: the bare call shape used by gitea_merge_pr and gitea_delete_branch returned block=False, while the same inputs with for_mutation=True returned block=True with cross_project_mutation_block set. B2 was reproduced with for_mutation=True and no primary context, using both an empty and a None local_remote_url, each returning block=False. B3 was established by reading the enclosing function at line 12541, which is gated on gitea.read and performs a GET. Focused suites at head: 23 passed. Neighbouring sweep at head: 4 failed, 455 passed, 5061 deselected, 143 subtests. Same sweep at the merge base in branches/baseline-pr923-2b4e430-s2, run in a command block carrying its own cd, pwd and git rev-parse HEAD: 4 failed, compared with comm in both directions and found identical, so no regression originates from this branch. No full-suite run was performed at this head and none is claimed. No file was edited in either worktree. Pushes during validation: none.LAST_UPDATED_BY: sysadmin / prgs-reviewer / gitea-reviewer namespace, reviewer lease session 18879-e5eb89bb178d
repo: Scaled-Tech-Consulting/Gitea-Tools
pr: #923
issue: #707
reviewer_identity: sysadmin
profile: prgs-reviewer
session_id: 18879-e5eb89bb178d
worktree: /Users/jasonwalker/Development/Gitea-Tools/branches/review-pr923-caaec9a-s2
phase: released
candidate_head:
caaec9ac7atarget_branch: master
target_branch_sha:
c30b381eb2last_activity: 2026-07-27T18:54:54Z
expires_at: 2026-07-27T19:04:54Z
blocker: manual-release
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