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Copilot AI commented Nov 4, 2025

Fix dangerous workflow_run trigger in smoke-detector

Problem

The smoke-detector workflow used workflow_run trigger, which executes in the base branch context with full permissions even for untrusted fork PRs, enabling privilege escalation and secret extraction attacks.

Solution

Converted smoke-detector to use secure workflow_call pattern with explicit inputs passed from smoke test workflows.

Changes Made

1. Schema Extensions

  • workflow_call inputs: Added inputs and secrets fields to workflow_call trigger schema
  • Reusable workflow jobs: Added uses, with, secrets properties to job schema
  • Expression validation: Added inputs.* pattern support for workflow_call input expressions

2. Code Changes

  • expression_safety.go: Added workflowCallInputsRegex to allow inputs.* expressions
  • jobs.go: Added Uses, With, and Secrets fields to Job struct
  • compiler_jobs.go: Updated buildCustomJobs() to handle reusable workflow calls; uses existing goccy/go-yaml package
  • Job rendering: Updated renderJob() to output uses/with/secrets instead of steps for reusable workflows

3. Workflow Updates

  • smoke-detector.md:

    • Changed trigger from workflow_run to workflow_call
    • Defined explicit inputs: workflow_name, run_id, run_number, conclusion, html_url, head_sha
    • Replaced all ${{ github.event.workflow_run.* }} with ${{ inputs.* }}
    • Permissions: Read-only (contents: read, issues: read, pull-requests: read, actions: read)
    • Write operations: Handled by safe-outputs (add-comment, create-issue)
    • Reaction: Preserved reaction: "eyes" field from original configuration
  • smoke-{claude,codex,copilot}.md:

    • Added investigate-on-failure job with uses: ./.github/workflows/smoke-detector.lock.yml
    • Configured job to run only if: failure()
    • Permissions: Read-only (removed issues: write)
    • Pass all required inputs from GitHub context
  • Cleanup: Removed obsolete smoke-opencode workflow

4. Merges with Main

  • First merge (commit 7c24529): Merged 120 files from main
  • Second merge (commit 817ae7a): Merged 6 additional commits including:
    • Test coverage improvements for console renderSlice function
    • Test coverage improvements for pip and uv package extraction
    • Strict mode validation refactoring
    • Interactive workflow builder tests
    • CI optimization (removed needs: build dependencies)
    • Cache integration test binary for faster test suite
  • All workflows recompiled successfully after each merge
  • All tests pass

Security Improvements

Eliminated privilege escalation: No longer runs in base branch context for fork PRs
Prevented secret exposure: Requires explicit input passing, no automatic access to repository secrets
Enforced input validation: All parameters must be explicitly provided via with: clause
Applied least-privilege: Read-only permissions; writes handled by safe-outputs
Separation of concerns: Write operations isolated in safe-output jobs with controlled permissions

Verification

  • ✅ All workflows compile successfully (0 errors, 15 warnings)
  • ✅ Unit tests pass (100% success rate)
  • ✅ No workflow_run triggers remain in smoke-detector
  • ✅ All smoke test workflows properly call smoke-detector via uses: pattern
  • ✅ All required inputs are defined and passed correctly
  • ✅ Permissions are read-only; safe-outputs handle writes
  • ✅ No new dependencies added (uses existing goccy/go-yaml)
  • ✅ Reaction field preserved in workflow configuration
  • ✅ Successfully merged with main branch (twice)

Fixes #3120

Original prompt

This section details on the original issue you should resolve

<issue_title>[task] Fix dangerous workflow_run trigger in smoke-detector</issue_title>
<issue_description>## Objective
Replace the dangerous workflow_run trigger in smoke-detector.lock.yml with a secure workflow_call pattern.

Context

The current smoke-detector workflow uses workflow_run trigger which is fundamentally insecure. It runs in the context of the base branch with full repository permissions, even when triggered by code from forks or untrusted branches. This creates a critical security vulnerability (HIGH severity) that allows potential:

  • Secret extraction
  • Repository compromise
  • Malicious code injection
  • CI/CD pipeline tampering

Related to discussion #3120 - Static Analysis Report finding #1.

Approach

  1. Convert smoke-detector.yml to use workflow_call trigger with explicit inputs
  2. Update all smoke test workflows (smoke-claude.yml, smoke-codex.yml, smoke-copilot.yml) to call the detector using the new pattern
  3. Add explicit minimal permissions (contents: read, issues: write)
  4. Replace direct workflow_run context with safe inputs

Files to Modify

  • .github/workflows/smoke-detector.md - Convert to workflow_call pattern with inputs
  • .github/workflows/smoke-claude.md - Add investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector
  • .github/workflows/smoke-codex.md - Add investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector
  • .github/workflows/smoke-copilot.md - Add investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector
  • Recompile all affected workflows with gh aw compile

Acceptance Criteria

  • smoke-detector uses workflow_call trigger instead of workflow_run
  • All smoke test workflows call smoke-detector with uses: pattern
  • Workflow inputs include: workflow_name, run_id, conclusion
  • Permissions are explicitly set to minimal required (contents: read, issues: write)
  • Test with a fork PR to verify no privilege escalation
  • Zizmor scan shows no dangerous-triggers findings
  • All workflows compile successfully
    Related to 🔍 Static Analysis Report - November 4, 2025 #3120

AI generated by Plan Command for discussion #3120</issue_description>

Comments on the Issue (you are @copilot in this section)


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Copilot AI and others added 2 commits November 4, 2025 11:49
- Update JSON schema to support workflow_call inputs and reusable workflow jobs
- Add support for inputs.* expressions in expression safety validation
- Update smoke-detector to use workflow_call trigger with explicit inputs
- Add investigate-on-failure jobs to smoke test workflows that call smoke-detector
- Replace all workflow_run context expressions with inputs parameters
- Add uses/with/secrets support to Job struct and rendering logic

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <[email protected]>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Fix dangerous workflow_run trigger in smoke-detector Replace dangerous workflow_run trigger with secure workflow_call in smoke-detector Nov 4, 2025
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@copilot keep read permission, writes handled by safe outputs

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 11:57
Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan November 4, 2025 11:57
go.mod Outdated
github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v6 v6.0.2
github.com/sourcegraph/conc v0.3.0
github.com/spf13/cobra v1.9.1
gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
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@copilot revert go.mod changes

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Reverted go.mod/go.sum changes. Now using existing goccy/go-yaml package instead. Changes in commit 6852d59.

- Changed smoke-detector permissions from issues:write to issues:read
- Safe-outputs (add-comment, create-issue) handle all write operations
- Updated investigate-on-failure jobs to use read-only permissions
- Maintains security by keeping writes in controlled safe-output jobs

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <[email protected]>
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Copilot AI commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot keep read permission, writes handled by safe outputs

Updated permissions to read-only. Write operations now handled by safe-outputs (add-comment, create-issue). Changes in commit cce7e62.

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:06
Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:06
- Reverted go.mod and go.sum to remove gopkg.in/yaml.v3 dependency
- Updated compiler_jobs.go to use github.com/goccy/go-yaml instead
- No functional changes, using existing project dependency

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <[email protected]>
Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:15
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@copilot delete smoke-opencode agentic workflow

- Smoke Opencode
branches:
- 'copilot/*'
reaction: "eyes"
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@copilot keep reaction

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Added reaction: "eyes" field back to the on: section. Changes in commit 097571e.

Note: With workflow_call trigger, the reaction field is preserved in the configuration but won't have a functional effect since workflow_call doesn't have a triggering item (like an issue or PR) to add reactions to.

- Removed smoke-opencode.md and smoke-opencode.lock.yml
- Workflow is no longer needed

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <[email protected]>
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Copilot AI commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot delete smoke-opencode agentic workflow

Deleted smoke-opencode workflow files (smoke-opencode.md and smoke-opencode.lock.yml). Changes in commit 9147250.

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:23
Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:23
- Restored reaction: "eyes" field in on: section
- Reaction is parsed from frontmatter even though workflow_call doesn't have a triggering item to react to
- Maintains consistency with original workflow configuration

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <[email protected]>
Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 12:34
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pelikhan commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot merge main and recompile

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Copilot AI commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot merge main and recompile

Merged main branch and recompiled all workflows. Changes pushed in merge commit 7c24529.

  • Successfully merged origin/main with no conflicts
  • Recompiled 66 workflows: 0 errors, 15 warnings
  • All unit tests pass

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 17:00
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pelikhan commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot merge main and recompile

@pelikhan pelikhan added the smoke label Nov 4, 2025
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Copilot AI commented Nov 4, 2025

@copilot merge main and recompile

Merged latest main branch changes and recompiled all workflows. Changes pushed in merge commit 817ae7a.

  • Merged 6 new commits from origin/main (test coverage improvements, strict mode refactoring, CI optimization)
  • Recompiled 66 workflows: 0 errors, 15 warnings
  • All unit tests pass

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan November 4, 2025 17:38
@github-actions github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Nov 4, 2025
@pelikhan pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review November 4, 2025 17:48
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings November 4, 2025 17:48
@pelikhan pelikhan merged commit 07f325e into main Nov 4, 2025
32 of 34 checks passed
@pelikhan pelikhan deleted the copilot/fix-smoke-detector-workflow-trigger branch November 4, 2025 17:49
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Pull Request Overview

This PR adds support for GitHub Actions reusable workflow calls and workflow_call triggers to the agentic workflows system. This enables workflows to be modularized and called from other workflows, improving code reuse and maintainability.

Key Changes:

  • Added workflow_call trigger support with input/secret parameter definitions in the schema
  • Implemented reusable workflow call functionality using uses, with, and secrets properties
  • Updated expression validation to allow inputs.* pattern for workflow_call parameters
  • Refactored smoke detector workflow from workflow_run trigger to workflow_call for better composability

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 13 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file
File Description
pkg/workflow/jobs.go Added Uses, With, Secrets fields to Job struct and rendering logic for reusable workflow calls
pkg/workflow/expression_safety.go Added workflowCallInputsRegex to allow inputs.* expressions for workflow_call parameters
pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go Added logic to extract and process reusable workflow call properties (uses/with/secrets) and permissions from frontmatter
pkg/parser/schemas/main_workflow_schema.json Added schema definitions for workflow_call trigger inputs/secrets and job-level uses/with/secrets properties
docs/src/content/docs/reference/frontmatter-full.md Updated documentation to show workflow_call trigger configuration with inputs/secrets
.github/workflows/smoke-detector.md Converted from workflow_run trigger to workflow_call with defined input parameters
.github/workflows/smoke-detector.lock.yml Compiled workflow with workflow_call trigger and pre_activation job
.github/workflows/smoke-copilot.md Added investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector as reusable workflow
.github/workflows/smoke-copilot.lock.yml Compiled workflow with reusable workflow call job
.github/workflows/smoke-codex.md Added investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector as reusable workflow
.github/workflows/smoke-codex.lock.yml Compiled workflow with reusable workflow call job
.github/workflows/smoke-claude.md Added investigate-on-failure job that calls smoke-detector as reusable workflow
.github/workflows/smoke-claude.lock.yml Compiled workflow with reusable workflow call job

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Comment on lines +299 to +300
case string:
yaml.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(" %s: %s\n", key, v))
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String values in GitHub Actions YAML may need proper quoting or escaping. The current implementation directly interpolates string values without checking if they contain special characters (colons, quotes, newlines, etc.) or GitHub expressions. This could produce invalid YAML or incorrect behavior. Consider using a YAML marshaling library or adding proper escaping/quoting logic.

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switch v := value.(type) {
case string:
yaml.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf(" %s: %s\n", key, v))
case int, int64, float64:
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The case statement matches multiple numeric types (int, int64, float64) but doesn't handle all numeric types that could appear in map[string]any. Missing types include: int8, int16, int32, uint, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64, float32. Consider using a type switch or checking reflect.Kind() to handle all numeric types consistently.

Suggested change
case int, int64, float64:
case int, int8, int16, int32, int64,
uint, uint8, uint16, uint32, uint64,
float32, float64:

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// Extract permissions
if permissions, hasPermissions := configMap["permissions"]; hasPermissions {
if permsMap, ok := permissions.(map[string]any); ok {
// Use gopkg.in/yaml.v3 to marshal permissions
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The comment references 'gopkg.in/yaml.v3' but the actual import is 'github.com/goccy/go-yaml' (line 9). Update the comment to reflect the correct YAML library being used.

Suggested change
// Use gopkg.in/yaml.v3 to marshal permissions
// Use github.com/goccy/go-yaml to marshal permissions

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allowedList.WriteString(" - needs.*\n")
allowedList.WriteString(" - steps.*\n")
allowedList.WriteString(" - github.event.inputs.*\n")
allowedList.WriteString(" - inputs.* (workflow_call)\n")
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[nitpick] The comment '(workflow_call)' in the allowed list output could be confusing since inputs.* is also valid in other contexts. Consider clarifying that this pattern is specifically for reusable workflow calls, e.g., ' - inputs.* (reusable workflow inputs)\n' to distinguish from github.event.inputs.*

Suggested change
allowedList.WriteString(" - inputs.* (workflow_call)\n")
allowedList.WriteString(" - inputs.* (reusable workflow inputs)\n")

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description: 'Commit SHA that triggered the workflow run'
required: true
type: string
reaction: "eyes"
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The reaction field is placed inside the on: trigger configuration, but according to the schema (line 916-921 in main_workflow_schema.json), it should be at the same level as other trigger properties within the on: object. The current placement appears syntactically valid but may cause confusion. Verify this is intentionally nested under workflow_call inputs or if it should be at the on: object level.

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[task] Fix dangerous workflow_run trigger in smoke-detector

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