Splits the reusable validator into two jobs to keep external fork
PRs from running arbitrary template code on the runner.
Background
The reusable workflow runs three primitives that execute
template-supplied code:
- pip install -r requirements.txt (setup.py + post-install hooks)
- importlib.exec_module(adapter) (top-level Python in adapter.py)
- docker build (RUN steps in Dockerfile)
Token scope is already minimal (contents: read), GitHub forced
fork-PR tokens read-only in 2021, and the workflow_call interface
doesn't accept secrets. So the actual exploit surface is "what can
a malicious actor do with arbitrary code execution on a GitHub-
hosted runner that has no useful credentials?" — answer: crypto-
mine, DNS-exfiltrate runner metadata, attempt lateral movement
within the runner's network. Annoying, not catastrophic, but a
real attack surface that this PR closes.
The fix
Two-job split:
validate-static Always runs, including external fork PRs.
File-content checks (secret scan, YAML parse,
AST inspection of adapter.py without import),
pip install only the validator's pyyaml dep
(not the template's requirements.txt). NO
third-party code execution.
validate-runtime Skipped when github.event.pull_request.head.
repo.fork == true. pip install requirements.txt
+ adapter import + docker build. Internal PRs
and push events to internal branches still get
the full coverage.
The validator script gains a --static-only flag that skips
check_adapter_runtime_load() (the function that calls
exec_module). The validate-static job uses it; validate-runtime
uses the existing full mode.
Trade-off
External contributors get static feedback only on their PR. If
their template metadata passes static checks but breaks runtime
loading, branch protection on staging/main blocks the merge once
runtime validation runs (post-merge or after an internal
contributor reposts). Fewer false-positive CI failures for honest
external contributors; same coverage at the merge-protected
boundary.
What this does NOT close
- Maintainer-approved external PRs that consciously execute
third-party code. The maintainer must approve a workflow run
via GitHub's first-time-contributor gate; that's a human
decision, not a workflow-level gate.
- requirements.txt that pulls a malicious transitive dep from
PyPI even on internal PRs. Mitigated by branch-protection +
human review of PRs that touch requirements.txt.
Closes task #135.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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|---|---|---|
| .github/workflows | ||
| .molecule-ci/scripts | ||
| docs | ||
| scripts | ||
| .gitignore | ||
| README.md | ||
molecule-ci
Shared CI workflows for the Molecule AI ecosystem. Every plugin, workspace template, and org template repo calls these reusable workflows to enforce a standard validation gate.
Usage
Plugin repos (molecule-ai-plugin-*)
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
validate:
uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/validate-plugin.yml@v1
Workspace template repos (molecule-ai-workspace-template-*)
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
validate:
uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/validate-workspace-template.yml@v1
Org template repos (molecule-ai-org-template-*)
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
validate:
uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/validate-org-template.yml@v1
Any repo with auto-merge enabled
PR-time guards (currently: disable auto-merge on follow-up push). Consume from a thin caller:
# .github/workflows/pr-guards.yml
name: pr-guards
on:
pull_request:
types: [synchronize]
permissions:
pull-requests: write
jobs:
disable-auto-merge-on-push:
uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/disable-auto-merge-on-push.yml@v1
When the team lands more PR-time guards in this repo, add them as additional jobs in the same caller — keeps each consuming repo's footprint to one file.
What each workflow validates
validate-plugin
| Check | Severity | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
plugin.yaml exists |
Error | Missing manifest |
| Required fields (name, version, description) | Error | Incomplete plugin |
| Has content (SKILL.md, hooks/, skills/, or rules/) | Error | Empty plugin |
| SKILL.md starts with heading | Warning | Bad formatting |
| No committed secrets | Error | Leaked API keys |
| No build artifacts | Error | node_modules, pycache |
validate-workspace-template
| Check | Severity | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
config.yaml exists |
Error | Missing config |
| Required fields (name, runtime) | Error | Incomplete template |
template_schema_version: 1 |
Error | Missing version contract |
| Known runtime check | Warning | Typo in runtime name |
adapter.py imports molecule_runtime |
Warning | Legacy imports |
| Dockerfile builds | Error | Broken image |
| molecule-ai-workspace-runtime dependency | Warning | Missing base package |
| No committed secrets | Error | Leaked API keys |
validate-org-template
| Check | Severity | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
org.yaml exists |
Error | Missing org definition |
| Required fields (name) | Error | Incomplete template |
| Workspace structure valid | Error | Malformed hierarchy |
files_dir references exist |
Warning | Broken system-prompt paths |
template_schema_version present |
Warning | Missing version contract |
| No committed secrets | Error | Leaked API keys |
disable-auto-merge-on-push
PR-time safety guard. When pull_request:synchronize fires (= a new commit pushed to an open PR) and auto-merge is already enabled, this workflow disables auto-merge and posts a comment requiring the operator to re-engage explicitly.
Why it exists: on 2026-04-27, molecule-core PR #2174 auto-merged with only its first commit because the second commit was pushed AFTER the merge queue had locked the PR's SHA. The second commit ended up orphaned on a merged-and-deleted branch.
Pairs with the org-wide repo setting "Automatically delete head branches" (already enabled on all 10 Molecule-AI repos). Defense in depth:
- Repo setting blocks pushes to a merged-and-deleted branch (catches the post-merge orphan case).
- This workflow catches the in-queue race (push during queue processing) by force-disabling auto-merge.
Together they cover the full lifecycle of "auto-merge enabled → new commits arrive" without operator discipline.
False-positive note: if a CI bot pushes (dependency update, secret rotation), this also disables auto-merge. That's intentional — the operator who originally enabled auto-merge gets notified and re-engages, which is exactly the verify-after-machine-edits behavior we want.
License
Business Source License 1.1 — © Molecule AI.