Release governance gap: admin self-merge bypass and v0.1.0 tag churn (follow-up to #81)

[waterbro-8]

schemaVersion: requirement-record.v1
revision: R4
status: ready
priority: P1
productOwner: "@PeterGuy326"
technicalOwner: "@PeterGuy326"
implementationOwner: "@waterbro-8"
automatedPreReviewOwner: "GitHub Actions"
humanReviewOwner: "@Bindy-lbb"
userOutcome: "Release-blocking pull requests retain independent CODEOWNER review while no single reviewer creates an avoidable availability bottleneck."
requirements:
  - REQ-001
  - REQ-002
  - REQ-003
acceptanceCriteria:
  - AC-001
  - AC-002
  - AC-003
parent: null
dependencies: []
supersedes:
  - "R1 free-form governance record"
lastDecisionAt: "2026-08-31T12:09:30Z"

User problem and observable outcome

The repository already requires a current independent CODEOWNER approval and
strict CI, but only two owners made every author-owned release candidate depend
on the one remaining reviewer. The owner-approved third reviewer is available
as a bounded availability improvement, not as a relaxation of protections.

Observable outcome: .github/CODEOWNERS lists exactly
@PeterGuy326 @Bindy-lbb @waterbro-8 for the repository, and a current-head
candidate is independently reviewed under the unchanged branch protections.

Requirements

• REQ-001: Add only @waterbro-8 as the third CODEOWNER in the existing global
  rule.
• REQ-002: Preserve strict required checks, code-owner review, last-push
  approval, linear history, conversation resolution, no force pushes, no
  deletions, and admin enforcement.
• REQ-003: Preserve release-tag authority boundaries; the code-owner change does
  not grant tag creation, update, deletion, or new repository roles.

Acceptance criteria

• AC-001: The exact candidate diff changes only .github/CODEOWNERS to the
  approved three-owner line.
• AC-002: All required CI is green on an up-to-date exact head.
• AC-003: A non-author, non-last-pusher current CODEOWNER gives the final
  approval; no admin bypass or self-approval occurs.

Scope and non-goals

• Scope: the single CODEOWNERS line and its review evidence.
• Non-goals: changing branch protections, collaborator roles, tag rulesets,
  required-approval counts, or GOVERNANCE.md release guidance.
• Related work: docs(governance): add GOVERNANCE.md release governance charter #125 remains a separate documentation candidate and must be
  corrected independently to match the live configuration.

Lifecycle, priority, blockers, and open decisions

• status=ready; priority P1; implementation candidate is chore(codeowners): add a third independent code owner #132.
• Blocker: chore(codeowners): add a third independent code owner #132 is behind main; its source must be brought to the current base
  and its exact head must receive fresh required CI.
• Final human review owner: @Bindy-lbb if @PeterGuy326 performs the normal
  non-force source-branch synchronization; no participant may review their own
  implementation head.

Evidence plan and latest evidence

AC	Planned evidence	Current result
AC-001	Exact pull-request file diff	Candidate currently has one CODEOWNERS-line change; re-read after sync
AC-002	Required check URLs on current head	NOT VERIFIED: #132 is behind main
AC-003	GitHub review record and protection read-back	NOT VERIFIED: final reviewer waits for a stable green synchronized head

Decisions and revision history

• R1: original free-form release-governance record.
• R2 (2026-08-31): admin enforcement was applied without changing other
  protections; it initially retained two CODEOWNERS.
• R3 (2026-08-31T11:54:27Z): the founder-approved addition of @waterbro-8 is
  canonicalized; decision:
  Release governance gap: admin self-merge bypass and v0.1.0 tag churn (follow-up to #81) #124 (comment).
• R4 (2026-08-31T12:09:30Z): lifecycle correction establishes the completed
  R3 scope as ready for normal CI and independent review; decision:
  Release governance gap: admin self-merge bypass and v0.1.0 tag churn (follow-up to #81) #124 (comment).

[PeterGuy326]

Blocking correction before any admin action:

I read the live protection object back from the API. The current main settings already have:

• strict: true
• dismiss_stale_reviews: true
• require_code_owner_reviews: true
• require_last_push_approval: true
• required_approving_review_count: 1
• required_linear_history: true
• required_conversation_resolution: true
• force pushes/deletions disabled
• enforce_admins.enabled: false

The full-replacement PUT payload in this issue is unsafe as written: it changes require_last_push_approval to false, changes required_linear_history to false, and omits the currently enabled required_conversation_resolution field. Applying it would close one bypass while weakening at least three existing gates.

No branch-protection mutation is authorized by the current tag-ruleset approval, so do not run that PUT. If the owner separately authorizes enforcing protection for admins, GitHub exposes a narrow endpoint that preserves the rest of the protection object:

gh api -X POST repos/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/branches/main/protection/enforce_admins

Before/after must be read back and asserted field-for-field, with the only intended delta enforce_admins.enabled: false -> true. GitHub documents this as “Set admin branch protection”: https://docs.github.com/en/rest/branches/branch-protection#protect-repository-admins

Also, PR #125 currently fails the canonical issue/title policy. This issue needs the repository's required type/status/area/evidence labels and readiness gate; the PR should link the canonical ready issue and must not imply that the setting change is already authorized or mechanically enforced.

[PeterGuy326]

Maintainer decision and applied admin action (2026-08-31, Asia/Shanghai):

• Keep the current two CODEOWNERS: @PeterGuy326 and @Bindy-lbb (Totoro). A third owner is optional redundancy, not a correctness requirement. For a PR authored by either owner, the other owner provides the required independent CODEOWNER approval; authors cannot approve their own PR.
• The repository collaborator/CODEOWNERS records contain Bindy-lbb, not libibi; no extra identity should be added based on that name.
• Enabled admin enforcement through the narrow endpoint: POST /repos/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/branches/main/protection/enforce_admins.
• Read-back comparison proved the only protection delta was enforce_admins.enabled: false -> true.
• Preserved unchanged: strict required checks (all 8), stale-review dismissal, CODEOWNER review, last-push approval, one approval, linear history, conversation resolution, force-push disabled, and deletion disabled.
• Reconfirmed tag ruleset Protect stable release tags is active on refs/tags/v*, blocks update and deletion, and has no bypass actors.

The admin-bypass portion of this issue is now resolved. Remaining work is to correct, re-review, and merge #125 without weakening the live settings.

[PeterGuy326]

Additive maintainer decision (2026-08-31, Asia/Shanghai): the founder authorized adding Feng Haoran as an individual minimal reviewer; his verified GitHub login is waterbro-8. The earlier two-owner setup remains valid, but the observed #125/#130 bottleneck justifies exercising the optional third-owner redundancy. Before granting write, tag authority was separated safely: new active ruleset 21899500 lets only RepositoryRole admin create refs/tags/v*, while existing ruleset 21888356 remains unchanged and blocks tag update/deletion with no bypass. waterbro-8 now has write, not maintain/admin, and cannot create, update, or delete release tags. @waterbro-8: please open a PR from exact main 731a468 whose only diff changes .github/CODEOWNERS to * @PeterGuy326 @Bindy-lbb @waterbro-8; use Refs #124, do not push main/tag/self-review/admin-merge, and reply with the PR URL plus exact head SHA. Peter can review that waterbro-authored PR under the existing base CODEOWNERS policy.

[PeterGuy326]

schemaVersion: requirement-decision.v1
canonicalIssue: "https://github.com/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/issues/124"
previousRevision: R2
resultingRevision: R3
decisionType: additive
oldDecision: "The two existing CODEOWNERS are retained and a third owner is optional but not selected."
newDecision: "Add the verified write collaborator @waterbro-8 as a third CODEOWNER through the one-line, independently reviewed candidate in pull request #132."
reason: "The founder's recorded decision at https://github.com/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/issues/124#issuecomment-5474086018 authorizes this bounded availability redundancy after release-tag authority was separately constrained."
impact: "The review pool expands from two to three owners; no branch-protection rule, repository role, tag authority, required approval count, or admin bypass setting changes."
approver: "@PeterGuy326"
decidedAt: "2026-08-31T11:54:09Z"

Owner record correction: the later founder decision is now the canonical R3
record. #132 must still be up to date, have current required CI, and receive an
independent current-head CODEOWNER approval; it is not an authorization to
self-approve, bypass protection, or grant further repository permissions.

[PeterGuy326]

schemaVersion: requirement-decision.v1
canonicalIssue: "https://github.com/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/issues/124"
previousRevision: R3
resultingRevision: R4
decisionType: release
oldDecision: "R3 labeled the canonical third-CODEOWNER requirement in-progress while the implementation candidate still needed its ready-state acceptance gate."
newDecision: "R4 is ready: the one-line scope, ownership, acceptance criteria, and forbidden changes are complete; only normal exact-head CI and independent review remain."
reason: "The repository contribution policy requires a canonical ready record before completing material candidate work. This correction changes no security or permission scope."
impact: "#132 may be evaluated against the ready R4 record. The final reviewer remains independent, and the legacy #125 charter candidate stays blocked pending a clean successor after #132."
approver: "@PeterGuy326"
decidedAt: "2026-08-31T12:08:55Z"

Owner lifecycle correction: the accepted requirement is ready for normal CI and
review. It is not accepted, merged, or permission-effective until those distinct
events occur under unchanged protections.

[PeterGuy326]

Implementation candidate correction (R4 scope unchanged)

• The R4 requirement and one-line CODEOWNERS scope are unchanged.
• Clean successor: PR #138, exact head 474fb334478a0569bed903181cca2d54e44abd95, base cc727db0bc72655f299166de1f60756f5c686cc7.
• Exact-head CI: all required checks succeeded; run family: https://github.com/fullstack-ai-infra/mem/actions/runs/33426227760.
• Before-state protection readback confirms strict checks, CODEOWNER review, stale-review dismissal, last-push approval, linear history, admin enforcement, and force-push/deletion prohibitions remain enabled. The candidate changes only .github/CODEOWNERS.
• @Bindy-lbb was requested once for independent current-head CODEOWNER review. The author and last pusher will not self-approve.
• Old PR #132 is closed as audit-only because it carries public non-noreply commit metadata. Its branch was not rewritten.

This is candidate evidence, not merge/acceptance evidence; R4 remains open until normal authorized merge, push/main checks, verification ledger, and product acceptance.