stacklok / stacklok/docs-website

Verify the ToolHive CLI signature before executing it in CI

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enhancement github_actions needs-triage
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
4
Forks
3
Avg merge
1d 7h
Merged PRs (30d)
41

Description

.github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml runs scripts/install-thv.sh, which downloads the ToolHive CLI tarball from the releases/latest API response and executes it. That job holds contents: write and pull-requests: write and pushes commits to the PR branch, so a replaced release asset would run with those permissions.

The same script also runs in Vercel's buildCommand, so this isn't a new trust relationship for the repo, but the Actions job carries more consequence than the Vercel build does.

What would actually help

toolhive publishes a *.sigstore.json bundle per artifact (alongside toolhive_<version>_checksums.txt and SBOMs). Verifying the bundle with cosign against an expected identity would detect a replaced asset.

A checksum check is not a substitute: the checksums file comes from the same API response as the tarball URL, so anyone able to replace one can replace the other. It only guards a download that is already HTTPS.

Notes for whoever picks this up

  • Don't pin the CLI to the release being documented. This workflow also runs for toolhive-studio and toolhive-registry-server, whose tags have no thv asset.
  • Decide whether verification lands in install-thv.sh (covers Vercel and dev containers too, but adds a cosign dependency to the Vercel build) or in the Actions step alone.
  • Needs an identity policy, not just cosign verify-blob: the certificate identity and OIDC issuer have to be asserted, or verification proves only that something signed it.

Raised by Copilot on #1114 (thread), deferred as its own change.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with .github/workflows/upstream-release-docs.yml and scripts/install-thv.sh, then trace how the latest ToolHive release asset is selected and executed. Decide where verification belongs and define the expected certificate identity and OIDC issuer, including the workflows for toolhive-studio and toolhive-registry-server. Done means a replaced asset is rejected before execution without pinning the CLI to the documented release.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
github-actions, shell
Domain
ci-cd, security
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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