[mattmillerai]

ELI-5

Today, a PR author who can push a branch can also edit the workflow that holds the approver token, because pull_request runs the caller workflow from the PR head. This change lets cursor-review and cursor-approve run from pull_request_target, where the caller comes from the base branch. It also adds an approver_environment input so the token can live in a base-branch-only environment. The change is additive: existing pull_request callers still run.

What changed

• Events: pull_request_target is accepted everywhere pull_request was tested: the workflow-level concurrency expression (run_without_label branch), the dismiss-stale-approval if:, and the blocking-gate error text. EVENT_NAME is used only in that message. cursor-approve reads only github.event.pull_request.* (number, head sha, base ref), and that payload is present under both events.
• Checkout refs: the three ref-less Checkout PR repo steps (review, judge-direct, consolidate) now pin github.event.pull_request.head.sha, as review-anthropic-direct and diff-size already did. The merge ref was mutable between jobs and missing on conflicted PRs, which pull_request_target still runs on.
• approver_environment (string, default ''): declared on exactly post-review, dismiss-stale-approval, auto-retry (cursor-review) and approve (cursor-approve), and only under pull_request_target (environment: ${{ github.event_name == 'pull_request_target' && inputs.approver_environment || '' }}). Any other event runs on refs/pull/<n>/merge, which a base-branch-only deployment policy would reject before a step runs.
• Guard: only pull_request_target may approve as APPROVER_TOKEN. On any other event with the token set (pull_request, pull_request_review_thread, …), the token steps print an ::error:: and approve nothing. The decision keeps the token identity under --defer-approval, so it still withdraws that identity's own earlier approvals. cursor-approve outputs withdraw_only and runs only Withdraw approvals. auto-retry drops to the fallback identity. With approver_environment set, a non-target run has no token and posts no approval under any identity. Under pull_request_target with no approver_environment, the steps warn. No posting job turns red.
• Gate: the fork skip fails closed (an empty head repo on a PR event, i.e. a deleted fork, skips too). Under pull_request_target a Dependabot-authored PR is skipped, because it would otherwise get the repo's real secrets.
• Docs: ### Trust model is now a real heading, so #trust-model resolves, and it is rewritten to the pull_request_target + environment shape, with the fork-skip and Dependabot notes. Also updated: the "drop the trigger" residual, the cursor-approve caller example, both inputs tables and the cursor-review.yml header example. Review round: the cursor-approve caller example adds edited (so a base retarget reaches dismiss-stale-approval) with its own concurrency group; the auto-approve example moves to pull_request_target + approver_environment; and the trust model tells public repositories to allow pull_request_target through an Actions event policy before switching (GitHub's default blocks it, enforced from November 2, 2026). Panel round: the trust model says thread resolution does not approve in this shape, and documents the base-branch Actions cache scope. The cursor-approve section explains why it has no pull_request_review_thread trigger.
• Tests: two additions to test_workflow_job_isolation.py. One checks that the conditional environment key appears only on the APPROVER_TOKEN jobs (in both workflows) and never on a PR-checkout job. The other checks that every PR checkout pins ref: head.sha.

Probe: is an empty environment: accepted?

Yes. I ran this on a scratch branch (probe/…-empty-environment, deleted afterwards) with a push-triggered workflow:

• inline job: environment: ${{ github.event_name == 'never' && 'x' || '' }} → success.
• called / token-job: a local reusable whose job sets environment: ${{ inputs.env_name }}, called with env_name: '' → success.
• Afterwards the repo's environments list was unchanged (["copilot"], so no '' environment was auto-created), and deployments?ref=<probe branch> returned 0. So the default: '' design holds, and neither fallback from the spec (a default: 'cursor-approver' or a split job) was needed.

Judgment calls

• Untrusted events keep the token identity to withdraw, never to approve. The spec said "do not act as the token". The first cut switched the decision to the fallback identity, which stranded approvals the token had already posted (panel finding). Now post-review's decision, dismiss-stale-approval and cursor-approve keep the token login only to withdraw, and to request changes in the decision. They never approve. Only auto-retry drops to the fallback, because a relabel approves nothing.
• Behavior change for existing pull_request callers that pass APPROVER_TOKEN. Their runs still go green, but no auto-approval is posted until the caller moves to pull_request_target (on any event, including thread resolution). The decision card says "approval is left to cursor-approve's axes" in that case, because it reuses the defer_approval path. The ::error:: annotation gives the real reason.
• Thread-resolution approval is gone under the trust model. A pull_request_review_thread caller comes from the PR, so it may not approve as the token. The blocking caller's approval now waits for the next pull_request_target event. Routing thread resolution through a trusted trigger would be a separate design.
• Dependabot skip is enforced in gate, not left to the caller, under pull_request_target only.
• Warning wording. The pull_request_target-without-environment warning is worded for that case rather than copying the pull_request error verbatim, because "under a pull_request trigger" would be false there.

Residual

• Not exercised: an environment secret reaching the reusable. This change assumes that when the reusable's job declares environment:, it receives the caller's environment secret APPROVER_TOKEN. GitHub's reusable-workflow docs say "the environment secret will be used". I have not run that end to end (I created no environment or secret). The first caller migration should confirm the approval posts under the token identity.
• Not migrated: existing callers. No caller is changed here (callers, rulesets and the bot App key residual are out of scope).
• Not run end to end: any pull_request_target or review_thread run. The guard and environment behavior is checked by static tests and actionlint only.

Provenance

• Authored by: agent-work loop
• Verified:
  • Tests: .github/cursor-review/tests (1460) OK, .github/cursor-approve/tests OK, .github/workflow-pins/tests OK (43 skipped)
  • Lints: check_workflow_pins.py OK, check-org-repo-literals.sh OK, check_agents_md.py passed (2 warnings, pre-existing)
  • actionlint (with shellcheck) on both workflows: no findings beyond main's existing set
  • Empty-environment: probe: run 38098449898, both jobs green, no environment or deployment created
  • pull_request_target default-policy dates checked against GitHub's "Securely using pull_request_target" docs
  • Not run: an end-to-end pull_request_target caller with a real environment secret
• Deviations: untrusted events keep the token identity to withdraw but never approve, rather than dropping it entirely (see Judgment calls).

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⚙️ Run configuration

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 78024b9 and 03a5220.

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📒 Files selected for processing (6)

• .github/cursor-review/README.md
• .github/cursor-review/tests/test_workflow_job_isolation.py
• .github/workflows/cursor-approve.yml
• .github/workflows/cursor-review.yml
• docs/callers/cursor-approve.md
• docs/callers/cursor-review.md

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📝 Walkthrough

📝 Walkthrough

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The reusable review and approval workflows add an optional approver environment, apply event-specific checks to APPROVER_TOKEN, and update trigger handling and PR merge-ref checkouts. Caller examples, trust guidance, and workflow isolation tests also change.

Changes

Approver token flow

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Approver-environment contract and wiring .github/workflows/cursor-approve.yml, .github/workflows/cursor-review.yml, .github/cursor-review/README.md, .github/cursor-review/tests/test_workflow_job_isolation.py, docs/callers/cursor-approve.md, docs/callers/cursor-review.md	Both reusable workflows add the optional approver_environment input. The review workflow applies it to post-review, dismiss-stale-approval, and auto-retry; the approval workflow applies it to approve. Caller examples and documentation describe the input. Tests check which jobs declare the environment and whether those jobs check out PR code.
Token checks and approval behavior .github/workflows/cursor-approve.yml, .github/workflows/cursor-review.yml, docs/callers/cursor-approve.md, docs/callers/cursor-review.md	Token checks reject APPROVER_TOKEN on pull_request. On pull_request_target, they warn if no environment is configured. The auto-approve decision clears the token on pull_request; the stale-approval and auto-retry checks leave it available. Caller guidance describes the token policy and environment setup.
pull_request_target execution and checkout selection .github/workflows/cursor-review.yml, docs/callers/cursor-review.md, .github/cursor-review/tests/test_workflow_job_isolation.py	The review workflow updates concurrency grouping and same-repository stale-approval eligibility for supported PR events. Review, direct-judge, and consolidation checkouts specify the PR merge ref. Tests require nonempty refs for PR-code checkouts.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant GitHubEvent
  participant CursorReview
  participant AutoApproveDecision
  GitHubEvent->>CursorReview: triggers workflow
  CursorReview->>AutoApproveDecision: passes event and environment
  alt pull_request
    AutoApproveDecision->>AutoApproveDecision: reports error and clears token
  else pull_request_target
    AutoApproveDecision->>AutoApproveDecision: warns if environment is empty
  end

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Priority: ➖ Normal

Merge Risk: 🟡 Moderate · up to 78024

The workflow changes are coherent, but the caller documentation can lead adopters into setups that do not behave as intended. Following the stale example ignores the configured approver. The approval example may leave an approval in place after a PR is retargeted. Public repositories may also find pull_request_target runs blocked without an allowing policy. Update the documentation before merging.

Pre-merge checks | 2

✅ Passed checks (2 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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• 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @docs/callers/cursor-approve.md:
- Line 258: Add edited to the pull_request_target event types list in the
approval caller example, preserving the existing triggers so retargeted pull
requests start the workflow and can reach dismiss-stale-approval.

Review comments at @docs/callers/cursor-review.md:
- Around line 944-949: Update the auto-approve workflow example to use
pull_request_target and configure approver_environment. Explain that
APPROVER_TOKEN is stored as a secret in that environment, so the example uses
the configured approver identity rather than the fallback identity.
- Around line 934-935: Update the caller migration guidance around the
`pull_request` trigger to tell public repositories to check Actions policy
insights and configure an applicable event policy allowing `pull_request_target`
before switching; note GitHub plans to block affected workflows starting
November 2, 2026. Preserve the existing trigger types and `approver_environment`
guidance.

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

• Configuration used: Organization UI
• Review profile: ASSERTIVE
• Plan: Team
• Run ID: a97eabe6-f7b6-4a7e-9648-cddc971e0629

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between ceedf39 and 78024b9.

📒 Files selected for processing (6)

• .github/cursor-review/README.md
• .github/cursor-review/tests/test_workflow_job_isolation.py
• .github/workflows/cursor-approve.yml
• .github/workflows/cursor-review.yml
• docs/callers/cursor-approve.md
• docs/callers/cursor-review.md

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🔍 Cursor Review — Consolidated panel

Triggered by @mattmillerai.

Found 10 finding(s).

Severity	Count
🟠 High	3
🟡 Medium	6
🟢 Low	1

Panel: 6/6 reviewers contributed findings.