Skip to content

Add strict ACL startup mode for reference servers #3439

@davidahmann

Description

@davidahmann

Problem

Reference servers can start without explicit ACL configuration, which risks unintended permissive behavior.

Why now

The repo positions these servers as security-conscious references; fail-closed startup on missing ACL config should be enforceable.

Current behavior is insufficient

There is no strict startup mode that consistently blocks launch when required access-control inputs are missing/invalid.

Expected behavior

Add strict mode that fails startup for missing ACL configuration on filesystem/fetch/git servers.

Acceptance / Validation

  • Strict mode flag/env blocks startup when ACL config is absent or invalid.
  • Deterministic error classification for missing ACL inputs.
  • Tests cover strict-mode failure and non-strict behavior.

Evidence packet

  • Commit under test: 72efc42 (origin/main)
  • Runtime environment: macOS arm64, Node v22.19.0
  • Minimal repro:
    1. Start filesystem/fetch/git server with strict mode enabled and no ACL config.
    2. Observe startup behavior.
  • Expected: immediate fail-closed startup error.
  • Actual: startup can proceed without explicit ACL guard.

Likely codepaths

src/filesystem, src/fetch, src/git.

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions