fix(harness): allow controlled configuration access

[guibeira]

Summary

• route configuration::* dispatches from Harness to the engine-owned worker in the default namespace
• allow configuration reads while keeping sensitive reads subject to approval-gate rules
• allow configuration::set in the Console fallback when approval-gate configuration is unavailable
• keep configuration::register structurally denied and preserve explicit deployment denies
• update repository policy tests and security documentation

Problem

Two independent checks blocked configuration access from a Harness running in a project namespace:

1. The Console turn policy denied the full configuration::* prefix before Harness could dispatch the call.
2. Generic Harness dispatch inherited the project namespace, but the engine-owned configuration worker is registered in default.

The broad deny also prevented local stacks without approval-gate from updating an existing worker configuration.

Solution

Harness now applies an explicit configuration::* to default namespace rule after compose payload preparation. Compose calls still use III_COMPOSE_NAMESPACE, and ordinary calls still inherit the Harness worker namespace.

The Console fallback permits configuration::set when approval-gate configuration is unavailable. When gate configuration is present, deployment deny rules are copied into the Harness policy and the gate remains the decision surface. The repository default still contains !configuration::set, so the default gated deployment denies it.

configuration::register remains structurally denied in every mode. Explicit deployment denies, including !configuration::get and !configuration::set, remain effective.

The Engine, SDK namespace rules, and WebSocket protocol are unchanged. The explicit target belongs in Harness because namespace isolation is intentional and cross-namespace fallback would weaken that boundary.

Security model

• Without approval-gate configuration, configuration::get and configuration::set are available through the Console fallback.
• With approval-gate configuration, configuration::get and configuration::set follow deployment rules. An unmatched call requires approval; the repository default denies configuration::set.
• configuration::list and configuration::schema are allowed read-only introspection calls.
• configuration::register remains denied to agents.

Validation

• cargo test --locked --manifest-path harness/Cargo.toml -p harness — 456 passed
• cargo test --locked --manifest-path approval-gate/Cargo.toml — 183 passed
• focused Console policy tests — 15 passed
• pnpm --dir console/web typecheck — passed
• Biome check on the four changed Console files — passed
• Rust formatting and git diff --check — passed

Local acceptance

The live Engine registers all five configuration functions in default, including configuration::set. An agent acceptance turn still requires rebuilding Console and starting a new conversation because existing turns keep their frozen function policy. No configuration value or credential was printed during validation.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Added read-only access to configuration listings and schemas by default.
  • Configuration updates for existing entries can proceed through approved Console fallback paths.
  • Configuration requests are consistently routed to the default configuration namespace.

• Bug Fixes

  • Configuration registration remains denied by default, while configuration reads and updates are no longer implicitly blocked.
  • Preserved explicit rules that deny configuration updates when configured.

• Documentation

  • Clarified permission guidance for configuration access, secret resolution, registration, and catalog changes.

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Review configuration:

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: b7e51d69-c806-4651-8af8-679849c37040

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 2094b77 and d6dfc37.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• docs/architecture/skills-and-permissions.md

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Configuration permissions now allow listing and schema inspection, require approval for sensitive reads, and apply explicit rules to configuration mutations. The fallback policy denies registration but permits existing-entry updates. The harness routes exact configuration functions to the default namespace. Tests and documentation cover the updated behavior.

Changes

Configuration permissions

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Configuration permission contract iii-permissions.yaml, console/web/src/lib/backend/approval-gate-config.ts, console/web/src/lib/backend/real.ts	Configuration listing and schema inspection are allowlisted. Sensitive reads remain approval-gated. Registration is denied by default. Configuration updates follow explicit deployment rules, while the Console fallback permits updates to existing entries.
Configuration namespace routing harness/src/clients/engine.rs	EngineClient routes exact configuration:: function IDs to the "default" namespace. Other calls retain their prepared namespace. Tests cover compose calls, ordinary calls, and near-matching prefixes.
Permission validation and guidance approval-gate/tests/repository_permissions.rs, console/web/src/lib/backend/approval-gate-config.test.ts, console/web/src/lib/backend/real-metadata.test.ts, docs/architecture/skills-and-permissions.md	Tests verify allowed, approval-required, and denied configuration operations. Documentation describes deployment-dependent configuration permission behavior.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Merge Risk: 🔵 Low · up to 2094b

The Console fallback allows configuration reads without approval-gate configuration, but the security documentation does not yet state that exception for configuration::get. This could mislead owners about effective access policy; the PR remains mergeable with explicit documentation follow-up.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Caller
  participant EngineClient
  participant DefaultNamespace
  participant PermissionPolicy
  Caller->>EngineClient: dispatch configuration function
  EngineClient->>DefaultNamespace: route exact configuration:: function
  DefaultNamespace->>PermissionPolicy: evaluate permission
  PermissionPolicy-->>DefaultNamespace: allow, approval-required, or deny
  DefaultNamespace-->>Caller: return decision

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Suggested reviewers: ytallo

Poem

A rabbit checked the gate at dawn
Safe reads hopped neatly on
Secret reads paused for approval
Registration met a firm refusal
Default paths carried calls along

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 75.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 16 functions across 6 files. (1 skipped: …	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the main change: controlled configuration access in the Harness authorization flow. It is concise and directly related to the pull request objectives.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 75.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 16 functions across 6 files. (1 skipped: 1 unsupported.)

✨ Finishing Touches 💡 1

📝 Generate docstrings 💡

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch fix/harness-config

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[github-actions]

skill-check — worker

0 verified, 68 skipped (no docs/).

Layer	Result
structure	✓
vale	✓
ai	✓
render	✓

Four for four. Nicely done.

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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Inline comments:
In `@docs/architecture/skills-and-permissions.md`:
- Around line 57-62: Update the configuration worker permissions paragraph to
explicitly state that when approval-gate configuration is unavailable, the
Console fallback also permits configuration::get, while preserving the existing
default-approval and configuration::set deployment-rule descriptions.

🪄 Autofix

Fix all unresolved CodeRabbit comments on this PR:

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ℹ️ Review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: 69da5a30-e8ab-4c2a-bf7d-69aa9b463e4e

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 063c968 and 2094b77.

📒 Files selected for processing (5)

• console/web/src/lib/backend/approval-gate-config.test.ts
• console/web/src/lib/backend/approval-gate-config.ts
• console/web/src/lib/backend/real-metadata.test.ts
• console/web/src/lib/backend/real.ts
• docs/architecture/skills-and-permissions.md

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