SkillGate v0.1.2 - Guided review workflows

Released 2026-07-09.

Added

• Added skillgate demo skill for a packaged deterministic Agent Skill review input that can be validated and scanned without executing helper files.
• Added guided review sessions for first local review, pre-install review, and policy/baseline approval workflows.
• Added skillgate mcpb scan for deterministic pre-install inspection of MCP bundles without executing server content.
• Added text, JSON, and SARIF MCPB reports with startup metadata, member scan state, embedded-artifact inventory, and optional bundle manifest output.
• Added composite Action inputs for scanning committed MCPB artifacts and emitting separate MCPB SARIF for GitHub code scanning.
• Added SG014 for MCPB startup and reference mismatches and SG015 for embedded executables and retained nested archives requiring review.
• Added skillgate --version for quick CLI identity checks.
• Added skillgate demo mcpb for a packaged deterministic first run MCPB demo with optional immediate scan output.
• Added a deterministic MCPB demo source fixture and builder for public scan reports and release smoke tests.
• Added skillgate skills validate for deterministic Agent Skills structure and metadata validation without code execution.
• Added Agent Skills validation fixtures and documentation covering frontmatter, tool declarations, local references, and misplaced executables.
• Added public scan report examples for a clean documentation skill, a remote download review item, and a reviewable MCPB bundle.
• Added a reusable, bounded ZIP inspection foundation with deterministic archive and member manifests for future MCPB pre-install scanning.
• Added fail-closed protections for unsafe paths, duplicate normalized entries, path type collisions, symlinks, special files, nested archives, unsupported compression, encryption, and resource limit violations.
• Added streaming archive and member hashing with automatic temporary file cleanup and no execution of extracted content.

Changed

• Bumped the Python and Node wrapper metadata to 0.1.2 for this release.
• Expanded first run README onboarding from one MCPB demo to paired Agent Skill and MCPB demos, with explicit reviewer decision checkpoints.
• Simplified README onboarding around pre-install scans, pre-merge scans, and policy enforcement before advanced workflows.
• Updated the release checklist with explicit PyPI, pipx, uvx, and yanking/rollback validation steps.
• Reorganized the archive inspection foundation into focused internal modules without changing its safety behavior, stable errors, or manifest contract.

Fixed

• Kept intentional demo and test findings visible in local and pull request scans while making SARIF Code Scanning publication non blocking for pull request CI.

SkillGate v0.1.1

Change Log

0.1.1 - Release consistency and review ergonomics

Added

• Added skillgate review summary for reviewer-friendly Markdown and JSON summaries of introduced capabilities, removed capabilities, changed trust boundaries, high-risk findings, policy violations, active waivers, and artifact locations.
• Added optional composite Action inputs for Markdown review summaries, machine-readable review JSON artifacts, and GitHub Step Summary output.
• Added Markdown output for skillgate mcp registry compare so SG013 registry drift is easier to review through before-and-after tables.
• Added a GitHub-first Node wrapper for npx --yes github:charliechenye/SkillGate#v0 -- ... usage, backed by checksummed GitHub Release binaries instead of PyPI or npm registry publication.
• Added bounded Node wrapper downloads so release manifests are limited to 1 MB and binary downloads are capped by asset.size_bytes before buffering.

Changed

• Extended MCP registry comparison JSON summaries with structured registry_drift rows for artifact-friendly review.
• Updated GitHub Action examples to include review summaries, downloadable review JSON artifacts, and standard artifact upload steps.
• Added README release and product-attribute badges that showcase the latest release, static analysis, no runtime execution, and policy-as-code without surfacing early social-traction counters.
• Added a release-binary workflow and manifest builder so future stable GitHub Releases can publish verified platform binaries for the Node wrapper.
• Hardened the release-binary workflow so manual dispatch and release-published runs check out the exact tag that receives the uploaded assets.
• Marked the root npm package private to prevent accidental registry publication until the package name and npm strategy are intentionally chosen.
• Documented the Node wrapper's HTTPS default, test-only insecure HTTP escape hatch, and future npm and PyPI publication steps.

0.1.0 - Initial public release

Initial public release of SkillGate, a deterministic static-analysis tool for AI-agent skills, instruction files, helper scripts, and MCP configurations.

Added

Core CLI and data model

• Created the skillgate Python package using a src/ layout and Python 3.11+.
• Added typed Pydantic models for scanned files, findings, capabilities, scan reports, baselines, diffs, policy results, and stable JSON serialization.
• Added the skillgate CLI with scan, check, diff, baseline, GitHub scan, MCP registry scan/compare, inventory, policy, provenance, rules, explain, and fixture-summary commands.
• Added scan severity filtering and scan --fail-on medium|high|critical for lightweight CI gates.
• Added rule documentation commands with text and JSON output.

Static analysis and discovery

• Implemented deterministic recursive discovery for agent-relevant files, MCP configs, package configs, public agent-skill layouts, and referenced local scripts.
• Implemented static rules SG001 through SG013 for shell execution, destructive commands, network egress, remote download execution, secret access, filesystem writes, prompt override language, Unicode obfuscation, MCP server configuration, MCP capability drift, MCP tool metadata risks, MCP transport risks, and MCP registry drift.
• Added richer MCP parsing for nested server maps, top-level HTTP server maps, string arguments, transport/auth/header metadata, endpoint extraction, and secret-name detection.
• Added MCP registry metadata discovery for mcp-registry.json, mcp-server.json, and MCP registry-style server.json files without installing or starting servers.
• Added static MCP tool metadata checks for hidden instructions, suspicious or lookalike tool names, high-risk input schema fields, MCP Apps/WebMCP-style origin and UI hints, and mid-session tool registration concepts.
• Added known dangerous MCP transport checks for stdio package transports, shell wrappers, localhost/private-network bridges, unauthenticated remote endpoints, and secret-bearing remote headers.
• Added opt-in MCP registry comparison for local-vs-registry repository URLs, package identifiers, remote URLs, transport types, versions, and secret/header requirements.
• Added sparse public GitHub repository scans that fetch supported agent files and referenced scripts without cloning the full repository, including GitHub tree/subdirectory URL support.
• Added reproducible remote GitHub scan manifests with resolved commit SHAs, downloaded file hashes, skipped-file reasons, byte counts, and resource limits.
• Added remote GitHub scan resource limits for file count, total bytes, individual file size, request timeout, and redirect count.
• Added a no-install local sample at samples/scan_installed_skills.py for scanning installed Codex skills from a source checkout.

Policy, baselines, and provenance

• Added YAML policy evaluation for shell, command allowlists, filesystem write allowlists, network host and category allowlists, secret environment allowlists, MCP drift, and severity thresholds.
• Added named policy capability groups for common shell, network, MCP remote HTTP, and cloud secret review decisions.
• Added policy violation explanations, approval hints, and structured suggested policy additions.
• Added skillgate check --dry-run for advisory policy blocking output and suggested approvals without a failing exit code.
• Added expiring, reviewable finding waivers with owner, reason, dates, optional ticket metadata, text/JSON/SARIF output, and separate documentation for durable capability approvals.
• Added line-aware YAML policy diagnostics for parser and schema validation errors.
• Added a Draft 2020-12 JSON Schema for SkillGate policy files and skillgate policy schema for machine-readable schema export.
• Added skillgate policy init starter templates for audit, preinstall, strict, and MCP-focused adoption modes.
• Added stable JSON baseline lockfile creation and baseline diffing.
• Added checksum provenance manifests for approved policy and baseline files.

Output, SARIF, and inventory

• Added text, JSON, and SARIF 2.1.0 output with deterministic ordering.
• Added SARIF capability tags, result metadata, and capability taxa for easier GitHub code scanning filtering.
• Added stable SARIF alert fingerprints and run categories for local repository scans, remote GitHub scans, MCP registry comparisons, and future MCP bundle scans.
• Added shared stable finding fingerprints for SARIF, JSON output, and reviewable finding waivers.
• Added exact validation and matching for fingerprint-based finding waivers.
• Added capability inventory output with trust-boundary summaries for local execution, remote endpoints, secrets, generated files, MCP servers, prompt controls, and obfuscation.
• Added inventory filters for capability type, severity, and source file globs.

Fixtures and regression workflow

• Added benchmark fixtures, expected finding summaries, and reduced public-pattern fixtures for Python, Node, shell, PowerShell, MCP, plugin hook, command-pack, local bridge, metadata, MCP registry, MCP tool metadata, MCP Apps/WebMCP-style metadata, dangerous transport, and agent-skill layouts.
• Added machine-readable attribution metadata for public-pattern fixtures and fixture summary JSON output.
• Added golden-output snapshots for scan text, JSON, SARIF, and rule documentation output.
• Added a repo-local snapshot helper with check and accept modes plus CI artifact upload for snapshot review.

Integrations and documentation

• Added a composite GitHub Action and example GitHub Actions workflow with SARIF upload and optional provenance verification support.
• Added README documentation, policy schema reference, schema-aware editor setup snippets, GitHub pre-install scan docs, contributor workflow guidance, security policy, MIT license, citation metadata, and brand asset provenance.
• Restructured the README around supported use cases, clearer getting-started paths, and direct links to policy, schema, GitHub scan, SARIF, MCP, and contributor documentation.
• Added discovery and agent-answer documentation plus expanded package keywords for AI-agent security, MCP security, agent-skill scanning, and GitHub code-scanning searches.
• Added a README FAQ for discovery queries and reflowed README prose so raw Markdown is easier to read.
• Added release-ready GitHub tag install and GitHub Action guidance, including the stable v0 Action tag, commit-SHA pinning guidance, a deferred PyPI path, and a maintainer release checklist.
• Added release trust fixes for the GitHub-first v0.1.0 release, including the noncolliding openevalgate-skillgate distribution name, canonical repository metadata, explicit Action policy behavior, and bounded remote reads.
• Added release polish for policy-aware SARIF Action ordering, published-release roadmap state, and safer waiver guidance.
• Added baseline drift blocking with skillgate diff --fail-on-drift, a matching composite Action input, minimal GitHub Action examples, release tag verification guidance, and Dependabot configuration.
• Expanded release-polish regression coverage for baseline drift blocking, exact fingerprint waivers, composite Action behavior, and complete SARIF upload examples.
• Modernized package license metadata to use SPDX-style license and license-files fields without deprecated license classifiers.
• Added documentation for interpreting SG013 MCP registry drift and deciding when mismatch is expected.
• Added contributor guidance for non-benchmark comparison fixtures such as local registry drift examples.
• Added the repository social preview image as a sanitized visual asset.
• Split the monolithic regression test module into focused test files and extracted policy waiver helpers without changing public behavior.

Changed

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