Add features.copilot-requests feature flag for GitHub Actions token auth

.github/smoke-tests/claude-22334678781.txt

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Smoke test push verification - Run 22334678781

.github/workflows/smoke-copilot.md

@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ safe-outputs:
       run-failure: "📰 DEVELOPING STORY: [{workflow_name}]({run_url}) reports {status}. Our correspondents are investigating the incident..."
 timeout-minutes: 15
 strict: true
+features:
+  copilot-requests: true
 ---
 
 # Smoke Test: Copilot Engine Validation

pkg/constants/constants.go

@@ -686,6 +686,10 @@ const (
 	DangerousPermissionsWriteFeatureFlag FeatureFlag = "dangerous-permissions-write"
 	// DisableXPIAPromptFeatureFlag is the feature flag name for disabling XPIA prompt
 	DisableXPIAPromptFeatureFlag FeatureFlag = "disable-xpia-prompt"
+	// CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag is the feature flag name for enabling copilot-requests mode.
+	// When enabled: no secret validation step is generated, copilot-requests: write permission is added,
+	// and the GitHub Actions token is used as the agentic engine secret.
+	CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag FeatureFlag = "copilot-requests"
 )
 
 // Step IDs for pre-activation job

pkg/workflow/copilot_engine_execution.go

@@ -225,11 +225,19 @@ COPILOT_CLI_INSTRUCTION="$(cat /tmp/gh-aw/aw-prompts/prompt.txt)"
 %s%s 2>&1 | tee %s`, mkdirCommands.String(), copilotCommand, logFile)
 	}
 
-	// Use COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN
-	// #nosec G101 -- This is NOT a hardcoded credential. It's a GitHub Actions expression template
-	// that GitHub Actions runtime replaces with the actual secret value. The string "${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
-	// is a placeholder, not an actual credential.
-	copilotGitHubToken := "${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
+	// Use COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN: when the copilot-requests feature is enabled, use the GitHub
+	// Actions token directly (${{ github.token }}). Otherwise use the COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN secret.
+	// #nosec G101 -- These are NOT hardcoded credentials. They are GitHub Actions expression templates
+	// that the runtime replaces with actual values. The strings "${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
+	// and "${{ github.token }}" are placeholders, not actual credentials.
+	var copilotGitHubToken string
+	useCopilotRequests := isFeatureEnabled(constants.CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag, workflowData)
+	if useCopilotRequests {
+		copilotGitHubToken = "${{ github.token }}"
+		copilotExecLog.Print("Using GitHub Actions token as COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN (copilot-requests feature enabled)")
+	} else {
+		copilotGitHubToken = "${{ secrets.COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
+	}
 
 	env := map[string]string{
 		"XDG_CONFIG_HOME":           "/home/runner",
@@ -241,6 +249,12 @@ COPILOT_CLI_INSTRUCTION="$(cat /tmp/gh-aw/aw-prompts/prompt.txt)"
 		"GITHUB_WORKSPACE":          "${{ github.workspace }}",
 	}
 
+	// When copilot-requests feature is enabled, set S2STOKENS=true to allow the Copilot CLI
+	// to accept GitHub App installation tokens (ghs_*) such as ${{ github.token }}.
+	if useCopilotRequests {
+		env["S2STOKENS"] = "true"
+	}
+
 	// Always add GH_AW_PROMPT for agentic workflows
 	env["GH_AW_PROMPT"] = "/tmp/gh-aw/aw-prompts/prompt.txt"
 

pkg/workflow/copilot_engine_installation.go

@@ -55,14 +55,20 @@ func (e *CopilotEngine) GetInstallationSteps(workflowData *WorkflowData) []GitHu
 		InstallStepName: "Install GitHub Copilot CLI",
 	}
 
-	// Add secret validation step
-	secretValidation := GenerateMultiSecretValidationStep(
-		config.Secrets,
-		config.Name,
-		config.DocsURL,
-		getEngineEnvOverrides(workflowData),
-	)
-	steps = append(steps, secretValidation)
+	// Add secret validation step unless copilot-requests feature is enabled.
+	// When copilot-requests is enabled, the GitHub Actions token is used directly
+	// (no COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN secret required).
+	if !isFeatureEnabled(constants.CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag, workflowData) {
+		secretValidation := GenerateMultiSecretValidationStep(
+			config.Secrets,
+			config.Name,
+			config.DocsURL,
+			getEngineEnvOverrides(workflowData),
+		)
+		steps = append(steps, secretValidation)
+	} else {
+		copilotInstallLog.Print("Skipping secret validation step: copilot-requests feature enabled, using GitHub Actions token")
+	}
 
 	// Determine Copilot version
 	copilotVersion := config.Version

pkg/workflow/permissions.go

@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ func convertStringToPermissionScope(key string) PermissionScope {
 		return PermissionSecurityEvents
 	case "statuses":
 		return PermissionStatuses
+	case "copilot-requests":
+		return PermissionCopilotRequests
 	case "all":
 		// "all" is a meta-key handled at the parser level; it is not a real scope
 		return ""
@@ -82,6 +84,9 @@ const (
 	PermissionOrganizationProj PermissionScope = "organization-projects"
 	PermissionSecurityEvents   PermissionScope = "security-events"
 	PermissionStatuses         PermissionScope = "statuses"
+	// PermissionCopilotRequests is a GitHub Actions permission scope used with the copilot-requests feature.
+	// It enables use of the GitHub Actions token as the Copilot authentication token.
+	PermissionCopilotRequests PermissionScope = "copilot-requests"
 )
 
 // GetAllPermissionScopes returns all available permission scopes

pkg/workflow/threat_detection.go

@@ -129,6 +129,15 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildThreatDetectionJob(data *WorkflowData, mainJobName strin
 		permissions = NewPermissionsEmpty().RenderToYAML()
 	}
 
+	// When the copilot-requests feature is enabled, inject copilot-requests: write permission.
+	// This is required so the GitHub Actions token has the necessary scope to authenticate
+	// with the Copilot API in the detection job (mirrors the agent job logic in tools.go).
+	if isFeatureEnabled(constants.CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag, data) {
+		perms := NewPermissionsParser(permissions).ToPermissions()
+		perms.Set(PermissionCopilotRequests, PermissionWrite)
+		permissions = perms.RenderToYAML()
+	}
+
 	// Generate agent concurrency configuration (same as main agent job)
 	agentConcurrency := GenerateJobConcurrencyConfig(data)
 
@@ -357,6 +366,8 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildEngineSteps(data *WorkflowData) []string {
 
 	// Create minimal WorkflowData for threat detection
 	// Configure bash read tools for accessing the agent output file
+	// Features are inherited from the main workflow data so feature flags
+	// (e.g. copilot-requests) apply consistently to both agent and detection jobs.
 	threatDetectionData := &WorkflowData{
 		Tools: map[string]any{
 			"bash": []any{"cat", "head", "tail", "wc", "grep", "ls", "jq"},
@@ -365,6 +376,7 @@ func (c *Compiler) buildEngineSteps(data *WorkflowData) []string {
 		Network:      "",
 		EngineConfig: detectionEngineConfig,
 		AI:           engineSetting,
+		Features:     data.Features,
 	}
 
 	var steps []string

pkg/workflow/tools.go

@@ -154,8 +154,10 @@ func (c *Compiler) applyDefaults(data *WorkflowData, markdownPath string) error
 	data.ParsedTools = NewTools(data.Tools)
 
 	// Check if permissions is explicitly empty ({}) - this means user wants no permissions
-	// In this case, we should NOT apply default read-all
-	if data.Permissions == "permissions: {}" {
+	// In this case, we should NOT apply default read-all.
+	// Exception: if copilot-requests feature is enabled, we still need to fall through
+	// so the injection block below can add copilot-requests: write.
+	if data.Permissions == "permissions: {}" && !isFeatureEnabled(constants.CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag, data) {
 		// Explicitly empty permissions - preserve the empty state
 		// The agent job in dev mode will add contents: read if needed for local actions
 		return nil
@@ -181,6 +183,24 @@ func (c *Compiler) applyDefaults(data *WorkflowData, markdownPath string) error
 		}
 		data.Permissions = strings.Join(lines, "\n")
 	}
+
+	// When the copilot-requests feature is enabled, inject copilot-requests: write permission.
+	// This is required so that the GitHub Actions token has the necessary scope
+	// to authenticate with the Copilot API.
+	if isFeatureEnabled(constants.CopilotRequestsFeatureFlag, data) {
+		perms := NewPermissionsParser(data.Permissions).ToPermissions()
+		perms.Set(PermissionCopilotRequests, PermissionWrite)
+		yaml := perms.RenderToYAML()
+		// Adjust from job-level indentation (6 spaces) to workflow-level (2 spaces)
+		lines := strings.Split(yaml, "\n")
+		for i := 1; i < len(lines); i++ {
+			if strings.HasPrefix(lines[i], "      ") {
+				lines[i] = "  " + lines[i][6:]
+			}
+		}
+		data.Permissions = strings.Join(lines, "\n")
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }