fix(commit-lint): scope the disallowed-trailer ban to bots/agents only - #520
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The policy was never a blanket Co-authored-by ban -- a trailer crediting a real human, including the PR's own author, is allowed. Only a bot/AI-agent/automation identity is disallowed. The CI check added in #517 matched every Co-authored-by trailer, which would have false-positived on legitimate human co-authorship; its default pattern now targets known bot/agent trailer shapes instead. Also corrects an overclaim from #519: squash_merge_commit_message=BLANK reduces but does not eliminate trailer synthesis -- confirmed on #519's own merge commit, which still picked one up (crediting the merger, so harmless under the corrected rule, but proof the setting alone isn't a complete fix). Updates AGENTS.md, runbooks/onboarding.md, runbooks/branch-protection.md, and decisions/0013-repository-settings-baseline.md to match.
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This was referenced Aug 16, 2026
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Correction
The policy was never a blanket
Co-authored-byban — a trailer crediting a real human, including the PR's own author, is allowed. Only a bot/AI-agent/automation identity is disallowed.#517's CI check matched everyCo-authored-bytrailer regardless of who it credits, which would have false-positived on legitimate human co-authorship. Its default pattern now targets known bot/agent trailer shapes ([bot], common AI-agent noreply domains) instead — extend the list as new agent identities show up.Also corrects an overclaim from #519
squash_merge_commit_message=BLANKreduces but does not eliminate trailer synthesis. Confirmed on #519's own merge commit: setting was alreadyBLANK, the source commit had no trailer, yet the merge commit still picked one up crediting the merger alone. Harmless under the corrected rule (the merger is a real human crediting themselves), but proof the setting alone isn't a complete technical fix —decisions/0013andrunbooks/branch-protection.mdsaid otherwise.Changed
.github/workflows/commit-lint.yml— bot/agent-scoped default pattern, updated comments and error messageAGENTS.md,runbooks/onboarding.md,runbooks/branch-protection.md,decisions/0013-repository-settings-baseline.md— corrected wording to matchVerification
python3 -m unittest scripts.test_validate_agent_policy— 74 passedRefs #464, #518