Count a ready mark only from a listed account, after the last push and the label (issue 722)

Review of #303: anyone who can comment could turn a stale label into a mark,
and a long thread hid the newest comment. The forge now reads the pull
request's whole timeline and takes a "ready at" comment only from the
accounts in the trusted setting ready-authors (default the mesh's own forge
account and the operator's), written after the label was last added and after
the last push; any other author is ignored and said in the log.

modules/gitea/client.ts

@@ -122,13 +122,71 @@ export interface ReadyMark {
   label_id: number;
 }
 
-/** The ready mark a pull request's comments make, oldest first as the forge lists them: the newest that names a head. */
-export function readyMarkOf(labelID: number, comments: GiteaComment[]): ReadyMark {
-  for (let i = comments.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-    const m = READY_AT.exec(comments[i].body);
-    if (m) return { head: m[1].toLowerCase(), by: comments[i].user, at: comments[i].created_at, label_id: labelID };
+/** **The accounts whose "ready at" comment counts** (novox/hq issue 722): the trusted setting ready-authors, which
+ *  the mesh writes to the file MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE names as a line `authors=<account> <account> …`. A file
+ *  that cannot be read leaves the mesh's own forge account alone, said; never an empty list read as everyone. */
+export function readyAuthors(file = process.env.MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE, own = process.env.MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_USER,
+  read: (f: string) => string = (f) => readFileSync(f, "utf8")): string[] {
+  const fallback = own ? [own] : [];
+  if (!file) return fallback;
+  try {
+    const line = read(file).split("\n").find((l) => l.startsWith("authors="));
+    const authors = (line ?? "").slice("authors=".length).split(/[\s,]+/).filter(Boolean);
+    if (authors.length) return authors;
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${file} names no account that may mark a pull request ready; only ${fallback.join(", ") || "none"} may`);
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${file} cannot be read (${err instanceof Error ? err.message : err}); only ` +
+      `${fallback.join(", ") || "none"} may mark a pull request ready`);
   }
-  return { head: "", label_id: labelID };
+  return fallback;
+}
+
+/** One event of an issue's or pull request's timeline, as the forge keeps it, oldest first: a comment, a push to a
+ *  pull request's branch (`pull_push`), a label added (body "1") or taken off (body ""), and the rest. */
+export interface TimelineEvent {
+  id: number;
+  type: string;
+  body: string;
+  created_at?: string;
+  user?: string;
+  label?: { id: number; name: string };
+}
+
+/** The comments that wrote "ready at" without counting, by id: each said once in the log (novox/hq issue 722). */
+const ignoredSaid = new Set<number>();
+
+/** **The ready mark a pull request's timeline makes** (novox/hq issue 722), read in the forge's order — every event is
+ *  one row of one table, numbered as it happened, so the order is exact where times share a second. A "ready at"
+ *  comment counts only when its author is one of the accounts given, and only when it was written after the label
+ *  mesh/ready was last added and after the last push to the pull request's branch: a push or the label taken off
+ *  undoes every mark before it, so a mark older than the latest push never counts, even with the label still on. A
+ *  comment by any other account is ignored, and said once. */
+export function readyMarkOf(labelID: number, events: TimelineEvent[], authors: string[],
+  say: (line: string) => void = (l) => console.error(l)): ReadyMark {
+  const listed = new Set(authors.map((a) => a.toLowerCase()));
+  let labelled = false;
+  let mark: ReadyMark | undefined;
+  for (const e of [...events].sort((x, y) => x.id - y.id)) {
+    if (e.type === "pull_push") {
+      mark = undefined;
+    } else if (e.type === "label" && e.label?.name === READY_LABEL) {
+      labelled = e.body === "1";
+      mark = undefined;
+    } else if (e.type === "comment") {
+      const m = READY_AT.exec(e.body);
+      if (!m) continue;
+      if (!listed.has(String(e.user ?? "").toLowerCase())) {
+        if (!ignoredSaid.has(e.id)) {
+          ignoredSaid.add(e.id);
+          say(`[gitea] a "ready at ${m[1].slice(0, 12)}" comment (${e.id}) by ${e.user ?? "an unknown account"} is ignored: ` +
+            `only ${authors.join(", ") || "no account"} may mark a pull request ready (novox/hq issue 722)`);
+        }
+        continue;
+      }
+      if (labelled) mark = { head: m[1].toLowerCase(), by: e.user, at: e.created_at, label_id: labelID };
+    }
+  }
+  return mark ?? { head: "", label_id: labelID };
 }
 
 /** One status on a head, the newest of its context: its state, what it said, and when it was set. */
@@ -384,7 +442,7 @@ export class GiteaClient {
    *  requires and the contexts its head has a status of, in any state. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull
    *  request the mesh was never asked to check; asked of the forge, never of what the announcer remembers, so a
    *  fault in the announcer cannot hide itself. Reads only. */
-  async openPulls(): Promise<OpenPull[]> {
+  async openPulls(readyAuthors: string[] = []): Promise<OpenPull[]> {
     const out: OpenPull[] = [];
     const rules = new Map<string, BranchProtection[] | undefined>();
     for (const found of await this.searchOpenPulls()) {
@@ -395,9 +453,10 @@ export class GiteaClient {
       const rule = rules.get(full)?.find((p) => (p.rule_name ?? p.branch_name) === (pull.base || "main"));
       const checks = await this.headChecks(found.owner, found.name, pull.head_sha);
       const labels = found.labels ?? [];
-      // The ready mark (novox/hq issue 722): its comments are read only for a pull request that carries the label.
+      // The ready mark (novox/hq issue 722): its timeline is read, whole, only for a pull request that carries the label.
       const label = labels.find((l) => l.name === READY_LABEL);
-      const ready = label ? readyMarkOf(label.id, await this.listComments(found.owner, found.name, pull.number)) : undefined;
+      const ready = label ? readyMarkOf(label.id, await this.timeline(found.owner, found.name, pull.number), readyAuthors)
+        : undefined;
       out.push({ owner: found.owner, repo: found.name, number: pull.number, base: pull.base ?? "", head_sha: pull.head_sha,
         html_url: pull.html_url, required: rule?.enable_status_check ? (rule.status_check_contexts ?? []) : [],
         statuses: Object.keys(checks), checks, labels: labels.map((l) => l.name), ...(ready ? { ready } : {}) });
@@ -673,6 +732,24 @@ export class GiteaClient {
     return this.requestText(`${repoPath(owner, repo)}/pulls/${index}.diff`);
   }
 
+  /** **Every event of an issue's or pull request's timeline**, oldest first, page by page (novox/hq issue 722): a long
+   *  thread hides nothing. Bounded at 100 pages of 50; a longer one is said, and its first 5000 events read. */
+  async timeline(owner: string, repo: string, index: number): Promise<TimelineEvent[]> {
+    indexOf(index);
+    const out: TimelineEvent[] = [];
+    for (let page = 1; page <= 100; page++) {
+      const raw = await this.request<any[]>(`${repoPath(owner, repo)}/issues/${index}/timeline?page=${page}&limit=50`);
+      for (const e of raw ?? []) {
+        out.push({ id: Number(e?.id ?? 0), type: String(e?.type ?? ""), body: String(e?.body ?? ""),
+          created_at: e?.created_at, user: e?.user?.login,
+          ...(e?.label ? { label: { id: Number(e.label.id ?? 0), name: String(e.label.name ?? "") } } : {}) });
+      }
+      if (!raw || raw.length < 50) return out;
+    }
+    console.error(`[gitea] ${owner}/${repo}#${index} has more than 5000 timeline events; only the first 5000 are read`);
+    return out;
+  }
+
   /** Every comment on an issue or pull request, oldest first. */
   async listComments(owner: string, repo: string, index: number): Promise<GiteaComment[]> {
     indexOf(index);

modules/gitea/module.json

@@ -109,6 +109,13 @@
       }
     }
   },
+  "settings": {
+    "ready-authors": {
+      "kind": "preference",
+      "default": "mesh-admin jschoubben",
+      "why": "the forge accounts whose comment \"ready at <full head sha>\" marks a pull request ready for mesh-delivery to merge, separated by spaces: the mesh's own forge account and the operator's (novox/hq issue 722). A comment by any other account is ignored and said in the forge's log. Trusted: who may have a change merged is the operator's word"
+    }
+  },
   "resources": [
     {
       "id": "mesh-state",
@@ -122,6 +129,14 @@
       "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/state",
       "mode": "0700"
     },
+    {
+      "id": "ready-authors",
+      "type": "file",
+      "path": "${dir:mesh-state}/ready-authors",
+      "mode": "0600",
+      "trusted": true,
+      "content": "# The accounts whose \"ready at <sha>\" comment marks a pull request ready (novox/hq issue 722), from the setting\n# ready-authors, written by the mesh. Replaced on every push; change the setting, never this file.\nauthors=${setting:ready-authors}\n"
+    },
     {
       "id": "state",
       "type": "directory",
@@ -246,7 +261,8 @@
           "MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_USER": "mesh-admin",
           "MESH_GITEA_ADMIN_PASSWORD_FILE": "${dir:state}/admin.secret",
           "MESH_GITEA_STATE_DIR": "${dir:runtime-state}",
-          "MESH_RECEIVES": "${dir:grants}/npm.json"
+          "MESH_RECEIVES": "${dir:grants}/npm.json",
+          "MESH_GITEA_READY_AUTHORS_FILE": "${dir:mesh-state}/ready-authors"
         }
       },
       {

modules/gitea/test/announcing.test.ts

@@ -139,10 +139,15 @@ test("a merged pull request whose branch was deleted is announced with its branc
 });
 
 // **A pull request marked ready says the head it is marked at** (novox/hq issue 722): the label mesh/ready and the
-// newest comment "ready at <full head sha>". mesh-delivery merges on it; without the label no comment is read.
-test("a pull request's ready mark is read: the label and the head the newest ready comment names", async () => {
-  const { GiteaClient } = await import("../client.ts");
-  const head = "c".repeat(40), older = "d".repeat(40);
+// newest comment "ready at <full head sha>" by a listed account, written after the label was added and after the last
+// push. Read from the pull request's whole timeline, page by page; without the label nothing is read.
+const head = "c".repeat(40), older = "d".repeat(40);
+const ev = (id: number, type: string, body: string, user = "mesh-admin", label?: { id: number; name: string }) =>
+  ({ id, type, body, user: { login: user }, created_at: `2026-10-14T10:${String(id % 60).padStart(2, "0")}:00Z`,
+     ...(label ? { label } : {}) });
+const readyLabel = { id: 31, name: "mesh/ready" };
+
+function forgeWith(timeline: unknown[]) {
   const asked: string[] = [];
   const server = createServer((req, res) => {
     const url = req.url ?? "";
@@ -161,28 +166,91 @@ test("a pull request's ready mark is read: the label and the head the newest rea
     if (url.startsWith("/api/v1/repos/novox/hq/pulls/8")) {
       return send({ number: 8, state: "open", base: { ref: "main" }, head: { ref: "y", sha: older }, html_url: "h" });
     }
-    if (url.startsWith("/api/v1/repos/novox/hq/issues/7/comments")) {
-      return send([
-        { id: 1, user: { login: "mesh" }, body: `ready at ${older}`, created_at: "2026-10-14T10:00:00Z" },
-        { id: 2, user: { login: "mesh" }, body: `Reviewed: approve.\nready at ${head}\n`, created_at: "2026-10-14T11:00:00Z" },
-        { id: 3, user: { login: "jochen" }, body: "thanks", created_at: "2026-10-14T12:00:00Z" },
-      ]);
+    const t = /\/issues\/7\/timeline\?page=(\d+)&limit=50/.exec(url);
+    if (t) {
+      const page = Number(t[1]);
+      return send(timeline.slice((page - 1) * 50, page * 50));
     }
     if (url.includes("/branch_protections")) return send([]);
     if (url.includes("/status")) return send({ statuses: [] });
     res.statusCode = 404;
     res.end("{}");
   });
+  return { server, asked };
+}
+
+async function readOpen(timeline: unknown[], authors = ["mesh-admin", "jschoubben"]) {
+  const { GiteaClient } = await import("../client.ts");
+  const { server, asked } = forgeWith(timeline);
   await new Promise<void>((r) => server.listen(0, r));
-  const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as any).port}`, "t");
   try {
-    const open = await client.openPulls();
-    assert.deepEqual(open[0].labels, ["mesh/ready", "bug"]);
-    assert.deepEqual(open[0].ready, { head, by: "mesh", at: "2026-10-14T11:00:00Z", label_id: 31 },
-      "the newest comment that names a head");
-    assert.equal(open[1].ready, undefined, "no label, no mark");
-    assert.ok(!asked.some((u) => u.includes("/issues/8/comments")), "no comment read without the label");
+    const client = new GiteaClient(`http://127.0.0.1:${(server.address() as any).port}`, "t");
+    return { open: await client.openPulls(authors), asked };
   } finally {
     server.close();
   }
+}
+
+test("a pull request's ready mark is read: the label and the head the newest listed ready comment names", async () => {
+  const { open, asked } = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "pull_push", JSON.stringify({ commit_ids: [head] })),
+    ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${older}`),
+    ev(4, "comment", `Reviewed: approve.\nready at ${head}\n`),
+    ev(5, "comment", "thanks", "jschoubben"),
+  ]);
+  assert.deepEqual(open[0].labels, ["mesh/ready", "bug"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(open[0].ready, { head, by: "mesh-admin", at: "2026-10-14T10:04:00Z", label_id: 31 });
+  assert.equal(open[1].ready, undefined, "no label, no mark");
+  assert.ok(!asked.some((u) => u.includes("/issues/8/")), "no timeline read without the label");
+});
+
+test("a ready comment by an account not listed is ignored, and said", async () => {
+  const { readyMarkOf } = await import("../client.ts");
+  const said: string[] = [];
+  const mark = readyMarkOf(31, [
+    ev(1, "pull_push", "{}") as any, ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel) as any,
+    { ...ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${head}`, "outsider"), user: "outsider" },
+  ].map((e: any) => ({ ...e, user: typeof e.user === "string" ? e.user : e.user.login })), ["mesh-admin"], (l) => said.push(l));
+  assert.equal(mark.head, "", "an outsider's mark counts");
+  assert.equal(said.length, 1);
+  assert.match(said[0], /by outsider is ignored/);
+});
+
+test("a ready comment older than the latest push, or than the label, never counts", async () => {
+  const pushedAfter = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "pull_push", JSON.stringify({ commit_ids: [head] })),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(pushedAfter.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark written before the latest push counts, the label still on");
+  const beforeLabel = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "pull_push", "{}"),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(beforeLabel.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark written before the label was added counts");
+  const takenOff = await readOpen([
+    ev(1, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(2, "comment", `ready at ${head}`),
+    ev(3, "label", "", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+  ]);
+  assert.equal(takenOff.open[0].ready?.head, "", "a mark whose label was taken off since counts");
+});
+
+test("a long thread hides nothing: every page of the timeline is read", async () => {
+  const events: unknown[] = [ev(1, "pull_push", "{}"), ev(2, "label", "1", "mesh-admin", readyLabel),
+    ev(3, "comment", `ready at ${older}`)];
+  for (let id = 4; id < 130; id++) events.push(ev(id, "comment", "a long discussion", "jschoubben"));
+  events.push(ev(130, "comment", `ready at ${head}`, "jschoubben"));
+  const { open, asked } = await readOpen(events);
+  assert.equal(open[0].ready?.head, head, "the newest mark, on the third page, is not read");
+  assert.equal(asked.filter((u) => u.includes("/issues/7/timeline")).length, 3);
+});
+
+test("the accounts that may mark are the setting's, and only the mesh's own when it cannot be read", async () => {
+  const { readyAuthors } = await import("../client.ts");
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => "# x\nauthors=mesh-admin jschoubben\n"), ["mesh-admin", "jschoubben"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => { throw new Error("gone"); }), ["mesh-admin"]);
+  assert.deepEqual(readyAuthors("f", "mesh-admin", () => "authors=\n"), ["mesh-admin"]);
 });

modules/gitea/tools/index.ts

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 import { registerModuleTools, type ToolDefinition } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/tools";
 import { emit } from "@novox/mesh-sdk/events";
-import { GiteaClient, type BranchProtection } from "../client.js";
+import { GiteaClient, readyAuthors, type BranchProtection } from "../client.js";
 import { appendNote, run, viewBody, viewComment } from "../delivery.js";
 import { containedFrom, isCommit, mergeableUnder, newestByContext } from "../checks.js";
 import {
@@ -514,9 +514,9 @@ function allGiteaTools(gitea: GiteaClient): ToolDefinition[] {
     },
     {
       name: "gitea_open_pulls",
-      description: "Every open pull request of every repository, from the forge itself: its head, its base, the statuses the base's protection requires and the ones its head has, each with its state, description and when it was set. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull request the mesh was never asked to check (novox/hq issue 347), or whose check started and never answered (issue 438), and each pull request's labels and ready mark — the label mesh/ready and the head the newest comment \"ready at <full head sha>\" names — which mesh-delivery merges on (issue 722). Reads only.",
+      description: "Every open pull request of every repository, from the forge itself: its head, its base, the statuses the base's protection requires and the ones its head has, each with its state, description and when it was set. What mesh-delivery reads to say a pull request the mesh was never asked to check (novox/hq issue 347), or whose check started and never answered (issue 438), and each pull request's labels and ready mark — the label mesh/ready and the head named by the newest comment \"ready at <full head sha>\" that a listed account (the setting ready-authors) wrote after the label was added and after the last push — which mesh-delivery merges on (issue 722). Reads only.",
       input: {},
-      run: async () => ({ pulls: await gitea.openPulls() }),
+      run: async () => ({ pulls: await gitea.openPulls(readyAuthors()) }),
     },
     {
       name: "gitea_contains",