fix: make sample/template MCP scanning opt-in so it stops reading as drift#50
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A `.mcp.json.template` / `.sample` / `.disabled` / example config never loads
into an agent runtime — only the live `.mcp.json` (and the editor configs) do.
A change to one therefore cannot alter what an agent is allowed to do, so
surfacing it in a *drift* report is noise, not drift.
Gate the sample/template detector behind an explicit opt-in rather than
removing it, so teams who want copy-paste hygiene on shipped examples can still
ask for it:
- detectMcpDrift takes { includeSamples } (default false); the sample-scan loop
is extracted into detectMcpSampleDrift and only runs when opted in.
- git-snapshot skips the full `git ls-tree -r` sample-discovery walk unless
includeSamples is set — the detector would ignore the files anyway.
- CLI: new `--include-samples` flag, off by default, documented in --help.
- Action: new `include-samples` input (default 'false').
- Benchmark passes --include-samples so the labeled mcp-sample fixtures stay
exercised; RESULTS.md is unchanged.
- Docs (README / TRUST / PILOT) reframed: sample review is opt-in, and why.
- Tests: default run yields no sample findings (CLI + detector level); the
existing sample tests now opt in explicitly.
Follow-up to #49.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Why
Post-merge feedback on #49 (the permission-drift blind-spot work):
ScopeTrail is a drift detector — it reports changes to what an agent can actually do. A
.mcp.json.template/.sample/.disabled/ example config never loads into any agent runtime, so a change to one cannot alter an agent's capabilities. Reporting it as drift is noise — even at the low severity these already carried.What
Rather than delete the sample/template scanner (it's a useful copy-paste-hygiene check for teams that ship example configs), gate it behind an explicit opt-in. Default reports no longer surface sample/template configs at all.
detectMcpDrift(old, new, { includeSamples })— defaultfalse. The sample loop is extracted intodetectMcpSampleDriftand only runs when opted in.materializeGitSnapshot(..., { includeSamples })— skips the fullgit ls-tree -rsample-discovery walk unless opted in (the detector would ignore the files anyway; also saves a tree walk on every PR).--include-samplesflag (off by default), shown in--help.include-samplesinput (default: 'false').--include-samplesso the labeledmcp-samplefixtures stay exercised —RESULTS.mdis byte-identical (100% detection / 85.2% at thehighgate, unchanged).Tests
--include-samplesre-enables them.RESULTS.mdunchanged.Follow-up to #49.
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