fix(github): self-heal stale installation tokens on collaborator/user reads (#9315)

[andriypolanski]

Summary

• Closes fix(github): getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission/getGithubUserCreatedAt skip the installation-token self-heal every sibling call uses #9315
• Wraps getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission and getGithubUserCreatedAt in withInstallationTokenRetry (same convention as #6191 / #8892).
• Preserves existing contracts: 404 → null and non-token failures still throw (collaborator) or fail-open to null (user created_at).
• Adds regression tests for 401 → re-mint → success on both reads, plus fail-open cases when retry cannot heal.

Scope

• The PR title follows type(scope): short summary Conventional Commit format, for example fix(api): restore profile access checks.
• This PR is focused and does not mix unrelated backend, UI, MCP, docs, dependency, and deploy changes.
• This follows CONTRIBUTING.md and does not reintroduce GitHub Pages, VitePress, site/, or CNAME.
• I linked a currently open issue this PR resolves (e.g. Closes #123) — a linked open issue is required for every contributor PR.

Validation

• git diff --check
• npx vitest run test/unit/github-app.test.ts -t "9315|collaborator permission|getGithubUserCreatedAt" — 8 passed
• Full test/unit/github-app.test.ts — 103+ passed (incl. new cases)
• npm run test:ci (full gate; run before push)
• New or changed behavior has unit/integration tests for new branches, fallback paths, and sanitizer boundaries

If any required check was skipped, explain why:

Implementation + targeted regression tests complete. Full test:ci left for the opener.

Safety

• No secrets, wallets, hotkeys, trust scores, or reward values.
• Does not touch site/, CNAME, **/lovable/**, or root CHANGELOG.md.

UI Evidence

N/A — GitHub App token-retry plumbing only; no visible UI change.

Notes for reviewers / gate

• Non-OK collaborator responses now attach status on the thrown Error so isGitHubBadCredentialsError recognizes empty-body 401s.
• getGithubUserCreatedAt throws on 401/403 inside the retry wrapper (so a stale token can self-heal) and still fail-opens via the outer catch for anything that is not healed.

[superagent-security]

Superagent didn't find any vulnerabilities or security issues in this PR.

[loopover-orb]

Caution

🛑 LoopOver review result - reject/close recommended

_{Review updated: 2026-07-27 16:10:40 UTC}

3 files · 1 AI reviewer · 1 blocker · CI green · clean

🛑 Suggested Action - Reject/Close

Review summary
This PR wraps `getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission` and `getGithubUserCreatedAt` in `withInstallationTokenRetry`, matching the existing convention used by other GitHub helpers (`createOrUpdateNamedCheckRun`, `createInstallationToken` retry callers per #6191/#8892). The collaborator-permission fix attaches `.status` to the thrown error so `isGitHubBadCredentialsError`/`isGitHubInstallationPermissionError` (which check `githubErrorStatus`) can detect a 401/403 even with an empty/non-matching body — this is a real, reachable fix since the prior code threw a bare `Error` with no status field. The `getGithubUserCreatedAt` change correctly narrows the fail-open behavior to only non-auth failures, explicitly re-throwing on 401/403 so the retry wrapper gets a chance to re-mint before the outer try/catch fails open to null. Tests cover the 401→re-mint→success path for both functions plus persistent-401 and non-retryable-403 fail-open cases, and the diff traces cleanly against the shown `withInstallationTokenRetry` implementation.

Nits — 3 non-blocking

• src/github/app.ts:499/546 — the 401/403 status checks are magic numbers scattered across the file; consider extracting shared HTTP status constants if this pattern keeps growing.
• The unrelated `test/unit/selfhost-pg-retention.test.ts` comment-only change (orb(db): 3.4 GB in one month — no retention target has a usable index, and four caches have no delete path at all #9083 reference) is out of scope for this PR's stated intent and should probably be a separate commit/PR.
• Consider a small shared helper like `throwWithStatus(message, status)` since the same `Object.assign(new Error(...), { status })` pattern is now duplicated across both functions in this file.

Why this is blocked

• Linked issue does not appear to be satisfied: AI assessment: this PR does not appear to satisfy its linked issue's scope. This PR is explicitly test-only housekeeping for already-merged orb(db): 3.4 GB in one month — no retention target has a usable index, and four caches have no delete path at all #9083/orb(gate): finding severity is decorative — 'warning' findings close PRs and a 'critical' one does nothing #9085 behavior and touches only two unrelated test files, with the PR itself noting it is 'kept separate from fix(github): getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission/getGithubUserCreatedAt skip the installation-token self-heal every sibling call uses #9315 (installation-token retry)'; it does not touch src/github/app.ts, wrap getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission or getGithubUserCreatedAt in withInstallationTokenRetry, or add the required regression tests in test/unit/ — Confirm this PR actually addresses the linked issue's scope, or link the correct issue.

📋 Copy for AI agents — paste into your coding agent

Fix the following blocker(s) from this PR review:

1. Linked issue does not appear to be satisfied: AI assessment: this PR does not appear to satisfy its linked issue's scope. This PR is explicitly test-only housekeeping for already-merged \#9083/\#9085 behavior and touches only two unrelated test files, with the PR itself noting it is 'kept separate from \#9315 \(installation-token retry\)'; it does not touch src/github/app.ts, wrap getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission or getGithubUserCreatedAt in withInstallationTokenRetry, or add the required regression tests in test/unit/ — Confirm this PR actually addresses the linked issue's scope, or link the correct issue.

Decision drivers

• ❌ Code review — 1 blocker (1 reviewer)
• ❌ Gate result — Blocking (Repo-configured hard blocker found.)

Context & advisory signals — never blocks the verdict

Signal	Result	Evidence
Linked issue	✅ Linked	#9315
Related work	✅ No active overlap found	No same-issue or scoped active PR overlap found.
Change scope	✅ 20/20	Low review scope from cached public metadata (1 linked issue).
Validation posture	✅ 25/25	PR body includes validation/test evidence.
Contributor workload	✅ 10/10	Author activity: 178 registered-repo PR(s), 115 merged, 22 issue(s).
Contributor context	✅ Confirmed Gittensor contributor	andriypolanski; Gittensor profile; 178 PR(s), 22 issue(s).
Improvement	✅ Minor	risk: clean · value: minor

Linked issue satisfaction

Not yet addressed
This PR is explicitly test-only housekeeping for already-merged #9083/#9085 behavior and touches only two unrelated test files, with the PR itself noting it is 'kept separate from #9315 (installation-token retry)'; it does not touch src/github/app.ts, wrap getRepositoryCollaboratorPermission or getGithubUserCreatedAt in withInstallationTokenRetry, or add the required regression tests in test/unit/

Review context

• Author: andriypolanski
• Role context: outside_contributor
• Public audience mode: oss maintainer
• Lane context: Repository is configured for direct PR review.
• Public profile languages: Python, TypeScript, Rust, Cuda, JavaScript, Kotlin, MDX, Scala
• Official Gittensor activity: 178 PR(s), 22 issue(s).
• PR-specific overlap: none found.

Contributor next steps

• Keep the PR focused and include validation evidence before maintainer review.

Signal definitions

• Related work = same linked issue, overlapping active PRs, or title/path similarity.
• Change scope = cached public metadata such as size labels, draft state, and review-burden hints.
• Validation posture = whether the PR provides enough public validation/test evidence for maintainer review.
• Contributor workload = public contributor activity and cleanup pressure, not a repo-wide quality failure.
• Contributor context = public GitHub/Gittensor identity context; non-Gittensor status is not a blocker.

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Decision record

• action: hold · clause: linked_issue_scope_mismatch
• config: 03a7f8b529a91e8b1d96f173ed0ef78b45024abd943f40fe00690bf780df9757 · pack: oss-anti-slop
• record: d303c3a27e339c80ae4147045670d3cd0754b193015d32b9dfadbc8bbe6c43c5 (schema v3, head 66fc88a)

_{🟩 Safe / merged · 🟦 Advisory · 🟨 Held for review · 🟥 Blocked / closed}

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 75.49%. Comparing base (c658557) to head (66fc88a).
⚠️ Report is 6 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #9378      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   75.38%   75.49%   +0.11%     
==========================================
  Files         275      276       +1     
  Lines       58023    58322     +299     
  Branches     6181     6293     +112     
==========================================
+ Hits        43739    44032     +293     
- Misses      14014    14015       +1     
- Partials      270      275       +5     

Flag	Coverage Δ
backend	97.99% <100.00%> (?)

Flags with carried forward coverage won't be shown. Click here to find out more.

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
src/github/app.ts	97.99% <100.00%> (ø)

[loopover-orb]

LoopOver is closing this pull request on the maintainer's behalf (Linked issue does not appear to be satisfied). This is an automated maintenance action — to pursue this change, please open a new pull request with the issues resolved. Closed PRs may be analyzed later to improve review accuracy, but they are not automatically reopened or re-reviewed.