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Multi-Tier Git Identity and Env-Store Authorship Separation

Status: Accepted (Amends ADR 0054 and ADR 0057)

We introduce multi-tier Git identity support across Modal sandboxes and developer CLI workflows, allowing global fallback authorship via DEFAULT_GIT_NAME and DEFAULT_GIT_EMAIL in .env, coupled with repository-specific identity overrides stored in <repo>/git.env within the Central Environment Store (env-store), while completely removing synthetic fallback identities and strictly decoupling Git authorship from application .env files.

Context

When committing from T3 Code Web UI or automated agent processes inside Modal sandboxes, Git operations require a configured author and committer identity (user.name and user.email). Previously: 1. shared/startup.sh exported environment variables GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL with synthetic fallback values (Modal Sandbox User <sandbox@modal.local>), which were not registered in global or local Git configuration files (.gitconfig or .git/config). 2. Non-interactive daemons and background server processes (including T3 Code's Git VCS driver) that do not source interactive shell profiles failed with Git command exited with a non-zero status due to unconfigured Git identity. 3. Users managing multiple target repositories across different GitHub accounts or identities had no automated mechanism to override Git authorship per repository. 4. Git author credentials must not be mixed into project .env files, as project .env files are intended exclusively for application runtime secrets and should not contain Git configuration.

Decisions

  1. Multi-Tier Git Identity Resolution Hierarchy:
  2. Tier 1 (Repository-Specific Override): Stored in <repo>/git.env inside the env-store vault. Retrieved during sandbox launch or ghclone / pull-repo-env, and applied strictly as local Git configuration (git -C <repo> config --local user.name and user.email).
  3. Tier 2 (Global Default Authorship): Configured via DEFAULT_GIT_NAME and DEFAULT_GIT_EMAIL in the host .env file or environment. Applied globally inside sandboxes (git config --global user.name and user.email) and exported for sub-processes.

  4. Tier 3 (Host Git Configuration Fallback): Resolved by SandboxLauncher from host git config user.name and user.email if Tier 1 and Tier 2 are not set.

  5. Strict Decoupling of Git Authorship from Project .env:

  6. git.env is stored as an independent file (<repo>/git.env) in the env-store vault, separate from application secrets (<repo>/default.env).
  7. git.env is never written to the project's .env file during sandbox provisioning or ghclone.

  8. Variables TARGET_GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and TARGET_GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL injected into sandbox startup are applied directly to local Git config and scrubbed from the environment immediately afterward.

  9. Retirement of Synthetic Fallback Identities:

  10. Completely remove Modal Sandbox User and sandbox@modal.local fallbacks from shared/startup.sh.

  11. If neither a repository override nor a default/host identity is provided, Git remains unconfigured, and empty repository initial commits in standalone runs are skipped.

  12. Dedicated CLI Sub-Command for Authorship Management:

  13. Add a dedicated push-repo-env git sub-command: 
    push-repo-env git [--name <name>] [--email <email>] [-r <repo>] [-o <org>]
  14. Encrypts and pushes GIT_AUTHOR_NAME and GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL to <repo>/git.env via the GitHub REST API.
  15. Update pull-repo-env and ghclone to automatically fetch <repo>/git.env and apply git config --local to target repositories.

Consequences

  • Reliable T3 Code Commits: Git commits succeed cleanly in T3 Code Web UI and background daemons without auto-detection errors.
  • Multi-Account Authorship: Different target repositories automatically receive their correct, designated Git commit author and email without manual configuration.
  • Clean Separation of Concerns: Application secrets and Git identity remain strictly partitioned in env-store and on the local filesystem.
  • Zero Synthetic Identities: Commits are never attributed to dummy or synthetic sandbox users.