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fix #18 - Add GitHub Action to enforce Apache 2.0 license headers#27

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fantonangeli wants to merge 9 commits intoserverlessworkflow:mainfrom
fantonangeli:issue-18-Add-GitHub-Action-to-enforce-Apache-20-license-headers-2
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fix #18 - Add GitHub Action to enforce Apache 2.0 license headers#27
fantonangeli wants to merge 9 commits intoserverlessworkflow:mainfrom
fantonangeli:issue-18-Add-GitHub-Action-to-enforce-Apache-20-license-headers-2

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Closes #18

Summary

Add a GitHub Actions workflow that validates Apache 2.0 license headers are present in all applicable source files and fails the build if headers are missing. The check must execute on every Pull Request.

Goals

Ensure all source files comply with Apache 2.0 licensing requirements.

  • Prevent merging code without proper license headers.
  • Automate enforcement instead of relying on manual review.
  • Maintain CNCF/open-source governance standards.

Non-Goals

  • Complex legal compliance tooling beyond header validation.
  • Checking third-party dependency licenses.

@fantonangeli fantonangeli requested review from Copilot, lornakelly and ricardozanini and removed request for Copilot March 5, 2026 16:31
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@fantonangeli you must sign your commits with a key that matches your email.

Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
@fantonangeli fantonangeli force-pushed the issue-18-Add-GitHub-Action-to-enforce-Apache-20-license-headers-2 branch from 5dd02f0 to 40a08ea Compare March 6, 2026 16:42
fantonangeli added a commit to fantonangeli/serverlessworkflow-editor that referenced this pull request Mar 6, 2026
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 6, 2026 17:19
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Pull request overview

Adds automated license-header enforcement using Apache RAT so pull requests fail if files without approved licensing are introduced, supporting the repository’s Apache 2.0 compliance goal.

Changes:

  • Add a CI workflow that runs Apache RAT on pushes to main and on PR events.
  • Introduce .rat-excludes to exclude certain non-source/config/generated files from RAT scanning.
  • Add Apache 2.0 license headers to README.md and .gitignore.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File Description
README.md Adds an Apache 2.0 license header in an HTML comment.
.rat-excludes Defines files to exclude from Apache RAT scanning.
.gitignore Adds an Apache 2.0 license header comment block.
.github/workflows/ci_check_license_headers.yaml New workflow that downloads and runs Apache RAT, failing on unapproved files.

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Comment on lines +35 to +40
uses: actions/checkout@v3

- name: Download Apache RAT
run: |
curl -LO "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/rat/apache-rat/${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}/apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"

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This downloads and executes a remote JAR via curl without any integrity verification (checksum/signature) and uses an unpinned actions/checkout@v3. For supply-chain safety, pin actions to a commit SHA (or at least update to the current major) and verify the RAT artifact (e.g., download the corresponding .sha512/signature and validate before running).

Suggested change
uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: Download Apache RAT
run: |
curl -LO "https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/rat/apache-rat/${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}/apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"
uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # actions/checkout@v4
- name: Download Apache RAT
run: |
set -e
BASE_URL="https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/apache/rat/apache-rat/${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}"
# Download JAR and corresponding SHA-512 checksum
curl -L -o "apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar" "${BASE_URL}/apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"
curl -L -o "apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar.sha512" "${BASE_URL}/apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar.sha512"
# Verify the downloaded JAR against the published checksum
EXPECTED_SHA512="$(awk '{print $1}' "apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar.sha512")"
ACTUAL_SHA512="$(sha512sum "apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar" | awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "${EXPECTED_SHA512}" != "${ACTUAL_SHA512}" ]; then
echo "Checksum verification FAILED for apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar" >&2
exit 1
fi

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
@fantonangeli fantonangeli force-pushed the issue-18-Add-GitHub-Action-to-enforce-Apache-20-license-headers-2 branch from 2947dc9 to 68eca73 Compare March 6, 2026 17:29
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 6, 2026 18:39
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.


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Comment on lines +49 to +68

# Download JAR and corresponding SHA-1 checksum
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_JAR}"
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_SHA}"

# Verify the downloaded JAR against the published checksum
EXPECTED_SHA1="$(awk '{print $1}' $APACHE_RAT_SHA)"
ACTUAL_SHA1="$(sha1sum $APACHE_RAT_JAR| awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "${EXPECTED_SHA1}" != "${ACTUAL_SHA1}" ]; then
echo "Checksum verification FAILED for ${APACHE_RAT_JAR}" >&2
exit 1
fi
rm $APACHE_RAT_SHA

- name: Run Apache RAT
run: |
APACHE_RAT_JAR="apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"

# Redirect output to .rat-reports file, continue even if RAT returns non-zero exit code because we want to print Unapproved documents
java -jar $APACHE_RAT_JAR --input-exclude-file .rat-excludes -- . > .rat-reports 2>&1 || true
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The workflow downloads apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar into the repository root and then runs RAT over .. This means the freshly-downloaded JAR itself is included in the scan, which can cause RAT to report it as an unapproved/binary file and fail the job. Download the JAR into a temp directory outside the scan root (e.g., $RUNNER_TEMP) or add an exclude pattern for apache-rat-*.jar and scan only tracked repo files.

Suggested change
# Download JAR and corresponding SHA-1 checksum
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_JAR}"
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_SHA}"
# Verify the downloaded JAR against the published checksum
EXPECTED_SHA1="$(awk '{print $1}' $APACHE_RAT_SHA)"
ACTUAL_SHA1="$(sha1sum $APACHE_RAT_JAR| awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "${EXPECTED_SHA1}" != "${ACTUAL_SHA1}" ]; then
echo "Checksum verification FAILED for ${APACHE_RAT_JAR}" >&2
exit 1
fi
rm $APACHE_RAT_SHA
- name: Run Apache RAT
run: |
APACHE_RAT_JAR="apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"
# Redirect output to .rat-reports file, continue even if RAT returns non-zero exit code because we want to print Unapproved documents
java -jar $APACHE_RAT_JAR --input-exclude-file .rat-excludes -- . > .rat-reports 2>&1 || true
APACHE_RAT_DIR="${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}"
mkdir -p "${APACHE_RAT_DIR}"
cd "${APACHE_RAT_DIR}"
# Download JAR and corresponding SHA-1 checksum
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_JAR}"
curl -LO "${BASE_URL}/${APACHE_RAT_SHA}"
# Verify the downloaded JAR against the published checksum
EXPECTED_SHA1="$(awk '{print $1}' "${APACHE_RAT_SHA}")"
ACTUAL_SHA1="$(sha1sum "${APACHE_RAT_JAR}" | awk '{print $1}')"
if [ "${EXPECTED_SHA1}" != "${ACTUAL_SHA1}" ]; then
echo "Checksum verification FAILED for ${APACHE_RAT_JAR}" >&2
exit 1
fi
rm "${APACHE_RAT_SHA}"
- name: Run Apache RAT
run: |
APACHE_RAT_JAR="${RUNNER_TEMP:-/tmp}/apache-rat-${APACHE_RAT_VERSION}.jar"
# Redirect output to .rat-reports file, continue even if RAT returns non-zero exit code because we want to print Unapproved documents
java -jar "$APACHE_RAT_JAR" --input-exclude-file .rat-excludes -- . > .rat-reports 2>&1 || true

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
…hanges#r2897289283

Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
…hanges#r2897676663

Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: fantonangeli <fabrizio.antonangeli@gmail.com>
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 9, 2026 17:13
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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.


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Comment on lines +43 to +52
- name: Cache Apache RAT
uses: actions/cache@v5
id: cache-rat
with:
path: ${{ runner.temp }}/apache-rat-${{ env.APACHE_RAT_VERSION }}.jar
key: apache-rat-${{ env.APACHE_RAT_VERSION }}

- name: Download Apache RAT
if: steps.cache-rat.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
run: |
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The RAT JAR’s checksum is only verified on fresh download. When the cache is hit, the workflow uses the cached JAR without any integrity check, so a corrupted/poisoned cache entry could go undetected. Consider always verifying the checksum (even on cache-hit) or incorporate the expected digest into the cache key and validate the restored file before running RAT.

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I would skip this comment @ricardozanini

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Add GitHub Action to enforce Apache 2.0 license headers

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