v0.90.3: strict mode rejects documented github-app.repositories: ["*"] (no explicit repositories input) #65814

Summary

Since v0.90.3, any strict: true workflow that sets github-app.repositories: ["*"] fails to compile. This affects both tools.github.github-app and safe-outputs.github-app:

error: strict mode: actions/create-github-app-token in job "agent" has no explicit repositories input; add repositories: ${{ github.repository }} to scope the token to the current repository

["*"] is the documented way to request an installation token without a repository restriction. The glossary entry for github-app.repositories says that for ["*"], implementations omit the repositories parameter from the token-minting call. The compiler does exactly that. The new check from #64976 then rejects the step it generated itself, because the step has no repositories input. The suggested fix (repositories: ${{ github.repository }}) would remove the cross-repository access that ["*"] exists to grant.

Versions

• gh-aw v0.90.3 (fails), v0.90.1 (compiles)
• Introduced by Require explicit scopes for GitHub App tokens at compile time #64976, "Require explicit scopes for GitHub App tokens at compile time" (pkg/workflow/app_token_permissions_validation.go)

Reproduction

.github/workflows/wildcard-strict.md:

---
on: workflow_dispatch
strict: true
engine: copilot
permissions:
  contents: read
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [repos]
    github-app:
      app-id: ${{ vars.APP_ID }}
      private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
      repositories: ["*"]
---
List the repositories in this organization.

gh aw compile .github/workflows/wildcard-strict.md

The token step v0.90.1 generates for ["*"]. It is correct per the docs, and it already carries an explicit permission-* scope:

- name: Generate GitHub App token
  id: github-mcp-app-token
  uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3.2.0
  with:
    client-id: ${{ vars.APP_ID }}
    private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
    owner: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
    github-api-url: ${{ github.api_url }}
    permission-contents: read

Expected

A workflow that explicitly opts into repositories: ["*"] should compile in strict mode. The wildcard is an explicit, reviewed choice in the source, so it should not count as an unscoped token. The permission-* part of the #64976 check is unaffected: the wildcard step already sets permission-contents: read.

Impact

Organisation-wide workflows (org audits, cross-repo PR scanning, multi-repo reporting) can't run strict mode on v0.90.3 at all. A fleet that imports one shared github-app config with ["*"] fails wholesale. The only options are dropping strict: true across the fleet, or post-processing the lock files.

Possible fixes

• Treat a token step generated from repositories: ["*"] as explicitly scoped. For example, the compiler could record the wildcard intent so hasExplicitAppTokenRepositories accepts it, or skip the repositories check when the source config is ["*"].
• Or keep it as a warning, not a strict-mode error, when the source config is ["*"], as the non-strict path already does.

Either way, the error text should not suggest ${{ github.repository }} for a wildcard config, because that silently changes the token's scope.