Tasks: configurable CORS so the hosted dashboard can reach the service

Derived from design.md and testing-plan.md. Ticket: #211.

Task list

• [x] 1. Declare service.cors in the CLI config schema
  • Five keys under service.cors with additionalProperties: false, each carrying the description an operator reads in /the-loop:init: allowOrigins, allowMethods, allowHeaders, allowCredentials, allowPrivateNetwork.
  • Depends on: none
  • Requirements: R2.1, R3.3
  • Test: T13 — make validate
• [x] 2. Resolve and validate the block in the_loop.api.config
  • cors_config() beside service_config(): defaults, coercion, and the ValueError for "*" + allowCredentials: true.
  • Depends on: 1
  • Requirements: R2.1, R2.2, R3.1, R3.4
  • Test: T1 — pytest cli/tests/test_api_cors.py (red→green)
• [x] 3. Install the middleware in create_app
  • CORSMiddleware added after _audit so it sits outermost; not installed at all when allowOrigins is empty; allow_private_network passed only when the installed Starlette accepts it, with one warning otherwise.
  • Depends on: 2
  • Requirements: R1.1–R1.5, R2.2, R2.3, R2.4
  • Test: T2 — pytest cli/tests/test_api_cors_integration.py (red→green)
• [x] 4. Guard start-up in serve.main
  • Validate the CORS block beside the exposure guard: before the run lock, before the bind; log and exit 2.
  • Depends on: 2
  • Requirements: R3.1, R3.2
  • Test: T2 — Scenario: an invalid CORS configuration stops the service before it binds
• [x] 5. Negative tests for every mechanism in §Security design
  • Unlisted origin, suffix-lookalike origin, wildcard+credentials at both layers, private-network decline, /mcp transport allowlist unchanged.
  • Depends on: 3, 4
  • Requirements: security considerations 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
  • Test: T8 — the two new test files
• [x] 6. Document the block
  • docs/config/cli/service-options.md gains a ## Cross-origin access section with Type/Default per key and the posture note; docs/cli/commands/service.md points at it from the hosted-dashboard paragraph.
  • Depends on: 1
  • Requirements: R4.1
  • Test: T12 — pytest cli/tests/test_docs_parity.py
• [x] 7. Correct the dashboard's copy
  • ApiError.advice, the Settings note and ui/README.md stop asserting that the service sends no CORS headers; the existing advice assertion is retargeted.
  • Depends on: 3
  • Requirements: R4.2
  • Test: T15 — bun run test in ui/
• [x] 8. Dogfood the block in this repo's own CLI config
  • .the-loop/cli-config.yaml carries the block explicitly, with the comment an operator copying this file needs.
  • Depends on: 1
  • Requirements: R2.1
  • Test: T13 — make validate
• [x] 9. Capability doc, decision record and execution log
  • docs/capabilities/control-plane.md states the new posture and gains a history row; decision-077 records the default-origin call; execution-log.md carries the phase transitions and the documentation entry.
  • Depends on: 3, 6, 7
  • Requirements: R4.3
  • Test: T14 — make lint (markdownlint over the docs)
• [x] 10. Execute the testing plan
  • Run every activity, record command/outcome/evidence, commit the evidence.
  • Ticked with one activity outstanding and named: T11 (the hosted page in a real browser) needs a human, and is recorded as not executed rather than passed.
  • Depends on: 1–9
  • Requirements: all
  • Test: T1–T15

Dependency graph (DAG)

flowchart LR
    T1["1 · schema"] --> T2["2 · cors_config"]
    T1 --> T6["6 · docs"]
    T1 --> T8["8 · dogfood config"]
    T2 --> T3["3 · middleware"]
    T2 --> T4["4 · serve guard"]
    T3 --> T5["5 · negative tests"]
    T4 --> T5
    T3 --> T7["7 · UI copy"]
    T5 --> T9["9 · capability · decision · log"]
    T6 --> T9
    T7 --> T9
    T8 --> T9
    T9 --> T10["10 · verification"]

Checkpoints

After task 3 (the first point at which a browser could actually be served) and after task 5 (the boundary tests) run the full pytest cli suite; after task 9 run make check, which is what CI runs. Record the red→green transition for tasks 2, 3 and 4 in the execution log. Task 10 is the verification node: it fills testing-plan.md's results table and commits the evidence, and only then do the review rounds and the security-review gate run — at risk tier 4 that gate needs a named human security sign-off, which this session cannot give itself.