IDEA.md

Ideas for CRA-GitHub

Action-Only GitHub App for Custom Branding

Problem

Current workflow uses GITHUB_TOKEN which always posts reviews as "github-actions[bot]" with generic avatar. No way to customize the identity.

Solution: Action-Only GitHub App

Create a GitHub App that provides authentication tokens to workflows without requiring hosted webhooks.

Key Insight: GitHub Apps can be used purely for identity/authentication in workflows without needing a 24/7 server.

Implementation

1. Create GitHub App with custom name ("Amp Code Review") and logo
2. Configure permissions: Pull requests (write), Checks (write), Contents (read)
3. No webhook URL needed - app only provides tokens
4. Update workflow to use actions/create-github-app-token@v1
5. Users install app + copy modified workflow

Benefits

• ✅ Custom branding ("Amp Code Review[bot]" with logo)
• ✅ No hosting infrastructure required
• ✅ Same compute model (runs on user's GitHub Actions)
• ✅ Backwards compatible (can offer both options)

User Setup

1. Install "Amp Code Review" GitHub App on repo
2. Set secrets: AMP_APP_ID, AMP_PRIVATE_KEY, AMP_API_KEY
3. Copy modified workflow that generates app token
4. Reviews appear with custom branding

Modified Workflow

steps:
  - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
    id: app-token
    with:
      app-id: ${{ secrets.AMP_APP_ID }}
      private-key: ${{ secrets.AMP_PRIVATE_KEY }}

  - name: Run Amp Code Review
    uses: docker://ghcr.io/sourcegraph/cra-github:latest
    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}  # App token
      AMP_SERVER_URL: ${{ vars.AMP_SERVER_URL }}
      AMP_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.AMP_API_KEY }}

Trade-offs

• Pro: Custom branding without hosting costs
• Con: Slightly more complex user setup (install app + workflow)
• Pro: Can coexist with current simple approach