Name the Directory the Scope Refusal Probed, Not the Checkout

[ptr727]

scripts/pr_review.py resolves the owner a write may stay within from the script's own directory, which is deliberate: the helper is hub-hosted rather than carried, so it is reached from a hub checkout while the repository being answered is named on the command line, and the working directory says nothing about who owns either. Its refusals called that directory "this checkout", which an operator reads as the working directory. A copy of the script outside any checkout therefore produced a refusal the operator could disprove on the spot with git remote get-url origin in the tree they were standing in, with nothing on screen explaining the disagreement.

Message only, per the issue. The anchoring, the refusal, and the refusal writing nothing are unchanged.

What changed

• Both refusals name the directory that was actually probed, and describe the probe rather than claiming which repository encloses that directory.
• The unreadable-owner refusal names a remedy, scoped to the cause it actually fixes rather than stated as the diagnosis.
• HERE is a module constant, the single reader for the probe and for the messages that name it, matching the shape six sibling scripts already use.
• reply's exit-64 gloss and origin_owner's docstring each said less than the code does, and scripts/README.md carried the same "this checkout" claim. All three now agree with the messages.

Before, from a copy outside any checkout:

status=OUT_OF_SCOPE nothing was written: this checkout has no readable `origin`, so the owner a
write would stay within cannot be established, and an unverified scope is not a scope

After, against the same reproduction:

status=OUT_OF_SCOPE nothing was written: this script got no owner from `git remote get-url
origin` against the directory it sits in, /tmp/scratch, so the owner a write would stay within
cannot be established, and an unverified scope is not a scope. That directory is this script's
own rather than the working directory, so a readable `origin` in the working directory says
nothing about this, and the remedy for a copy of this script sitting outside a checkout is to
run the copy that lives inside a hub checkout instead of this one

Verification

Reproduced the issue's own scenario against the fix, a copy of the script outside any checkout and a cross-owner target from a fleet checkout, and read both messages back. 322 cases in the module and 1403 under discovery, plus prose_lint, repo_gate --check eol, spec/validate.py, ruff format --check and ruff check, all clean.

The new probe case was proved by mutation rather than by passing: against a copy whose probe reads Path.cwd() instead of HERE, test_the_probe_reads_the_directory_the_refusal_names fails. Without that, the assertion passed on a path coincidence whenever the working directory happened to equal the anchor.

Five local review rounds ran over this diff. Each message clause was checked against every state that reaches its branch, meaning a missing git, a timeout, no remote named origin, a directory under no repository, an origin URL the owner regex cannot parse, and an inherited GIT_DIR. Three earlier wordings were rejected for failing one of those: one asserted the probe had executed when a missing git means it never did, one named a remedy that read as an instruction to change directory and so reproduced the same refusal, and one claimed a repository encloses the probed directory, which an inherited GIT_DIR falsifies.

Raised separately rather than folded in

Two real defects surfaced during review that are code changes rather than wording, so they are filed instead of carried here:

• pr_review.py's scope probe reads another repository when GIT_DIR is inherited #1561, the probe inherits GIT_DIR, so an inherited one redirects it to a different repository. The messages here describe the probe rather than the directory's repository, which keeps them true under that leak, but the leak itself is untouched.
• wait's Copilot review request bypasses the in-process owner check #1562, wait's Copilot review request is a mutation that never passes through in_scope, so the in-process owner check does not cover it.

Addresses #1557. The closing reference goes on the promotion pull request, since a develop-targeted one never registers.

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[Copilot]

🟢 Approval recommended

The changes are scoped to messaging/documentation plus targeted regression tests, and the updated wording matches the actual control flow (scope refusal occurs before any GitHub reads).

Pull request overview

This PR updates scripts/pr_review.py scope-refusal messaging and supporting documentation/tests so the refusal names the directory actually probed (the script's own directory) rather than ambiguously referring to “this checkout”, which can be misread as the operator’s working directory.

Changes:

• Introduces a HERE module constant and uses it consistently for the git -C ... remote get-url origin probe and for refusal messages that name the probed directory.
• Updates the scope refusal strings (including the exit-64 gloss) to describe the probe and provide a concrete remedy for the “script copied outside a checkout” scenario.
• Adds regression tests ensuring the probe and refusal text stay aligned, and updates scripts/README.md to match the corrected behavior.

File summaries

File	Description
scripts/pr_review.py	Unifies scope anchor via HERE and updates exit-64/refusal wording to name the probed directory and remedy.
scripts/README.md	Updates the reply/comment exit-64 documentation to match the clarified probe behavior and refusal wording.
scripts/tests/test_pr_review.py	Adds tests that assert the probe uses HERE and the refusal messages name the probed directory and avoid “this checkout”.

Review details

• Files reviewed: 3/3 changed files
• Comments generated: 0
• Review effort level: Lite

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