Protect release credentials with environment scope

Author: sansari

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   release:
     name: Sign, notarize, and draft release
+    environment: release
     runs-on: macos-15
     timeout-minutes: 45
 
@@ -51,14 +52,13 @@ jobs:
         env:
           CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64: ${{ secrets.APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64 }}
           CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD }}
-          KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD }}
         shell: bash
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           : "${CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64:?Missing APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64 secret}"
           : "${CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD:?Missing APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD secret}"
-          : "${KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD:?Missing APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD secret}"
 
+          KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD="$(openssl rand -base64 32)"
           keychain="$RUNNER_TEMP/pinative-signing.keychain-db"
           certificate="$RUNNER_TEMP/developer-id.p12"
           echo "$CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64" | base64 --decode > "$certificate"

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2026-09-02
+
+
+### Changed
+
+- Scoped official release credentials to a dedicated GitHub environment and replaced the stored temporary-keychain password with a fresh per-run value.
+
 ## 2026-09-01
 
 

docs/releasing.md

@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ when access is no longer required.
 
 ## GitHub Actions configuration
 
+Create a GitHub Actions environment named `release`. The official release job
+declares this environment so signing and notarization credentials are unavailable
+to pull-request and routine CI jobs. Restrict the environment to protected release
+tags matching `v*`; optionally require maintainer approval before deployment.
+
 Add the following **Actions repository variable**. It identifies the signing
 team and is not confidential, but keeping it out of the repository lets a fork
 or new maintainer configure its own release identity.
@@ -49,19 +54,21 @@ or new maintainer configure its own release identity.
 | --- | --- |
 | `APPLE_TEAM_ID` | Apple Team ID that owns the Developer ID certificate. |
 
-Add the following **Actions secrets** to the repository. Never add their values
-to tracked files, workflow logs, issue comments, or release notes.
+Add the following **environment secrets** to the `release` environment. Never add
+their values to tracked files, workflow logs, issue comments, or release notes.
 
 | Secret | Value |
 | --- | --- |
 | `APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_P12_BASE64` | Base64 encoding of the Developer ID `.p12` file. |
 | `APPLE_DEVELOPER_ID_CERTIFICATE_PASSWORD` | Password used when exporting that `.p12`. |
-| `APPLE_KEYCHAIN_PASSWORD` | Newly generated, high-entropy temporary-keychain password. |
 | `APPLE_NOTARY_API_KEY_ID` | App Store Connect API Key ID. |
 | `APPLE_NOTARY_API_ISSUER_ID` | App Store Connect API Issuer ID. |
 | `APPLE_NOTARY_API_KEY_P8_BASE64` | Base64 encoding of the downloaded `.p8` private key. |
 | `POSTHOG_PROJECT_API_KEY` | PostHog `phc_` project token used by official builds for opt-in product analytics. |
 
+The workflow generates a fresh high-entropy password for its temporary keychain
+during every run; no keychain-password secret is stored.
+
 On macOS, copy a file’s Base64 value without saving another credential file:
 
 ```sh