[RFC 008] Define remote author validation and publish gating

[zkwentz]

What & Why

The original RFC did not specify the author loop requested here: run validation locally or in a remote HF Sandbox before publishing, return actionable guidance, and upload an unofficial report. This amendment defines that path separately from the richer future Hub certification service.

Risk & Review Guidance

• Risk level: MEDIUM — design change that governs publish behavior and trust claims
• Task class: docs
• Review focus: rfcs/008-local-remote-validation.md:224 for local/publish profiles; rfcs/008-local-remote-validation.md:249 for author-triggered remote execution; rfcs/008-local-remote-validation.md:293 for separation from the coordinator
• Blast radius: Ambiguous language could cause author evidence to be mistaken for certification or recouple planning to Harbor.

Decisions & Alternatives

• One plan/report, two author execution locations — local and dedicated Sandbox runs differ only by capabilities.
• Version the author report with uploaded code — useful for debugging, explicitly not authoritative.
• Keep official results out-of-band — avoids webhook loops and self-attestation.

Verification

• PASS: PYTHONPATH=src:envs .venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/ -q -m 'not integration' — 1,559 passed, 114 skipped, 31 external integration tests deselected on the complete stack.
• PASS: Fork whole-stack CI — 7/7 checks passed, including Python 3.11/3.12, lint, docs, lock validation, and package smoke tests.
• NOT verified: Remote infrastructure described beyond the author Sandbox remains future work.

Scope & Non-Goals

• No Hub certification service is deployed by this amendment.

Stack

PR 9 of 17; depends on #949.

Full 17-PR stack

1. #942 RFC 008: Spec-neutral local and remote validation architecture
2. #943 Validation foundation: spec-neutral contracts and adapters
3. #944 Validation policy: spec-aware check registry and planner
4. #945 Validation executor: hardened shared reports and eligibility
5. #946 Local validation API: execution-model-aware profiles
6. #947 CLI: validation profiles and shared reports
7. #948 HF runtime: dedicated sandbox execution mode
8. #949 HF certification: enforce trusted dedicated isolation
9. #950 [RFC 008] Define remote author validation and publish gating ← current
10. #951 Validation: unify CLI reports and add a strict publish profile
11. #952 Validation: add structured author diagnostics and remediation
12. #953 Validation: run author validation in dedicated HF Sandboxes
13. #954 Validation: isolate submitted code in author Sandboxes
14. #955 Validation: bind author reports to policy and source
15. #956 CLI: scaffold publish requirements
16. #957 CLI: gate pushes on staged remote validation
17. #958 Docs: explain local, remote, and publish validation

All upstream PRs remain draft while RFC 008 is under review.