Access Model
mpak is a public registry. Understanding what’s public, what’s authenticated, and how scope enforcement works helps you publish and consume with confidence.
Public by Default
Section titled “Public by Default”All bundles published to mpak are public. Anyone can search, view, download, and run them without creating an account or authenticating.
This is by design. The goal is zero-friction distribution: if someone finds your package, they should be able to use it immediately.
Reading (No Auth Required)
Section titled “Reading (No Auth Required)”All read operations are unauthenticated:
| Operation | Auth Required | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Search packages | No | mpak bundle search postgres |
| View package details | No | mpak bundle show @org/server |
| Download bundles | No | mpak bundle pull @org/server |
| Run bundles | No | mpak bundle run @org/server |
| Browse mpak.dev | No | Visit mpak.dev |
| Query the API | No | GET registry.mpak.dev/v1/bundles/search |
No API keys, no tokens, no accounts needed for consuming packages.
Publishing (OIDC Only)
Section titled “Publishing (OIDC Only)”Publishing is authenticated via GitHub Actions OIDC tokens. There are no user accounts, no API keys, and no manual enrollment.
When you publish:
- Your GitHub Action requests an OIDC token from GitHub
- The token contains cryptographic claims about: which repository, which workflow, which commit
- The
mcpb-packaction sends this token to mpak when announcing - mpak verifies the token against GitHub’s public JWKS endpoint
- If valid, the package is registered under the scope matching the GitHub owner
This means:
- No secrets to manage: No API keys to rotate or leak
- No registration: Your GitHub identity is your mpak identity
- No impersonation: Only code running in your GitHub Actions can publish to your scope
- Full auditability: Every publish is tied to a specific repo, workflow, and commit
See Provenance for details on the cryptographic verification chain.
Scope Enforcement
Section titled “Scope Enforcement”The registry enforces that your package scope matches your GitHub owner:
| GitHub Owner | Can Publish To | Cannot Publish To |
|---|---|---|
NimbleBrainInc |
@nimblebraininc/* |
@someoneelse/* |
johndoe |
@johndoe/* |
@nimblebraininc/* |
This is verified at the OIDC token level. The claim repository_owner in the GitHub OIDC token must match the package scope. There is no override, no admin bypass, no exception.
See Naming Conventions for scope format rules.