• Do not commit .env, local token caches, Microsoft client secrets, GreenNode credentials, Teams bot passwords, or API keys.
• Store runtime values in local .env for development and GitHub Secrets for CI/CD.
• Use .env.example for placeholder names only.
• If a secret is accidentally committed, rotate it immediately and remove it from the repository history where required.

• SharePoint is the source of truth for official ISMS, security, compliance, policy, procedure, and governance documents.
• Do not commit raw SharePoint downloads from sharepoint_downloads/.
• Treat vector_db/ as a generated and potentially sensitive artifact because embeddings can reveal information about source documents.
• GitHub Actions does not access SharePoint and does not rebuild vector_db/.
• Refresh knowledge locally with MS_AUTH_FLOW=device_code, then deploy an artifact that includes the refreshed vector_db/ when needed.

Use:

python scripts/local_refresh_knowledge.py
python chatbot.py

Local SharePoint sync uses MS_AUTH_FLOW=device_code. GitHub Actions must not run SharePoint sync or Microsoft Graph SharePoint calls.

• The web API endpoints POST /chat, GET /documents and GET /documents/count can be protected with a shared access token.
• Set REQUIRE_APP_ACCESS_TOKEN=true and a non-empty APP_ACCESS_TOKEN to require the header X-App-Access-Token: <APP_ACCESS_TOKEN> on those endpoints.
• Missing token returns HTTP 401; an invalid token returns HTTP 403. Responses are clean JSON ({"error": ...}) and never include the token, other secrets, or env values. Token comparison uses a constant-time check.
• GET /, GET /health, static assets, and the Teams POST /api/messages endpoint are not gated by this token (Teams keeps its Bot Framework JWT validation).
• The web UI sends the token from sessionStorage and prompts the user to set it when it receives 401/403. The token is never logged or hard-coded in the frontend.
• When REQUIRE_APP_ACCESS_TOKEN=false (default) local development works without a token. Keep APP_ACCESS_TOKEN out of Git; set it via .env locally and Secrets in deployment.

Run before committing:

python scripts/security_audit.py

The audit checks for tracked .env files, tracked generated knowledge artifacts, token caches, private keys, and high-confidence secret patterns. It never prints secret values.