[Paul Lizer (paullizer)]

Summary

• Let administrators preview/apply publisher-signed model metadata through offline upload or an explicit, default-off online-access switch, without another application deployment. Preserve custom profiles, connections and credentials; support explicit rollback.
• Add separate Development/production keys and fixed feeds, approval-gated Development signing, Staging test attestation, and exact tested-payload verification before approved production signing on main.
• Add an opt-in Monday 09:23 UTC research workflow: discover models from first-party indexes, gather capability/pricing evidence, and propose at most one bounded draft PR into Development. No automatic merge, signing, activation, or new pricing schema.
• Not operational until publisher setup: public trust maps intentionally remain empty. Key Vault keys/identities, OIDC federation, protected environments/branch rules and Copilot Actions entitlement must be configured. No cloud permissions or automation enable variable were provisioned.

Linked issue

No associated issue; issue creation was offered but not confirmed.

Release Notes & Latest Features

• New Feature
• Bug Fix
• UI Enhancement
• Breaking Change
• Internal only

Is this visible to end users?

• Yes
• No

Is this admin-facing (Admin Settings, governance, deployment, config)?

• Yes
• No

Should this become a Latest Feature card?

• Yes
• No
• Already added

Screenshot needed for the card?

• Yes
• No
• Attached

Version bump

• application/single_app/config.py VERSION third segment bumped, or not needed because this is docs-only
• deployers/version.txt bumped, or not needed because deployers/ was not changed

Application version is 0.261.431, above integrated Development 0.261.428. deployers/ was not changed. Current Development, including support exports and native-audit fixes, is integrated without discarding either feature.

Testing / validation

• All final-head PR checks passed, including CodeQL for Python/JavaScript/Actions, publication contracts, full Cosmos contracts, Swagger, syntax, access-control/XSS guards, branch flow, release-note check and CLA.
• python scripts/check_cosmos_response_boundaries.py --run-contracts — passed in final CI run 43064816431: 2,070 tests and 431 subtests. The workflow's separate network-blocked plugin-discovery/document-action check passed 38 tests.
• The full job completed in 36m23s. Two prior runs hit the former 30-minute cap without assertion failures; the cap is now 45 minutes. Every test, network restriction and merge gate remains intact.
• python -m pytest -q functional_tests\test_m365_workflow_continuation_boundary.py functional_tests\test_model_catalog_signed_updates.py functional_tests\test_model_catalog_publication_lifecycle.py functional_tests\test_workflow_chat_delivery_loop.py — passed after final Development integration: 126 tests, including real-owner lock evidence, actual signatures, activation, malformed/oversized/non-ASCII versions, promotion and delivery contracts.
• python -m pytest -q ui_tests\test_model_catalog_update_controls.py ui_tests\test_model_catalog_management.py — passed after final integration: 16 tests, including classic/V2 offline/online flows, apply/rollback and keyboard switches.
• npm --prefix application\v2_ui run typecheck and npm --prefix application\v2_ui run build — passed after final integration; existing large-bundle advisory remains.
• gh aw compile refresh-model-catalog --no-check-update --no-logo --no-emit --validate — passed; fixed-schedule and requirements-file inference advisories only. The generated workflow is committed with pinned actions/containers; final publication-contract CI also passed.
• python -m pip install --dry-run --ignore-installed -r scripts\requirements-model-catalog.txt 'snowflake-connector-python[pandas]==4.7.3' --quiet — passed. The initial CI dependency conflict was resolved by aligning app/publisher cryptography pins to 46.0.7, compatible with the existing Snowflake requirement; final CI installation passed.
• python .\scripts\check_cosmos_response_boundaries.py — passed after final integration: 1,104 owners, 428 doubles, zero review gaps, including renewed combined scheduler and test-import evidence.
• python .\functional_tests\route_tests\test_route_blueprint_policy_inventory.py, python .\functional_tests\route_tests\test_route_unauthenticated_policy_contract.py, python .\functional_tests\route_tests\test_route_policy_test_coverage.py — passed earlier after Development integration: 15/15, 10/10, 4/4 respectively; final full contract CI also passed.
• python .\functional_tests\test_docs_app_surface_coverage.py — passed 7/7; python .\functional_tests\test_docs_site_quality.py — passed 6/6 after final integration.
• All six initial CodeQL findings are confirmed fixed by GitHub analysis: bounded ASCII version parsing, exact domain equality in the workflow test, unused imports removed, and intentional pytest fixture exports declared.
• Approved real-component PNG previews used simulated local API responses. No live Key Vault signing, online feed publication, research run, or deployed-app Staging attestation has been performed; configuration prerequisites are intentionally explicit.

Documentation

• Release notes updated, or not needed
• Feature documentation updated, or not needed
• Fix documentation updated, or not needed

Feature/setup/trust/testing documentation: docs/explanation/features/SIGNED_MODEL_CATALOG_UPDATES.md and docs/admin/model-catalog.md, including the parser and CI-budget corrections. Release-note changes were offered but not confirmed; incoming Development release notes are preserved. No separate bug-fix document applies.

Security checklist

• New Flask routes include @swagger_route(security=get_auth_security())
• Settings sent to non-admin frontends use sanitize_settings_for_user()
• Browser JavaScript is served from local SimpleChat static assets only; no CDN-hosted JS
• No secrets, keys, connection strings, or local-only artifacts are included

Public-key maps are empty placeholders, not real keys. Development packages carry a signed channel and cannot be accepted by production; no unsigned bypass or administrator-configurable download destination exists. Research and signing privileges are isolated. Staging approval attests the human-run live test; automated offline contracts do not claim to deploy or inspect an unspecified environment.