fix(p1-12): redact exception text in deprecated AUTOSEARCH_LEGACY_RESEARCH path

[0xmariowu]

Summary

P1 fix for reports/autosearch-p0-fix-plan.md §12 — autosearch/mcp/server.py legacy research() tool path (gated on AUTOSEARCH_LEGACY_RESEARCH=1) emitted raw exception text in MCP responses. Same risk as the CLI top-level path (F013): secrets in exception messages leak to MCP clients.

Changes

1. mcp/server.py legacy_research branch: wrap exception text via redact() before returning to MCP client.
2. New test test_legacy_research_exception_redacted verifying secret patterns are stripped.

Plan

docs/exec-plans/active/autosearch-0426-p0-fix-plan-execution.md § F014 (S1-S2).

Commits

• 5bacda4 test scaffold (S1)
• 2465a95 redact in legacy path (S2)

Test plan

• pytest tests/unit/test_research_deprecation.py tests/unit/test_mcp_error_redaction.py — 7 passed
• pytest tests/unit/ -m "not real_llm and not slow and not network" — 674 passed, 3 skipped
• ruff clean

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes

  • Error messages returned by the research tool are now automatically sanitized to prevent potential exposure of sensitive information in error responses.

• Tests

  • Enhanced test coverage to verify proper redaction and sanitization of error messages in the research tool, including legacy modes.

[coderabbitai]

Caution

Review failed

Pull request was closed or merged during review

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Error handling in the MCP research tool now redacts exception messages using the redact function. The implementation imports redact, and tests are refactored with a helper function and a new test case verifying that legacy research error responses redact secret-shaped exception strings.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Summary
Error Message Redaction autosearch/mcp/server.py	Updated exception handling in research tool to apply redact() to error messages instead of returning raw exception text; import modified to include redact function.
Test Updates and Verification tests/unit/test_research_deprecation.py	Refactored tool invocation with _call_research helper; updated server creation to pass pipeline_factory directly; added _SecretFailingPipeline and new test case test_legacy_research_exception_redacted verifying error responses are redacted under legacy mode.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• PR #175: Refactors the research tool's return type to use Pydantic ResearchResponse envelope, affecting the same tool implementation.
• PR #233: Modifies the research() implementation's control flow and deprecation opt-in behavior, overlapping with the MCP server changes.

Suggested labels

tests, no-issue-link

Poem

🐰 Secrets hidden in exception's cry,
Now redacted ere the logs fly high!
Tests confirm the mystery stays sealed,
Legacy mode keeps secrets revealed—
A rabbit's work, both thorough and spry! 🔐

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 60.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly and specifically describes the main change: redacting exception text in the deprecated legacy research path.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description covers key sections including What (summary), Why (P1 fix for secret leakage), Changes, Test plan with results, but lacks some template sections like Root Cause and Evidence checkboxes.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

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✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR addresses a secrets-leak risk in the deprecated MCP research() legacy path (enabled via AUTOSEARCH_LEGACY_RESEARCH=1) by ensuring exception text is redacted before being returned to MCP clients.

Changes:

• Redact exception strings returned from the legacy research() MCP tool error response.
• Add a unit test to ensure secret-shaped tokens in legacy research() exceptions are replaced with [REDACTED].

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
autosearch/mcp/server.py	Wraps legacy research() exception content with redact() before returning the MCP response.
tests/unit/test_research_deprecation.py	Adds coverage asserting legacy research() error responses do not include secret-shaped substrings.