Security hardening + evidence-based standards across portfolio templates

[MelbourneDeveloper]

Summary

Two related threads, applied to this repo and standardized in the portfolio templates/spec/skill so every repo inherits them:

1. GitHub security baseline (supply-chain + code scanning)

• Dependabot — grouped version + security updates (minor/patch + major per ecosystem), weekly, no PR-spam. Template + self.
• CodeQL — separate codeql.yml, exactly three triggers (PR→main, weekly schedule, v* release tag — scans the released SHA), tailored matrix (repo languages ∩ CodeQL-supported-at-runtime), SHA-pinned, public-visibility gated.
• Dependency review — ci.yml security job (fail-on-severity: high), omitted where a native vuln-gate already covers deps.
• Secret scanning + push protection, SECURITY.md + private vulnerability reporting — mandated in spec, templated, applied here.
• Anti-duplication — one owner per concern (lint=style, CodeQL=vulnerable code, ONE dep scanner, platform secret scanning). Duplicate analysis wastes Actions minutes.

2. Evidence-based framing + tight Makefiles

• [EVIDENCE] (spec) / "Why — Run the Data" (README) / evidence pointer (AGENTS.md) — each standard is now mapped to the research that justifies it: AI writes less secure code with false confidence (Stanford CCS 2023), individual speed ≠ delivery gains (DORA 2024), ~8× duplication (GitClear 2025), coverage ≠ verification (Google mutation testing), noisy analysis gets switched off (Google static analysis), self-report is unreliable (METR 2025). Pushes data-driven AI decisions + security best practice. Full playbook: https://www.nimblesite.co/ai-strategy/.
• [MAKE-TIGHT] (spec + template) — anti-bloat rule: the standard 7 are a vocabulary not a quota; keep the public surface tight; non-standard targets are private (_-prefixed) by default; no dead targets.

Test plan

• make lint — clean (validates Playwright config).
• F# suite (dotnet fsi dashboard/test-report.fsx) — 175/175 passed.
• Playwright E2E runs in the CI container (the native Chromium download hangs locally; documented in this repo).
• All new spec cross-references ([GITHUB-*], [TEST-RULES], [CI-DESLOP], [MARKER-CLEANUP], [MAKE-TIGHT]) resolve.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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