cmd/review-bot/main.go

@@ -174,9 +174,12 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
-	// Early validation of filesystem-path flags (fail fast before network I/O)
+	// Early validation of filesystem-path flags (fail fast before network I/O).
+	// Skip local-path validation when --doc-map-trusted-ref is set: the flag
+	// value is used as a VCS API path, not a local filesystem path, and the
+	// file may not exist in the local checkout (sparse, PR-deleted, etc.).
 	var resolvedDocMapFile string
-	if *docMapFile != "" {
+	if *docMapFile != "" && *docMapTrustedRef == "" {
 		resolved, err := validateWorkspacePath(*docMapFile, "doc-map")
 		if err != nil {
 			slog.Error("invalid doc-map path", "error", err)

cmd/review-bot/main_test.go

@@ -1578,3 +1578,47 @@ func TestMainSubprocess_InvalidDocMapFile(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expected error about failed resolution, got: %s", output)
 	}
 }
+
+// TestMainSubprocess_DocMapTrustedRefSkipsLocalValidation confirms that
+// --doc-map-trusted-ref bypasses local filesystem validation for --doc-map.
+// When the trusted-ref flag is set, the doc-map value is used as a VCS API
+// path; a nonexistent local file must not cause an early exit before network I/O.
+func TestMainSubprocess_DocMapTrustedRefSkipsLocalValidation(t *testing.T) {
+	if os.Getenv("TEST_SUBPROCESS_MAIN") == "1" {
+		flag.CommandLine = flag.NewFlagSet(os.Args[0], flag.ExitOnError)
+		os.Args = []string{"review-bot",
+			"--vcs-url", "https://gitea.example.com",
+			"--repo", "owner/repo",
+			"--pr", "1",
+			"--reviewer-token", "tok",
+			"--llm-base-url", "https://api.example.com",
+			"--llm-api-key", "key",
+			"--llm-model", "gpt-4",
+			"--doc-map", "nonexistent-local.yml",
+			"--doc-map-trusted-ref", "main",
+		}
+		main()
+		return
+	}
+
+	cmd := exec.Command(os.Args[0], "-test.run=TestMainSubprocess_DocMapTrustedRefSkipsLocalValidation")
+	cmd.Env = append(cleanEnv(),
+		"TEST_SUBPROCESS_MAIN=1",
+		"GITHUB_WORKSPACE="+t.TempDir(),
+	)
+	out, err := cmd.CombinedOutput()
+	output := string(out)
+
+	// The test must fail (network I/O or VCS API failure) but must NOT
+	// fail with the local filesystem validation error.
+	// "failed to resolve" would indicate the early validateWorkspacePath ran —
+	// that would be the bug this test is catching.
+	if strings.Contains(output, "failed to resolve") {
+		t.Errorf("--doc-map-trusted-ref should skip local path validation, but got filesystem error: %s", output)
+	}
+
+	// It must still exit non-zero (real VCS call to example.com will fail).
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected non-zero exit when VCS API is unreachable, got success")
+	}
+}

review/docmap.go

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ func ParseDocMapConfig(localPath string) (*DocMapConfig, error) {
 
 // ParseDocMapConfigContent parses a doc-map YAML config from an in-memory
 // string. The source parameter is used only for error messages and log entries
-// (e.g. "main:main@<ref>").
+// (e.g. "owner/repo@main:.review-bot/doc-map.yml").
 //
 // Use this when the config content has been fetched from a trusted VCS ref
 // rather than read from the local workspace.