CI validation: DEV_MODE env parsing fix

gittensor/validator/issue_discovery/scan.py

@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@
 """
 
 import asyncio
-import os
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Set, Tuple
@@ -57,6 +56,7 @@
     calculate_base_score_for_pr_files,
     check_merged_branch_eligibility,
 )
+from gittensor.validator.utils.config import dev_mode_enabled
 from gittensor.validator.utils.datetime_utils import calculate_time_decay
 from gittensor.validator.utils.load_weights import (
     LanguageConfig,
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ def _should_include_issue(issue: MirrorIssue) -> bool:
     discovery rewards in repos they maintain — mirrors the PR-side maintainer
     skip in ``oss_contributions/mirror/load.py``. Bypassed under DEV_MODE.
     """
-    if not os.environ.get('DEV_MODE') and issue.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
+    if not dev_mode_enabled() and issue.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
         return False
     return True
 

gittensor/validator/oss_contributions/mirror/load.py

@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
   merged_count used by ``check_eligibility`` isn't inflated by ineligible PRs.
 """
 
-import os
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta, timezone
 from typing import Dict, Optional
 
@@ -26,6 +25,7 @@
 from gittensor.utils.mirror.models import MirrorPullRequest
 from gittensor.validator.oss_contributions.mirror.scored_pr import ScoredPR
 from gittensor.validator.oss_contributions.mirror.scoring import _should_skip_merged_mirror_pr
+from gittensor.validator.utils.config import dev_mode_enabled
 from gittensor.validator.utils.load_weights import RepositoryConfig, resolve_scoring
 
 
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def _maybe_add_pr(
 
     # Silent maintainer skip — logging every maintainer-merged PR would dominate
     # the skip-reason log.
-    if not os.environ.get('DEV_MODE') and pr.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
+    if not dev_mode_enabled() and pr.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
         return
 
     if pr.state == 'OPEN':

gittensor/validator/oss_contributions/mirror/scoring.py

@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import math
-import os
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 
@@ -48,6 +47,7 @@
 from gittensor.validator.oss_contributions.scoring import (
     calculate_review_quality_multiplier,
 )
+from gittensor.validator.utils.config import dev_mode_enabled
 from gittensor.validator.utils.datetime_utils import calculate_time_decay
 from gittensor.validator.utils.isolated_scoring import isolated_calculate_token_score
 from gittensor.validator.utils.load_weights import (
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ def _should_skip_merged_mirror_pr(scored: ScoredPR, repo_config: RepositoryConfi
         return True, f'PR #{pr.pr_number} is MERGED but missing merged_at'
 
     # Defensive recheck — load already drops these (with DEV_MODE bypass)
-    if not os.environ.get('DEV_MODE') and pr.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
+    if not dev_mode_enabled() and pr.author_association in MAINTAINER_ASSOCIATIONS:
         return True, f'PR #{pr.pr_number} author is {pr.author_association}'
 
     if pr.merged_by_login and pr.merged_by_login.lower() == pr.author_login.lower():

gittensor/validator/utils/config.py

@@ -14,6 +14,19 @@
 # optional env vars
 STORE_DB_RESULTS = os.getenv('STORE_DB_RESULTS', 'false').lower() == 'true'
 
+_TRUTHY_ENV_VALUES = frozenset({'1', 'true', 'yes', 'on'})
+
+
+def dev_mode_enabled() -> bool:
+    """Whether DEV_MODE bypasses the maintainer filters.
+
+    Read at call time rather than import time so tests and operators can toggle it
+    per process. Matched by value, not presence: DEV_MODE=false must disable the
+    bypass on a production validator.
+    """
+    return os.getenv('DEV_MODE', '').strip().lower() in _TRUTHY_ENV_VALUES
+
+
 # log values
 bt.logging.info(f'VALIDATOR_WAIT: {VALIDATOR_WAIT}')
 bt.logging.info(f'VALIDATOR_STEPS_INTERVAL: {VALIDATOR_STEPS_INTERVAL}')

neurons/validator.py

@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 # DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 
 
-import os
 import time
 from functools import partial
 from typing import Dict, List, Set
@@ -36,7 +35,12 @@
     priority_pat_broadcast,
     priority_pat_check,
 )
-from gittensor.validator.utils.config import STORE_DB_RESULTS, WANDB_PROJECT, WANDB_VALIDATOR_NAME
+from gittensor.validator.utils.config import (
+    STORE_DB_RESULTS,
+    WANDB_PROJECT,
+    WANDB_VALIDATOR_NAME,
+    dev_mode_enabled,
+)
 from gittensor.validator.utils.load_weights import RepositoryConfig
 from gittensor.validator.utils.storage import DatabaseStorage
 from neurons.base.validator import BaseValidatorNeuron
@@ -55,7 +59,7 @@ class Validator(BaseValidatorNeuron):
     def __init__(self, config=None):
         super(Validator, self).__init__(config=config)
 
-        if os.environ.get('DEV_MODE'):
+        if dev_mode_enabled():
             bt.logging.warning('⚠ DEV_MODE is active — maintainer PR filtering is bypassed')
 
         # Ensure PAT storage file exists on boot

tests/validator/oss_contributions/mirror/test_load.py

@@ -202,6 +202,24 @@ def test_dev_mode_bypasses_maintainer_skip(self, monkeypatch):
 
         assert len(eval_.merged_prs) == 1
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize('dev_mode', ['0', 'false', 'off', 'no', '', ' '])
+    def test_dev_mode_disabled_values_keep_maintainer_skip(self, dev_mode, monkeypatch):
+        # An explicitly-disabled DEV_MODE must not bypass the filter on a
+        # production validator.
+        monkeypatch.setenv('DEV_MODE', dev_mode)
+        client = Mock()
+        client.get_miner_pulls.return_value = _build_response(
+            [
+                _pr_dict(1, author_association='OWNER'),
+                _pr_dict(2, author_association='CONTRIBUTOR'),
+            ]
+        )
+        eval_ = _eval()
+        load_miner_prs(eval_, _mirror_repos('entrius/gittensor-ui'), client=client)
+
+        assert len(eval_.merged_prs) == 1
+        assert eval_.merged_prs[0].pr.pr_number == 2
+
 
 # ============================================================================
 # Lookback window (sent to the mirror; windowing happens server-side)