Your coding agent can install a package. Who checks what comes next?

GitHub announced a package firewall preview on October 20. It sits between configured development endpoints and package registries, inspecting package information and downloads. This includes environments used by coding agents and GitHub Actions runners.

Enterprise Cloud customers, including those using data residency, can try it with npm. Policies can apply a waiting period to new releases and check for known malware or vulnerabilities. The preview is free; GitHub plans metered billing at general availability. Simply using an agent does not configure the firewall.

A fast coding assistant can turn a suggested dependency into an installed dependency very quickly. Our reading: checking that boundary matters as much as reviewing the code it writes. A package name in a plausible answer is not evidence that its contents are safe.

Try the policy on a small test repository first. Check what happens when a dependency is blocked and who can approve an exception. Keep tests and code review in place. A firewall is another checkpoint, rather than proof that every allowed package is harmless.