Technical diligence dossier
meridian-systems/meridian-platform @ 5df5415bdef5c9f52a1b6dbe7ac7474f1c5a3bfb2a6fe27e15a50900861e9b0798b19489d655Meridian Systems does not exist. Its repository is generated by a script with deliberately planted problems (contractors without agreements, a live-looking key, copyleft dependencies, contradictory AI attribution, a vulnerable CI workflow) and then analysed by the same engine customers use.
4 findings must be resolved before close; 29 further material findings and 5 material unknowns remain.
The level says how completely the evidence answers the diligence questions, not whether the software is good, secure or free of legal risk. AcquiCode does not run or test the code, audit its design, inspect infrastructure or data handling, or give legal advice, and it sees only the repositories listed under Scope.
Each finding, answer and piece of evidence carries one of these states. The readiness above can never be more certain than the weakest state it rests on.
1 production dependency is under a strong copyleft license: gpl-helpers@0.4.0 (GPL-3.0-or-later). Declared distribution model: on_prem. Counsel should review.
package-lock.json — gpl-helpers: GPL-3.0-or-later · lockfile.license · licenses.metadata@1package-lock.json — gpl-helpers@0.4.0 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_34cf22e8bc122451 · rule v1
1 production dependency is under a network copyleft license: pdf-render-kit@2.1.0 (AGPL-3.0-only). Network copyleft can require source disclosure to users who interact with the software over a network. Declared distribution model: on_prem. Counsel should review before close.
package-lock.json — pdf-render-kit: AGPL-3.0-only · lockfile.license · licenses.metadata@1package-lock.json — pdf-render-kit@2.1.0 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_fce4b3f03ecfbedd · rule v1
Stripe live key in config/.env.production line 1. The value is not reproduced here; fingerprint 792000dea84a3de5.
config/.env.production:1 — Stripe live key: sk_l… (31 chars) · secret.match · secrets.stripe-live-key@1Fingerprint fp_7bf5684e91e2c46e · rule v1
AWS access key ID in src/config.ts line 3. The value is not reproduced here; fingerprint fe916f86aa5d5cca.
src/config.ts:3 — AWS access key ID: AKIA… (20 chars) · secret.match · secrets.aws-access-key@1Fingerprint fp_e83b0a535b53e98c · rule v1
Declared as written by people (src/billing/**), but 1 matching file(s) carry AI attribution (e.g. src/billing/invoice.ts).
meridian-systems/meridian-platform:acquicode.yml — src/billing/** → human: Billing rules were written by hand by the core team · declaration.origin · declaration.origin@1commit 70ee954046d1 — Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1Fingerprint fp_235bc8dcb4afa396 · rule v1
Attribution records for src/ai/summarize.ts at 58d65e3e4738 disagree on 10 line(s): one source says AI, another says human.
src/ai/summarize.ts @ 58d65e3e4738 — git-ai authorship/3.0.0 · provenance.git_ai_note · ai.git_ai_note@1src/ai/summarize.ts @ 58d65e3e4738 — agent-trace 0.1.0 · provenance.agent_trace · ai.agent_trace@1Fingerprint fp_4427a89bf2492389 · rule v1
4 of 5 commit(s) carrying AI attribution landed without a pull request or merge (pushed directly to the analysed branch), so there is no record of review.
commit 58d65e3e4738 — Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 5f8ec9d222c4 — aider: · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 4c9a23cdf304 — Co-authored-by: Cursor Agent <cursoragent@cursor.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 70ee954046d1 — Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1Fingerprint fp_0303827158ddeaf2 · rule v1
Evidence shows use of aider, cursor, github-copilot but the plan tier, IP indemnity and output-filter settings in force were not declared. Indemnities typically depend on paid commercial tiers and specific settings.
No item-level evidence: this finding is derived from counts or configuration described in its summary.
Fingerprint fp_fc8d772c0a87b8b6 · rule v1
1 file(s) have line-level records attributing at least 80% of their current lines to AI tools and none to a named person (e.g. src/search/index.ts). This is a statement about the records, not a legal conclusion on authorship.
src/search/index.ts @ d0bc1462d623 — agent-trace 0.1.0 · provenance.agent_trace · ai.agent_trace@1commit d0bc1462d623 — Copilot <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1Fingerprint fp_7a90a7c416a2bc5a · rule v1
1 model artifact(s) are committed (e.g. models/churn.onnx). Their training data, license and origin cannot be established from the repository.
models/churn.onnx · file.model_artifact · ai.model_artifact@1Fingerprint fp_5a168622f9f84716 · rule v1
The product calls external AI services: OpenAI. All direct provider usage found is with OpenAI; its pricing, terms and model deprecations flow straight into the product.
src/ai/summarize.ts — api.openai.com · code.ai_endpoint · ai_dependency.endpoint@1package-lock.json — openai@4.52.7 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_3c7b083acc6dda3e · rule v1
The origin declaration for src/billing/** is dated 2024-06-30; 1 matching file(s) changed after that date (e.g. src/billing/invoice.ts).
meridian-systems/meridian-platform:acquicode.yml — src/billing/** → human: Billing rules were written by hand by the core team · declaration.origin · declaration.origin@1Fingerprint fp_8385f0edbc45e3ed · rule v1
1 production dependency is under source-available or use-restricted licenses: graph-weaver@1.3.2 (BUSL-1.1).
package-lock.json — graph-weaver: BUSL-1.1 · lockfile.license · licenses.metadata@1package-lock.json — graph-weaver@1.3.2 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_214aca74a57ed063 · rule v1
4 of 13 production dependencies have no license information in the analysed sources (e.g. numpy, scikit-learn, loadash, vendor/tinycrypt). Registry lookup was not enabled.
ml/requirements.txt — scikit-learn@* · manifest.entry · dependencies.parse@1vendor/tinycrypt · vendored.package · dependencies.vendored@1package-lock.json — loadash@1.0.0 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1ml/requirements.txt — numpy@>=1.26 · manifest.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_52840562c0b3a4d9 · rule v1
3 of 5 human contributors (5 commits) have no IP agreement in the supplied register: Chris Dale <chris.dale@gmail.com> (2), Priya Natarajan <priya@quickdev-agency.com> (2), octodev <4412345+octodev@users.noreply.github.com> (1).
meridian-systems/meridian-platform:acquicode.yml — 3 register entries · declaration.ip_register · ownership.register@1Fingerprint fp_848bd0d14535075b · rule v1
1 contributor(s) committed before their recorded agreement date: Ben Kaplan (first commit 2023-09-12, signed 2024-06-01). Confirm the agreements assign prior work.
meridian-systems/meridian-platform:acquicode.yml — 3 register entries · declaration.ip_register · ownership.register@1Fingerprint fp_a593eae5ced2d520 · rule v1
1 copyright notice(s) in first-party source name 1 other holder(s) (GeoCorp Ltd). Files: src/lib/geo.ts.
src/lib/geo.ts:2 — Copyright 2014 GeoCorp Ltd · file.copyright_notice · thirdparty.copyright@1Fingerprint fp_17fc8a987437918f · rule v1
1 reference(s) to Stack Overflow / Stack Exchange posts in 1 source file(s) (e.g. src/utils/retry.ts). Code copied from those posts is licensed CC BY-SA.
src/utils/retry.ts:2 — https://stackoverflow.com/questions/38213668/promise-retry-design-patterns · file.stackoverflow_reference · thirdparty.stackoverflow@1Fingerprint fp_3eed04f51fa86ea1 · rule v1
1 first-party file(s) declare GPL-2.0-only in SPDX headers, differing from the project license (LicenseRef-Proprietary) (e.g. src/lib/parse.ts).
src/lib/parse.ts:1 — GPL-2.0-only · file.spdx_identifier · licenses.spdx_header@1Fingerprint fp_2af3ae93590d474a · rule v1
Vendored code at vendor/tinycrypt (1 file) has no license file or license metadata.
vendor/tinycrypt · vendored.no_license · licenses.vendored@1Fingerprint fp_1b011aee5339e804 · rule v1
ml/requirements.txt declares 3 PyPI dependencies but no lockfile was found, so the exact versions installed are not recorded.
ml/requirements.txt · manifest.no_lockfile · reproducibility.lockfile@1Fingerprint fp_5654644c46289aa6 · rule v1 · PyPI:ml/requirements.txt
package-lock.json does not match package.json: 1 declared dependency is missing from the lockfile (zod).
package-lock.json — zod · lockfile.drift · reproducibility.drift@1Fingerprint fp_06d9df0faaec4243 · rule v1 · npm:meridian-platform
Dockerfile builds from node:latest, which changes whenever the publisher pushes.
Dockerfile:1 — node:latest · container.base_image · reproducibility.docker@1Fingerprint fp_88f9ec93f685af6b · rule v1
1 executable, library, bytecode or archive file(s) are committed (e.g. bin/legacy-export.exe). Their contents and origin cannot be established from the repository.
bin/legacy-export.exe — executable · file.binary · inventory.binary@1Fingerprint fp_f342a06d1f7bfe4b · rule v1
Database URL with password in config/.env.production line 2. The value is not reproduced here; fingerprint 76e6e0674be3dec6.
config/.env.production:2 — Database URL with password: Pr0d… (13 chars) · secret.match · secrets.database-url@1Fingerprint fp_70d6a433b2f745ae · rule v1
GitHub token existed in an earlier version of scripts/deploy.sh and is no longer in the current code. It remains retrievable from history; confirm it was rotated. Fingerprint 1a1d9910c24f9461.
scripts/deploy.sh — GitHub token: ghp_… (40 chars) · secret.history_match · secrets.github-token@1Fingerprint fp_a7b365ab1b120a82 · rule v1
Environment file config/.env.production is committed.
config/.env.production · file.env · secrets.env_file@1Fingerprint fp_17c7fe8a363a1614 · rule v1
.github/workflows/ci.yml is triggered by pull_request_target and checks out pull request code, which then runs with repository secrets and a write token.
.github/workflows/ci.yml:12 — pull_request_target + checkout of PR head · ci.pr_target_checkout · ci.github_actions@1Fingerprint fp_07ce8a28034ed08f · rule v1
.github/workflows/ci.yml interpolates github.event.pull_request.title into a shell command; an attacker who controls that text can run commands in the pipeline.
.github/workflows/ci.yml:16 — ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }} · ci.script_injection · ci.github_actions@1Fingerprint fp_f961f0e04a7182e1 · rule v1
1 dependency is fetched over plain HTTP (meridian-auth).
package-lock.json — meridian-auth@0.9.4 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_78492bcdb01ea061 · rule v1
1 unscoped package(s) resolve from a private registry (meridian-auth). If the same names are claimed on the public registry, a misconfigured install can fetch the public package instead.
package-lock.json — meridian-auth@0.9.4 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_19cf85222bcfbde1 · rule v1
ml/requirements.txt adds a private index with --extra-index-url. pip considers every index and installs the highest version, so a public package with the same name as a private one can be installed instead.
ml/requirements.txt — --extra-index-url https://pypi.meridian.internal/simple · config.extra_index_url · supplychain.extra_index@1Fingerprint fp_dcfba87d00eeeb25 · rule v1
1 direct dependency has a name one character away from a popular package (loadash). Confirm they are the intended packages.
package-lock.json — loadash@1.0.0 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_9f36f7280727811f · rule v1
2 attribution record(s) could not be checked against the repository (unknown revision, missing file or out-of-range lines) and carry no weight.
src/billing/tax.ts @ deadbeefdead — agent-trace 0.1.0 · provenance.agent_trace · ai.agent_trace@1src/ai/summarize.ts @ 58d65e3e4738 — agent-trace 0.1.0 · provenance.agent_trace · ai.agent_trace@1Fingerprint fp_2a7f642e89f66a95 · rule v1
Commit 81de5601f559 ("Add reporting module") added 950 lines across 10 files with no AI attribution, after AI tool configuration first appeared (2024-07-01). This is an inference, not evidence of AI origin; ask how it was produced.
commit 81de5601f559 — Add reporting module · commit.bulk_unattributed · ai.bulk_unattributed@1Fingerprint fp_26573072b1008fc6 · rule v1
1 model identifier(s) are hard-coded (gpt-4o-2024-08-06). Providers retire model versions on their own schedule.
src/ai/summarize.ts — gpt-4o-2024-08-06 · code.model_id · ai_dependency.model_id@1Fingerprint fp_0ec97258e4f8bf6b · rule v1
1 test file(s) for 25 source files (4%).
No item-level evidence: this finding is derived from counts or configuration described in its summary.
Fingerprint fp_fe72c0e0b81ff642 · rule v1
1 comment(s) say code was copied or adapted from an external URL (e.g. src/lib/parse.ts).
src/lib/parse.ts:2 — Adapted from https://github.com/example/csv-lite/blob/main/parse.c · file.copied_from · thirdparty.copied_from@1Fingerprint fp_b8c966ddde259430 · rule v1
Dockerfile builds from python:3.12-slim, pinned by tag but not by digest.
Dockerfile:5 — python:3.12-slim · container.base_image · reproducibility.docker@1Fingerprint fp_78d21b97267087c1 · rule v1
Toolchain versions are not pinned for: Python (no .python-version or requires-python).
No item-level evidence: this finding is derived from counts or configuration described in its summary.
Fingerprint fp_1bb866e7d816d9ad · rule v1
Build output directories are committed: dist. Committed artifacts may not correspond to the committed source.
dist · repo.build_output · inventory.build_output@1Fingerprint fp_c8eeabe6abdf320f · rule v1
1 third-party action reference(s) are pinned to a tag or branch rather than a commit SHA (some-org/deploy-action@v2).
.github/workflows/ci.yml:13 — some-org/deploy-action@v2 · ci.unpinned_action · ci.github_actions@1Fingerprint fp_d8daffb1bdf1155b · rule v1
1 pipeline or container file(s) pipe a downloaded script into a shell (.github/workflows/ci.yml).
.github/workflows/ci.yml:17 — curl -sL https://get.example-cdn.io/setup.sh | bash · ci.pipe_to_shell · ci.pipe_to_shell@1Fingerprint fp_13a446ca9cf1aa3c · rule v1
.github/workflows/ci.yml grants the workflow token write-all permissions.
No item-level evidence: this finding is derived from counts or configuration described in its summary.
Fingerprint fp_0d06f7a88cd76b4a · rule v1
1 production dependency runs install scripts (bcrypt@5.1.1).
package-lock.json — bcrypt@5.1.1 · lockfile.entry · dependencies.parse@1Fingerprint fp_6e7faed0bb6fb3dd · rule v1
Evidence of 5 AI coding tool(s): aider (1 attributed commit); chatgpt (file-comment); claude-code (2 attributed commits); cursor (2 attributed commits); github-copilot (1 attributed commit).
commit 58d65e3e4738 — Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 5f8ec9d222c4 — aider: · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 4c9a23cdf304 — Co-authored-by: Cursor Agent <cursoragent@cursor.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit d0bc1462d623 — Copilot <198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1commit 70ee954046d1 — Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> · commit.ai_signal · ai.commit_signal@1Fingerprint fp_f76e52d6f06c1478 · rule v1
Hard-coded credential in test/billing.test.ts line 3 (test, example or placeholder value; confirm it is not live). The value is not reproduced here; fingerprint 1c26c5513f77abea.
Suppression reason (company-asserted): Test-only password used by the billing unit test; not a real credential. — security@meridian.io
test/billing.test.ts:3 — Hard-coded credential: test… (17 chars) · secret.match · secrets.generic-secret@1Fingerprint fp_8a5d3f0986dc1ede · rule v1