## Summary
The CI runner fails `pnpm install --frozen-lockfile` since the AI-relay chantier added `grpc-tools` to the dep tree. The package's postinstall downloads a precompiled `protoc` archive from `node-precompiled-binaries.grpc.io`, and Node 24's bundled CA set cannot verify the TLS chain on the runner network path.
The fix follows the Node team's own remediation, surfaced verbatim in the error message:
> unable to verify the first certificate; if the root CA is installed locally, try running Node.js with `--use-system-ca`
Setting `NODE_OPTIONS=--use-system-ca` at the workflow `env:` block makes Node consult the OS CA store in addition to its bundled set. The runner image (`catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04` per [ADR-0015](docs/decisions/0015-cicd-gitea-actions.md)) carries the standard Ubuntu `ca-certificates` bundle, which validates the chain.
## What lands
`.gitea/workflows/ci.yml`:
```yaml
env:
NODE_OPTIONS: --use-system-ca
```
`.gitea/workflows/docs-site.yml`: same one-line block.
Both placed at workflow scope so every Node process (pnpm itself + every postinstall it spawns) inherits the option without per-step duplication.
No package.json change. No code change. No runner-image change.
## Notes for the reviewer
- **Why not skip the grpc-tools postinstall in CI instead.** The protoc binary downloaded here is never invoked in CI — the generated TypeScript stubs in `apps/portal-bff/src/grpc/gen/` are committed (per ADR-0024 §"Sub-decision 3 — vendored protos"), so CI only needs to type-check them. Removing `grpc-tools` from `pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies` would also clear the failure and is arguably more minimal in CI. The trade-off: developers who update protos would have to opt back into the postinstall (`pnpm approve-builds grpc-tools && pnpm rebuild grpc-tools`) before running `pnpm grpc:codegen`. `--use-system-ca` keeps the developer workflow identical and fixes the underlying TLS-chain issue for any future native dep that hits the same wall (a real risk as the dep tree grows). The cost is a single workflow env var.
- **Why workflow-scope `env:` rather than per-step `env:`.** Five separate `pnpm install` steps run across `ci.yml`; setting it five times would invite drift. The `env:` block at workflow scope applies to every step in every job — clean, single source of truth.
- **Node 24 compatibility.** `--use-system-ca` is documented since Node 22; Node 24 (the workspace LTS per `.nvmrc`) carries it. No `.nvmrc` change required.
- **Local-dev impact.** None. Local developers' Node already validates the chain (the issue is specific to the runner's network path); the env var is a no-op locally.
- **Forward compatibility.** If a future native dep fetches binaries from a different CDN with a similar chain issue, this fix covers it without further changes.
## Test plan
This PR cannot be locally validated in a way that reproduces the failure — the CI runner's network path is the only environment where `node-precompiled-binaries.grpc.io` cannot be reached with Node's bundled CA. The validation is the next CI run.
- [ ] **CI green** on this PR's first run — `pnpm install --frozen-lockfile` completes; `pnpm ci:check` runs to completion.
- [ ] If CI still fails: the runner's Ubuntu CA bundle does not contain the missing intermediate either. Fallback path: drop `grpc-tools` from `pnpm.onlyBuiltDependencies` so the postinstall is skipped entirely in CI (and document the dev-side `pnpm approve-builds` step). Trivial follow-up if needed.
## What's next
If `--use-system-ca` fixes the CI install and no other Node TLS issues surface, no further action is required. The env var stays as a forward-looking guard.
---------
Co-authored-by: Julien Gautier <julien.gautier@apf.asso.fr>
Reviewed-on: #199
julien
219b7a2143