Make agentic-workflows agent more flexible on bash tools (sandboxed by default)

[Copilot]

The agent was overly cautious about bash tools despite workflows being sandboxed by the Agent Workflow Firewall (AWF). Updated guidance to reflect that bash/edit are enabled by default with * (all commands) and shouldn't be restricted unnecessarily.

Changes

.github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md

• Reframed "Default Tools" section to emphasize AWF sandboxing as the security boundary
• Added explicit "DO NOT restrict bash tools unnecessarily" guidance
• Added bash/edit to "Defaults to Omit" section in step-by-step guide
• First bullet in Tools section now states bash/edit are default-enabled

.github/agents/agentic-workflows.agent.md

• Added "Sandboxed Execution" to Key Features
• Added bash-enabled-by-default note to Important Notes

Before/After

Before: "Only specify bash: with specific patterns if you need to restrict commands beyond the secure defaults"

After: "DO NOT restrict bash tools unnecessarily - The sandbox already provides security, so restricting bash commands adds friction without meaningful security benefit"

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• telemetry.astro.build
  • Triggering command: /opt/hostedtoolcache/node/24.13.0/x64/bin/node node /home/REDACTED/work/gh-aw/gh-aw/docs/node_modules/.bin/astro build (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

• Configure Actions setup steps to set up my environment, which run before the firewall is enabled
• Add the appropriate URLs or hosts to the custom allowlist in this repository's Copilot coding agent settings (admins only)

Original prompt

The agentic-workflows.agent.md agent should be a bit more flexible on the bash tools. it should instruct the agent to create agentic workflow by default to enable all the bash tools since the agnet is sandboxed inside of awf anyways.

Custom agent used: technical-doc-writer
AI technical documentation writer for GitHub Actions library using GitHub Docs voice

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.