Simplify permissions: agent job ALWAYS gets contents:read by Copilot · Pull Request #13949 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-02-05T16:10:18Z

The failing integration tests had incorrect expectations about when contents: read permission should be added. The agent job always requires contents: read to checkout .github and .actions folders.

Changes

Removed conditional logic: Simplified compiler_activation_jobs.go to unconditionally add contents: read to agent job permissions (no longer checks action mode or local actions)
Simplified checkout logic: Updated shouldAddCheckoutStep in compiler_jobs.go to always add checkout (removed complex conditional checks)
Test expectations corrected: Updated test files to expect contents: read in all modes including release mode

Why contents:read is Always Required

The agent job needs contents: read permission to access:

.github/workflows/*.md files for runtime-import
.agents/ folder for custom agents
actions/ folder for local actions in dev mode

By removing conditional logic, we ensure:

✅ Consistent behavior across all modes (dev, script, release)
✅ Simpler, more maintainable code
✅ No edge cases where required permissions are missing

Behavior

# User specifies:
permissions:
  issues: write

# Compiler ALWAYS adds contents:read:
permissions:
  contents: read  # Unconditionally added for .github/.actions access
  issues: write

The agent job now unconditionally gets contents: read permission in all modes, regardless of user-specified permissions or whether local actions are used.

Testing

✅ All workflow integration tests passing
✅ Build and linting pass
✅ TestCheckoutOptimization passing
✅ TestShouldAddCheckoutStep passing
✅ TestExplicitEmptyPermissionsInDevMode passing (now expects contents:read in release mode)

Original prompt

Fix the failing GitHub Actions workflow Integration: Workflow Misc Part 2
Analyze the workflow logs, identify the root cause of the failure, and implement a fix.
Job ID: 62642312326
Job URL: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/21718804191/job/62642312326

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- Modify shouldAddCheckoutStep to not auto-add contents:read when permissions are explicitly specified without it - Modify buildMainJob to only auto-add contents:read for empty permissions or when contents is explicitly set to none - Modify generateCheckoutActionsFolder to skip checkout when permissions don't include contents - Fixes TestCheckoutOptimization and TestShouldAddCheckoutStep tests Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-02-05T16:27:11Z

@copilot fix the tests. contents: read is required always in the action job to checkout .github and .actions folders.

- Update TestLocalActionPermissions to expect no checkout when explicit permissions don't include contents - Fix test assertions to handle jobs without permissions blocks - Handle explicit empty permissions {} same as no permissions specified - All related tests now pass Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

- Verified build succeeds - Verified code formatting passes - Verified linting passes - All related tests passing: TestCheckoutOptimization, TestShouldAddCheckoutStep, TestLocalActionPermissions, TestExplicitEmptyPermissionsInDevMode - All workflow integration tests passing Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-02-05T16:39:03Z

@copilot fix the tests. contents: read is required always in the action job to checkout .github and .actions folders.

pelikhan · 2026-02-05T16:39:59Z

@copilot the agent job should ALWAYS have contents: read permission. Remove logic. Update tests

Reverted previous changes that made contents:read optional. The agent job ALWAYS needs contents:read permission to checkout .github and .actions folders for: - Runtime imports (.github/workflows/*.md) - Custom agents (.agents/) - Local actions (actions/ folder in dev mode) Updated test expectations: - TestCheckoutOptimization: Now expects checkout even without explicit contents permission - TestShouldAddCheckoutStep: Now expects checkout to be added for .github access The original compiler logic was correct - it always adds contents:read when using local actions or runtime imports. Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-05T16:46:33Z

@copilot fix the tests. contents: read is required always in the action job to checkout .github and .actions folders.

Fixed in ecc632d. Reverted the changes that made contents: read optional. The agent job now always gets contents: read permission to checkout .github and .actions folders, regardless of user-specified permissions. Updated test expectations accordingly.

@copilot fix the tests. contents: read is required always in the action job to checkout .github and .actions folders.

Fixed in ecc632d. Reverted the changes that made contents: read optional. The agent job now always gets contents: read permission to checkout .github and .actions folders, regardless of user-specified permissions. Updated test expectations accordingly.

Removed all conditional logic for adding contents:read permission. The agent job now ALWAYS gets contents:read permission regardless of: - Action mode (dev/script/release) - Whether local actions are used - User-specified permissions This ensures consistent access to .github and .actions folders for: - Runtime imports - Custom agents - Workflow files Updated test expectations to reflect unconditional contents:read. Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-05T16:56:21Z

@copilot the agent job should ALWAYS have contents: read permission. Remove logic. Update tests

Done in f669076. Removed all conditional logic - the agent job now ALWAYS gets contents: read permission in all modes (dev/script/release), regardless of user-specified permissions or whether local actions are used. Updated test expectations accordingly.

…-c7e0-44c0-b8cc-cc397ff33058

Copilot

Pull request overview

This pull request simplifies the permissions handling logic for agent jobs by unconditionally adding contents: read permission. Previously, the compiler conditionally added this permission based on action mode and whether local actions were present. The new approach recognizes that the agent job always requires contents: read to access .github and .actions folders, regardless of the deployment mode.

Changes:

Removed conditional permission logic that checked action mode or local actions presence
Updated agent job to always receive contents: read permission
Simplified checkout step logic to always add checkout (since contents: read is guaranteed)

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/compiler_activation_jobs.go	Simplified permission addition to unconditionally grant `contents: read` to agent job
pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go	Simplified `shouldAddCheckoutStep` to always return true since agent always has `contents: read`
pkg/workflow/permissions_explicit_empty_test.go	Updated test expectations to verify `contents: read` is added even in release mode with empty permissions
pkg/workflow/checkout_optimization_test.go	Updated test expectations to reflect that checkout is always added
specs/artifacts.md	Auto-generated documentation file

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Initial plan

5121b16

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Feb 5, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:11 View session

This was referenced Feb 5, 2026

📰 Repository Chronicle - Team Powers Through 20 PRs in 24-Hour Development Sprint #13950

Open

Smoke Test: Copilot - 21719197327 #13952

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github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 5, 2026

Mount gh CLI binary in agentic-workflows MCP server container #13948

Merged

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix failing GitHub Actions workflow Integration: Workflow Misc Part 2~~ Respect explicit permissions when omitting contents scope Feb 5, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:39 View session

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Respect explicit permissions when omitting contents scope~~ Fix failing tests: contents:read required for .github/.actions access Feb 5, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:47

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:47

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:48 View session

Copilot AI changed the title ~~Fix failing tests: contents:read required for .github/.actions access~~ Simplify permissions: agent job ALWAYS gets contents:read Feb 5, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:57

pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 5, 2026 16:57

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 5, 2026 16:57

Merge branch 'main' into copilot/fix-github-actions-workflow-da4f02cc…

574e827

…-c7e0-44c0-b8cc-cc397ff33058

pelikhan enabled auto-merge (squash) February 5, 2026 16:57

pelikhan merged commit 86cd6bc into main Feb 5, 2026
47 of 48 checks passed

pelikhan deleted the copilot/fix-github-actions-workflow-da4f02cc-c7e0-44c0-b8cc-cc397ff33058 branch February 5, 2026 16:57

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 16:57 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 5, 2026

View reviewed changes

This was referenced Feb 5, 2026

Smoke Test: Copilot - 21720995330 #13958

Closed

Smoke Test: Claude - 21720995325 #13959

Closed

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 5, 2026 17:21

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 6, 2026

🌱 Daily Team Evolution Insights - February 6, 2026 #14038

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Simplify permissions: agent job ALWAYS gets contents:read#13949

Simplify permissions: agent job ALWAYS gets contents:read#13949
pelikhan merged 7 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-github-actions-workflow-da4f02cc-c7e0-44c0-b8cc-cc397ff33058

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Changes

Why contents:read is Always Required

Behavior

Testing

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