Fix error messages not shown in gh aw compile output by Copilot · Pull Request #14901 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-02-11T06:17:57Z

Error messages from gh aw compile were not displayed to users—only error counts and file paths were shown. Users had to set DEBUG=workflow or use --json to see what actually went wrong.

Changes

Add ErrorMessages []string field to WorkflowFailure struct
Pass error messages to trackWorkflowFailure from compile orchestration
Display error messages in printCompilationSummary

Before

✗ Compiled 1 workflow(s): 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)
✗ Failed workflows:
  - .github/workflows/bad-workflow.md (1 error)
✗ compilation failed

After

✗ Compiled 1 workflow(s): 1 error(s), 0 warning(s)
.github/workflows/bad-workflow.md:6:1: error: Unknown property: bad_field...
3 |   workflow_dispatch:
4 | 
5 | # Comment
6 | bad_field: value
    ^^^^^^^^^
7 | ---
✗ compilation failed

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Previously, when running `gh aw compile`, users would only see the count of errors and the workflow filenames, but not the actual error messages. They had to use `--json` flag or set `DEBUG` environment variable to see what went wrong. This change: - Adds ErrorMessages field to WorkflowFailure struct - Updates trackWorkflowFailure to pass error messages - Updates printCompilationSummary to display actual error messages Fixes: Error messages are now shown in the compilation summary without requiring DEBUG env var or --json flag. Co-authored-by: eaftan <4733401+eaftan@users.noreply.github.com>

- Added comment clarifying that only first error is used for return value - Added comment noting error messages include workflow path in file:line:col format Co-authored-by: eaftan <4733401+eaftan@users.noreply.github.com>

github-actions · 2026-02-11T06:36:51Z

🔍 PR Triage Results

Category: bug | Risk: low | Priority: 50/100

Scores Breakdown

Impact: 28/50 - Improves user experience by showing error messages, non-blocking bug fix
Urgency: 10/30 - Recent PR (0.2h old), CI pending, improves UX but not critical. Draft status reduces urgency
Quality: 12/20 - CI pending, detailed description with checklist (+5), includes tests (+3), WIP draft (-1)

📋 Recommended Action: defer

Rationale: Draft PR marked [WIP] - not ready for review until author marks ready for review.

Next Steps:

Wait for author to remove WIP/draft status
Ensure CI passes before review
Re-evaluate priority when marked ready

Triaged by PR Triage Agent on 2026-02-11

AI generated by PR Triage Agent

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR ensures gh aw compile surfaces the underlying validation/resolution error messages to users instead of only reporting counts and file paths.

Changes:

Add ErrorMessages []string to WorkflowFailure and plumb messages through compilation orchestration.
Update trackWorkflowFailure to store per-workflow error messages.
Update printCompilationSummary to print stored error messages in the error summary output.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

File	Description
pkg/cli/compile_orchestration.go	Collects validation error messages and passes them into failure tracking.
pkg/cli/compile_helpers.go	Extends failure tracking and updates summary printing to show error messages.
pkg/cli/compile_config.go	Adds `ErrorMessages` field to `WorkflowFailure`.
pkg/cli/compile_command_test.go	Updates tests to validate storing/propagating error messages in tracked failures.

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Copilot · 2026-02-11T07:05:32Z

pkg/cli/compile_helpers.go

+				for _, errMsg := range failure.ErrorMessages {
+					fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, errMsg)


printCompilationSummary will print nothing for failures that have FailureDetails entries but an empty ErrorMessages slice (e.g., if validation produced zero messages or a caller passes nil/empty). Since the else if len(stats.FailedWorkflows) > 0 fallback won’t run when FailureDetails is non-empty, users can lose all indication of which workflows failed. Add an in-loop fallback when len(failure.ErrorMessages)==0 (e.g., print failure.Path and failure.ErrorCount, or a generic “failed workflow” line) so failures are still visible even without messages.

Suggested change

for _, errMsg := range failure.ErrorMessages {

fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, errMsg)

if len(failure.ErrorMessages) > 0 {

for _, errMsg := range failure.ErrorMessages {

fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, errMsg)

}

} else {

// Fallback when there are no individual error messages for this failure

if failure.Path != "" {

fmt.Fprintln(

os.Stderr,

console.FormatErrorMessage(

fmt.Sprintf("Failed workflow %s (%d error(s))", failure.Path, failure.ErrorCount),

),

)

} else {

fmt.Fprintln(

os.Stderr,

console.FormatErrorMessage(

fmt.Sprintf("Failed workflow (%d error(s))", failure.ErrorCount),

),

)

}

Copilot · 2026-02-11T07:05:33Z

pkg/cli/compile_helpers.go

 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatErrorMessage(summary))
-		// List the failed workflows with their error counts
+		// Display actual error messages from each failed workflow
+		// Error messages already include workflow path in format: file:line:col: error: message


The comment asserts error messages “already include workflow path…”, but at least one caller passes err.Error() directly (e.g., resolution errors), which may not include the workflow path/line/col. Either (a) adjust the comment to reflect that messages may be raw, or (b) ensure call sites consistently prefix messages with workflowPath (and location when available) before storing/printing.

Suggested change

// Error messages already include workflow path in format: file:line:col: error: message

// Error messages may already include workflow path/position (e.g., "file:line:col: error: message").

// Callers are responsible for adding path/position context when available.

Copilot · 2026-02-11T07:05:33Z

pkg/cli/compile_orchestration.go

+			// Collect error messages from validation result for display in summary
+			var errMsgs []string
+			for _, verr := range fileResult.validationResult.Errors {
+				errMsgs = append(errMsgs, verr.Message)
+			}
+			trackWorkflowFailure(stats, resolvedFile, 1, errMsgs)


The “collect error messages from validation result” loop is duplicated (also in compileAllFilesInDirectory). Consider extracting a small helper (e.g., collectValidationMessages(errors []CompileValidationError) []string) to avoid repetition and keep message selection rules consistent in one place.

Copilot · 2026-02-11T07:05:33Z

pkg/cli/compile_orchestration.go

+			// Collect error messages from validation result
+			var errMsgs []string
+			for _, verr := range fileResult.validationResult.Errors {
+				errMsgs = append(errMsgs, verr.Message)
+			}
+			trackWorkflowFailure(stats, file, 1, errMsgs)


Same duplication as above—prefer reusing a shared helper for collecting verr.Message so future changes (filtering, formatting, truncation) don’t require editing multiple compilation paths.

Copilot · 2026-02-11T07:05:33Z

pkg/cli/compile_helpers.go


 // trackWorkflowFailure adds a workflow failure to the compilation statistics
-func trackWorkflowFailure(stats *CompilationStats, workflowPath string, errorCount int) {
+func trackWorkflowFailure(stats *CompilationStats, workflowPath string, errorCount int, errorMessages []string) {


Consider making errorMessages variadic (errorMessages ...string) instead of []string. This makes call sites clearer for the common single-message case and avoids forcing callers to allocate slices like []string{err.Error()} just to pass one message.

- Document enhanced compile error messages (#14901) - Document sandbox.agent: false option (#14888) - Document breaking change: timeout_minutes removed (#14860) - Update migration guide with breaking changes - Update codemod documentation Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Initial plan

c53353c

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and eaftan Feb 11, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of eaftan February 11, 2026 06:18 View session

This was referenced Feb 11, 2026

Smoke Test: Copilot - 21894859747 #14902

Closed

Remove sandbox: false, add sandbox.agent: false for firewall-only disable #14888

Merged

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits February 11, 2026 06:29

Address code review feedback with clarifying comments

9cf749a

- Added comment clarifying that only first error is used for return value - Added comment noting error messages include workflow path in file:line:col format Co-authored-by: eaftan <4733401+eaftan@users.noreply.github.com>

github-actions bot added pr-action:defer pr-priority:medium pr-risk:low pr-type:bug labels Feb 11, 2026

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 11, 2026

[PR Triage Report] PR Triage Report - 2026-02-11 #14904

Closed

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix error messages display in gh aw compile command~~ Fix error messages not shown in gh aw compile output Feb 11, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from eaftan February 11, 2026 06:39

Copilot finished work on behalf of eaftan February 11, 2026 06:39

pelikhan approved these changes Feb 11, 2026

View reviewed changes

pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 11, 2026 07:01

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 11, 2026 07:01

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of pelikhan February 11, 2026 07:02 View session

pelikhan merged commit ab43451 into main Feb 11, 2026
165 checks passed

pelikhan deleted the copilot/fix-gh-aw-compile-errors branch February 11, 2026 07:04

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 11, 2026

View reviewed changes

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 11, 2026

[docs] Update documentation for features from 2026-02-11 #14920

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Comments

Fix error messages not shown in gh aw compile output#14901

Fix error messages not shown in gh aw compile output#14901
pelikhan merged 3 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-gh-aw-compile-errors

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		for _, errMsg := range failure.ErrorMessages {
		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, errMsg)

	// Error messages already include workflow path in format: file:line:col: error: message
	// Error messages may already include workflow path/position (e.g., "file:line:col: error: message").
	// Callers are responsible for adding path/position context when available.

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🔍 PR Triage Results

Scores Breakdown

📋 Recommended Action: defer

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Copilot AI commented Feb 11, 2026 •

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