Move prompt generation to activation job with artifact transfer by Copilot · Pull Request #16209 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-02-16T19:55:38Z

Move Prompt Generation to Activation Job ✅

Prompt rendering and validation now execute in the activation job instead of the agent job, with prompt.txt transferred via artifact upload/download.

Changes

Activation job (compiler_activation_jobs.go)

Added generatePromptInActivationJob() method that generates all prompt steps
Added generateCheckoutGitHubFolderForActivation() to checkout .github and .agents folders before prompt generation
Sparse checkout of .github and .agents folders ensures runtime imports are available during prompt interpolation
Calls generatePrompt() to create prompt with built-in context, interpolation, substitution, and validation
Uploads prompt.txt artifact with 1-day retention using if: success() condition

Agent job (compiler_yaml_main_job.go and compiler_activation_jobs.go)

Downloads prompt artifact from activation job (fails fast if missing)
Removed local prompt generation call
Removed .github/.agents folder checkout (now handled in activation job)
Retains prompt.txt in unified agent artifacts upload for debugging

Workflow Structure

pre_activation → activation → agent
                 ├─ Checkout .github and .agents folders
                 ├─ Generate prompt (XPIA, temp folder, markdown, etc.)
                 ├─ Interpolate GitHub expressions (processes runtime imports)
                 ├─ Substitute placeholders
                 ├─ Validate prompt
                 ├─ Print prompt
                 └─ Upload prompt.txt artifact (if: success())
                                 ├─ Download prompt.txt artifact (fails fast)
                                 └─ Execute AI with prompt

Error Handling

Based on code review feedback:

Upload step uses if: success() to prevent uploading missing/invalid artifacts
Download step fails immediately if artifact is missing (no continue-on-error)
Ensures fail-fast behavior with clear error messages at each step

Benefits

Earlier validation: Prompt errors caught in activation job before expensive agent job starts
Faster failures: Invalid prompts fail in cheaper activation job
Artifact caching: Prompt can be reused if agent job is retried
Better separation: Activation handles preparation (including .github checkout for runtime imports), agent focuses on execution
Runtime imports work correctly: .github folder is available when processing runtime-import macros during interpolation

All 154 workflows compile successfully with the new structure.

Custom agent used: agentic-workflows
GitHub Agentic Workflows (gh-aw) - Create, debug, and upgrade AI-powered workflows with intelligent prompt routing

Original prompt

Move the prompt rendering/validation steps in the activation job (from the agent job), upload prompt.txt as an artifact and download the artifact in the agent job.

Custom agent used: agentic-workflows
GitHub Agentic Workflows (gh-aw) - Create, debug, and upgrade AI-powered workflows with intelligent prompt routing

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✨ PR Review Safe Output Test - Run 22077314017

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

Changeset

Type: patch
Description: Move the .github and .agents sparse checkout into the activation job so prompt rendering validation and other activation-time steps can rely on the repository files before the agent job runs, and regenerate the workflows to capture the new setup.

Generated by Changeset Generator

… upload/download Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

… moved to pre_activation Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-02-16T20:09:22Z

@copilot move print prompt step to activation job too

Copilot · 2026-02-16T20:14:54Z

@copilot move print prompt step to activation job too

The Print prompt step is already in the pre_activation job. When I moved the generatePrompt() call to pre_activation, it automatically included all prompt-related steps: Create prompt, Interpolate, Substitute, Validate, and Print. You can see this in commit 9b7beba - the Print prompt step appears at line 987 in the pre_activation job of ai-moderator.lock.yml (and similar positions in all 154 compiled workflows).

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:

https://api.github.com/user
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api user --jq .login (http 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)

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR moves prompt rendering/validation from the agent job to the pre-activation job and transfers the resulting prompt.txt to the agent job via an uploaded/downloaded artifact, enabling earlier failures and improving retry behavior.

Changes:

Generate the full prompt (render/interpolate/substitute/validate) during pre_activation and upload it as an artifact (prompt).
Download the prompt artifact in the agent job and remove local prompt generation there.
Update compiled workflow lockfiles to reflect the new “download prompt artifact” step in agent jobs.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 87 out of 156 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_main_job.go	Replaces in-agent prompt generation with an artifact download step.
pkg/workflow/compiler_activation_jobs.go	Adds prompt generation to pre-activation and uploads `prompt.txt` as an artifact.
.github/workflows/workflow-skill-extractor.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/workflow-normalizer.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/weekly-safe-outputs-spec-review.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/typist.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/test-workflow.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/test-project-url-default.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/test-dispatcher.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/terminal-stylist.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/sub-issue-closer.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/semantic-function-refactor.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/repo-tree-map.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/layout-spec-maintainer.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/issue-triage-agent.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/issue-arborist.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/functional-pragmatist.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/firewall.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/example-workflow-analyzer.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/example-permissions-warning.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/draft-pr-cleanup.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/dictation-prompt.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/dev.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/dependabot-go-checker.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-workflow-updater.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-syntax-error-quality.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-semgrep-scan.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-secrets-analysis.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-malicious-code-scan.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-fact.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-cli-tools-tester.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-choice-test.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/daily-assign-issue-to-user.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/copilot-pr-merged-report.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/codex-github-remote-mcp-test.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/cli-consistency-checker.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.
.github/workflows/chroma-issue-indexer.lock.yml	Agent job now downloads `prompt` artifact instead of generating prompt inline.

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Copilot · 2026-02-16T20:22:33Z

pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml_main_job.go

+	// Download prompt artifact from activation job
+	compilerYamlLog.Print("Adding prompt artifact download step")
+	yaml.WriteString("      - name: Download prompt artifact\n")
+	yaml.WriteString("        continue-on-error: true\n")
+	fmt.Fprintf(yaml, "        uses: %s\n", GetActionPin("actions/download-artifact"))
+	yaml.WriteString("        with:\n")
+	yaml.WriteString("          name: prompt\n")
+	yaml.WriteString("          path: /tmp/gh-aw/aw-prompts\n")


The prompt download step is marked continue-on-error: true, but the agent job no longer generates prompt.txt locally. If the artifact is missing (e.g., workflows where the pre-activation job is not created, or an upload/download failure), the job will proceed and later steps that read /tmp/gh-aw/aw-prompts/prompt.txt will fail with a less actionable error. Consider either (a) making the download step fail the job (remove continue-on-error) and ensuring the agent job always needs the pre-activation job, or (b) conditionally falling back to local prompt generation when the artifact is absent.

pkg/workflow/compiler_activation_jobs.go

…endering-validation

pelikhan · 2026-02-16T20:32:38Z

@copilot the prompt generation must be done in "activation" job, NOT "pre_activation"

…back - Remove continue-on-error from download step to fail fast if artifact is missing - Change upload step from if: always() to if: success() to prevent misleading errors - Remove continue-on-error from upload step - Fix misleading comment in generatePromptInActivationJob Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-16T20:34:06Z

Just as a heads up, I was blocked by some firewall rules while working on your feedback. Expand below for details.

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:

https://api.github.com/repos/actions/ai-inference/git/ref/tags/v2
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api /repos/actions/ai-inference/git/ref/tags/v2 --jq .object.sha (http block)
https://api.github.com/user
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api user --jq .login (http 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)

@pelikhan

Per @pelikhan feedback, prompt generation must be in the "activation" job, not "pre_activation". - Removed prompt generation and upload steps from buildPreActivationJob - Added prompt generation and upload steps to buildActivationJob - All tests pass, workflows compile successfully with prompt in activation job Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-16T20:39:36Z

@copilot the prompt generation must be done in "activation" job, NOT "pre_activation"

Fixed in commit 7df64a0. Prompt generation is now in the "activation" job, not "pre_activation". The job flow is now: pre_activation → activation (generates prompt) → agent (downloads prompt).

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:

https://api.github.com/repos/actions/ai-inference/git/ref/tags/v2
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api /repos/actions/ai-inference/git/ref/tags/v2 --jq .object.sha (http block)
https://api.github.com/user
- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api user --jq .login (http 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)

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:48Z

✨ The prophecy is fulfilled... Smoke Codex has completed its mystical journey. The stars align. 🌟

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:50Z

❌ Smoke Copilot SDK failed. Please review the logs for details.

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:50Z

🧪 Smoke Project is now testing project operations...

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:51Z

📰 BREAKING: Smoke Copilot is now investigating this pull request. Sources say the story is developing...

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:55Z

🧪 Smoke Temporary ID is now testing temporary ID functionality...

github-actions · 2026-02-16T21:57:56Z

🎬 THE END — Smoke Claude MISSION: ACCOMPLISHED! The hero saves the day! ✨

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:00:26Z

Agent Container Tool Check ✅

Tool	Status	Version
bash	✅	5.2.21
sh	✅	available
git	✅	2.52.0
jq	✅	1.7
yq	✅	4.52.2
curl	✅	8.5.0
gh	✅	2.86.0
node	✅	20.20.0
python3	✅	3.12.3
go	✅	1.24.13
java	✅	21.0.10
dotnet	✅	10.0.102

Result: 12/12 tools available ✅

🔧 Tool validation by Agent Container Smoke Test for issue #16209

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:00:42Z

✅ Smoke Temporary ID completed successfully. Temporary ID validation passed.

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:01:08Z

✅ Smoke Project completed successfully. All project operations validated.

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:27Z

Smoke Test Results - Run 22078648094

PRs Tested:

Rename infer: false to disable-model-invocation: true in custom agent frontmatter #16221: [WIP] Replace infer: false with disable-model-invocation: true
Move prompt generation to activation job with artifact transfer #16209: Move prompt generation to activation job with artifact transfer

Test Results:

✅ GitHub MCP
✅ Safe Inputs GH CLI
✅ Playwright
✅ File Operations
✅ Build System
✅ Discussion Query
✅ Workflow Dispatch
✅ PR Review

Status: PASS ✅

cc: @app/copilot-swe-agent

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot for issue #16209

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:28Z

PRs (merged): #16216 Add CI check to prevent release-compiled lock files; #16213 🌐 Update allowed domains for workflow configuration
GitHub MCP: ✅
Serena MCP (activate + find_symbol >=3): ✅
Playwright (title contains GitHub): ✅
File write + cat: ✅
Build (make build): ✅
Overall status: PASS

🔮 The oracle has spoken through Smoke Codex for issue #16209

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:35Z

🎭 The smoke test agent has arrived! We're exploring your enterprise cloud setup question while running validation tests. Stay tuned! ✨

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot for issue #16209

github-actions

Prompt generation refactoring looks solid. The new activation job approach with artifact transfer improves workflow organization.

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot for issue #16209

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:37Z

.github/workflows/agent-performance-analyzer.lock.yml

+            .github
+            .agents
+          fetch-depth: 1
+          persist-credentials: false


Good change - sparse checkout reduces clone time significantly.

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:37Z

.github/workflows/agent-performance-analyzer.lock.yml

+          GH_AW_GITHUB_EVENT_DISCUSSION_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.discussion.number }}
+          GH_AW_GITHUB_EVENT_ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+          GH_AW_GITHUB_EVENT_PULL_REQUEST_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
+          GH_AW_GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}


The prompt generation consolidation looks clean - good refactoring.

github-actions · 2026-02-16T22:02:51Z

📰 VERDICT: Smoke Copilot has concluded. All systems operational. This is a developing story. 🎤

mohamedbouddi7777-dev · 2026-02-20T04:24:23Z

Ok في الاثنين، ١٦ فبراير ٢٠٢٦، ٢٢:٣٦ Peli de Halleux ***@***.***> كتب:

…

Merged #16209 <#16209> into main. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#16209 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B2DFN3XFQWNABU5TAG2RNTD4MJA6VAVCNFSM6AAAAACVKKFG32VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV45UABCJFZXG5LFIV3GK3TUJZXXI2LGNFRWC5DJN5XDWMRSHAZTOMBZGYZDQNY> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

Initial plan

2cda4e4

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Feb 16, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 16, 2026 19:56 View session

pelikhan mentioned this pull request Feb 16, 2026

a3-python regression #16170

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Copilot AI and others added 2 commits February 16, 2026 20:04

Move prompt generation from agent to pre_activation job with artifact…

96878cd

… upload/download Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Final validation: All 154 workflows compiled successfully with prompt…

9b7beba

… moved to pre_activation Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Move prompt rendering and validation in activation job~~ Move prompt generation to pre_activation job with artifact transfer Feb 16, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan February 16, 2026 20:11

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pelikhan added 2 commits February 16, 2026 20:27

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into copilot/move-prompt-r…

bb06fff

…endering-validation

recompile

070bebc

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Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

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This was referenced Feb 16, 2026

[smoke-temporary-id] Test Parent: Temporary ID Validation #16222

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[smoke-temporary-id] Sub-Issue 1: Test Temporary ID References #16223

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[smoke-temporary-id] Sub-Issue 2: Test Different ID Length #16224

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Add changeset [skip-ci]

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Smoke Test: Copilot - 22078648094 #16226

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Smoke Test: Claude - 22078648109 #16227

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pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 16, 2026 22:35

pelikhan merged commit 0069a24 into main Feb 16, 2026
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Smoke Test: Claude - 22211157844 #17094

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