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Replace complex daily-team-status with simple Hello World workflow in Quick Start #6550

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Copilot Dec 15, 2025
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Replace complex example with simple Hello World workflow in Quick Start
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Fix broken link in daily-team-status documentation
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Add test for Hello World example in Quick Start guide
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1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions docs/src/content/docs/examples/scheduled.md
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Expand Up @@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ Scheduled workflows run automatically at specified times using cron expressions.
## Patterns in This Section

- **[DailyOps](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/dailyops/)** - Make incremental improvements through small daily changes
- **[Daily Team Status](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/daily-team-status/)** - Automated daily status reports and team updates
- **[Research & Planning](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/research-planning/)** - Automated research, status reports, and planning

## Example Schedule Triggers
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141 changes: 141 additions & 0 deletions docs/src/content/docs/examples/scheduled/daily-team-status.md
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@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
---
title: Daily Team Status Report
description: Automated daily status reports that gather repository activity and post upbeat team updates as discussions
---

This workflow automatically creates daily team status reports every weekday morning, gathering recent repository activity and posting engaging updates to help teams stay connected and informed.

## Use Case

- **Automated team updates**: Keep everyone informed without manual status meetings
- **Activity summaries**: Track issues, PRs, discussions, and code changes
- **Team morale**: Positive, encouraging updates that boost productivity
- **Community engagement**: Highlight contributions and suggest improvements

## Workflow Example

```aw wrap
---
timeout-minutes: 10
strict: true
on:
schedule:
- cron: "0 9 * * 1-5" # 9 AM on weekdays
workflow_dispatch:
permissions:
contents: read
issues: read
pull-requests: read
network: defaults
tools:
github:
safe-outputs:
create-discussion:
expires: 3d
category: announcements
title-prefix: "[team-status] "
close-older-discussions: true
---

# Daily Team Status

Create an upbeat daily status report for the team as a GitHub discussion.

## What to include

- Recent repository activity (issues, PRs, discussions, releases, code changes)
- Team productivity suggestions and improvement ideas
- Community engagement highlights
- Project investment and feature recommendations

## Style

- Be positive, encouraging, and helpful 🌟
- Use emojis moderately for engagement
- Keep it concise - adjust length based on actual activity

## Process

1. Gather recent activity from the repository
2. Create a new GitHub discussion with your findings and insights
```

## Configuration Details

### Scheduling

```yaml
on:
schedule:
- cron: "0 9 * * 1-5" # Runs at 9 AM, Monday-Friday
workflow_dispatch: # Also allows manual triggering
```

The workflow runs automatically on weekdays at 9 AM UTC. The `workflow_dispatch` trigger allows you to run it manually for testing or on-demand updates.

### Permissions

```yaml
permissions:
contents: read
issues: read
pull-requests: read
```

Read-only permissions allow the AI to gather repository data without making changes. The `create-discussion` safe-output handles creating the discussion post with appropriate permissions.

### Tools Configuration

```yaml
network: defaults
tools:
github:
```

Enables GitHub API access through the GitHub MCP server, allowing the AI to query issues, pull requests, discussions, and other repository data.

### Safe Outputs

```yaml
safe-outputs:
create-discussion:
expires: 3d # Auto-close after 3 days
category: announcements # Post to announcements category
title-prefix: "[team-status] " # Consistent title formatting
close-older-discussions: true # Clean up old reports
```

The `create-discussion` safe-output creates GitHub discussions with:
- **Auto-expiration**: Reports are automatically closed after 3 days
- **Categorization**: Posts appear in the "Announcements" category
- **Title prefix**: Makes reports easy to identify
- **Cleanup**: Automatically closes older status reports to reduce clutter

## Adding This Workflow

Install from the agentics collection:

```bash
gh aw add githubnext/agentics/daily-team-status --create-pull-request
```

Or create it manually in `.github/workflows/daily-team-status.md`.

## Customization Ideas

1. **Change schedule**: Adjust the cron expression to run at different times
2. **Focus areas**: Modify the prompt to emphasize specific metrics or topics
3. **Style preferences**: Adjust tone, emoji usage, or report format
4. **Different outputs**: Use `create-issue` or `add-comment` instead of discussions
5. **Additional data**: Include security alerts, dependencies, or code quality metrics

## Prerequisites

- **GitHub Discussions** must be enabled in your repository
- **Copilot token** configured as `COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN` secret
- **Announcements category** exists in Discussions (or modify category in config)

## Related Examples

- [DailyOps](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/dailyops/) - Continuous improvement through small daily changes
- [Research Planning](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/research-planning/) - Weekly planning workflows
134 changes: 99 additions & 35 deletions docs/src/content/docs/setup/quick-start.md
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Expand Up @@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ This guide walks you through setup step-by-step, so you don't need everything up
- *Why:* You need permission to add workflows, enable Actions, and configure secrets
- **GitHub Actions** enabled
- *Why:* Agentic workflows compile to GitHub Actions YAML files that run on GitHub's infrastructure
- **Discussions** enabled (optional for custom workflows)
- *Why:* The example workflow in this guide creates a daily status report as a discussion post
- *Note:* You can disable this requirement by customizing the workflow to use different outputs
- **Discussions** enabled
- *Why:* The Hello World example creates a discussion post to show a visible result
- *How to enable:* Go to your repository Settings → General → Features → Check "Discussions"

:::

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -112,15 +112,52 @@ Install the [GitHub CLI](https://cli.github.com/), then install the GitHub Agent
gh extension install githubnext/gh-aw
```

### Step 2 — Add a sample workflow
### Step 2 — Create your first workflow

Add a sample from the [agentics](https://github.com/githubnext/agentics) collection. From your repository root run:
Let's create a simple "Hello World" workflow that introduces you to agentic workflows without overwhelming complexity.

Create a new file `.github/workflows/hello-world.md` in your repository with this content:

```aw wrap
---
# Trigger: Run manually from GitHub Actions UI
on:
workflow_dispatch:

# Permissions: Read repository information
permissions:
contents: read

# AI Engine: Use GitHub Copilot
engine: copilot

# Safe Output: Allow creating discussions
safe-outputs:
create-discussion: {}
---

# My First Agentic Workflow

Create a discussion in the "General" category that says "Hello from my first agentic workflow!"

Include today's date and a fun fact about GitHub Copilot.
```

Now compile the workflow to generate the GitHub Actions YAML file:

```bash wrap
gh aw add githubnext/agentics/daily-team-status --create-pull-request
gh aw compile .github/workflows/hello-world.md
```

This creates a pull request that adds `.github/workflows/daily-team-status.md` and the [compiled](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#compilation) `.lock.yml` (the generated GitHub Actions workflow file). Review and merge the PR into your repo.
This creates `.github/workflows/hello-world.lock.yml` (the [compiled](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#compilation) GitHub Actions workflow file).

Commit both files to your repository:

```bash wrap
git add .github/workflows/hello-world.md .github/workflows/hello-world.lock.yml
git commit -m "Add my first agentic workflow"
git push
```

### Step 3 — Add an AI secret

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -193,12 +230,12 @@ Repository secrets are encrypted and never exposed in workflow logs. Only workfl

For more information, see the [GitHub Copilot CLI documentation](https://github.com/github/copilot-cli?tab=readme-ov-file#authenticate-with-a-personal-access-token-pat).

### Step 4 — Trigger a workflow run
### Step 4 — Trigger your workflow

Trigger the workflow immediately in GitHub Actions:
Trigger your workflow manually in GitHub Actions:

```bash wrap
gh aw run daily-team-status
gh aw run hello-world
```

After a few moments, check the status:
Expand All @@ -207,52 +244,79 @@ After a few moments, check the status:
gh aw status
```

Once complete, a new discussion post will be created in your repository with a daily news! The report will be automatically generated by the AI based on recent activity in your repository.
Once complete, a new discussion post will be created in your repository with a friendly "Hello World" message and today's date! The AI will also include an interesting fact about GitHub Copilot.

## Understanding Your First Workflow

Let's look at what you just added. The daily team status workflow automatically creates a status report every weekday and posts it as a discussion in your repository, and looks like this:
Let's look at what you just created. The workflow has two parts: **configuration** (frontmatter) and **instructions** (markdown body).

### Configuration (Frontmatter)

The section between `---` markers configures when and how the workflow runs:

```aw wrap
---
# Trigger: Run manually from GitHub Actions UI
on:
schedule:
- cron: "0 9 * * 1-5"
workflow_dispatch:

# Permissions: Read repository information
permissions:
contents: read
issues: read
pull-requests: read
network: defaults
tools:
github:

# AI Engine: Use GitHub Copilot
engine: copilot

# Safe Output: Allow creating discussions
safe-outputs:
create-discussion:
create-discussion: {}
---
```

**Breaking it down:**

# Daily Team Status
- **`on: workflow_dispatch`** - This workflow runs only when you manually trigger it from the GitHub Actions UI or CLI. No automatic scheduling.

Create an upbeat daily status report for the team as a GitHub discussion.
- Recent repository activity (issues, PRs, discussions, releases, code changes)
- Team productivity suggestions and improvement ideas
- Community engagement highlights
- Project investment and feature recommendations
- **`permissions: contents: read`** - The AI can read your repository content but cannot make any changes directly. This is a key security feature.

...
- **`engine: copilot`** - Uses GitHub Copilot as the AI [agent](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#agent) that executes your instructions.

1. Gather recent activity from the repository
2. Create a new GitHub discussion with your findings and insights
- **`safe-outputs: create-discussion: {}`** - Pre-approves the AI to request creating a discussion. The actual creation happens in a separate, permission-controlled job for security. The `{}` means use default settings.

:::tip[What is frontmatter?]
[Frontmatter](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#frontmatter) is the configuration section at the top of markdown files, written in [YAML](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#yaml) format. It's enclosed by `---` markers and controls how the workflow behaves.

Think of it like the settings panel for your workflow - you're not writing instructions yet, just configuring the environment.
:::

### Instructions (Markdown Body)

The section below the frontmatter contains your natural language instructions:

```markdown
# My First Agentic Workflow

Create a discussion in the "General" category that says "Hello from my first agentic workflow!"

Include today's date and a fun fact about GitHub Copilot.
```

This workflow triggers every weekday at 9 AM via cron schedule, has [permissions](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#permissions) to read repository content and create GitHub discussions, and runs AI instructions in natural language to generate status reports.
This is plain English telling the AI what to do. The AI reads these instructions, executes them within the configured environment, and uses the `create-discussion` safe-output to post the result.

**Why this works:**

**Understanding the structure:**
1. The AI reads your repository and the instructions
2. It generates content based on your requirements (greeting, date, fun fact)
3. It requests to create a discussion using the safe-output
4. A separate GitHub Actions job creates the discussion with proper permissions

- **[Frontmatter](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#frontmatter)** (between `---` markers): The configuration section with [YAML](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#yaml) settings that control when the workflow runs (`on:`), what permissions it has (`permissions:`), what tools it can use (`tools:`), and what outputs it can create (`safe-outputs:`).
### Want to Try Something More Complex?

- **Markdown body** (below frontmatter): Natural language instructions that tell the AI [agent](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#agent) what tasks to perform. Written in plain English, not code.
Once you're comfortable with this basic workflow, explore more advanced examples:

- **[Safe outputs](/gh-aw/reference/glossary/#safe-outputs)**: Pre-approved actions (like creating discussions, issues, or comments) that the AI can request without needing write permissions during execution. The workflow processes these requests in separate, permission-controlled jobs for security.
- **[Daily Team Status](/gh-aw/examples/scheduled/daily-team-status/)** - Automated status reports with cron scheduling, GitHub API integration, and richer safe-output configuration
- **[Manual Research Workflows](/gh-aw/examples/manual/)** - On-demand workflows with custom inputs
- **[Comment-Triggered Workflows](/gh-aw/examples/comment-triggered/)** - Workflows that respond to issue and PR comments

## Customize Your Workflow

Expand All @@ -273,7 +337,7 @@ Then, run the following to create and edit your workflow:
copilot
> /agent
> select create-agentic-workflow
> edit @.github/workflows/daily-team-status.md
> edit @.github/workflows/hello-world.md
```

## What's next?
Expand Down
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