Fix workflow issue form to generate .md and .lock.yml files like campaign generator

[Copilot]

The workflow issue form currently assigns an agent to work in the issue context interactively. It should instead generate a complete workflow specification (.md) and compiled lockfile (.lock.yml) in a PR, matching the campaign generator pattern.

Changes

.github/agents/create-agentic-workflow.agent.md

• Added Issue Form Mode for non-interactive workflow generation from issue form data
• Parses workflow_name, workflow_description, and additional_context fields
• Generates .md with inferred triggers, tools, safe-outputs, and security best practices
• Compiles to .lock.yml using gh aw compile
• Creates PR with both files
• Preserves existing Interactive Mode for conversational workflow design

.github/workflows/workflow-generator.md

• Updated appended instructions to clarify Issue Form Mode operation
• Specifies agent creates both .md and .lock.yml files in PR

Pattern

Issue Form → Parse Fields → Generate .md → Compile .lock.yml → Create PR

Same flow as campaign generator:

• .campaign.md → .campaign.g.md orchestrator
• .md workflow → .lock.yml compiled workflow

Example Issue Form Output

Input:

workflow_name: "Issue Classifier"
workflow_description: "Automatically label issues based on their content"
additional_context: "Should run when issues are opened"

Generates:

---
description: Automatically label issues based on their content
on:
  issues:
    types: [opened]
permissions:
  contents: read
  issues: read
engine: copilot
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [default]
safe-outputs:
  add-labels:
    max: 5
---

# Issue Classifier

You are an AI agent that automatically labels issues...

Compiled to issue-classifier.lock.yml via gh aw compile issue-classifier.

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 runs/20251219-190019-20317/test-2875231321/.github/workflows GO111MODULE /opt/hostedtoolcache/go/1.25.0/x64/bin/go l GOMOD GOMODCACHE go run nOrchestratorGitHubToken1719985445/001 invalid-command /usr/bin/gh GOSUMDB GOWORK 64/pkg/tool/linu--show-toplevel gh (http block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api user --jq .login om/github/gitignore.git om/github/gitignore.git /bin/sh -test.run=^Test GOWORK 64/pkg/tool/linuGOMODCACHE /bin/sh -c it/ref/tags/330a01c490aca151604b8cf639adc76d48f6c5d4 64/pkg/tool/linuGO111MODULE /usr/bin/git l rev-parse 64/bin/go git (http block)
  • Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api user --jq .login ithub/workflows -buildtags e/git -errorsas -ifaceassert -nilfunc e/git init�� om/actions/cache.git om/actions/cache.git /usr/bin/git rite '../../**/*bash rev-parse 64/bin/go git (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)

Original prompt

Fix agentic workflow issue form, which should not work the context directly but create a detailed agentic workflow from it (.md and compiled yml) just like the campaign generator for campaigns.

---

💬 We'd love your input! Share your thoughts on Copilot coding agent in our 2 minute survey.

[mnkiefer]

@copilot: Is this type of mode separation also applied when generating camapaigns?

[Copilot]

@copilot: Is this type of mode separation also applied when generating camapaigns?

No, the campaign-designer agent doesn't have this mode separation. It's designed to be conversational/interactive only - it asks questions like "Start by asking focused questions to understand..." and "Show the proposed YAML frontmatter snippet to the user and refine it until they approve..."

This is actually a discrepancy: the campaign-generator.md says the agent will "parse the issue, design the campaign content, and create a PR", but the campaign-designer.agent.md doesn't have non-interactive instructions for parsing issue form fields directly.

For workflows, I added explicit Issue Form Mode instructions so the agent can:

1. Parse workflow_name, workflow_description, additional_context from the issue body
2. Generate the .md file non-interactively
3. Compile to .lock.yml
4. Create PR with both files

The campaign system might benefit from the same approach if you want truly automated campaign generation from issue forms.