[optimization:agents-md-curator] AGENTS.md is 97% boilerplate copied from a different repository (github/gh-aw)

[cao-githubnext-gh-aw-cao-write]

Target repository: github/gh-aw-actions (analyzed via read-only checkout; safe outputs land here per review mode routing)

This repository's root AGENTS.md (1,162 lines / 44,555 bytes / ~11,139 estimated tokens) is loaded on every agent run. Verification against the actual repository tree shows the overwhelming majority of it describes a different repository — the main Go CLI repo github/gh-aw — not github/gh-aw-actions, which is a lean shared-actions-sync repo (setup/, setup-cli/, one .go test file, ~433 .cjs files, ~78 .sh files, no Go module, no Makefile).

Ambient context health

Metric	Value	Target	Status
Lines	1,162	< 200	❌ over by 5.8x
Bytes	44,555	< 10 KB	❌ over by 4.3x
Estimated tokens	11,139	—	every run pays this
Days since last change	220	≤ 90	❌ stale
Commits since last change	224	—	repo has been very active while the file has not
Broken referenced paths	24 of 32 checked	0	❌ (see below)
Broken package/script references	0	0	✅
Cross-file conflicts	0	0	✅ (no other instruction files exist)

Broken path evidence (confirmed missing in the current default-branch checkout): skills/, .github/aw/runbooks/workflow-health.md, .github/aw/agentic-chat.md, scratchpad/testing.md, scratchpad/validation-refactoring.md, scratchpad/cli-command-patterns.md, scratchpad/go-type-patterns.md, scratchpad/yaml-version-gotchas.md, docs/, cmd/gh-aw, pkg/cli, pkg/parser, pkg/workflow, pkg/constants, pkg/workflow/js, pkg/workflow/sh, pkg/workflow/compiler_yaml.go, pkg/workflow/frontmatter_types.go, audit_command.go, audit_command_test.go, flags.go, safe_outputs_tools.json (at the documented path — it actually lives at setup/js/safe_outputs_tools.json), actions/setup/js and actions/setup/sh (the real paths are setup/js and setup/sh, no actions/ prefix). There is no go.mod, Makefile, or pkg/ tree anywhere in this repository, so every make agent-finish, make build, make test-unit, make deps, make fmt, make lint, make recompile, and go test ./pkg/... instruction in the file cannot be executed here. The file also states "Repository: github/gh-aw" — the wrong repository name.

Estimated gain

Removing the Go-CLI-specific sections (all evidence-anchored to a nonexistent toolchain) and keeping only what genuinely applies to this repo:

Edit	Chars removed	Chars added (replacement)
1. Delete Skills section	935	0
2. Delete Mandatory Pre-Commit Validation section	3,399	0
3. Delete Merging Main Branch + Quick Setup	977	0
4. Delete Build System (JS/Shell source-of-truth)	1,950	300 (corrected, path-verified replacement)
5. Delete Development Workflow → Legacy Support/Cache-Memory (bulk Go content)	24,474	0
6. Compress Key Features to only MCP + AI Engine (drop unverified Playwright claim)	711	350
7. Compress Testing Strategy/Release/Quick-Reference/Runbooks/Skills-Reference to what applies	6,118	400

Totals: ~38,564 characters removed, ~1,050 characters added → net ~37,514 characters removed ≈ 9,379 tokens removed (at 4 chars/token) ≈ 84% of the current 11,139 estimated tokens. Projected post-change size: roughly 60–80 lines, well under 1 KB and under the 200-line/10 KB targets.

Proposed edits

1. Lines 13–30, "Important: Using Skills" — action: delete. Evidence: references skills/ directory, which does not exist anywhere in this repository (find . -iname SKILL.md returns nothing).
2. Lines 33–163, "⚠️ MANDATORY PRE-COMMIT VALIDATION ⚠️" — action: delete. Evidence: instructs make agent-finish, make fmt, make build, make lint, references flags.go, audit_command.go, audit_command_test.go — none of which exist; there is no Makefile or Go module in this repo.
3. Lines 164–201, "Merging Main Branch" + "Quick Setup" — action: delete. Evidence: instructs make build, make recompile, make deps, make deps-dev, ./gh-aw --help — no such binary or Makefile target exists here.
4. Lines 202–245, "Build System" — action: correct, replacement text: ## Build System\n\nJavaScript sources live in \setup/js/.cjs` and shell sources in `setup/sh/.sh` (both committed, manually edited). Format/lint via `setup/js`'s npm scripts: `npm run format:cjs`, `npm run lint:cjs`, `npm test` (typecheck + vitest).Evidence: the documented pathsactions/setup/jsandactions/setup/shdo not exist; the real paths aresetup/jsandsetup/sh(verified in checkout). The documentedpkg/workflow/jsalso does not exist; the realsafe_outputs_tools.jsonis atsetup/js/safe_outputs_tools.json`.
5. Lines 246–1011 ("Development Workflow" through "Workflow Artifacts and Cache-Memory") — action: delete. Evidence: this ~24 KB block covers Go build/test commands (go test -v -run ... ./pkg/...), a Repository Structure diagram (cmd/gh-aw/, pkg/cli/, pkg/parser/, pkg/workflow/) that doesn't exist here, Go-specific style guides (channel lifecycle, YAML library choice between goccy/go-yaml and go.yaml.in/yaml/v3, semantic type aliases in pkg/constants), and CLI command patterns (flags.go, *_command.go) — none of which apply; this repository has one .go file total (a test helper, not part of a CLI).
6. Lines 1040–1067, "Key Features" — action: compress, replacement text: ## Key Features\n\n- MCP registry: \https://api.mcp.github.com/v0\`\n- Workflows here use `engine: copilot` with `tools: { github: { toolsets: [...] } }` — see `.github/workflows/daily-runtime-threat-scan.md` for a working example.Evidence:engine: copilotandtools.github.toolsetsare confirmed in use in.github/workflows/daily-runtime-threat-scan.md`, but the unverified Playwright claim ("Multi-browser support") has no corresponding usage anywhere in this repo's workflows or actions and should not be asserted as a repository fact.
7. Lines 1068–1161 ("Testing Strategy" through "Available Skills Reference") — action: delete, with the exception of the "conventional commits" and "read issue comments for context" bullets folded into a short replacement: ## Development Guidelines\n- Use conventional commit messages; include issue numbers in PR titles when fixing issues.\n- Do not commit explanation markdown files about fixes. Evidence: "Testing Strategy" and "Release Process" repeat the Go make test/make minor-release commands already shown broken in edit 5; "Operational Runbooks" points to .github/aw/runbooks/workflow-health.md, which does not exist (only .github/aw/compat.json and .github/aw/compat.schema.json exist); "Available Skills Reference" lists 20+ skills/*/SKILL.md paths, none of which exist.

Correction pressure

Pull request review evidence could not add signal here beyond path verification: reviewer comments in the 90-day window are technical code-correctness findings on .cjs/.sh files (rate-limit handling, accounting undercounts, symlink escapes, etc.) and do not repeat an AGENTS.md instruction, so no additional weighting was applied from that dimension.

Agentic update prompt

You are updating AGENTS.md in github/gh-aw-actions. You may edit ONLY the file
AGENTS.md. Do not touch any other file, and do not create AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md,
or .github/copilot-instructions.md anywhere else.

Before applying any edit below, verify its claim against the current repository
state (file/directory existence, script/command existence). Skip any edit whose
claim no longer holds, and say so explicitly in the pull request description.

Apply these edits in order:

1. Delete the "Important: Using Skills" section (references `skills/`, which
   does not exist in this repo).

2. Delete the "⚠️ MANDATORY PRE-COMMIT VALIDATION ⚠️" section (references
   `make agent-finish`, `flags.go`, `audit_command.go` — none exist; there is
   no Makefile or Go module in this repository).

3. Delete the "Merging Main Branch" and "Quick Setup" sections (reference
   `make build`, `make deps`, `./gh-aw --help` — no such binary/Makefile here).

4. Replace the "Build System" section with:

   ## Build System

   JavaScript sources live in `setup/js/*.cjs` and shell sources in
   `setup/sh/*.sh` (both committed, manually edited). Format/lint via
   `setup/js`'s npm scripts: `npm run format:cjs`, `npm run lint:cjs`,
   `npm test` (typecheck + vitest).

   Verify these paths and script names exist in setup/js/package.json before
   writing this; use the actual script names found there.

5. Delete everything from "Development Workflow" through "Workflow Artifacts
   and Cache-Memory" (inclusive) — this covers Go build/test commands,
   `pkg/`/`cmd/` repository structure, Go style guides, and CLI command
   patterns, none of which apply to this repository (verify: no `pkg/`,
   `cmd/`, or `go.mod` exist here; there is exactly one `.go` file, a test
   helper under `setup/sh/`).

6. Replace the "Key Features" section with a short block naming the MCP
   registry URL and noting that workflows here use `engine: copilot` with
   `tools.github.toolsets`, citing `.github/workflows/daily-runtime-threat-scan.md`
   as the example. Do not claim Playwright support unless you find it actually
   configured in a workflow or action in this repo.

7. Delete "Testing Strategy", "Release Process", "Quick Reference for AI
   Agents", "Operational Runbooks", and "Available Skills Reference" sections
   (they repeat the broken Go tooling commands, point to a nonexistent
   runbook path, and list 20+ nonexistent skill files). Keep only the
   "conventional commits" and "don't commit explanation markdown files"
   guidance, folded into a short "Development Guidelines" section.

Requirements:
- The result must be under 200 lines and under 10 KB.
- The result must be at least 10% smaller in estimated tokens (chars/4) than
  the current file. If skipped edits make this shortfall unavoidable, say so
  explicitly rather than padding the diff.
- Do not rewrite or reformat any section not listed above.
- Do not degrade any kept command/threshold/rule to a bare link — keep the
  operative fact inline.
- Open a pull request whose description lists each edit applied, with its
  evidence, and lists any edit that was skipped and why.

Verification

A reviewer can confirm:

• The merged AGENTS.md is at least 10% smaller in estimated tokens (chars ÷ 4) than the 11,139-token baseline — expect roughly 80–90% smaller given the scale of unverifiable content.
• Every path referenced in the merged file resolves in the repository (skills/, pkg/, cmd/, scratchpad/, .github/aw/runbooks/ must no longer be referenced unless recreated).
• Any retained command (e.g., npm scripts) exists in setup/js/package.json.
• The file no longer claims Repository: github/gh-aw — it should reference github/gh-aw-actions or omit the claim.
• No content duplicates README.md/CONTRIBUTING.md (both already just point to the main gh-aw repo).

Control Plane

• Correlation ID: 35594269762-1415
• Central repository: githubnext/gh-aw-cao
• Control plane run: https://github.com/githubnext/gh-aw-cao/actions/runs/35594269762

Generated by 🧭 AW Optimization / AGENTS.md · copilot · auto · 269.2 AIC · ⌖ 10 AIC · ⊞ 16.3K · ◷

• expires on Oct 21, 2026, 11:54 AM UTC

[cao-githubnext-gh-aw-cao-write]

This issue is being closed as outdated. A newer issue has been created: #13225

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This action was performed automatically by the AW Optimization / AGENTS.md workflow.