Add shallow checkout to activation job for timestamp verification

[Copilot]

Add shallow git checkout step in activation job to enable lock file timestamp check

Problem

The activation job includes a timestamp check that compares the source .md workflow file against the compiled .lock.yml file. However, there were two issues:

1. The activation job didn't checkout the repository, so the files didn't exist in the workspace
2. The JavaScript was using GITHUB_WORKFLOW (workflow name) instead of the actual filename

Solution

• Add a shallow checkout step in the activation job before the timestamp check
• Only checkout the .github/workflows directory (sparse checkout)
• Use depth: 1 for shallow clone to minimize checkout time
• Add persist-credentials: false for security
• Use sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false for non-cone pattern support
• Pass lock filename as GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE environment variable
• Update JavaScript to use GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE instead of GITHUB_WORKFLOW
• Add quotes around filename to handle special characters in YAML
• Update tests to verify the checkout step is present in compiled workflows
• Update existing tests to be more specific about which job they check
• Add new test TestActivationJobCheckoutStep to verify activation checkout
• Run existing tests to ensure no regressions
• Recompile example workflows to verify changes

Changes Made

1. Modified pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go:
   • Added checkout step in buildActivationJob() function
   • Extract lock filename and pass to buildActivationJob
   • Add GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE environment variable with quoted value
2. Modified pkg/workflow/js/check_workflow_timestamp.cjs:
   • Changed to use GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE instead of GITHUB_WORKFLOW
   • Updated variable names for clarity (workflowMdFile instead of workflowFile)
3. Modified pkg/workflow/js/check_workflow_timestamp.test.cjs:
   • Updated all tests to use GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE environment variable
4. Updated test assertions:
   • checkout_optimization_test.go: Check for checkout in agent job specifically
   • task_and_reaction_permissions_test.go: Expect checkout in activation job
   • trial_mode_test.go: Look for token in agent job checkout
5. Added pkg/workflow/activation_checkout_test.go: New test to verify activation checkout behavior

Testing

• All unit tests pass
• JavaScript tests pass
• All 67 workflows recompile successfully
• Manual verification of compiled workflow output

Example Output

The activation job now includes:

activation:
  runs-on: ubuntu-slim
  steps:
    - name: Checkout workflows
      uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8
      with:
        sparse-checkout: |
          .github/workflows
        sparse-checkout-cone-mode: false
        fetch-depth: 1
        persist-credentials: false
    - name: Check workflow file timestamps
      uses: actions/github-script@ed597411d8f924073f98dfc5c65a23a2325f34cd
      env:
        GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE: "dev.lock.yml"
      with:
        script: |
          # ... timestamp check script using GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE

Original prompt

Add shallow git checkout step in activation job to enable lock file timestamp check

Only checkout actions workflow folder

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[pelikhan]

@copilot the check time JavaScript is trying to read the wrong file... it seems that it is using the workflow name instead of the actual workflow file.

See action run logs at https://github.com/githubnext/gh-aw/actions/runs/19019309841/job/54311838605#step:3:1

[Copilot]

@copilot the check time JavaScript is trying to read the wrong file... it seems that it is using the workflow name instead of the actual workflow file.

See action run logs at https://github.com/githu...

Fixed in a63e44b. The script was using GITHUB_WORKFLOW which contains the workflow name (e.g., "Dev") instead of the filename. Now it uses GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE environment variable which is set to the actual lock filename (e.g., "dev.lock.yml").

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR refactors the workflow timestamp check mechanism to use a custom environment variable (GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE) instead of the GitHub-provided GITHUB_WORKFLOW variable, and adds a sparse checkout step to the activation job for retrieving workflow files needed for timestamp validation.

Key changes:

• Replaced GITHUB_WORKFLOW environment variable with custom GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE
• Renamed internal workflowFile variable to workflowMdFile to avoid naming conflicts
• Added sparse checkout of .github/workflows directory to activation jobs
• Updated all test files to use the new environment variable name

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 73 out of 73 changed files in this pull request and generated no comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go	Passes lock filename to activation job builder and adds sparse checkout step with environment variable
pkg/workflow/js/check_workflow_timestamp.cjs	Refactors to use GH_AW_WORKFLOW_FILE and renames variables to avoid conflicts
pkg/workflow/js/check_workflow_timestamp.test.cjs	Updates all test cases to use new environment variable
pkg/workflow/task_and_reaction_permissions_test.go	Updates test expectations to verify checkout step exists in activation job
pkg/workflow/trial_mode_test.go	Refactors to check for checkout step only within agent job scope
pkg/workflow/checkout_optimization_test.go	Extracts agent job section before checking for checkout presence
pkg/workflow/activation_checkout_test.go	New test file validating activation job checkout configuration
*.lock.yml files	Regenerated workflow files with new checkout step and environment variable

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