Safe Output Health Report - February 11, 2026

[github-actions[bot]]

Period: Last 24 hours (February 10-11, 2026)
Audit Timestamp: 2026-02-11 08:10 UTC
Workflow Run: §21897260994

Executive Summary

The safe output system demonstrated excellent overall health with a 96.43% success rate. Out of 80 workflow runs analyzed, 56 included safe output jobs, with only 2 failures identified. Both failures were non-critical and had clear root causes.

Metric	Value
Total Runs Analyzed	80
Workflows with Safe Output Jobs	56
Safe Output Job Executions	56
Safe Output Job Failures	2
Success Rate	96.43%
Error Clusters Identified	2

Safe Output Job Statistics

Job Type	Estimated Executions	Failures	Success Rate
create_issue	~30	1	96.7%
close_issue	~5	1	80.0%
create_discussion	~15	0	100.0%
add_comment	~10	0	100.0%
other operations	~5	0	100.0%

Note: Most safe output operations (create_discussion, add_comment, update_issue, add_labels) had 100% success rates.

Error Clusters

Cluster 1: GraphQL Permission Error (FORBIDDEN)

• Count: 1 occurrence
• Severity: Medium
• Affected Workflow: Duplicate Code Detector (Codex)
• Affected Run: §21894348949
• Operation: create_issue (with assignees parameter)

Error Details:

GraphQL Error Type: FORBIDDEN
Path: replaceActorsForAssignable
Message: "Could not assign agent: target repository is not writable."
``````

**Root Cause Analysis**:

The safe_outputs job successfully created the issue but failed when attempting to assign an agent to it using the GitHub GraphQL API's `replaceActorsForAssignable` mutation. This indicates that the GITHUB_TOKEN used by the safe_outputs job lacks sufficient permissions to modify issue assignees.

The error occurred during the post-creation assignment step, meaning:
- ✅ Issue was successfully created
- ✅ Labels were successfully applied  
- ❌ Assignee assignment failed due to permissions
- ✅ Issue remains accessible and usable

**Impact**: Low - The issue was created successfully, but the automatic assignee could not be set. The issue is fully functional and can be manually assigned.

<details>
<summary><b>View Detailed Error Log</b></summary>

From workflow run 21894348949, safe_outputs job log:

``````
2026-02-11T05:58:26.7992351Z ##[error]Raw GraphQL error details (for troubleshooting):
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8011404Z ##[error]{
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8013171Z ##[error]  "errors": [
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8014773Z ##[error]    {
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8016441Z ##[error]      "type": "FORBIDDEN",
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8018125Z ##[error]      "path": [
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8019810Z ##[error]        "replaceActorsForAssignable"
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8033877Z ##[error]      ],
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8069308Z ##[error]      "message": "Could not assign agent: target repository is not writable."
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8071932Z ##[error]    }
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8073524Z ##[error]  ]
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8075104Z ##[error]  "response": {
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8076710Z ##[error]    "data": {
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8078397Z ##[error]      "replaceActorsForAssignable": {
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8080599Z ##[error]        "__typename": "ReplaceActorsForAssignablePayload"
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8082493Z ##[error]      }
2026-02-11T05:58:26.8084079Z ##[error]    }
``````

</details>

---

#### Cluster 2: Title Validation Error

- **Count**: 1 occurrence
- **Severity**: Low
- **Affected Workflow**: Semantic Function Refactoring (Claude)
- **Affected Run**: [§21896621678](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/21896621678)
- **Operation**: close_issue

**Error Details**:
``````
Message 2 (close_issue) failed: Title doesn't start with "[refactor] "
``````

**Root Cause Analysis**:

The agent attempted to close an issue, but the close_issue operation includes title validation that checks if the issue title starts with the expected workflow-specific prefix "[refactor] ". The issue being closed had a different title format, causing the validation to fail.

**Impact**: Very Low - The issue remains open and can be manually closed. Other operations in the same run (creating a new issue) succeeded.

**Context**: This appears to be a safety feature to prevent accidental closure of unrelated issues. The validation ensures that agents only close issues that match their workflow's naming convention.

<details>
<summary><b>View Detailed Error Log</b></summary>

From workflow run 21896621678, safe_outputs job log:

``````
2026-02-11T07:48:20.5451976Z ##[error]✗ Message 2 (close_issue) failed: Title doesn't start with "[refactor] "
2026-02-11T07:48:20.5454209Z Processing message 3/3: create_issue
2026-02-11T07:48:20.5457794Z Processing create_issue: title=Semantic Function Clustering Analysis - Quality, Security, and Documentation Focus
2026-02-11T07:48:21.2796626Z Created issue github/gh-aw#14915: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/issues/14915
2026-02-11T07:48:21.2809195Z ✓ Message 3 (create_issue) completed successfully

=== Processing Summary ===
Total messages: 3
Successful: 2
Failed: 1

The agent successfully created a new issue but failed to close the previous one due to title mismatch.

---

Recommendations

Critical Issues (Immediate Action Required)

No critical issues identified. Both failures are non-blocking and have workarounds.

---

Bug Fixes Required

1. Fix GitHub Token Permissions for Issue Assignment

• Priority: Medium
• Affected Operations: create_issue (when using assignees parameter)
• Root Cause: GITHUB_TOKEN lacks sufficient permissions for the replaceActorsForAssignable GraphQL mutation
• Problem: Safe output jobs fail when trying to assign issues to users
• Fix: Update workflow permissions to include proper issue write access

Recommended Solution:

Check the workflow configuration to ensure the GITHUB_TOKEN has appropriate permissions:

permissions:
  issues: write
  contents: read

Alternatively, investigate if the permission error is due to:

• Repository-level restrictions on automated assignees
• Organization policies blocking bot assignments
• Token scope limitations in the GitHub App configuration

Affected Workflows: Duplicate Code Detector (and potentially other Codex-based workflows)

Estimated Effort: Small - Configuration change

---

2. Improve Title Validation Error Handling

• Priority: Low
• Affected Operations: close_issue
• Root Cause: Strict title prefix validation prevents closing issues with non-matching titles
• Problem: Agents cannot close issues if the title doesn't match the expected format
• Fix: Consider making title validation optional or more flexible

Recommended Solutions (choose one):

Option A: Make title validation a warning instead of error

// Instead of failing, log a warning and proceed
if (!title.startsWith(expectedPrefix)) {
  console.warn(`Title doesn't match expected prefix: ${expectedPrefix}`);
  // Continue with close operation
}

Option B: Allow agents to update the title before closing

// If title doesn't match, update it first
if (!title.startsWith(expectedPrefix)) {
  await updateIssue({title: `${expectedPrefix}${title}`});
}
await closeIssue();

Option C: Add a flag to skip title validation

{
  "tool": "close_issue",
  "issue_number": 123,
  "skip_title_validation": true
}

Affected Workflows: Semantic Function Refactoring (and potentially other refactoring workflows)

Estimated Effort: Small - Code change to validation logic

---

Configuration Changes

1. Review Permission Policies

• Current: Some operations fail due to permission restrictions
• Recommended: Audit all safe output operations and ensure GITHUB_TOKEN has necessary permissions
• Reason: Prevents permission-related failures

Action Items:

• Review workflow YAML files for permission declarations
• Test issue assignment with current token permissions
• Document minimum required permissions for each safe output operation

---

Process Improvements

1. Add Pre-Flight Validation for Permissions

• Current State: Permission errors are discovered during execution
• Proposed: Add permission checks before attempting operations
• Benefits: Fail fast with clear error messages, reduce wasted API calls

Implementation:

async function validatePermissions(operation) {
  const requiredPermissions = {
    'create_issue': ['issues:write'],
    'assign_issue': ['issues:write', 'assignees:modify'],
    'close_issue': ['issues:write']
  };
  
  // Check if token has required permissions
  const hasPermissions = await checkTokenPermissions(
    requiredPermissions[operation]
  );
  
  if (!hasPermissions) {
    throw new Error(`Missing permissions for ${operation}`);
  }
}

Estimated Effort: Medium - Requires permission checking infrastructure

---

2. Enhanced Error Reporting

• Current State: Errors are logged but not always aggregated for analysis
• Proposed: Collect and report safe output errors in agent output
• Benefits: Easier debugging and monitoring

Implementation:

• Report permission errors back to the agent with actionable suggestions
• Include permission check results in the agent's context
• Add error recovery suggestions to error messages

Estimated Effort: Small - Logging and error message improvements

---

Historical Context

Compared to the previous audit (February 10, 2026):

Metric	Feb 10	Feb 11	Change
Total Runs	55	80	+45.5%
Safe Output Jobs	41	56	+36.6%
Failures	0	2	+2
Success Rate	100.0%	96.43%	-3.57%

Trends:

• Activity: Workflow activity increased by ~45%, indicating healthy system usage
• Reliability: Success rate decreased slightly due to 2 edge cases, but remains excellent
• Error Types: Both errors are new patterns not seen in previous audits:
  • Permission errors were not encountered on Feb 10
  • Title validation errors were not encountered on Feb 10

Analysis: The decrease in success rate is within normal variance for a 24-hour period and both failures are non-critical edge cases with clear remediation paths.

---

Metrics and KPIs

Overall Safe Output Performance

• Overall Success Rate: 96.43%
• Most Reliable Job Type: create_discussion (100% success)
• Most Problematic Job Type: close_issue (80% success, 1 failure out of ~5 executions)
• Average Execution Time: Not measured (consider adding this metric)

Error Distribution

• Permission Errors: 50% of failures (1 out of 2)
• Validation Errors: 50% of failures (1 out of 2)
• API Errors: 0%
• Network Errors: 0%
• Parsing Errors: 0%

Engine-Specific Performance

Engine	Safe Output Jobs	Failures	Success Rate
Claude	~30	1	96.7%
Codex	~20	1	95.0%
Copilot	~6	0	100.0%

Note: All engines performed well, with failures distributed across both Claude and Codex.

---

Work Item Plans

Work Item 1: Fix GitHub Token Permissions for Issue Assignment

• Type: Bug Fix
• Priority: Medium
• Description: Safe output jobs fail when attempting to assign issues due to insufficient GITHUB_TOKEN permissions

Acceptance Criteria:

• GITHUB_TOKEN has issues: write permission in workflow configuration
• Issue assignment operations complete successfully
• Test with both create_issue and standalone assign operations
• No GraphQL FORBIDDEN errors for replaceActorsForAssignable

Technical Approach:

1. Identify all workflows that use create_issue with assignees
2. Update workflow YAML files to include proper permissions block
3. Test in staging/dev environment first
4. Deploy to production workflows
5. Monitor for 48 hours to confirm resolution

Dependencies: Access to workflow configuration files

Estimated Effort: Small (1-2 hours)

---

Work Item 2: Improve Title Validation for close_issue

• Type: Enhancement
• Priority: Low
• Description: Make title validation more flexible for close_issue operations to prevent false failures

Acceptance Criteria:

• close_issue operations succeed even with title mismatches (with warning)
• Option to skip title validation via parameter
• Clear logging when title validation is skipped
• Backward compatible with existing workflows

Technical Approach:

1. Modify close_issue validation logic to make title check optional
2. Add skip_title_validation parameter (default: false for backward compatibility)
3. Log warnings instead of errors for title mismatches when skip is enabled
4. Update documentation for close_issue operation
5. Test with multiple workflows

Dependencies: None

Estimated Effort: Small (2-3 hours)

---

Work Item 3: Add Permission Pre-Flight Checks

• Type: Process Improvement
• Priority: Medium
• Description: Implement pre-flight permission validation to fail fast with clear error messages

Acceptance Criteria:

• Permission checks run before attempting safe output operations
• Clear error messages indicate missing permissions
• Reduced wasted API calls for permission-denied operations
• Performance impact < 100ms per operation

Technical Approach:

1. Create permission checking utility function
2. Map each safe output operation to required permissions
3. Query GitHub API for token permissions before operations
4. Cache permission check results per workflow run
5. Return actionable error messages for missing permissions

Dependencies: GitHub API permission introspection

Estimated Effort: Medium (1 day)

---

Next Steps

• Complete 24-hour audit (Done)
• Identify and cluster errors (Done)
• Document root causes (Done)
• Create work items for identified issues
• Implement permission fix for issue assignment
• Review and update title validation logic
• Schedule follow-up audit in 24 hours to confirm trends

---

Audit Metadata

Analysis Performed By: Safe Output Health Monitor (Agentic Workflow)
Log Files Analyzed: 80 workflow runs, 56 safe output job logs
Analysis Method: Automated log parsing and error extraction
Cache Location: /tmp/gh-aw/cache-memory/safe-output-health/2026-02-11.json

References:

• §21894348949 - Duplicate Code Detector (Permission Error)
• §21896621678 - Semantic Function Refactoring (Validation Error)

AI generated by Safe Output Health Monitor

• expires on Feb 18, 2026, 8:16 AM UTC