Add agentic workflow for automated issue triage

[priyankatiwari08]

Summary

This PR introduces a GitHub Agentic Workflow (gh-aw) that automatically triages new issues using Copilot.

What it does

When a new issue is opened, the workflow:

Phase 1 (this PR):

1. Classifies issue type — Bug, Feature, Question, or Task
2. Validates environment details (bugs only) — checks for SqlClient version, .NET target framework, SQL Server version, OS, repro steps, expected/actual behavior
3. Assigns area labels — matches issue content against 14 area labels (e.g. Area\Async, Area\Connection Pooling, Area\Managed SNI)
4. Searches for duplicates — searches repo:dotnet/SqlClient for similar issues
5. Checks for regressions — if the reporter mentions a previously working version
6. Posts a single consolidated triage summary — one comment with a structured table (issue type, environment, area, duplicates, regression) + analysis + next steps

Phase 2 (future):
7. Assigns Copilot coding agent — for confirmed bugs with complete environment info. The assign-to-agent safe-output is commented out in the workflow and can be re-enabled when the team is ready to enable automatic agent assignment.

Files added

1. .github/workflows/issue-triage.md — Workflow Definition

This is the only file that needs to be maintained. It contains:

• YAML frontmatter: Defines the trigger (issues: opened), the AI engine (copilot), and safety limits (max 1 comment, max 5 labels).
• Markdown body: Natural language instructions that tell the Copilot agent how to triage each issue — role definition, analysis steps (classify type, validate environment, match area labels, search duplicates, check regression), area label lookup table, comment template, and action sequence.

This file is written in plain Markdown because GitHub Agentic Workflows use an LLM (Copilot) to interpret instructions, unlike traditional YAML workflows that use scripted steps. When changes to the triage logic are needed (e.g. adding a new area label, changing the comment format), only this file is edited, then recompiled.

2. .github/workflows/issue-triage.lock.yml — Compiled Actions YAML (~61KB)

This is the auto-generated GitHub Actions workflow file produced by running gh aw compile issue-triage.md. It is what GitHub Actions actually executes when triggered. It contains:

• The full multi-job Actions YAML infrastructure (activation + agentic + detection + safe-output processor + conclusion)
• The instructions from issue-triage.md embedded as runtime imports
• Safe-outputs enforcement configuration (max limits, allowed actions)
• MCP server setup (read-only GitHub MCP + write-sink safe-outputs MCP)

This file should never be edited manually. It is regenerated every time issue-triage.md is compiled. The edit-compile-push cycle is: edit .md → run gh aw compile → commit both files → push.

3. .github/aw/actions-lock.json — Pinned Action Versions

This is a lockfile generated by gh aw compile that pins the exact versions of the GitHub Actions used by the agentic workflow runtime. Similar to package-lock.json in Node.js or Cargo.lock in Rust, it ensures the workflow uses the same action versions on every run, preventing unexpected behavior from upstream action updates.

This file should never be edited manually. It is regenerated automatically during compilation.

Architecture

The workflow uses the safe-outputs pattern:

• Job 1 (Agentic): Copilot agent reads the issue via read-only GitHub MCP, reasons about it, and proposes actions (labels, comment) written to NDJSON files
• Job 2 (Safe-output Processor): A separate privileged job validates proposed actions against configured limits (max 1 comment, max 5 labels) and executes them

This ensures the AI agent never has direct write access to the repository.

Safety limits configured

• add-comment: max: 1 — at most 1 comment per issue
• add-labels: max: 5 — at most 5 labels per issue
• hide-older-comments: true — collapses previous triage comments if re-triggered

Prerequisites (post-merge)

Phase 1 — Auto-Triage (required now)

The following setup is required by a repo admin after merging:

1. Set agentic workflow secret:

   gh aw secrets set COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN --value <token>
   

2. Create missing label (does not exist yet on this repo):

   • Triage Needed :new: — applied to all new issues

3. Ensure gh-aw is enabled for the dotnet org / SqlClient repo

Labels that already exist and are used by this workflow (no action needed):

• Needs More Info :information_source:
• Repro Available :heavy_check_mark:
• Regression :boom:
• All Area\* labels

Phase 2 — Copilot Coding Agent Assignment (deferred)

When the team is ready to enable automatic agent assignment for confirmed bugs:

1. Set agent assignment secret:

   gh aw secrets set GH_AW_AGENT_TOKEN --value <token>
   

2. Uncomment assign-to-agent in issue-triage.md frontmatter and body, then recompile:

   gh aw compile .github/workflows/issue-triage.md
   

Tested on

This workflow was developed and tested on priyankatiwari08/SqlClient-test-prtiwar with multiple test issues covering:

• Complete bug reports (all env details present) — correctly triaged with area labels
• Incomplete bug reports (missing OS, .NET TF, SQL Server version) — correctly flagged missing fields + Needs More Info label
• Various area classifications (Async, Managed SNI, Sql Bulk Copy) — correctly matched

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR adds a GitHub Agentic Workflow (gh-aw) for automated issue triage in the SqlClient repo, using a Copilot-powered agent plus a privileged “safe-outputs” executor job.

Changes:

• Added an agent-authored workflow definition (issue-triage.md) describing triage logic and safe-output constraints.
• Added the compiled/locked GitHub Actions workflow (issue-triage.lock.yml) generated by gh aw compile.
• Added an action lockfile (.github/aw/actions-lock.json) pinning action SHAs.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 7 comments.

File	Description
.github/workflows/issue-triage.md	Defines the agent prompt, triage steps, and safe-output configuration for labeling/commenting/assignment.
.github/workflows/issue-triage.lock.yml	Auto-generated compiled Actions workflow that executes the agent + safe-outputs pipeline.
.github/aw/actions-lock.json	Pins action versions used by the compiled workflow.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

.github/workflows/issue-triage.md:130

• This file says the workflow always reads the issue, applies labels, and posts one summary comment, but later suggests calling noop when “no action is needed”. As written, it’s ambiguous whether noop should replace the labeling/comment steps or be in addition to them, which could lead to either missing triage output or emitting conflicting safe-outputs. Please clarify the control flow (e.g., if noop is used, explicitly say to skip add_labels/add_comment, or remove noop if a comment is always required).

**Finally**: If this is a confirmed code bug with complete environment info,
call `assign_to_agent` to assign Copilot coding agent.

If the issue is spam or no action is needed, call the `noop` tool instead.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 4 out of 4 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.