[Github Agent] add prFiles and prFailedChecks read actions - #2974
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George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft) wants to merge 1 commit into
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[Github Agent] add prFiles and prFailedChecks read actions#2974George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft) wants to merge 1 commit into
George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft) wants to merge 1 commit into
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George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft)
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George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft)
changed the title
George Ng (GeorgeNgMsft)
enabled auto-merge
September 4, 2026 06:16
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If you're in here adding fun features I would ask you to add "review PR for me" and "investigate PR failure" and variations thereof. (although the latter requires copilot cli). 
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Two read-only actions for diagnosing a pull request without leaving the agent: - `prFiles` lists the files a PR changes, with per-file status and line counts, and optionally a bounded excerpt of each file's diff. - `prFailedChecks` explains why a PR's checks are red, pairing each failing check with the error annotations GitHub recorded for it. Both are deterministic fast actions: they shell out to `gh`, parse its JSON, and return a typed `rawData` payload, so an external MCP client can select and call them directly with no reasoning step. Output is bounded and every result states explicitly what was truncated. Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
robgruen
approved these changes
Sep 4, 2026
| try { | ||
| const { stdout, stderr } = await execFileAsync("gh", args, { | ||
| timeout: timeoutMs, | ||
| maxBuffer: 8 * 1024 * 1024, |
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maybe a comment here on why we are doing 8MB
| number | ||
| } | ||
| } | ||
| | what files does PR $(number:number) change -> { |
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"change", "touch", "edit", "modify"
| number | ||
| } | ||
| } | ||
| | show files changed in PR $(number:number) in $(repo:wildcard) -> { |
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"show what's changed in ...."
| number | ||
| } | ||
| } | ||
| | why is CI failing on PR $(number:number) -> { |
| // patches are large; turn it on to see the actual code changes. | ||
| includePatch?: boolean; | ||
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| // How many files to return, newest API order. 1-300, default 50. |
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is 50 the default that comes out of the tool itself? If so no need to change...if you want it to be 50 then you could define: maxFiles: number | 50;
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When a pull request is failing, you usually need two things before you can say anything useful about it: what the PR actually changed, and what the red checks are complaining about. Today the
github-cliagent can tell you a PR exists and that its checks are red, but not much more, so answering either question means leaving the agent and runningghby hand.This adds two read-only actions that answer those two questions directly.
prFileslists the files a pull request changes, with each file's status and line counts, and optionally a short excerpt of each file's diff.prFailedChecksexplains why the checks are red. For each failing check it reports the workflow, timing, and a link, plus the error annotations GitHub recorded against it — usually the actual compiler or test error, with its file and line.Highlights:
gh, parse its JSON, and return a stablerawDatapayload. No reasoning step is involved, so an external MCP client can discover and call them on its own.--jq, so listing the files of a large PR doesn't download its whole diff.repoto use the current checkout, or pass anOWNER/REPOslug — or just the pull request's web link, whichgh --repoitself rejects. The host is carried through, so GitHub Enterprise links work too.Tests cover argument construction, JSON parsing and structured results, repo/link normalization, pagination and truncation boundaries, grammar, and the error paths.