Agentic workflow designer

Workflow Designer

Use this skill to run a structured interview with users who know their goal but not the workflow syntax yet, then generate one complete workflow .md file.

When to Use This Skill

Use this before .github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md when requirements are unclear or incomplete.

• Use skills/agentic-workflow-designer/SKILL.md to discover and confirm requirements.
• Use .github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md once requirements are clear and ready for implementation.
• Use .github/aw/agentic-chat.md when the user wants a specification/pseudo-code instead of a runnable workflow file.

Interview Framework

Ask one question at a time. Move to the next phase only after the current phase is clear.

Phase 1: Goal

Ask: "What do you want to automate?"

Capture:

• Workflow name (kebab-case candidate)
• Brief description
• Optional emoji

Phase 2: Trigger

Ask: "When should this run?"

Follow up only if needed:

• Which event type(s)?
• Any filters (labels, branches, commands)?
• Scheduled cadence (daily/weekly/hourly)?

Map to the on: block.

Phase 3: Scope (Read/Write)

Ask:

• "What should it read?" (issues, PRs, code, discussions, CI data)
• "What should it create or update?" (comments, issues, PRs, labels)

Map to:

• permissions: (keep read-only for agent job)
• tools:
• safe-outputs:

Phase 4: Data Strategy

Ask:

• "What data does the agent need to make decisions?"
• Follow up: "Can we pre-fetch and aggregate that data with shell commands so the agent only reads compact JSON?"

Capture:

• Whether steps: should pre-fetch GitHub data with gh + jq
• Output paths under /tmp/gh-aw/data/
• Whether batch work should use sub-agents

Map to:

• steps:
• Prompt references to pre-computed file paths

Phase 5: Guardrails

Ask: "Should it block merging, just advise, or silently log?"

Capture:

• Visibility expectations (comment, issue, no visible output)
• No-op behavior expectation

Guide toward safe output behavior and explicit noop instructions.

Phase 6: Context & Network

Ask: "Does it need external APIs, web access, package installs, or MCP servers?"

Follow up:

• "Any third-party services or MCP servers to include (for example Slack, Jira, Datadog, custom internal MCP)?"
• "Are you deploying on GitHub.com, GHEC with custom endpoints, or GHES?"
• For each integration, identify required auth from source docs and map it to GitHub Actions secrets + workflow env variables.
• Ask for exact external domains (FQDN/wildcard).

Map to:

• network.allowed
• Optional MCP/GitHub tool usage in tools:
• secrets: / env: wiring for integration tokens
• GHES/GHEC settings such as engine.api-target and aw.json ghes: true (when applicable)

Phase 7: Engine (optional)

Ask only if ambiguous: "Any AI engine preference?"

If no preference, suggest default:

• "I'd suggest Copilot since you haven't mentioned a preference. Sound good?"

Map to engine: only when not default.

Phase 8: Confirmation

Present a structured summary and ask for approval before generation.

Decision Heuristics

Trigger Mapping

User says...	Maps to
"when someone opens a PR"	on: pull_request: with types: [opened]
"when a PR is updated"	on: pull_request: with types: [opened, synchronize]
"every morning", "daily"	fuzzy schedule shorthand on: schedule: daily on weekdays (compiler expands to cron)
"every Monday", "weekly"	fuzzy schedule shorthand on: schedule: weekly (compiler expands to cron)
"when I say /review"	on: slash_command: with name: review (or requested command)
"when an issue is labeled bug"	on: issues: with types: [labeled] and label filter guidance
"run when label ai-review is added"	on: label_command: with name/names, optional event scoping, and label-as-command semantics
"run on PRs from forks"	on: pull_request: plus explicit forks: allowlist and fork security guardrails
"sometimes automatic, sometimes manual"	semi-active pattern: combine schedule/event triggers with workflow_dispatch
"manually", "on demand"	on: workflow_dispatch:
"when a deployment fails"	on: deployment_status:
"when another workflow finishes"	on: workflow_run:

Safe Output Mapping

User says...	Maps to
"post a comment"	add-comment
"create an issue"	create-issue
"update issue title/body"	update-issue
"close the issue"	close-issue
"assign someone", "remove assignment"	assign-to-user, unassign-from-user
"set issue type/field/milestone"	set-issue-type, set-issue-field, assign-milestone
"open a PR", "submit changes"	create-pull-request
"update PR description/title"	update-pull-request
"close the PR", "merge the PR"	close-pull-request, merge-pull-request
"mark PR ready", "sync PR branch"	mark-pull-request-as-ready-for-review, update-branch
"commit a fix to the PR branch"	push-to-pull-request-branch
"approve / request changes"	submit-pull-request-review
"inline review comment", "reply to review thread"	create-pull-request-review-comment, reply-to-pull-request-review-comment, resolve-pull-request-review-thread
"start or edit discussion", "close discussion"	create-discussion, update-discussion, close-discussion
"request reviewer", "hide comment"	add-reviewer, hide-comment
"create/update project", "project status update"	create-project, update-project, create-project-status-update
"update release", "upload release asset"	update-release, upload-asset
"create/auto-fix code scan alert"	create-code-scanning-alert, autofix-code-scanning-alert
"start an agent session", "assign to an agent"	create-agent-session, assign-to-agent
"store persistent memory comment"	comment-memory
"link a sub-issue"	link-sub-issue
"add labels", "remove labels"	add-labels, remove-labels
"nothing visible", "just analyze"	no safe outputs required

Network Mapping

User says...	Maps to
"calls an external API"	ask for exact FQDN/wildcard, then add to network.allowed
"installs npm packages"	include node in network.allowed
"runs pip install"	include python in network.allowed
"builds Go code"	include go in network.allowed
"no external access"	network.allowed: [defaults] (or [] if explicitly zero network)

Tool Mapping

User says...	Maps to
"read GitHub issues/PRs/workflows"	tools.github with mode: gh-proxy and minimal toolsets
"use full MCP server/tool definitions"	tools.github with mode: local
"use other MCP servers but keep token cost down"	tools.cli-proxy: true (hybrid CLI-proxy mode)
"edit files"	edit tool (default unless restricted)
"run commands/tests"	bash tool (default unless restricted)
"browse web pages/docs"	web-fetch and/or web-search
"test UI flows"	playwright

Pattern Heuristics

User says...	Recommended named pattern
"triage issues automatically"	IssueOps
"run on /commands with human approval loops"	ChatOps
"run every weekday and keep improving"	DailyOps
"monitor workflow failures and trends"	MonitorOps
"process a big backlog in chunks"	BatchOps
"run manually with input parameters"	DispatchOps

Integration Auth Mapping

When the user names a third-party service or MCP server:

1. Confirm whether native tool, MCP server, or safe-output job is the right integration path.
2. Look up the integration's auth requirements and required scopes before finalizing the design.
3. Provide a concrete setup checklist with:
   • required GitHub Actions secrets (names to create)
   • workflow env variables that consume those secrets
   • minimum token scopes/permissions needed

Output format to use:

Integration auth setup:
- <service-or-mcp>: <purpose>
  - Secrets to create: <SECRET_NAME>, <SECRET_NAME>
  - Workflow env vars: <ENV_VAR>=${{ secrets.<SECRET_NAME> }}
  - Required scopes/permissions: <least-privilege scopes>

Never suggest committing plaintext tokens.

Data Strategy Mapping

User says...	Maps to
"analyze PRs", "review issues", "check status"	add steps: that pre-fetch with gh + jq
"read the diff", "look at changed files"	add steps: using gh pr diff or gh pr view --json files
"search for patterns across repos"	add steps: using gh search + jq filters
"just respond to a comment"	no pre-fetch needed (event payload is enough)
"process each item individually"	suggest sub-agent pattern with model: small

Token Optimization Defaults

Apply these defaults unless the user explicitly asks otherwise:

1. Use DataOps by default for GitHub reads: pre-fetch/aggregate with gh + jq in steps:, store compact JSON in /tmp/gh-aw/data/, and point the prompt to those files (see .github/aw/token-optimization.md for details).
2. Keep tool surface minimal: default to tools.github.mode: gh-proxy, include only required toolsets, and prefer bash + gh for simple reads.
3. For batch workloads, split items into compact data and suggest sub-agent processing with model: small.
4. Keep prompts compact: concise imperative instructions, explicit file paths, single-line noop guidance, and stable instructions before dynamic content.

Progressive Disclosure Rules

1. Never dump all options at once; ask one targeted question at a time.
2. Skip questions when answers are inferable from prior user statements.
3. Offer smart defaults and request confirmation instead of over-questioning.
4. Ask at most 5 questions before presenting a summary; then ask "anything else?" if needed.
5. Detect done signals (that's it, looks good, generate it) and proceed to generation.

Confirmation Format

Use this exact structure:

📋 Proposed workflow:
- Name: <workflow-id>
- Trigger: <event + key options>
- Engine: <engine or default>
- Tools: <tool summary>
- Safe outputs: <list or none>
- Network: <allowed summary>
- Integrations/Auth: <service/mcp + required secrets/env vars>
- Deployment: <GitHub.com or GHEC/GHES details>
- Intent: <one-sentence task>

Then ask: "Ready to generate, or want to adjust anything?"

Generation Template

After confirmation, generate one workflow file using the same skeleton style as .github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md.

---
emoji: <emoji>
description: <brief description>
on:
  <trigger config>
permissions:
  contents: read
  issues: read
  pull-requests: read
tools:
  github:
    mode: gh-proxy
    toolsets: [default]
steps:
  - name: <optional data prefetch>
    run: |
      mkdir -p /tmp/gh-aw/data
      <gh + jq commands that produce compact JSON>
safe-outputs:
  <safe-output-types-if-needed>
network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - <additional entries if needed>
---

# <Workflow Name>

## Task

<clear instructions tied to trigger context>
If `steps:` includes pre-fetch commands, read the resulting `/tmp/gh-aw/data/*.json` files instead of broad live re-fetches.

## Safe Outputs

- Use configured safe outputs for all visible write actions.
- Call `noop` with a short reason when no action is needed.

Validation Checklist

Before final output, run this internal self-check:

• Agent job permissions remain read-only (writes only via safe outputs)
• safe-outputs: covers every write action mentioned in prompt/instructions
• Network access is scoped; avoid blanket wildcard entries
• Trigger matches the user's intended activation event
• Prompt instructs agent to call noop when no action is needed
• Unnecessary defaults are omitted (for example engine: copilot)
• If reading GitHub data, steps: pre-fetches compact JSON (DataOps)
• tools.github.mode is gh-proxy unless broader MCP toolsets are explicitly needed
• Only required toolsets are listed (avoid blanket toolset lists)
• Prompt references specific pre-computed file paths
• For batch processing (>5 items), sub-agent pattern is suggested
• For each third-party service/MCP integration, required secrets/env vars are listed
• Auth guidance includes least-privilege token scope recommendations
• For GHEC/GHES deployments, engine.api-target and GHES compatibility guidance are included when needed

References (load only when needed)

In-repo references:

• .github/aw/syntax.md (index → .github/aw/syntax-core.md, .github/aw/syntax-agentic.md, .github/aw/syntax-tools-imports.md)
• .github/aw/safe-outputs.md (index → .github/aw/safe-outputs-content.md, .github/aw/safe-outputs-management.md, .github/aw/safe-outputs-automation.md, .github/aw/safe-outputs-runtime.md)
• .github/aw/network.md
• .github/aw/patterns.md
• .github/aw/subagents.md
• .github/aw/token-optimization.md
• .github/aw/triggers.md
• .github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md

Portable HTTPS references:

• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/syntax.md (index → .../syntax-core.md, .../syntax-agentic.md, .../syntax-tools-imports.md)
• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/safe-outputs.md (index → .../safe-outputs-content.md, .../safe-outputs-management.md, .../safe-outputs-automation.md, .../safe-outputs-runtime.md)
• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/network.md
• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/patterns.md
• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/triggers.md
• https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/aw/create-agentic-workflow.md