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Copilot AI commented Feb 1, 2026

Users were confused about how dispatch-workflow safe output works and how to properly define inputs for target workflows.

Changes

Documentation (docs/src/content/docs/reference/safe-outputs.md)

  • Added "How It Works" section explaining automatic MCP tool generation from workflow_dispatch inputs
  • Added "Defining Workflow Inputs" section with complete target workflow example
  • Added "Best Practices" (explicit inputs, descriptive descriptions, choice types, defaults)
  • Added "Troubleshooting" for 4 common failure modes
  • Fixed max value (3 → 50)

Example workflow (.github/workflows/test-dispatcher.md)

  • Rewrote to explain MCP tool auto-generation and calling patterns

Template (pkg/cli/templates/create-agentic-workflow.md)

  • Added "Dispatching Other Workflows" section with proper input definition guidance

Key clarification

The compiler reads target workflow's workflow_dispatch inputs and auto-generates MCP tools:

# Target workflow: deploy-app.md
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: "Target deployment environment"
        required: true
        type: choice
        options: [staging, production]
      version:
        required: true
        type: string

Generates deploy_app MCP tool with matching schema. Agent calls it directly - no manual output formatting needed.

Impact

  • ~330 lines of new documentation
  • 7 code examples
  • 4 troubleshooting scenarios with solutions

Warning

Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

  • telemetry.astro.build
    • Triggering command: /opt/hostedtoolcache/node/24.13.0/x64/bin/node node /home/REDACTED/work/gh-aw/gh-aw/docs/node_modules/.bin/astro build (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

Original prompt

Review dispatch-workflow safe output implementation and update the docs and prompting instructions

Custom agent used: technical-doc-writer
AI technical documentation writer for GitHub Actions library using GitHub Docs voice


✨ Let Copilot coding agent set things up for you — coding agent works faster and does higher quality work when set up for your repo.

…g instructions

- Added comprehensive "How It Works: MCP Tool Generation" section
- Added "Defining Workflow Inputs" section with examples
- Added "Best Practices" section (4 guidelines)
- Added "Troubleshooting" section (4 common problems with solutions)
- Updated test-dispatcher example to explain MCP tool generation
- Added dispatch-workflow guidance to create-agentic-workflow template
- Fixed max value documentation (1 -> 50)
- All documentation builds successfully

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Review dispatch workflow safe output implementation and update documentation Document dispatch-workflow MCP tool generation and input handling Feb 1, 2026
Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan February 1, 2026 16:39
@pelikhan pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 1, 2026 16:42
@pelikhan pelikhan merged commit 95d2366 into main Feb 1, 2026
3 checks passed
@pelikhan pelikhan deleted the copilot/update-dispatch-workflow-docs branch February 1, 2026 16:43
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2 participants