Do not repeat previous findings

[strawgate]

We should give Agents stronger instructions for avoiding filing the same issues twice.

We should have a step (maybe a safe-output?!) that the Agent can run to get issue numbers and titles of the last ~100 suggestions made by that agent to help ensure that the Agent doesn't repeat the same suggestions again.

Let's think through a good way to do this without adding specific instructions to every workflow (a fragment maybe? how can we insert the title prefix for each agent into the script? etc)

[github-actions]

3 related issues

• Ensure bug Hunter and small problem fixer don't repeat bugs #89 — It targets the same outcome of preventing repeated findings by checking previously reported items from the same automation path.
• Duplicate issue detector workflow #197 — It established the duplicate-detection workflow pattern that already searches open and resolved reports and could be extended for this issue’s proposed history check.
• Duplicate Issue Detector distinguish duplicate from highly related #264 — It captures prior decisions on separating true duplicates from merely related results, which is relevant when tightening repeat-detection behavior.

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What is this? | From workflow: Duplicate Issue Detector

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[github-actions]

TL;DR: the lowest-risk path is to add a single reusable duplicate preflight to gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md (which all create-issue workflows already import), and use each workflow’s title-prefix to fetch/review the last ~100 prior reports before creating a new issue.

Recommendation

Implement duplicate prevention centrally in the shared safe-output-create-issue fragment, not per-workflow prompts, then enforce a consistent title-prefix for every workflow that can call create_issue.

This gives one place to maintain the behavior, matches your “no per-workflow duplication” goal, and uses tools already available (github-search_issues + pagination) without waiting on new MCP APIs.

Findings

• create-issue guidance is centralized but currently only documents API limits, not duplicate-preflight behavior:
  • .github/workflows/gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md:1-14
• Duplicate checks are currently inconsistent and workflow-specific (some have explicit queries, many do not):
  • .github/workflows/gh-aw-agent-suggestions.md:92-96 (explicit duplicate search)
  • .github/workflows/gh-aw-flaky-test-investigator.md:99-102 (explicit duplicate check)
  • .github/workflows/gh-aw-branch-actions-detective.md:114-118 (prefix-based check)
• Post-facto duplicate handling exists, but it comments after issue creation rather than preventing new duplicate filings:
  • .github/workflows/gh-aw-duplicate-issue-detector.md:72-73, 121-127
• Coverage evidence from repo scan:
  • 20 workflows can create issues.
  • 12 include explicit duplicate guidance; 8 do not.
  • 19/20 define safe-outputs.create-issue.title-prefix; gh-aw-plan.md is the only missing one.
  • All 20/20 create-issue workflows import gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md.

Verification

I ran repository scans to verify current behavior:

$ python - <<'PY'
from pathlib import Path
root=Path('/home/runner/work/ai-github-actions/ai-github-actions/.github/workflows')
files=sorted(root.glob('gh-aw-*.md'))
create=[]
with_dup=[]
for f in files:
    t=f.read_text()
    if 'create-issue:' in t:
        create.append(f.name)
        if 'github-search_issues' in t or 'Check for duplicates' in t or 'title prefix' in t:
            with_dup.append(f.name)
print('create_issue_workflows',len(create))
print('with_duplicate_guidance',len(with_dup))
print('without_duplicate_guidance',len(create)-len(with_dup))
PY
create_issue_workflows 20
with_duplicate_guidance 12
without_duplicate_guidance 8

$ python - <<'PY'
from pathlib import Path
root=Path('/home/runner/work/ai-github-actions/ai-github-actions/.github/workflows')
missing=[]
for f in sorted(root.glob('gh-aw-*.md')):
    t=f.read_text()
    if 'create-issue:' in t and 'title-prefix:' not in t:
        missing.append(f.name)
print('missing_title_prefix',len(missing))
print('\n'.join(missing))
PY
missing_title_prefix 1
gh-aw-plan.md

$ python - <<'PY'
from pathlib import Path
root=Path('/home/runner/work/ai-github-actions/ai-github-actions/.github/workflows')
missing=[]
for f in sorted(root.glob('gh-aw-*.md')):
    t=f.read_text()
    if 'create-issue:' in t and 'gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md' not in t:
        missing.append(f.name)
print('create_issue_without_fragment',len(missing))
PY
create_issue_without_fragment 0

Detailed Action Plan

1. Add centralized duplicate-preflight instructions in:

   • .github/workflows/gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md
   • Add a required preflight section before any create_issue call:
     • derive prefix from safe-outputs.create-issue.title-prefix (when present)
     • run github-search_issues against open+closed issues with in:title "(prefix)"
     • paginate (perPage: 20-30) until ~100 recent items are reviewed
     • if the proposed finding is already tracked, call noop instead of create_issue
     • if creating, include a short “Duplicate checks” block in the issue body listing checked issue numbers

2. Close the one metadata gap by adding title-prefix to:

   • .github/workflows/gh-aw-plan.md (safe-outputs.create-issue block at lines 73-77)
   • This makes preflight deterministic for all issue-creating workflows.

3. Codify a strict matching rule in the same fragment:

   • “Same root cause/same requested change + overlapping scope => duplicate, use noop”
   • “Shared area but different actionable change => not duplicate, proceed.”

4. Optionally harden with a future MCP helper (separate follow-up):

   • Add a safe-output read helper that returns last N issues for the current workflow prefix.
   • This can replace manual github-search_issues query construction later, but is not required for immediate rollout.

5. Validation pass:

   • make compile
   • make lint
   • Spot-check at least one workflow with and one without previous explicit duplicate guidance to confirm fragment-level behavior is uniformly present.

Related Items

Type	Link	Relevance
Issue	#405	Request to avoid repeating prior findings
File	.github/workflows/gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md:1-14	Central place to add duplicate-preflight behavior
File	.github/workflows/gh-aw-plan.md:73-77	Only create-issue workflow block missing title-prefix
File	.github/workflows/gh-aw-agent-suggestions.md:92-96	Existing workflow-level duplicate check pattern
File	.github/workflows/gh-aw-duplicate-issue-detector.md:72-73,121-127	Duplicate detection currently post-creation (comment), not pre-creation guard
Issue	#354	Prior request around report issue lifecycle behavior
Issue	#357	Closed follow-up on issue lifecycle defaults
PR	#355	Made close-older configurable for scheduled reports
PR	#358	Changed defaults for close-older behavior across detector/auditor workflows

---

What is this? | From workflow: Issue Triage

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[strawgate]

/ai let's make title-prefix an input that can be configured in the workflow_call (with a default) and then let's just use that title-prefix var for the issue search script that's part of the fragment? Make sure you run compile and ensure it ends up in the lock file correctly.

That would work I think

[github-actions]

TL;DR: the exact change should be to add a configurable issue-title-prefix workflow input (with default) in gh-aw-plan, wire it to safe-outputs.create-issue.title-prefix, and use that same input in the duplicate-search instructions in the shared safe-output-create-issue fragment.

Concrete edits

1. Add a new workflow_call input and wire title-prefix in .github/workflows/gh-aw-plan.md (current relevant block is at gh-aw-plan.md:20-77):

# .github/workflows/gh-aw-plan.md
on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      issue-title-prefix:
        description: "Title prefix for issues created by this workflow"
        type: string
        required: false
        default: "[plan] "

safe-outputs:
  activation-comments: false
  create-issue:
    max: ${{ inputs.create-issue-max }}
    title-prefix: "${{ inputs.issue-title-prefix }}"

2. Extend .github/workflows/gh-aw-fragments/safe-output-create-issue.md (currently only limitations at safe-output-create-issue.md:1-13) to include duplicate preflight guidance that uses the prefix input:

## Duplicate Preflight (required before `create_issue`)

1. Search prior issues by title prefix:
   - `github-search_issues` with query
     `repo:{owner}/{repo} is:issue in:title "${{ inputs.issue-title-prefix }}" sort:updated-desc`
2. Review at least the most recent ~100 matching issues (paginate with `perPage: 20-30`).
3. If the same root cause/request already exists (open or closed), do **not** create a new issue; call `noop` and reference the existing issue number(s).

3. Update consumer docs for plan inputs in gh-agent-workflows/plan/README.md:25-32 to include issue-title-prefix.

Why this matches your ask

• gh-aw-plan.md currently has no title-prefix input and no safe-outputs.create-issue.title-prefix (gh-aw-plan.md:20-77).
• The shared create-issue fragment currently has only API limits and no duplicate-search script/instructions (safe-output-create-issue.md:1-13).
• This makes the prefix configurable via workflow_call with a default, and then uses that same variable for the duplicate search logic in the shared fragment.

Verification run

I ran:

make compile

Result: compile completed with the repository’s existing known errors in gh-aw-mention-in-issue-no-sandbox.md and gh-aw-mention-in-pr-no-sandbox.md (threat-detection vs sandbox mismatch), unrelated to this change request.

---

What is this? | From workflow: Mention in Issue

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