Fix the workflow_call permission grant in the call-workflow compiler — the caller hands the reusable worker a read-only scope it cannot run under, so every run dies at startup.
Severity: P1 — chronic, 100% red since at least 2026-06-23, untracked by any open agentic-workflows issue.
Problem statement
Smoke Call Workflow (.github/workflows/smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml) has concluded startup_failure on every run for at least the last ~3 days. No jobs execute; the run is rejected by GitHub at validation time before any step runs (no logs, no annotations retrievable).
Affected workflows & runs
| Run |
Created (UTC) |
Conclusion |
| §28140379652 (representative) |
2026-06-25T01:18 |
startup_failure |
| §28136015184 (comparator) |
2026-06-24T23:22 |
startup_failure |
| §28119469774 |
2026-06-24T18:07 |
startup_failure |
| 28070797235 / 28068825952 / 28059834083 |
2026-06-23/24 |
startup_failure |
No successful run exists to diff against — the workflow is uniformly red, so the comparator is the nearest prior failed run.
- Caller:
.github/workflows/smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml (job call-smoke-workflow-call)
- Worker:
.github/workflows/smoke-workflow-call.lock.yml (reusable, on: workflow_call)
Probable root cause — reusable-workflow permission escalation
GitHub rejects a workflow_call invocation at startup when a job in the called workflow requests a permission greater than the caller grants to the calling job.
- Caller grants the reusable job only (
smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml):
permissions:
contents: read
pull-requests: read
- Worker jobs request more (
smoke-workflow-call.lock.yml, lines ~1143-1146 and ~1667-1670):
permissions:
issues: write
pull-requests: write
issues: write is not granted at all and pull-requests is escalated read→write, so the run never starts. Inputs and secrets were ruled out: the caller's with: (aw_context, payload, task-description) and 7 secrets: match the worker's workflow_call declarations exactly.
Proposed remediation
In the call-workflow safe-output compiler, set the caller job's permissions: for a uses: ./.github/workflows/<worker>.lock.yml invocation to the union of the worker's job-level permissions (here issues: write, pull-requests: write, contents: read), instead of a fixed contents: read, pull-requests: read. Re-running gh aw compile must regenerate the caller lock so the granted scope covers the worker's safe-output jobs.
Success criteria / verification
Smoke Call Workflow next scheduled/dispatch run concludes success (not startup_failure).- The
call-smoke-workflow-call reusable job actually executes and the worker posts its validation comment.
- A compiler/unit guard asserts caller permission grant ⊇ worker job permission union for
workflow_call fan-out, preventing regression.
Related
References: §28140379652 · §28136015184 · §28119469774
Related to #41293
Generated by 🔍 [aw] Failure Investigator (6h) · 152.4 AIC · ⌖ 38.7 AIC · ⊞ 5.3K · ◷
Fix the workflow_call permission grant in the call-workflow compiler — the caller hands the reusable worker a read-only scope it cannot run under, so every run dies at startup.
Severity: P1 — chronic, 100% red since at least 2026-06-23, untracked by any open
agentic-workflowsissue.Problem statement
Smoke Call Workflow(.github/workflows/smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml) has concludedstartup_failureon every run for at least the last ~3 days. No jobs execute; the run is rejected by GitHub at validation time before any step runs (no logs, no annotations retrievable).Affected workflows & runs
No successful run exists to diff against — the workflow is uniformly red, so the comparator is the nearest prior failed run.
.github/workflows/smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml(jobcall-smoke-workflow-call).github/workflows/smoke-workflow-call.lock.yml(reusable,on: workflow_call)Probable root cause — reusable-workflow permission escalation
GitHub rejects a
workflow_callinvocation at startup when a job in the called workflow requests a permission greater than the caller grants to the calling job.smoke-call-workflow.lock.yml):smoke-workflow-call.lock.yml, lines ~1143-1146 and ~1667-1670):issues: writeis not granted at all andpull-requestsis escalated read→write, so the run never starts. Inputs and secrets were ruled out: the caller'swith:(aw_context,payload,task-description) and 7secrets:match the worker'sworkflow_calldeclarations exactly.Proposed remediation
In the call-workflow safe-output compiler, set the caller job's
permissions:for auses: ./.github/workflows/<worker>.lock.ymlinvocation to the union of the worker's job-level permissions (hereissues: write,pull-requests: write,contents: read), instead of a fixedcontents: read, pull-requests: read. Re-runninggh aw compilemust regenerate the caller lock so the granted scope covers the worker's safe-output jobs.Success criteria / verification
Smoke Call Workflownext scheduled/dispatch run concludessuccess(notstartup_failure).call-smoke-workflow-callreusable job actually executes and the worker posts its validation comment.workflow_callfan-out, preventing regression.Related
Daily BYOK Ollama Test--rootlessAWF install; root cause--rootless requires write access to /usr/local/bin, addressed by [review] fix: rootless AWF install uses $HOME/.local and exports $GITHUB_PATH #41321 (merged 2026-06-24 23:42 UTC, lock regenerated) pending next-run verification.References: §28140379652 · §28136015184 · §28119469774
Related to #41293