v0.41.1

🌟 Release Highlights

This patch release addresses a critical Playwright MCP configuration issue and includes essential maintenance cleanup.

🐛 Bug Fixes

Playwright MCP Configuration Corrected (#13667)
Fixed --allowed-hosts flag to use comma separators instead of semicolons, aligning with the Playwright MCP specification. This ensures Playwright browser automation works correctly with multiple allowed hosts. All 145 workflow lock files have been regenerated with the correct format.

- "--allowed-hosts", "localhost;localhost:*;127.0.0.1;127.0.0.1:*"
+ "--allowed-hosts", "localhost,localhost:*,127.0.0.1,127.0.0.1:*"

Test Suite Alignment (#13652)
Updated TestUpgradeCommand_UpdatesAgentFiles to reflect recent changes in agent file management. The upgrade command now correctly handles the on-demand download of agentic-workflows.agent.md from GitHub.

🔧 Maintenance

• Workflow Cleanup - Removed legacy security alert burndown workflows (#13662, #13660)
• Release Workflow Simplification - Removed the changesets job from the release workflow (#13654)

---

For complete details, see the CHANGELOG.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Fix TestUpgradeCommand_UpdatesAgentFiles after agent template removal by @Copilot in #13652
• chore: rm old dependabot burner by @mnkiefer in #13660
• chore: rm legacy security alert burndown workflows by @mnkiefer in #13662
• Remove changesets job from release workflow by @Copilot in #13654
• Fix Playwright MCP --allowed-hosts to use comma separator per spec by @Copilot in #13667

Full Changelog: v0.41.0...v0.41.1

v0.41.0

🌟 Release Highlights

This release brings important tooling updates and workflow improvements to keep gh-aw running smoothly with the latest AI engine and MCP server versions.

⚡ What's New

Updated CLI Tool Versions (#13645)

• Claude CLI: v2.1.31 - Latest bug fixes and stability improvements
• GitHub Copilot CLI: v0.0.402 - Enhanced agent capabilities
• GitHub MCP Server: v0.30.3 - Improved reliability and performance
• Playwright MCP: v0.0.63 - Better browser automation support
• MCP Gateway: v0.0.98 - Enhanced HTTP transport and error handling

Dynamic Agent File Loading (#13612)

• Agent configuration files are now downloaded on-demand from GitHub with version-aware URL patching
• Reduces workflow setup time and ensures you're always using the correct agent versions

Discussion Fallback Support (#13569)

• Workflows can now automatically create issues when discussion creation fails
• Adds fallback_to_issue option for more reliable GitHub community interactions

🔧 Improvements

Workflow Content Optimization (#13609)

• Inlined repo-audit-analyzer workflow content for faster execution
• Eliminates runtime imports for better performance

Docker Image Updates (#13623, #13619, #13605)

• Multi-device docs tester updated with latest gh-aw-mcpg container versions
• Improved stability and compatibility with MCP Gateway v0.0.98

---

For complete details, see CHANGELOG.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• chore: rm campaign terminology from docs by @mnkiefer in #13596
• Update gh-aw-mcpg container image to v0.0.96 by @Copilot in #13605
• Inline repo-audit-analyzer workflow content by @Copilot in #13609
• [WIP] Update Multi-Device Docs Tester .lock.yml for version v0.0.98 by @Copilot in #13619
• Update Docker image version in workflow by @lpcox in #13623
• Add fallback to create issue on discussion failure by @Copilot in #13569
• Update CLI tool versions: Claude 2.1.31, Copilot 0.0.402, GitHub MCP v0.30.3, Playwright 0.0.63, MCP Gateway v0.0.98 by @Copilot in #13645
• Download agent file from GitHub on demand with version-aware URL patching by @Copilot in #13612

Full Changelog: v0.40.1...v0.41.0

v0.40.1

🌟 Release Highlights

This maintenance release focuses on workflow reliability, developer experience improvements, and documentation cleanup. Key updates include enhanced MCP server debugging capabilities, streamlined checkout processes, and removal of deprecated campaign terminology.

✨ What's New

• Changelog Automation - New changelog-from-changesets workflow automatically generates release notes from changesets (#13471)
• Enhanced Debug Logging - DEBUG environment variables now properly export to MCP server containers, making troubleshooting easier (#13539)
• MCP Gateway Improvements - Log output now includes file-tree display and extension filtering for better visibility (#13505)
• Optimized Checkouts - Redundant .github sparse checkouts are now skipped when full repository checkout follows (#13535)
• Codex & Sandbox Updates - Updated to Codex 0.94.0 and Sandbox Runtime 0.0.34 (#13478)

🐛 Bug Fixes & Improvements

• Workflow Reliability - Fixed Chroma MCP server Docker configuration that caused timeouts (#13542)
• Import Handling - Added special import handling for copilot-setup-steps.yml ensuring checkout steps are always first (#13538, #13566)
• Error Diagnostics - Added diagnostic logging to MCP logs tool error paths for better troubleshooting (#13489)
• Changesets Workflow - Removed duplicate tag creation and fixed job dependencies (#13592)
• Test Suite - Multiple test fixes including hash updates and flaky test timing assertions (#13534, #13457, #13577)

📚 Documentation

• Campaign Cleanup - Removed deprecated campaign terminology across documentation and workflows (#13596, #13571, #13572, #13573)
• New Guide - Added comprehensive GitHub Agentic Workflows Guide by @dsyme (#13537)
• Documentation Fixes - Fixed broken documentation links and removed unnecessary FAQ bloat (#13602, #13557)
• Enhanced References - Documented bots field in frontmatter and MCP server configuration best practices (#13454, #13458)

🔧 Internal Improvements

• Refactored MCP server status tool to call GetWorkflowStatuses directly (#13491)
• Consolidated changeset processing into release workflow (#13486)
• Removed shared gh-aw import and inlined MCP config in workflows (#13482)
• Refactored expired-entity cleanup scripts for better code reuse (#13420)

---

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Add noop tool call to changeset generator for skipped PRs by @Copilot in #13393
• Remove .vscode/tasks.json by @Copilot in #13396
• Skip agent failure issues when PR checkout fails by @Copilot in #13397
• Propagate create-discussion errors to conclusion job failure tracking by @Copilot in #13399
• [log] Add debug logging to CLI utility functions by @github-actions[bot] in #13429
• [instructions] Document expires and auto-merge for create-pull-request by @github-actions[bot] in #13432
• Document bots field in frontmatter reference by @Copilot in #13454
• Document MCP server configuration analysis: alpine:latest vs alpine:3.20 by @claude in #13458
• [jsweep] Clean create_issue.cjs by @github-actions[bot] in #13428
• Fix Issue Monster workflow to mandate noop when no issues assigned by @Copilot in #13466
• Add changelog-from-changesets agentic workflow by @Copilot in #13471
• Print MCP server startup logs after connection test with DEBUG="*" by @Copilot in #13469
• chore: Update CHANGELOG.md for v0.40.1 by @github-actions[bot] in #13481
• Refactor expired-entity cleanup scripts to share expiration processing by @codex in #13420
• Update Codex to 0.94.0 and Sandbox Runtime to 0.0.34 by @claude in #13478
• Remove shared gh-aw import and inline MCP config in agentic workflows by @codex in #13482
• Clarify playwright tool usage in smoke test workflows by @Copilot in #13490
• Add diagnostic logging to MCP logs tool error path by @Copilot in #13489
• Consolidate changeset processing into release workflow and simplify changeset.js by @Copilot in #13486
• Refactor MCP server status tool to call GetWorkflowStatuses directly by @claude in #13491
• Fix smoke-claude: clarify safe-outputs auto-targeting for PR comments by @Copilot in #13507
• Improve MCP gateway log output: refactor to helper module with file-tree display and extension filtering by @Copilot in #13505
• Remove CLI step from audit-workflows, use MCP logs tool by @Copilot in #13517
• Checkout .github folder in agent job, support all action modes by @Copilot in #13516
• Remove gh-aw extension installation step by @pelikhan in #13530
• Update stale hash in cross-language validation test by @Copilot in #13534
• Skip redundant .github sparse checkout when full repo checkout follows by @Copilot in #13535
• 🤖 Create GitHub Agentic Workflows Guide by @dsyme in #13537
• Export DEBUG env var in MCP gateway setup and pass to container by @Copilot in #13539
• Fix Chroma MCP server Docker configuration causing workflow timeout by @Copilot in #13542
• [docs] Remove bloat from FAQ documentation by @github-actions[bot] in #13557
• chore: remove agentic campaign creation through agent by @mnkiefer in #13515
• [WIP] Fix the failing GitHub Actions workflow test
  Analyze the workflow logs, identify the root cause of the failure, and implement a fix.
  Job ID: 62388074397
  Job URL: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/21643148678/job/62388074397 by @Copilot in #13563
• Add special import handling for copilot-setup-steps.yml by @Copilot in #13538
• Ensure checkout step is always first when importing copilot-setup-steps.yml and remove redundant .github checkout by @Copilot in #13566
• Fix TestGitHubFolderCheckoutOptimization test expectation after checkout optimization by @Copilot in #13577
• chore: remove campaign-specific references by @mnkiefer in #13571
• Fix changesets workflow - Remove duplicate tag creation and update job dependencies by @Copilot in #13592

New Contributors

• @claude made their first contribution in #13458
• @codex made their first contribution in #13420

Full Changelog: v0.40.0...v0.40.1

v0.40.0

🌟 Release Highlights

This release marks an important milestone: GitHub Agentic Workflows has officially moved to the github organization! All references, URLs, and documentation have been updated to reflect the new home at github/gh-aw.

🏠 Repository Migration

The project has migrated from githubnext/gh-aw to github/gh-aw, bringing it into GitHub's main organization. This release includes comprehensive updates across:

• Installation scripts - Updated to reference the new repository location
• Documentation - All URLs migrated from githubnext.github.io to github.github.io
• Configuration files - Repository owner settings updated throughout
• Test suites - Fixed references to the new organization name
• Codebase - Complete search-and-replace migration of repository references

Migration made easy: A new codemod (gh aw fix) automatically updates your workflows to use the correct repository references.

⚡ Infrastructure Improvements

• MCP Gateway v0.0.94 - Latest gateway version with enhanced reliability
• AWF Firewall v0.13.1 - Updated firewall component for improved security
• Simplified Copilot installation - Documentation now uses the built-in gh copilot command instead of npm installation

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed uncaught exception in project URL resolution fallback path
• Resolved token handling issues across workflows to improve project operations
• Fixed integration test hash validation after repository migration
• Corrected stale GitHub Actions workflow references

🔧 Development Experience

• Updated DevContainer permissions for better developer onboarding
• Removed outdated GitHub Codespace standalone installer tips
• Improved test reliability after organization migration
• GitHub App usage streamlined for simplified configuration

---

For complete details, see the CHANGELOG.

Migration note: If you're using workflows that reference githubnext/gh-aw, run gh aw fix to automatically update them to github/gh-aw.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Fix test failures by adding workflow markers to test data by @Copilot in #13312
• chore: temp disable scheduled triggers for smoke-project by @mnkiefer in #13318
• Fix uncaught exception in project URL resolution fallback path by @Copilot in #13321
• fix: token handling across workflows to improve project operations by @mnkiefer in #13332
• chore: recompiled workflows by @mnkiefer in #13333
• updated devcontainer permissions by @pelikhan in #13334
• search and replace githubnext/gh-aw to github/gh-aw by @pelikhan in #13335
• Fix GitHub domain links in configuration and README by @asw101 in #13337
• githubnext.github.io -> github.github.io by @pelikhan in #13339
• fix: update GitHub domain references in release workflow and slides by @pelikhan in #13340
• go sources migration by @pelikhan in #13346
• Remove GitHub Codespace standalone installer tip from quick start guide by @pelikhan in #13347
• Fix test references to GitHub organization name by @pelikhan in #13348
• 🔍 Refine GitHub Agentic Workflows documentation by @dsyme in #13351
• Update documentation links from GitHub Pages to GitHub.com by @pelikhan in #13354
• Migrate references from githubnext to github by @pelikhan in #13358
• Fix "How It Works" link URL by @asw101 in #13357
• Fix js-integration-live-api: update stale cross-language hash validation by @Copilot in #13359
• Update MCP gateway to v0.0.94 by @Copilot in #13360
• Disable GitHub App usage by @pelikhan in #13362
• [WIP] Fix failing GitHub Actions workflow test by @Copilot in #13361
• fix: update repository references from githubnext to github by @pelikhan in #13365
• Add codemod to migrate githubnext/gh-aw install script references to github/gh-aw by @Copilot in #13368
• Fix repoutil tests after repository org migration by @Copilot in #13375
• Update repository owner in configuration by @pelikhan in #13390
• Update AWF (gh-aw-firewall) to v0.13.1 by @Copilot in #13378
• docs: replace npm copilot-cli installation with built-in gh copilot command by @Copilot in #13381

New Contributors

• @asw101 made their first contribution in #13337

Full Changelog: v0.39.4...v0.40.0

v0.39.4

🌟 Release Highlights

This maintenance release focuses on improving reliability and stability across the platform with several critical bug fixes and workflow enhancements.

🐛 Key Bug Fixes

Enhanced Workflow Detection

• Agentic workflows now use XML comment markers for more reliable detection (#13309), improving workflow identification accuracy across different file types

Improved Error Handling

• Fixed YAML unmarshal failures when reviewers field is a string in create-pull-request (#13289)
• Ephemeral issue search now supports legacy expiration format (#13291), ensuring backward compatibility
• Better error visibility with step summaries for PR checkout failures (#13308)

Workflow Compilation Fixes

• Fixed workflow timestamp check to correctly use frontmatter hash when .md file is newer (#13299), preventing unnecessary recompilations
• Test suite stability improved with proper workflow markers in test data (#13312)

⚡ Workflow Improvements

Project Integration

• GitHub token handling refactored for better security and consistency (#13284, #13305, #13307)
• Safe-outputs now include expires: 2d across 21 agentic workflows for better cleanup management (#13285)

Quality of Life

• jsweep workflow now creates draft PRs by default (#13300)
• Documentation unbloater workflow excludes blog directory (#13296)

---

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Fix: Pass github-token to project safe-output handlers via GH_AW_PROJECT_GITHUB_TOKEN env var by @Copilot in #13284
• Add expires: 2d to safe-outputs in 21 agentic workflows by @Copilot in #13285
• Fix YAML unmarshal failure when reviewers is string in create-pull-request by @Copilot in #13289
• Fix ephemeral issue search to support legacy expiration format by @Copilot in #13291
• Exclude blog directory from documentation unbloater workflow by @Copilot in #13296
• Configure jsweep workflow to create draft PRs by @Copilot in #13300
• Fix workflow timestamp check to use frontmatter hash when .md is newer by @Copilot in #13299
• Add step summary for PR checkout failures by @Copilot in #13308
• Refactor project URLs and GitHub token in workflow by @mnkiefer in #13305
• Use XML comment markers for agentic workflow detection by @Copilot in #13309

Full Changelog: v0.39.3...v0.39.4

v0.39.3

🌟 Release Highlights

This maintenance release focuses on improving workflow reliability and fixing critical issues with GitHub Projects integration, workflow dispatching, and compilation timestamps.

🐛 Bug Fixes & Improvements

GitHub Projects Integration

• Fixed cross-organization project access - The update_project handler now correctly uses custom GitHub tokens when accessing Projects v2 in different organizations (#13276)
• Project handlers now load properly - Added missing project-related handlers (update_project, create_project, create_project_status_update) to the safe output registry, eliminating "No handler loaded" warnings (#13265, #13222)

Workflow Dispatching

• Fixed dispatch_workflow input handling - MCP-based workflow dispatch calls now properly wrap inputs in the expected schema structure (#13259)
• Improved dispatch tool registration - Workflow dispatch tools now validate metadata explicitly, preventing registration failures (#13226)

Compilation & Timestamps

• Smarter lock file generation - Compilation now skips rewriting lock files when content hasn't changed, preserving timestamps and preventing false "uncommitted changes" warnings (#13251)
• Reliable change detection - Workflow timestamp checks now use frontmatter hash comparison instead of file timestamps, catching changes even in batch commits (#13213)

📚 Documentation

• Enhanced campaigns guide with clearer descriptions and improved experimental feature guidance (#13255)
• Updated workflow prompts with architectural constraints and security best practices (#13214)

🔧 Internal

• Added comprehensive integration tests for frontmatter hash algorithm (#13190)
• Improved smoke test workflows and CI stability

---

For complete details, see CHANGELOG.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Add GitHub API integration tests for JavaScript frontmatter hash algorithm with CI integration by @Copilot in #13190
• Add target-repo to smoke project actions by @mnkiefer in #13215
• Add architectural constraints and security patterns to agentic workflow prompts by @Copilot in #13214
• Auto-split project handlers in unified safe-output config by @Copilot in #13222
• Update smoke-project workflow to trigger on "smoke" label and use codex engine by @Copilot in #13225
• Use frontmatter hash comparison for workflow timestamp checks with coarse granularity by @Copilot in #13213
• Fix dispatch_workflow tool registration with explicit type validation by @Copilot in #13226
• chore: update test workflow to require input parameter by @mnkiefer in #13236
• chore: recompiled dispatcher test workflow by @mnkiefer in #13239
• No changes needed - workflow dispatching issue already resolved by @Copilot in #13247
• Skip lock file write when content unchanged to preserve timestamps by @Copilot in #13251
• chore: recompile workflow dispatch workflow by @mnkiefer in #13256
• docs: update experimental banner and enhance campaigns guide by @mnkiefer in #13255
• Fix dispatch_workflow MCP handler to wrap inputs per schema by @Copilot in #13259
• Add missing project handlers to safe output handler registry by @Copilot in #13265
• Fix update_project to use custom GitHub token for cross-org project access by @Copilot in #13276
• Update target-repo in smoke-project workflow by @mnkiefer in #13281

Full Changelog: v0.39.2...v0.39.3

v0.39.2

🌟 Release Highlights

Maintenance release with updated MCP gateway container for improved stability and compatibility.

🔧 Infrastructure Updates

• MCP Gateway v0.0.90 - Updated the default MCP gateway container version from v0.0.88 to v0.0.90, bringing the latest improvements to workflows using MCP server integrations. All 148 workflow lock files have been recompiled to reference the new image.

---

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

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What's Changed

• Update MCP gateway container to v0.0.90 by @Copilot in #13197

Full Changelog: v0.39.1...v0.39.2

v0.39.1

🌟 Release Highlights

This maintenance release focuses on stability improvements, fixing critical issues with MCP gateway configuration, workflow validation, and Safe Outputs tool registration.

🐛 Bug Fixes & Improvements

• Fixed Safe Outputs MCP server reliability - Resolved critical issue where dispatch_workflow tool wasn't properly registered in the HTTP server, preventing workflow dispatches from working correctly (#13179)
• Improved workflow validation performance - Replaced CLI execution with JavaScript-based hash computation, significantly reducing validation overhead (#13168)
• Fixed expression errors in custom engine workflows - Resolved validation errors for workflows using custom engines without the validate-secret step (#13157)
• Enhanced MCP Gateway configuration - Added payloadDir field with absolute path validation for better payload management (#13178, #13183)
• Corrected GitHub MCP toolsets - Removed references to non-existent tools, ensuring accurate toolset mappings (#13169)
• Fixed project handler type detection - Resolved issue where project handlers were incorrectly flagged as standalone steps (#13161)
• Stabilized frontmatter hash computation - Removed version numbers from hash calculation to prevent unnecessary workflow recompilations (#13174)
• Improved build reliability - Added Go module caching and retry logic to prevent proxy 403 failures during CI builds (#13155)

📦 Dependency Updates

• Updated Claude Code to 2.1.29 - Latest improvements and bug fixes
• Updated MCP Gateway to v0.0.88 - Enhanced stability and performance

🔧 Code Quality

• Standardized discussion category naming - Consistent lowercase plural forms across the codebase (#13156)

---

For complete details, see CHANGELOG.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Fix project handler types incorrectly marked as standalone steps by @Copilot in #13161
• Standardize discussion category naming to lowercase plural forms by @Copilot in #13156
• Fix expression errors for custom engine workflows missing validate-secret step by @Copilot in #13157
• Add Go module caching and retry logic to prevent proxy 403 failures by @Copilot in #13155
• Update Claude Code to 2.1.29 and MCP Gateway to v0.0.88 by @Copilot in #13170
• Remove non-existent tools from GitHub MCP toolsets mapping by @Copilot in #13169
• Replace gh aw CLI execution with JavaScript hash computation in workflow validation by @Copilot in #13168
• Add payloadDir field to MCP Gateway configuration by @Copilot in #13178
• Remove version numbers from frontmatter hash computation by @Copilot in #13174
• Add absolute path validation for MCP gateway payloadDir field by @Copilot in #13183
• Fix dispatch_workflow tool registration in Safe Outputs MCP HTTP server by @Copilot in #13179

Full Changelog: v0.39.0...v0.39.1

v0.39.0

🌟 Release Highlights

This release brings major improvements to GitHub Projects integration, enhanced MCP tooling capabilities, and significant architectural refinements for better reliability and developer experience.

✨ What's New

🎯 GitHub Projects Integration

• Simplified Project Configuration: Removed confusing top-level project: field in favor of explicit safe-outputs configuration (#13130, #13147). Project workflows now use standardized update_project and create_project_status_update safe-outputs with clear project: field requirements.
• Draft Issue Support: Added draft_issue content type for project status updates (#13113), enabling workflows to create draft issues directly in GitHub Projects.
• Unified Handler Architecture: Consolidated project-related safe outputs into a single, streamlined handler (#13084, #13097, #13103), eliminating code duplication and improving maintainability.

🚀 Workflow Dispatch Automation

• New dispatch_workflow MCP Tool: Trigger GitHub Actions workflows programmatically from agentic workflows (#12904, #12878, #12886). Enables automation chains where workflows can orchestrate other workflows.
• Comprehensive Documentation: Added detailed guides for dispatch-workflow tool generation and input handling (#13138).

📊 Enhanced Observability

• MCP Tool Usage Statistics: Added detailed analytics to logs and audit commands (#13073, #13067), showing tool request/response sizes and usage patterns.
• Serena Language Server Metrics: Track Serena MCP tool usage with comprehensive statistical analysis (#13063, #13078), helping optimize agentic planning workflows.
• Hash Comparison Logging: Improved diagnostics for workflow outdated checks with frontmatter hash comparison details (#13132).

🛠️ CLI Improvements

• Markdown Path Support: gh aw run now accepts markdown file paths directly (#12966), making local workflow testing more intuitive.
• Tool Versions Updated: Bumped Claude Code to 2.1.27, Copilot CLI to 0.0.400, Playwright MCP to 0.0.62, MCP Gateway to v0.0.86, and OpenAI Codex to v0.93.0 (#12863, #13004).

🐛 Bug Fixes & Improvements

Hash Validation Fixes

• Go/JavaScript Alignment: Fixed frontmatter hash computation inconsistencies between Go and JavaScript implementations (#13149, #13094). Hash validation now uses the Go binary exclusively, eliminating mismatches.
• Decoupled Hash Computation: Separated frontmatter hash logic from file system I/O (#13104), improving testability and reliability.
• Consistency Tests: Added comprehensive test coverage for hash computation across Go/JavaScript (#13081).

Project Integration Fixes

• Environment Variable Population: Fixed GH_AW_PROJECT_URL not being set when using top-level project declarations (#13117).
• Workflow ID Search: Corrected comment search to use workflow ID instead of workflow name (#13072), resolving false negatives.

Safe Outputs Enhancements

• Topological Sort for Dependencies: Added dependency resolution for safe output messages with temporary IDs (#13066), ensuring correct execution order.
• Noop Tool Guidance: Improved prompt to explicitly guide workflows to call noop tool when no other actions are needed (#12970).

Build & CI Improvements

• Proxy Error Resolution: Added go mod download step to CI jobs to fix proxy.golang.org 403 errors (#12976).
• Buffer Overflow Fix: Resolved stdout buffer overflow in unit test coverage step (#12945).
• Stream Processing: Fixed Claude log parser to use stream-json and tee for JSONL output (#12947).

📚 Documentation

• SpecOps Navigation: Added SpecOps to documentation navigation with simplified structure (#13131).
• Serena Language Server Reference: Extracted Serena documentation to dedicated reference file (#12862).
• Developer Specs Consolidation: Removed marketing language and consolidated developer specifications (#12898).
• Two-File Structure Removal: Simplified workflow documentation by removing outdated two-file workflow structure guidance (#12924).

🔧 Architecture & Refactoring

• Safe Outputs Unification: Migrated to unified handler manager with compiler-managed flags (#12967), reducing complexity and improving consistency.
• Code Simplification: Applied functional programming patterns and immutability improvements across the codebase (#12973, #12921).
• JavaScript Modernization: Cleaned legacy code patterns like comma operator abuse in action scripts (#12977, #13123).
• Test Coverage: Expanded project safe-output testing in smoke workflows (#13029, #13060).

🗑️ Deprecations & Removals

• Removed copy-project Safe Output: Consolidated into unified handler (#13103).
• Removed Legacy Job Builder: Old update-project job builder replaced by unified handler (#13074).
• Removed Test-Runtime Workflow: Cleaned up obsolete dispatch targets (#12909).
• Disabled Dependabot Burner Schedule: Stopped daily Dependabot workflow runs (#13006, #13007).

---

75 pull requests merged in this release. For complete details, see the CHANGELOG.

Full Commit Range: v0.38.5...v0.39.0

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

---

What's Changed

• Extract Serena language server documentation to separate reference file by @Copilot in #12862
• Update CLI tool versions: Claude Code 2.1.27, Copilot 0.0.400, Playwright MCP 0.0.62, MCP Gateway v0.0.86 by @Copilot in #12863
• Generate actions/checkout steps for repository imports by @Copilot in #12867
• Restrict dispatch_workflow to only search .github/workflows directory by @Copilot in #12878
• Fix agent factory documentation link in workflow templates by @Copilot in #12869
• Fix dispatch_workflow tools registration in safe-outputs MCP server by @Copilot in #12886
• Fix dispatch-workflow missing workflow_files mapping in config by @Copilot in #12887
• Add diagnostic logging for dispatch_workflow tool registration failures by @Copilot in #12894
• Fix dispatch-workflow validation to run unconditionally by @Copilot in #12896
• Add workflow_dispatch trigger to test-runtime workflow by @mnkiefer in #12899
• chore: specify trigger label by @mnkiefer in #12900
• Validate dispatch_workflow safe output functionality and add usage documentation by @Copilot in #12904
• Remove test-runtime workflow and dispatch targets by @Copilot in #12909
• [docs] Consolidate developer specifications - Remove marketing language by @github-actions[bot] in #12898
• Remove two-file structure from workflow documentation by @Copilot in #12924
• chore: refine default campaign orchestrator rules by @mnkiefer in #12925
• Remove noop from handler registry and clarify skip reason logging by @Copilot in #12923
• 🔧 Improve Agentic Workflow Authoring Structure by @dsyme in #12935
• Externalize threat detection prompt template to runtime file by @Copilot in #12930
• Fix repository import checkout paths and add selective subfolder merging by @Copilot in #12883
• Fix stdout buffer overflow in unit test coverage step by @Copilot in #12945
• Add expires: 2d to create-issue safe-outputs across workflows by @Copilot in #12950
• Fix Claude log parser: use stream-json and tee for JSONL output by @Copilot in #12947
• [fp-enhancer] Apply functional programming and immutability improvements by @github-actions[bot] in #12921
• Recompile workflows - update action pins to specific versions by @Copilot in #12959
• 🔄 Update Workflow Files and Action Pins by @dsyme in #12962
• Add noop handling to CI Failure Doctor for successful CI runs by @Copilot in #12964
• Add noop tool guidance to safe output prompt by @Copilot in #12970
• 🚀 Update gh aw run to support markdown path input by @dsyme in #12966
• Clean check_team_member.cjs: remove comma operator abuse and modernize by @Copilot in #12977
• 🔄 Rename Functional Enhancer workflow to Functional Pragmatist by @dsyme in #12974
• Add go mod download step to CI jobs to fix proxy.golang.org 403 errors by @Copilot in #12976
• Fix test-dispatcher workflow prompt to explicitly call dispatch_workflow tool by @Copilot in #12987
• [WIP] Fix round robin scheme syntax in create-agentic-workflow.md by @Copilot in #12991
• Fix workflow compilation error in functional-pragmatist.md by @Copilot in #12989
• Disable daily schedule for Dependabot Burner by @mnkiefer in https://github.com/githubn...

v0.38.5

🌟 Release Highlights

This maintenance release improves workflow automation, documentation quality, and CI reliability with key enhancements to issue-driven PRs and agent configuration.

✨ What's New

Auto-close Issues from PRs (#12823)
Pull requests triggered by issues now automatically include Fixes #N in the PR body, ensuring issues close when PRs merge. This streamlines issue tracking and reduces manual bookkeeping.

Explicit Agent Configuration (#12798)
The new engine.agent frontmatter field allows explicit specification of Copilot CLI agents. This provides clearer control over which agent handles workflow tasks, improving reproducibility and debugging.

Functional Programming Workflow (#12852)
Added an agentic workflow that systematically applies functional programming improvements across the codebase. This helps maintain code quality at scale through automated refactoring patterns.

🔧 Improvements & Fixes

CLI Version Updates (#12818)

• GitHub Copilot CLI: 0.0.399
• Claude Code: 2.1.25
• Playwright: v1.58.1

CI Reliability (#12845, #12828)
Reverted preactivation suppression optimization and removed hash-based compilation skip to improve workflow reliability. These changes ensure consistent CI behavior across all workflow runs.

📚 Documentation

MCP Package Docs (#12848)
Added comprehensive package-level documentation to 9 MCP core files, improving code navigation and maintenance for contributors.

🧹 Internal

• Extracted shared entity search helper for cleaner code reuse (#12820)
• Added Slack safe-output stub for testing infrastructure (#12796)

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For complete details, see CHANGELOG.

Ahoy! This treasure was crafted by 🏴‍☠️ Release

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What's Changed

• Add stub Slack safe-output job to smoke-copilot for testing by @Copilot in #12796
• Refactor: Extract shared entity search helper from expired cleanup scripts by @Copilot in #12820
• Remove hash-based compilation skip in run_push by @Copilot in #12828
• Update CLI versions: Claude Code 2.1.25, Copilot 0.0.399, Playwright v1.58.1 by @Copilot in #12818
• Auto-add 'Fixes #N' closing keyword to PR body when triggered from issue by @clubanderson in #12823
• 🔄 Revert preactivation suppression optimization by @dsyme in #12845
• Add agentic workflow for systematic functional programming improvements by @Copilot in #12852
• Add explicit engine.agent field for Copilot CLI agent specification by @Copilot in #12798
• Add package documentation to 9 MCP core files by @Copilot in #12848

New Contributors

• @clubanderson made their first contribution in #12823

Full Changelog: v0.38.4...v0.38.5