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[workshop-sync] workshop/06-install-gh-aw.md: `gh aw init` file list is inaccurate (missing --engine copilot gating, unverified file)

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Assessment

Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Newbie friendliness
85/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Active
Tech stack
markdown
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Read workshop/06-install-gh-aw.md alongside workshop/side-quest-06-04-install-local.md and verify the file list against gh aw init --help. Update the command and explanation to distinguish unconditional output from files gated by --engine copilot and --no-mcp, and remove the unsupported designer skill file. Done when the instructions accurately match the CLI behavior; consider also addressing the stale version example.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

documentation

Workshop file reviewed

workshop/06-install-gh-aw.md

Problem

The "Initialize agentic workflow skills" section shows a plain gh aw init command (no --engine copilot flag) and then claims:

This creates several files needed for agentic workflow authoring:
.github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md,
.github/skills/agentic-workflow-designer/SKILL.md,
.github/agents/agentic-workflows.md, .github/mcp.json,
.github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml, and .vscode/settings.json.

This is inaccurate in two ways, confirmed against the authoritative gh aw init --help text:

  1. .github/agents/agentic-workflows.md is only created with --engine copilot, and .github/mcp.json / .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml are only created with --engine copilot (and without --no-mcp) — but the shown command is plain gh aw init with no engine flag.
  2. .github/skills/agentic-workflow-designer/SKILL.md is not mentioned anywhere in the gh aw init --help output (only .github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md is documented as created), and a repo-wide grep confirms it appears nowhere else in the workshop or .github/ tree, nor on disk after gh aw init has run in this repo.

For comparison, the sibling side-quest file workshop/side-quest-06-04-install-local.md gets this right:

This configures .gitattributes and .vscode/settings.json, creates .github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md, and removes legacy prompt files from .github/prompts/ if they exist.

When you run gh aw init --engine copilot, it also creates .github/agents/agentic-workflows.md. Unless you pass --no-mcp, it also creates .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml and .github/mcp.json.

Current correct syntax (per gh aw init --help, gh-aw v0.89.21)

Unconditional output of plain gh aw init:

  • .gitattributes updated to mark .lock.yml files as generated
  • .github/skills/agentic-workflows/SKILL.md (dispatcher skill)
  • Removes old files from .github/prompts/ if present
  • .vscode/settings.json
  • .github/workflows/agentics-maintenance.yml (only if a workflow uses expires)

Only with --engine copilot:

  • .github/agents/agentic-workflows.md
  • (and, without --no-mcp) .github/mcp.json and .github/workflows/copilot-setup-steps.yml

There is no .github/skills/agentic-workflow-designer/SKILL.md output documented anywhere.

Suggested fix

Rewrite the "This creates several files..." paragraph to match the gated behavior described in side-quest-06-04-install-local.md, either by:

  • Adding --engine copilot to the shown command and listing only the files that command actually produces, or
  • Keeping the plain gh aw init command and listing only its unconditional output, with a note that --engine copilot is needed for the agent/MCP files.

Also remove the reference to .github/skills/agentic-workflow-designer/SKILL.md, which is not produced by gh aw init per the CLI help or corroborating workshop content.

As a minor secondary note: the example output gh-aw version 0.81.6 is a stale version string (current latest release is v0.89.21); consider genericizing it (e.g. gh-aw version X.Y.Z) to avoid implying a specific outdated version.

[!WARNING]

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

  • githubnext.github.io

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "githubnext.github.io"

See Network Configuration for more information.

Generated by 🔍 Workshop Sync Check · copilot · auto · 114.6 AIC · ⌖ 6.9 AIC · ⊞ 9.2K · ◷

  • expires on Oct 6, 2026, 3:57 AM UTC
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