repo-assist: __GH_AW_WIKI_NOTE__ placeholder not substituted when Wiki is disabled

[ericchansen]

Bug: __GH_AW_WIKI_NOTE__ placeholder not substituted when repo has no Wiki

Affected workflow

repo-assist (scheduled daily run)

Repository

mcaps-microsoft/MSX-MCP

Symptoms

The activation job fails every scheduled run with:

❌ Error: Found unreplaced placeholders in prompt file:

25:You have access to a persistent repo memory folder at `/tmp/gh-aw/repo-memory/default/` where you can read and write files that are stored in a git branch.__GH_AW_WIKI_NOTE__

These placeholders should have been replaced with their actual values.
This indicates a problem with the placeholder substitution step.

Expected behavior

When the repo does not have a GitHub Wiki enabled, __GH_AW_WIKI_NOTE__ should be replaced with an empty string (or a note that the Wiki is unavailable) so the prompt passes validation.

Actual behavior

The placeholder is left raw, validate_prompt_placeholders.sh detects it, and the job exits with code 1. This has been failing daily for at least 3 consecutive days (Mar 7–9, 2026).

Workaround

Enable the GitHub Wiki on the repo (even if empty) so the substitution has a value. This requires admin access.

Run links

• Run 22847157444 (Mar 9)

[pelikhan]

@copilot when the wiki is disabled, inject a dummy empty string variable to force expresison interpolation with empty v alue.