[q] improve(q): clarify agent scope and add plan announcement step (#21812)

[github-actions]

Problem

The Q workflow agent was getting confused by issue/PR context. In run #63962, Q read issue #21812 (about a CodeQL violation from slice pre-allocation) and tried to revert a Go code change instead of optimizing agentic workflows. The PR it attempted to create had the title:

"revert: undo slice pre-allocation optimization to fix CodeQL violations (#21763)"

This is completely outside Q's scope.

Root Cause

1. No upfront plan announcement — the agent jumped into investigation without declaring what it would do
2. Ambiguous context guidance — the issue/PR context sections said "use this context to inform your investigation" without making clear the context is background info only
3. No explicit scope constraint — nothing prevented the agent from editing non-workflow files

Changes Made

.github/workflows/q.md

1. Added mission scope constraint at the top of the Mission section:

   Your sole mission is to optimize agentic workflows in .github/workflows/. You MUST NOT fix general code bugs, revert commits, or address issues unrelated to agentic workflow configuration.

2. Added Phase 0 plan announcement step: Before doing any investigation, the agent must post an add_comment with its investigation plan — which workflows it will analyze, what issues it will look for, and what changes it anticipates. This provides transparency and a checkpoint.

3. Clarified context sections: Issue/PR/Discussion context sections now explicitly say:

   "The issue context is background information only. Do NOT fix code bugs, revert commits, or perform work unrelated to .github/workflows/*.md files."

4. Added scope rule to Change Quality: New bullet: "Stay in scope: Only modify .github/workflows/*.md files — never edit Go, JavaScript, YAML, or lock files"

Expected Improvements

• Q will announce its plan before starting work, giving users visibility
• Q will not confuse issue/PR context with a general code fix work order
• Q will stay focused on agentic workflow optimization in all cases

Validation

✅ q.md compiled successfully with no errors or warnings.

References

• Run analyzed: #63962 (failure due to out-of-scope PR attempt)

• Triggered by: @pelikhan on issue [workflow-style] Normalize report formatting for non-compliant workflows #21812

• Fixes [workflow-style] Normalize report formatting for non-compliant workflows #21812

Note

🔒 Integrity filtering filtered 1 item

Integrity filtering activated and filtered the following item during workflow execution.
This happens when a tool call accesses a resource that does not meet the required integrity or secrecy level of the workflow.

• issue:[workflow-style] Normalize report formatting for non-compliant workflows #21812 (issue_read: Resource 'issue:[workflow-style] Normalize report formatting for non-compliant workflows #21812' has lower integrity than agent requires. Agent would need to drop integrity tags [unapproved:all approved:all] to trust this resource.)

🎩 Equipped by Q · ◷

• expires on Mar 21, 2026, 4:11 PM UTC

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Warning

🛡️ Protected Files — Push Permission Denied

This was originally intended as a pull request, but the patch modifies protected files: .github/workflows/q.md.

The push was rejected because GitHub Actions does not have workflows permission to push these changes, and is never allowed to make such changes, or other authorization being used does not have this permission. A human must create the pull request manually.

To create a pull request with the changes:

# Download the patch from the workflow run
gh run download 23304243899 -n agent-artifacts -D /tmp/agent-artifacts-23304243899

# Create a new branch
git checkout -b q/clearer-agent-plan-fa4edf8ee65be419 main

# Apply the patch (--3way handles cross-repo patches)
git am --3way /tmp/agent-artifacts-23304243899/aw-q-clearer-agent-plan.patch

# Push the branch and create the pull request
git push origin q/clearer-agent-plan-fa4edf8ee65be419
gh pr create --title '[q] improve(q): clarify agent scope and add plan announcement step (#21812)' --base main --head q/clearer-agent-plan-fa4edf8ee65be419 --repo github/gh-aw