[skill-optimizer] Daily Skill Optimizer Improvements - 2026-04-23

[github-actions]

Skill Optimizer Run Summary

Field	Value
Run mode	dry-run
Init status	✅ Success (exit 0)
Run status	❌ Failed (exit 1)
Workflow run	24814681146

Evidence

From run.log:

Unhandled error: Error: target.skill: "target.skill" does not exist:
  /home/runner/work/gh-aw/gh-aw/SKILL.md
  — Create SKILL.md at that path or update target.skill

From init.log:

[init] Created /home/runner/work/gh-aw/gh-aw/.skill-optimizer/skill-optimizer.json
[init] SKILL.md: /home/runner/work/gh-aw/gh-aw/SKILL.md (not found yet — create it)

From answers.json: optimizer is configured for prompt surface, model claude-sonnet-4.6, up to 10 tasks / 1 iteration, 80% pass-rate target.

Improvements

1. Create SKILL.md at the repository root

   The optimizer's init step ran successfully and generated .skill-optimizer/skill-optimizer.json, but the run step immediately failed because SKILL.md was absent. Without this file the optimizer can never execute any tasks.

   Action: Create /SKILL.md that describes the gh aw prompt surface — what the CLI does, key concepts (workflow compilation, engines, MCP servers), and 3–5 representative usage examples drawn from AGENTS.md and the existing skills/ directory.

   Expected impact: Unblocks the optimizer entirely; every subsequent daily run will be able to execute tasks instead of failing at validation.

2. Commit .skill-optimizer/skill-optimizer.json to the repository

   The init step regenerates this config on every run, adding unnecessary noise and preventing the team from tuning optimizer settings (model list, maxTasks, maxIterations, pass-rate target) via code review.

   Action: Add .skill-optimizer/ to the repository, commit the generated skill-optimizer.json, and add a note to AGENTS.md explaining how to update optimizer settings. Optionally add .skill-optimizer/ to .gitignore exclusions to prevent accidental re-init overwriting the committed config.

   Expected impact: Makes optimizer configuration reviewable and stable; prevents silent config drift between runs.

3. Add a pre-flight check to the skill-optimizer workflow that validates SKILL.md exists before running

   The current workflow only discovers the missing file at runtime (exit 1), which wastes CI minutes and produces a confusing error. A simple test -f SKILL.md guard step with a clear failure message and a link to the creation instructions would surface the problem immediately.

   Action: In the GitHub Actions workflow that calls skill-optimizer, add an early step:

   - name: Validate SKILL.md exists
     run: |
       if [ ! -f SKILL.md ]; then
         echo "::error file=SKILL.md::SKILL.md is required by skill-optimizer. See .skill-optimizer/skill-optimizer.json for setup instructions."
         exit 1
       fi

   Expected impact: Cuts wasted CI time; gives contributors an actionable error annotation in the Actions UI instead of a buried stack trace in a log artifact.

Generated by Daily Skill Optimizer Improvements · ● 159.6K · ◷

• expires on Apr 30, 2026, 3:17 AM UTC