Skip to content

[docs] Update glossary - weekly full scan #20191

New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Merged
pelikhan merged 1 commit into from
Mar 9, 2026
Merged

[docs] Update glossary - weekly full scan #20191

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
15 changes: 15 additions & 0 deletions docs/src/content/docs/reference/glossary.md
View file
Open in desktop
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ A service that implements the Model Context Protocol to provide specific capabil

Capabilities that an AI agent can use during workflow execution. Tools are configured in the frontmatter and include GitHub operations ([`github:`](/gh-aw/reference/github-tools/)), file editing (`edit:`), web access (`web-fetch:`, `web-search:`), shell commands (`bash:`), browser automation ([`playwright:`](/gh-aw/reference/playwright/)), and custom MCP servers.

### Guard Policy

An experimental access control configuration for the GitHub MCP server that restricts which repositories and content integrity levels the agent can read. Configured via `tools.github.repos` (repository scope: `"all"`, `"public"`, or a list of patterns) and `tools.github.min-integrity` (minimum required integrity level). Both fields are required when either is specified. Integrity levels by trust: `merged` (content reachable from the main branch) > `approved` (owners, members, collaborators) > `unapproved` (contributors) > `none` (first-time users). See [GitHub Tools Reference](/gh-aw/reference/github-tools/#guard-policies).

> [!NOTE]
> Guard policy fields are experimental and may change in future releases. Using either field emits a compilation warning.

## Security and Outputs

### MCP Scripts
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -157,6 +164,14 @@ A workflow-scoped identifier (format: `aw_` followed by 3–8 alphanumeric chara

A safe output capability (`update-issue:`) for modifying existing issues without creating new ones. Each updatable field (`status`, `title`, `body`) must be explicitly enabled. Body updates accept an `operation` field: `append` (default), `prepend`, `replace`, or `replace-island` (updates a specific section delimited by HTML comments). Supports cross-repository issue updates. See [Safe Outputs Reference](/gh-aw/reference/safe-outputs/#issue-updates-update-issue).

### Protected Files

A security mechanism on `create-pull-request` and `push-to-pull-request-branch` safe outputs that prevents AI agents from modifying sensitive repository files. By default, protects dependency manifests (e.g., `package.json`, `go.mod`), GitHub Actions workflow files, and lock files. Configured via `protected-files:` with three policies: `blocked` (default — fails with error), `allowed` (no restriction), or `fallback-to-issue` (creates a review issue for human inspection instead of applying changes). See [Safe Outputs (Pull Requests)](/gh-aw/reference/safe-outputs-pull-requests/#protected-files).
Copy link

Copilot AI Mar 9, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

The reason will be displayed to describe this comment to others. Learn more.

The description of what's protected by default is inaccurate. The actual protection covers:

  1. Package manifest files by basename (e.g., package.json, go.mod, Gemfile, pyproject.toml, etc.)
  2. All files under .github/ (not just "GitHub Actions workflow files" — this also includes CODEOWNERS, Dependabot config, etc.)
  3. All files under .agents/ (engine instruction files like AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md)

The glossary says "GitHub Actions workflow files, and lock files" which is both too narrow (.github/ covers much more than just workflow files) and misleading (it omits the .agents/ directory entirely). The frontmatter-full.md reference document more accurately describes these as "package manifests (e.g. package.json, go.mod), engine instruction files (e.g. AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md) or .github/ files."

Consider aligning this description with the existing documentation in frontmatter-full.md and the implementation in pkg/workflow/runtime_definitions.go.

Copilot uses AI. Check for mistakes.

### Allowed Files

A strict scope filter for `create-pull-request` and `push-to-pull-request-branch` safe outputs. When `allowed-files:` is set to a list of glob patterns, only files matching those patterns may be modified — any other file is refused. Runs independently from [Protected Files](#protected-files): both checks must pass. To modify a protected file, it must both match `allowed-files` and have `protected-files: allowed`. See [Safe Outputs (Pull Requests)](/gh-aw/reference/safe-outputs-pull-requests/#exempting-specific-files-with-allowed-files).

## Workflow Components

### Activation Token (`on.github-token:`, `on.github-app:`)
Expand Down