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[safeoutputs] Clarify update_issue target-dependent behavior in tool description #22457

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pelikhan merged 2 commits into from
Mar 23, 2026
Merged

[safeoutputs] Clarify update_issue target-dependent behavior in tool description #22457

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Copilot Mar 23, 2026
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fix: improve update_issue tool description to clarify issue_number be…
Copilot Mar 23, 2026
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4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions actions/setup/js/safe_outputs_tools.json
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -692,7 +692,7 @@
},
{
"name": "update_issue",
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's status, title, or body. Use this to modify issue properties after creation. Only the fields you specify will be updated; other fields remain unchanged.",
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's status, title, or body. Use this to modify issue properties after creation. Only the fields you specify will be updated; other fields remain unchanged. IMPORTANT: The behavior of this tool depends on the workflow's `update-issue: target:` configuration. When `target: triggering` (the default), the tool always updates the issue that triggered the workflow and `issue_number` is ignored. When `target: '*'`, the `issue_number` field controls which issue is updated. The tool will fail (not skip silently) when `target: triggering` and there is no triggering issue (e.g., in scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflows).",
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Copilot AI Mar 23, 2026

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The update_issue tool description says it updates only “status, title, or body”, but this schema also exposes labels, assignees, and milestone (and operation). This mismatch can mislead agents about supported fields; update the description to reflect the full set of editable properties (or remove unsupported fields from the schema if intentional).

Suggested change
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's status, title, or body. Use this to modify issue properties after creation. Only the fields you specify will be updated; other fields remain unchanged. IMPORTANT: The behavior of this tool depends on the workflow's `update-issue: target:` configuration. When `target: triggering` (the default), the tool always updates the issue that triggered the workflow and `issue_number` is ignored. When `target: '*'`, the `issue_number` field controls which issue is updated. The tool will fail (not skip silently) when `target: triggering` and there is no triggering issue (e.g., in scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflows).",
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's status, title, body, labels, assignees, or milestone. Use this to modify issue properties after creation. Only the fields you specify will be updated; other fields remain unchanged. IMPORTANT: The behavior of this tool depends on the workflow's `update-issue: target:` configuration. When `target: triggering` (the default), the tool always updates the issue that triggered the workflow and `issue_number` is ignored. When `target: '*'`, the `issue_number` field controls which issue is updated. The tool will fail (not skip silently) when `target: triggering` and there is no triggering issue (e.g., in scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflows).",

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"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
Expand All @@ -711,7 +711,7 @@
},
"issue_number": {
"type": ["number", "string"],
"description": "Issue number to update. This is the numeric ID from the GitHub URL (e.g., 789 in github.com/owner/repo/issues/789). Required when the workflow target is '*' (any issue)."
"description": "Issue number to update. This is the numeric ID from the GitHub URL (e.g., 789 in github.com/owner/repo/issues/789). ONLY effective when the workflow is configured with `update-issue: target: '*'` in the frontmatter. When the workflow uses `target: triggering` (the default), this field is ignored and the tool updates the issue that triggered the workflow instead. If you need to update a specific issue in a scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflow, the workflow frontmatter must include `update-issue: target: '*'`."
},
"operation": {
"type": "string",
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4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions pkg/workflow/js/safe_outputs_tools.json
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Expand Up @@ -805,7 +805,7 @@
},
{
"name": "update_issue",
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's title, body, labels, assignees, or milestone WITHOUT closing it. This tool is primarily for editing issue metadata and content. While it supports changing status between 'open' and 'closed', use close_issue instead when you want to close an issue with a closing comment. Body updates support replacing, appending to, prepending content, or updating a per-run \"island\" section.",
"description": "Update an existing GitHub issue's title, body, labels, assignees, or milestone WITHOUT closing it. This tool is primarily for editing issue metadata and content. While it supports changing status between 'open' and 'closed', use close_issue instead when you want to close an issue with a closing comment. Body updates support replacing, appending to, prepending content, or updating a per-run \"island\" section. IMPORTANT: The behavior of this tool depends on the workflow's `update-issue: target:` configuration. When `target: triggering` (the default), the tool always updates the issue that triggered the workflow and `issue_number` is ignored. When `target: '*'`, the `issue_number` field controls which issue is updated. The tool will fail (not skip silently) when `target: triggering` and there is no triggering issue (e.g., in scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflows).",
"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -861,7 +861,7 @@
"number",
"string"
],
"description": "Issue number to update. This is the numeric ID from the GitHub URL (e.g., 789 in github.com/owner/repo/issues/789). Required when the workflow target is '*' (any issue)."
"description": "Issue number to update. This is the numeric ID from the GitHub URL (e.g., 789 in github.com/owner/repo/issues/789). ONLY effective when the workflow is configured with `update-issue: target: '*'` in the frontmatter. When the workflow uses `target: triggering` (the default), this field is ignored and the tool updates the issue that triggered the workflow instead. If you need to update a specific issue in a scheduled or workflow_dispatch workflow, the workflow frontmatter must include `update-issue: target: '*'`."
},
"secrecy": {
"type": "string",
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