Remove sync-branches workflow

.github/workflows/autoloop.md

@@ -283,7 +283,6 @@ Examples:
 4. **Rejected or errored iterations** do not commit — changes are discarded.
 5. A **single draft PR** is created for the branch on the first accepted iteration. Future accepted iterations push additional commits to the same PR.
 6. The branch may be **merged into the default branch** at any time (by a maintainer or CI). After merging, the branch continues to be used for future iterations — it is never deleted while the program is active. On the next iteration, the branch is automatically reset to the default branch (see step 2) so that already-merged commits do not cause patch conflicts.
-7. A **sync workflow** automatically merges the default branch into all active `autoloop/*` branches whenever the default branch changes, keeping them up to date.
 
 ### Cross-Linking
 

AGENTS.md

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ autoloop/
 ├── AGENTS.md                          ← you are here
 ├── workflows/                         ← Agentic Workflow definitions
 │   ├── autoloop.md                    ← main autoloop workflow (compiled by gh-aw)
-│   ├── sync-branches.md               ← syncs default branch into autoloop/* branches
 │   ├── shared/                        ← shared workflow fragments
 │   │   └── reporting.md
 │   └── scripts/                       ← standalone scripts invoked from steps
@@ -72,7 +71,7 @@ The workflow (`workflows/autoloop.md`) is compiled by `gh aw compile` into `.git
 6. Updates the program's state file in repo-memory with all state (Machine State table + research sections)
 7. If the program has a `target-metric` and the metric is reached, marks it as completed (removes `autoloop-program` label, adds `autoloop-completed` label for issue-based programs)
 
-A companion workflow (`workflows/sync-branches.md`) runs on every push to the default branch and merges it into all active `autoloop/*` program branches, keeping them up to date.
+Branch freshness is handled by the iteration loop itself: each iteration's Step 3 (in `workflows/autoloop.md`, "Iteration Loop" → step "Branch Setup") fast-forwards or merges `origin/main` into the program's `autoloop/*` branch as needed. No separate sync workflow is required.
 
 ### Evolution Strategy
 
@@ -134,9 +133,8 @@ Programs run on a schedule, but can also be triggered manually:
 To deploy the workflow to a repository:
 
 1. Copy `workflows/autoloop.md` to `.github/workflows/autoloop.md` in the target repo
-2. Copy `workflows/sync-branches.md` to `.github/workflows/sync-branches.md` in the target repo
-3. Copy `workflows/shared/` to `.github/workflows/shared/` in the target repo
-4. Copy `workflows/scripts/` to `.github/workflows/scripts/` in the target repo
-5. Run `gh aw compile autoloop` and `gh aw compile sync-branches` to generate the lock files
-6. Copy program directories to `.autoloop/programs/` in the target repo
-7. Commit and push
+2. Copy `workflows/shared/` to `.github/workflows/shared/` in the target repo
+3. Copy `workflows/scripts/` to `.github/workflows/scripts/` in the target repo
+4. Run `gh aw compile autoloop` to generate the lock file
+5. Copy program directories to `.autoloop/programs/` in the target repo
+6. Commit and push

README.md

@@ -171,7 +171,6 @@ The command is handled by the `autoloop` Agentic Workflow — it is **not** a Gi
 autoloop/
 ├── workflows/                         ← Agentic Workflow definitions
 │   ├── autoloop.md                    ← the workflow (compiled by gh aw)
-│   ├── sync-branches.md               ← syncs default branch into autoloop/* branches
 │   └── shared/
 │       └── reporting.md
 ├── .autoloop/

install.md

@@ -85,10 +85,9 @@ rm -rf /tmp/autoloop
 
 ```bash
 gh aw compile autoloop
-gh aw compile sync-branches
 ```
 
-**What this does**: Generates `.github/workflows/autoloop.lock.yml` and `.github/workflows/sync-branches.lock.yml` from the workflow definitions.
+**What this does**: Generates `.github/workflows/autoloop.lock.yml` from the workflow definition.
 
 ## Step 5: Create a Branch, Commit, and Open a Pull Request
 
@@ -141,7 +140,7 @@ Optionally, you may copy existing examples from the [`.autoloop/programs/`](.aut
 
 ### Compile fails
 
-- Ensure `.github/workflows/autoloop.md` and `.github/workflows/sync-branches.md` exist
+- Ensure `.github/workflows/autoloop.md` exists
 - Ensure `.github/workflows/shared/` directory was copied
 - Re-run `gh aw compile autoloop` with `--verbose` for details
 

tests/test_scheduling.py

@@ -685,92 +685,6 @@ def test_clone_before_scheduling(self):
         )
 
 
-class TestSyncBranchesCredentialOrdering:
-    """Verify that Git credentials are configured before the merge/push step.
-
-    The sync-branches workflow merges the default branch into autoloop/*
-    branches.  Merge commits require a Git identity (user.name/user.email)
-    and pushes/fetches need an authenticated remote URL.  Both must be
-    configured before the merge step runs.
-    """
-
-    CRED_STEP = "Set up Git identity and authentication"
-    MERGE_STEP = "Merge default branch into all autoloop program branches"
-
-    def _load_steps(self):
-        """Return the list of pre-step names from workflows/sync-branches.md."""
-        import os
-
-        wf_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "workflows", "sync-branches.md")
-        with open(wf_path) as f:
-            content = f.read()
-        step_names = []
-        for m in re.finditer(r'^\s*-\s*name:\s*(.+)$', content, re.MULTILINE):
-            step_names.append(m.group(1).strip())
-        return step_names
-
-    def _load_lock_steps(self):
-        """Return the list of step names from the agent job in
-        .github/workflows/sync-branches.lock.yml.
-
-        Parsed with a regex (rather than PyYAML) so the test has no
-        external dependencies beyond pytest.
-        """
-        import os
-
-        lock_path = os.path.join(
-            os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", ".github", "workflows", "sync-branches.lock.yml"
-        )
-        with open(lock_path) as f:
-            content = f.read()
-        # Restrict to the 'agent:' job body so we don't pick up step names
-        # from other jobs (e.g. 'activation').
-        agent_match = re.search(r"^  agent:\n((?:    .*\n|\n)+)", content, re.MULTILINE)
-        if not agent_match:
-            return []
-        agent_body = agent_match.group(1)
-        # Step names appear as either '      - name: <Name>' or
-        # '        name: <Name>' (when the step starts with '- env:').
-        step_names = []
-        for m in re.finditer(r'^\s{6,8}(?:- )?name:\s*(.+)$', agent_body, re.MULTILINE):
-            step_names.append(m.group(1).strip())
-        return step_names
-
-    def test_cred_step_exists(self):
-        """A step that configures Git identity/auth must exist in the source."""
-        steps = self._load_steps()
-        assert self.CRED_STEP in steps, (
-            f"Expected step '{self.CRED_STEP}' not found. Steps: {steps}"
-        )
-
-    def test_creds_before_merge(self):
-        """The credential step must come before the merge step in the source."""
-        steps = self._load_steps()
-        cred_idx = steps.index(self.CRED_STEP)
-        merge_idx = steps.index(self.MERGE_STEP)
-        assert cred_idx < merge_idx, (
-            f"'{self.CRED_STEP}' (index {cred_idx}) must come before "
-            f"'{self.MERGE_STEP}' (index {merge_idx}). Steps: {steps}"
-        )
-
-    def test_lock_creds_before_merge(self):
-        """In the compiled lock file, Configure Git credentials must come before the merge step."""
-        steps = self._load_lock_steps()
-        cred_names = [s for s in steps if "Configure Git credentials" in s]
-        assert cred_names, (
-            f"No 'Configure Git credentials' step found in lock file. Steps: {steps}"
-        )
-        merge_names = [s for s in steps if "Merge default branch" in s]
-        assert merge_names, (
-            f"No merge step found in lock file. Steps: {steps}"
-        )
-        cred_idx = steps.index(cred_names[0])
-        merge_idx = steps.index(merge_names[0])
-        assert cred_idx < merge_idx, (
-            f"'Configure Git credentials' (index {cred_idx}) must come before "
-            f"merge step (index {merge_idx}). Steps: {steps}"
-        )
-
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Single-PR-per-program invariant: safe-outputs config + existing_pr lookup

workflows/autoloop.md

@@ -325,7 +325,6 @@ Examples:
 4. **Rejected or errored iterations** do not commit — changes are discarded.
 5. A **single draft PR** is created for the branch on the first accepted iteration. Future accepted iterations push additional commits to the same PR.
 6. The branch may be **merged into the default branch** at any time (by a maintainer or CI). After merging, the branch continues to be used for future iterations — it is never deleted while the program is active. On the next iteration, the branch is automatically reset to the default branch (see step 2) so that already-merged commits do not cause patch conflicts.
-7. A **sync workflow** automatically merges the default branch into all active `autoloop/*` branches whenever the default branch changes, keeping them up to date.
 
 ### Cross-Linking