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Refine agent dispatcher and PBI dispatcher skills to prioritize PR creation over issues#411

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orchestrator-updates
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Refine agent dispatcher and PBI dispatcher skills to prioritize PR creation over issues#411
p3dr0rv wants to merge 1 commit intomasterfrom
orchestrator-updates

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@p3dr0rv p3dr0rv commented Mar 31, 2026

This pull request updates the PBI Dispatcher skill and agent documentation to enforce a new policy: Azure DevOps PBIs must be dispatched to the GitHub Copilot coding agent by creating pull requests (PRs), never bare issues. The documentation now clearly outlines the preferred dispatch methods, fallback strategies, and the strict prohibition on using GitHub Issues as a dispatch mechanism. The changes also clarify the priority order for dispatch tools and provide updated, step-by-step instructions for each method.

Dispatch Methodology Updates:

  • The SKILL.md now mandates always creating PRs (never issues) when dispatching PBIs to Copilot, prioritizing the create_pull_request_with_copilot MCP tool, then gh agent-task create, and only as a last resort, generating a script for manual use. Creating issues is explicitly prohibited as it does not trigger the Copilot agent. [1] [2] [3] [4]

  • The agent rules in .agent.md have been updated to reflect the new PR-only policy, including a new dispatch priority order and the removal of any fallback to issue creation.

Documentation and Instructional Improvements:

  • Both the skill and agent documentation now provide clearer, step-by-step instructions for each dispatch method, including detailed fallback procedures and explicit warnings against using issues. [1] [2] [3]

  • The prerequisites section in SKILL.md is updated to include the need for the GitHub MCP Server and clarifies authentication requirements.

Fallback Handling:

  • If the preferred MCP tool fails due to authentication, the documentation now instructs to fall back to gh agent-task create, and only if that is unavailable, to generate a script for the developer—never to create an issue. [1] [2] [3]

Summary of Most Important Changes:

Enforcement of PR-Only Dispatch Policy

  • All documentation now mandates that PBIs must be dispatched by creating PRs, not issues, to ensure the Copilot coding agent is properly triggered. [1] [2]

Updated Dispatch Priority and Fallback Procedures

  • The preferred method is the create_pull_request_with_copilot MCP tool, with clear fallback steps to gh agent-task create and, as a last resort, generating a script—never using issues. [1] [2] [3]

Improved Documentation and Step-by-Step Instructions

  • Expanded and clarified step-by-step instructions for dispatching PBIs, including authentication and dependency checks. [1] [2]

Explicit Prohibition of Issue Creation

  • All references to using gh issue create as a dispatch method have been removed, and explicit warnings have been added to never use issues for dispatching PBIs to Copilot. [1] [2] [3]

Prerequisite and Environment Clarifications

  • The prerequisites section now includes the GitHub MCP Server and clarifies authentication requirements for fallback scenarios.

…eation over issues, enhance dispatch methods, and clarify usage instructions.
@p3dr0rv p3dr0rv requested a review from a team as a code owner March 31, 2026 20:40
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❌ Work item link check failed. Description does not contain AB#{ID}.

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1. **Discover gh accounts first** — follow the GitHub Account Discovery sequence in the skill:
1. **Always create PRs, never bare issues** — The goal is to get Copilot coding agent to
generate a pull request with code changes. Use `create_pull_request_with_copilot` MCP
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the way it is worded it seems it is going to invoke each mechanism one by one. I believe that's not intended?

echo '{"assignees":["copilot-swe-agent[bot]"]}' | gh api /repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/NUMBER/assignees --method POST --input -
```
5. **Dispatch priority order:**
- **First**: Try `create_pull_request_with_copilot` MCP tool
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since you want to use MCP, then let's add the MCP tool to mcp.json under vscode folder

# Then assign:
echo '{"assignees":["copilot-swe-agent[bot]"]}' | gh api /repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/NUMBER/assignees --method POST --input -
```
5. **Dispatch priority order:**
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this isn't a dispatch priority order but rather a priority order for trying different mechanisms for dispatch

no shell commands needed:

```
create_pull_request_with_copilot(
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this tool automatically assigns it to copilot? or does something need to be done to assign it to copilot?

Do you get copilot session id back that the orchestrator can render in the chat?

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