ci(e2e): replace label dispatcher with comment-only helper#990
Merged
Conversation
The dispatcher fired the gated workflow via workflow_dispatch, which worked for the merge gate but did not surface the run on the PR's Checks tab - workflow_dispatch-triggered runs are not associated with a PR-context event and the PR UI filters them out. Replace the dispatcher with E2E Label Help: when a test:e2e* label is applied, post a PR comment pointing the maintainer at the existing push-event run on the mirror, with instructions to click 'Re-run all jobs'. That re-run replays the original push event so its check-runs do show up on the PR. Costs one human click per label application; in return we get live in-progress visibility on the PR. When the mirror is missing or stale, the comment instead tells the maintainer to run /ok to test <SHA>. Drops actions: write from the workflow's permissions; only pull-requests: write remains. Signed-off-by: Piotr Mlocek <pmlocek@nvidia.com>
johntmyers
approved these changes
Apr 27, 2026
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment
Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.This suggestion is invalid because no changes were made to the code.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is closed.Suggestions cannot be applied while viewing a subset of changes.Only one suggestion per line can be applied in a batch.Add this suggestion to a batch that can be applied as a single commit.Applying suggestions on deleted lines is not supported.You must change the existing code in this line in order to create a valid suggestion.Outdated suggestions cannot be applied.This suggestion has been applied or marked resolved.Suggestions cannot be applied from pending reviews.Suggestions cannot be applied on multi-line comments.Suggestions cannot be applied while the pull request is queued to merge.Suggestion cannot be applied right now. Please check back later.
Summary
The label dispatcher we landed in #975 worked for the merge gate but had a UX gap:
workflow_dispatch-triggered runs are not associated with a PR-context event, so the PR's Checks tab does not surface them while they run. Maintainers had no live progress visibility on the PR until the gate flipped from red to green many minutes later.This PR replaces the dispatcher with a comment-only helper. When
test:e2e/test:e2e-gpuis applied:Branch E2E Checks(orGPU Test) run for the PR head SHA and tells the maintainer to click Re-run all jobs. That re-run replays the originalpushevent, so its check-runs show up on the PR's Checks tab in real time./ok to test <SHA>to refresh the mirror.Costs one human click per label application; in return we get live in-progress visibility on the PR.
We considered three alternatives before landing on this approach:
pull-request/<N>to fake apushevent. Changes the SHA, breaks the gate's head-SHA equivalence, and writes to a branch copy-pr-bot owns. Architecturally bad.pull_request.*andissue_comment.createdevents. Even commenting/ok to test <SHA>is a no-op when the mirror is already at that SHA. There is no programmatic way to make the bot re-fire a push.Changes
.github/workflows/e2e-label-dispatch.ymldeleted;.github/workflows/e2e-label-help.ymladded. Trigger andpull_request_target: [labeled]shape unchanged. Dropsactions: write(no longer dispatches anything); keeps onlypull-requests: writefor posting the comment.CI.mdflow descriptions updated to reflect the new manual re-run step.architecture/ci-e2e.mdrewritten: trigger taxonomy, happy-path mermaid diagram, design-rationale sections, permissions table, and edge cases all updated. New "Why we don't auto-dispatch" section captures the alternatives we considered.Testing
test:e2eto a PR with a fresh mirror, confirm the help comment links to the existing run with the right SHA. Open the linked run, click "Re-run all jobs", confirmBranch E2E Checksjobs appear on the PR's Checks tab in real time./ok to test <SHA>.Checklist