fix: handle cache-memory cold start in issue duplication detector

[lpcox]

Problem

The Issue Duplication Detector workflow reports missing_data (cache_memory_miss) on its first run (or after cache expiry) because /tmp/gh-aw/cache-memory/issues.json doesn't exist yet. The agent treats the empty cache as an error and gives up instead of falling through to GitHub search.

Root cause from run 25920514188:

cat /tmp/gh-aw/cache-memory/issues.json 2>/dev/null || echo "CACHE_MISS"
→ CACHE_MISS
→ agent immediately reports missing_data and stops

The cache directory was restored (with only cache-hit-history.json), but the issues.json file has never been written because the agent always bails on the first cold start.

Fix

Updated the workflow prompt to:

• Treat empty/missing cache as a normal cold start — not an error
• Explicitly instruct the agent NOT to report missing_data on cache miss
• Always search via GitHub API regardless of cache state (not just as fallback)
• Use bash for file I/O (cat, cat >) instead of ambiguous MCP server references
• Document cache merge behavior for populating the cache on subsequent runs

Changes

• .github/workflows/issue-duplication-detector.md — prompt rewrite for steps 1-5

Fixes #3213

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR updates the Issue Duplication Detector agent prompt to handle cache-memory cold starts without reporting missing_data, and to rely on GitHub search to populate and validate duplicate candidates.

Changes:

• Clarifies that missing or empty /tmp/gh-aw/cache-memory/issues.json is a normal cold start.
• Reworks duplicate detection flow to compare cached data and always search GitHub.
• Adds explicit bash-based read/write instructions and cache merge guidance.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
.github/workflows/issue-duplication-detector.md	Updates the agent workflow prompt for cache loading, cold-start handling, GitHub search, and cache writing behavior.

Copilot's findings

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• Files reviewed: 1/1 changed files
• Comments generated: 1

[github-actions]

🧪 Smoke Test: Copilot BYOK (Offline) Mode

Test	Result
GitHub MCP connectivity	❌ (401 - unauthenticated in sandbox)
GitHub.com HTTP connectivity	✅ (pre-step passed)
File write/read (smoke-test-copilot-byok-25920970228.txt)	✅
BYOK inference (agent → api-proxy → api.githubcopilot.com)	✅

Running in BYOK offline mode (COPILOT_OFFLINE=true) via api-proxy → api.githubcopilot.com.

Overall: PARTIAL PASS (GitHub MCP unavailable due to sandbox auth limitations; all other tests passed)

🔑 BYOK report filed by Smoke Copilot BYOK

[github-actions]

Smoke Test Results

❌ GitHub API: Bad credentials (HTTP 401)
✅ Playwright: GitHub homepage loaded, title contains "GitHub"
✅ File verify: Smoke test file exists with expected content

Overall: FAIL (2 of 3 tests passed)

The gh CLI authentication issue prevented GitHub API verification.

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

[github-actions]

🔬 Smoke Test Results

Test	Status
GitHub MCP connectivity	❌ 401 Bad credentials
GitHub.com HTTP connectivity	❌ Template vars not expanded
File write/read	❌ Template vars not expanded

Overall: FAIL — workflow template variables (${{ steps.smoke-data.outputs.* }}) were not resolved before agent execution, and GitHub MCP auth is unavailable.

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot

[github-actions]

Smoke test: FAIL
PRs: refactor: [Export Audit] Remove test-only re-exports from barrel modules | feat: auto-forward OTEL_* env vars with one-shot token protection for headers
✅ GitHub PR review; ❌ safeinputs-gh; ✅ Playwright; ❌ Tavily
✅ file write/cat; ❌ discussion query/comment; ✅ npm ci && npm run build
Overall status: FAIL

Warning

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• registry.npmjs.org

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "registry.npmjs.org"

See Network Configuration for more information.

🔮 The oracle has spoken through Smoke Codex

[github-actions]

🏗️ Build Test Suite Results

Ecosystem	Project	Build/Install	Tests	Status
Bun	elysia	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Bun	hono	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
C++	fmt	✅	N/A	✅ PASS
C++	json	✅	N/A	✅ PASS
Deno	oak	N/A	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Deno	std	N/A	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
.NET	hello-world	✅	N/A	✅ PASS
.NET	json-parse	✅	N/A	✅ PASS
Go	color	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Go	env	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Go	uuid	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Java	gson	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Java	caffeine	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Node.js	clsx	✅	All passed	✅ PASS
Node.js	execa	✅	All passed	✅ PASS
Node.js	p-limit	✅	All passed	✅ PASS
Rust	fd	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS
Rust	zoxide	✅	1/1 passed	✅ PASS

Overall: 8/8 ecosystems passed — ✅ PASS

Generated by Build Test Suite for issue #3215 · ● 3.5M · ◷

[github-actions]

Smoke test results: 2 pass, 2 fail. Overall: FAIL.

Warning

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• localhost

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "localhost"

See Network Configuration for more information.

💎 Faceted by Smoke Gemini

[github-actions]

Smoke Test Results — FAIL

Check	Result
Redis PING	❌ host.docker.internal:6379 — connection timeout
PostgreSQL pg_isready	❌ host.docker.internal:5432 — connection timeout
PostgreSQL SELECT 1	❌ host.docker.internal:5432 — connection timeout

Overall: FAIL — Service containers unreachable from this environment. host.docker.internal does not resolve/connect (confirmed with localhost fallback also failing). The sandbox may not have network access to the host-side service containers.

🔌 Service connectivity validated by Smoke Services

[lpcox]

@copilot address review feedback

[Copilot]

@copilot address review feedback

Addressed in edfb23f. The prompt now keeps cold-start handling but explicitly continues to step 2 to fetch the new issue details, then skips only cache comparison (step 3) before GitHub search (step 4).