[prompt-analysis] Copilot PR Prompt Analysis - 2026-07-27

[github-actions[bot]]

🤖 Copilot PR Prompt Pattern Analysis - 2026-07-27

Summary

Analysis Period: Last 30 days
Total PRs: 1,000 | Merged: 764 (76.4%) | Closed: 231 (23.1%) | Open: 5 (0.5%)

Prompt Categories and Success Rates

Category	Total	Merged	Success Rate
Bug Fix	767	586	76%
Testing	152	122	80%
Documentation	43	32	74%
Feature Addition	19	12	63%
Refactoring	10	8	80%
Other/Uncategorized	9	4	44%

Prompt Analysis

✅ Successful Prompt Patterns

Common characteristics in merged PRs:

• Average prompt length: 204 words
• Word count sweet spot: 150–300 words (53% of merged PRs fall here)
• Dominant keywords: github, workflow, actions, copilot, agent
• Action verbs: fix, implement, add, restore, mitigate
• [WIP] tags extremely rare (11 of 764 merged)

Example successful prompts

1. PR ci: move lint-error-messages into its own job #48324 (ci: move lint-error-messages into its own job): "The Lint error messages step was embedded inside the heavyweight lint-go job (which installs golangci-lint, runs inc..." → Merged
2. PR Mitigate secret argv exposure and harden remote include write boundaries #48318 (Mitigate secret argv exposure and harden remote include): "VulnHunter flagged two credible issues: secrets were being passed to gh secret set via process argv, and remote `@incl..." → Merged
3. PR Restore backward compatibility for single-target dispatch_workflow safe outputs #48317 (Restore backward compatibility for single-target dispatch_workflow): "After upgrading, workflows using safe-outputs.dispatch-workflow with a single configured target started failing becaus..." → Merged

❌ Unsuccessful Prompt Patterns

Common characteristics in closed PRs:

• Average prompt length: 207 words (marginally longer, less focused)
• WIP PRs: 47 of 231 closed PRs (20%) had [WIP] in title vs only 1.4% of merged
• Short prompts (<50 words): disproportionately closed (16 closed vs 7 merged)
• Issues: vague scope, work-in-progress state, missing reproduction context

Example unsuccessful prompts

1. PR fix: normalize inline code font size to match surrounding text #48370 (fix: normalize inline code font size): "Inline <code> elements rendered at 85% of the surrounding font size, making region codes like agentic-workflows visu..." → Closed
2. PR [WIP] Fix safeoutputs gateway registering zero tools issue #48186 ([WIP] Fix safeoutputs gateway registering zero tools issue): "- [x] Add SAFEOUTPUTS_REGISTRATION_FAILURE_FILENAME constant..." → Closed
3. PR [WIP] Fix runtime failure in push_to_pull_request_branch for multi-repo workflows #48184 ([WIP] Fix runtime failure in push_to_pull_request_branch): "- [x] Fix build_checkout_manifest.cjs: add git ls-remote --symref origin HEAD fallback..." → Closed

Key Insights

• WIP tags predict failure: 20% of closed PRs carried [WIP] in the title vs only 1.4% of merged — avoid submitting incomplete work via Copilot.
• Sweet spot is 150–300 words: 53% of merged PRs fell in this range. Very short prompts (<50 words) close at a 2:1 ratio vs merge; very long (300+) show diminishing returns.
• Testing & refactoring lead success: Both categories hit 80% merge rate. Bug-fix prompts (76%) outperform feature-addition (63%), likely because bug reports include concrete reproduction context.

Recommendations

Based on today's analysis:

1. DO: Include specific context — error messages, file names, reproduction steps — to give Copilot a precise target.
2. DO: Keep prompts in the 150–300 word range; be thorough but focused.
3. DO: Prefer bug-fix or refactoring framing when applicable — these have the highest merge rates.
4. AVOID: Submitting [WIP] PRs through Copilot — they close at a 4× higher rate.
5. AVOID: Overly vague or single-line prompts; short prompts close at twice the rate of medium-length ones.

Historical Trends (Last 7 Days)

Date	PRs	Merged	Success Rate	Notes
2026-07-27	1,000	764	76.4%	Today
2026-07-26	1,000	764	76.4%	—
2026-07-25	1,000	764	76.6%	—
2026-07-24	1,000	766	76.8%	—
2026-07-23	1,000	764	76.8%	—
2026-07-22	1,000	760	76.2%	—
2026-07-21	1,000	764	76.9%	—

Trend: Success rate has been remarkably stable at 76–77% over the past week, suggesting a steady workflow rhythm. The open PR count dropped sharply from 21 (2026-07-20) to 5 today, indicating faster PR resolution.

---

Generated by Copilot PR Prompt Analysis (Run: §30304795880)

Generated by 🔍 Copilot PR Prompt Pattern Analysis · sonnet46 · 27.2 AIC · ⌖ 12.8 AIC · ⊞ 7.6K · ◷

• expires on Jul 28, 2026, 1:04 PM UTC-08:00