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[aw-failures] [aw] fix: safeoutputs binary not on PATH in copilot chroot (3x Smoke CI failures) #28871

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Description

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Problem

The Smoke CI workflow fails with safeoutputs: command not found (exitCode=127) every time the copilot engine runs inside the chroot. Three consecutive failures were confirmed in the last 6h, all with identical signatures.

Affected workflow: Smoke CI
Failed runs:

Engine: GitHub Copilot CLI v1.0.36, firewall v0.25.28

Root Cause

The chroot entrypoint fails to transfer ownership of the safeoutputs binary to the chroot user, so the binary is not executable (or not on PATH) inside the chroot:

[entrypoint][WARN] Failed to transfer /host/home/runner/work/_temp/gh-aw/safeoutputs ownership to chroot user

When the copilot harness then tries to start the engine, the engine-command.sh cannot find safeoutputs, producing:

--add-dir: line 1: safeoutputs: command not found
[copilot-harness] attempt 1: process exit event exitCode=127
...
[copilot-harness] all 3 retries exhausted — giving up (exitCode=127)

This is a deterministic failure — all 3+1 retry attempts fail identically on every run. No partial execution occurs.

Proposed Remediation

  1. Fix the ownership transfer: Investigate why chown fails for /host/home/runner/work/_temp/gh-aw/safeoutputs in the chroot entrypoint. Check if the file is on a volume mount that ignores ownership changes, or if the UID/GID mapping is wrong.
  2. Ensure PATH coverage: Add the directory containing safeoutputs (/home/runner/work/_temp/gh-aw/) to the effective PATH used inside the chroot, so a permission issue doesn't prevent discovery.
  3. Pre-install safeoutputs: As a fallback, install or copy safeoutputs to a location already on the standard chroot PATH (e.g., /usr/local/bin/) during the activation job, before the chroot starts.

Success Criteria

  • Smoke CI runs complete without safeoutputs: command not found
  • No Failed to transfer ... safeoutputs ownership to chroot user warnings in entrypoint logs
  • Copilot harness exits with exitCode=0 or produces agent output before any safe-output step

Parent investigation: #28869

Generated by [aw] Failure Investigator (6h) · ● 287.6K ·

  • expires on May 5, 2026, 7:49 AM UTC

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