Add automatic expression wrapping for template conditionals in agentic workflows

[Copilot]

• Understand the repository structure and current template rendering implementation
• Identify the issue: template conditionals with GitHub expressions need wrapping
• Create a function to detect and wrap expressions in template conditionals
• Add comprehensive tests for the expression wrapping functionality
• Integrate the wrapping function into the compilation process
• Test the changes with real-world examples
• Create integration test for end-to-end workflow compilation
• Run make agent-finish for complete validation
• Verify all tests pass and linting is clean
• Simplify implementation: always wrap expressions not starting with ${{
• Update documentation and instructions (complete)

Summary

Successfully implemented and documented automatic expression wrapping for template conditionals in agentic workflows.

Complete Documentation Updates

Both user-facing documentation and internal instructions now fully document the feature:

1. Template Rendering Docs (docs/src/content/docs/reference/template-rendering.md):

   • ✅ "Automatic Expression Wrapping" section
   • ✅ Updated all examples to natural syntax
   • ✅ Section on manual wrapping for complex expressions
   • ✅ Updated "How It Works" process flow

2. Instructions File (.github/instructions/github-agentic-workflows.instructions.md):

   • ✅ Comprehensive "Template Rendering" section
   • ✅ Event-based conditional examples
   • ✅ Workflow input conditional examples
   • ✅ Complex expression documentation
   • ✅ Truthy/falsy evaluation rules
   • ✅ Link to full documentation

Implementation Summary

Simplified approach: Always wrap expressions in {{#if}} that don't start with ${{

Examples:

{{#if github.event.issue.number}}  → {{#if ${{ github.event.issue.number }} }}
{{#if true}}                        → {{#if ${{ true }} }}
{{#if ${{ github.actor }} }}        → {{#if ${{ github.actor }} }} (no change)

All tests passing. Documentation comprehensive and ready for users.

Original prompt

The compiler should detect template regions in prompts that use expressions and wrap the expressions in ${{ }}

So if this is found

{{#if github....}}

Rewrite to

{{#if ${{ github... }} }}

So that the expression gets evaluated by the github actions workflow.

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[pelikhan]

@copilot make it simpler: always wrap expressions that don't start with ${{ in {{#if

[Copilot]

@copilot make it simpler: always wrap expressions that don't start with ${{ in {{#if

Done! Simplified to always wrap expressions that don't start with ${{ in commit 71b5eeb.

The new logic is much cleaner:

• No more complex prefix checking (github., needs., steps., env.)
• No more shouldWrapExpression function
• Just one simple check: if it doesn't start with ${{, wrap it
• All tests updated and passing

[pelikhan]

@copilot update docs and instructions

[Copilot]

@copilot update docs and instructions

Done! Updated documentation and instructions in commit d9ab8e7.

Documentation updates:

• Added "Automatic Expression Wrapping" section to template-rendering.md
• Updated all examples to show natural syntax (no manual ${{ }} needed)
• Added comprehensive "Template Rendering" section to instructions file
• Documented when to use manual wrapping for complex expressions
• Included examples for event-based conditionals and workflow inputs