Add --add-dir / for edit tool in copilot engine (workaround for GitHub/copilot-cli#67)

[Copilot]

Problem

When using the edit tool with the copilot engine, write operations fail for files outside the /tmp/gh-aw/ directory due to a limitation in copilot-cli. The copilot-cli restricts write operations to directories explicitly specified via --add-dir arguments.

This is a known issue tracked in github/copilot-cli#67.

Solution

This PR adds --add-dir / to the copilot CLI arguments when the edit tool is enabled, allowing write access to all paths in the filesystem.

Implementation

The change is made in copilot_engine.go in the GetExecutionSteps method:

// Add --add-dir / when edit tool is enabled to allow write on all paths
// Workaround for GitHub/copilot-cli issue 67: https://github.com/GitHub/copilot-cli/issues/67
if _, hasEdit := workflowData.Tools["edit"]; hasEdit {
    copilotArgs = append(copilotArgs, "--add-dir", "/")
}

The edit tool can be present in a workflow through:

1. Explicit declaration: tools: { edit: } in the workflow frontmatter
2. Automatic addition: When create-pull-request is configured in safe-outputs, the compiler automatically adds the edit tool

Generated Command Example

Before (edit tool fails for files outside /tmp/gh-aw/):

copilot --add-dir /tmp/gh-aw/ --log-level all --allow-tool write --prompt "..."

After (edit tool works for all paths):

copilot --add-dir /tmp/gh-aw/ --log-level all --allow-tool write --add-dir / --prompt "..."

Testing

• ✅ Added comprehensive test coverage with 4 test cases
• ✅ All existing tests pass (338 tests)
• ✅ Manual verification with compiled workflows
• ✅ Linter passes with no issues

Test Cases

1. Edit tool present → --add-dir / is added
2. Edit tool with other tools → --add-dir / is added
3. No edit tool → --add-dir / is NOT added
4. Empty tools → --add-dir / is NOT added

Affected Workflows

The following workflows in this repository now include the --add-dir / workaround (they use the edit tool either explicitly or via create-pull-request):

• poem-bot.md
• q.md
• repo-tree-map.md
• tidy.md
• cli-version-checker.md
• security-fix-pr.md
• technical-doc-writer.md
• unbloat-docs.md

References

• GitHub/copilot-cli issue 67: This operation accesses path(s) outside allowed directories: /i copilot-cli#67

Original prompt

When edit tool is enabled, the copilot agentic engine should add --add-dir / arguments to allow write on all paths. Add note that this is a workaround for GitHub/copilot-cli issue 67

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