source-control/babysit-prs: telemetry-comment edit uses gh api -f body=@file, posts literal @path string instead of file content

[kyle-sexton]

lane: babysit

Triggering example: this cycle (2026-07-19 restart, MERGE GATE ON) I edited the tracked telemetry comment on #502 (id 5016534271) with:

gh api repos/.../issues/comments/5016534271 -X PATCH -f body=@path/to/file.md

gh api's -f flag treats @path as a literal string value, not a file read — only -F (capital) dereferences @file. The comment body became the literal string @C:\Users\...\telemetry_body.md instead of the intended content. Caught it by reading the comment back after the edit; fixed by re-running with -F instead of -f.

Observed vs expected: observed — comment silently corrupted to a garbled local path string, no error surfaced. Expected — either the skill's own scripts/instructions never shell out to gh api ... -f body=@file in the first place (use -F, or better, a helper that posts/edits comments and is exercised in this skill's docs), or a documented gotcha warning against this exact footgun.

Evidence this already bit prior sessions: at least 2 other comments on #502 (ids 5016533956, 5016536150) show the identical garbled pattern — a literal @C:/Users/KYLESE~1/AppData/Local/Temp/claude/... path as the entire comment body — meaning this same mistake was made and went unnoticed in at least one earlier babysit session's telemetry-comment maintenance too.

Category: bug (operational footgun in the telemetry-comment-editing step of the babysit-prs runbook, step 18).

[kyle-sexton]

This was generated by AI during triage.

T1 — routing status: ready. Single root cause: gh api ... -f body=@file treats @path as a literal string; only -F (capital) dereferences a file. Clear fix, no design decision.

Sites + fix pattern: grep the source-control/babysit-prs skill scripts and docs for -f body=@ and replace with -F body=@ (or route through a helper that edits/posts comments and is exercised by this skill's own tests). At least 2 prior corrupted comments on #502 (ids 5016533956, 5016536150) are collateral from this bug — worth a manual cleanup pass alongside the fix, out of scope for this triage routing.

[kyle-sexton]

Closed as duplicate of #943 (tower decide-and-log, operator veto window open). Same defect: babysit telemetry comment edit passes a literal @path as body (gh -f body=@file does not dereference). #943 is the live parent carrying the split #952 and planning analysis; fleet round-16 prompts already ship the --body-file + post-edit self-check rule. Evidence: closure-audit sweep 2026-07-22.