fix(scripts): Exclude plugins/ from ms.date freshness check to prevent duplicate stale reports

[katriendg]

Description

The Invoke-MsDateFreshnessCheck.ps1 script was scanning symlinked markdown files in the plugins/ directory, causing duplicate stale documentation reports. This happened because Get-ChildItem -Recurse follows symlinks on Linux, and all 532 markdown files under plugins/ are symlinked mirrors of collection-generated content from source locations elsewhere in the repository.

This fix adds plugins to the exclusion patterns in the freshness check script, following the same pattern already established in Validate-MarkdownFrontmatter.ps1. The change eliminates the duplicate scanning and prevents downstream workflows from creating multiple GitHub issues for the same underlying stale documentation source.

Impact of the fix:

• Resolves 177 of 346 duplicate scanned files from plugins/
• Eliminates 41 of 54 duplicate stale entries in weekly validation reports
• Prevents creation of up to 14 duplicate GitHub issues per unique stale source file

Related Issue(s)

Fixes #1585

Type of Change

Select all that apply:

Code & Documentation:

• Bug fix (non-breaking change fixing an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change adding functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature causing existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Infrastructure & Configuration:

• GitHub Actions workflow
• Linting configuration (markdown, PowerShell, etc.)
• Security configuration
• DevContainer configuration
• Dependency update

AI Artifacts:

• Reviewed contribution with prompt-builder agent and addressed all feedback
• Copilot instructions (.github/instructions/*.instructions.md)
• Copilot prompt (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md)
• Copilot agent (.github/agents/*.agent.md)
• Copilot skill (.github/skills/*/SKILL.md)

Other:

• Script/automation (.ps1, .sh, .py)
• Other (please describe):

Testing

Added comprehensive test coverage in scripts/tests/linting/Invoke-MsDateFreshnessCheck.Tests.ps1:

• Created test fixtures for the plugins/ directory structure
• Added new test case: "Excludes plugins directory" that validates the exclusion works correctly
• Test follows the same pattern as existing exclusion tests for .copilot-tracking, logs, and other directories
• Verified that Get-MarkdownFiles properly filters out files in the plugins path

Run tests locally:

npm run test:ps -- -TestPath "scripts/tests/linting/Invoke-MsDateFreshnessCheck.Tests.ps1"

Checklist

Required Checks

• Documentation is updated (if applicable)
• Files follow existing naming conventions
• Changes are backwards compatible (if applicable)
• Tests added for new functionality (if applicable)

AI Artifact Contributions

• Used /prompt-analyze to review contribution
• Addressed all feedback from prompt-builder review
• Verified contribution follows common standards and type-specific requirements

Required Automated Checks

The following validation commands must pass before merging:

• Markdown linting: npm run lint:md
• Spell checking: npm run spell-check
• Frontmatter validation: npm run lint:frontmatter
• Skill structure validation: npm run validate:skills
• Link validation: npm run lint:md-links
• PowerShell analysis: npm run lint:ps
• Plugin freshness: npm run plugin:generate
• Docusaurus tests: npm run docs:test

Security Considerations

• This PR does not contain any sensitive or NDA information
• Any new dependencies have been reviewed for security issues
• Security-related scripts follow the principle of least privilege

Additional Notes

• The root cause analysis identified that Get-ChildItem -Recurse on Linux follows symlinks, causing all files under plugins/ to be scanned despite their symlinked nature
• This fix aligns the Invoke-MsDateFreshnessCheck.ps1 behavior with Validate-MarkdownFrontmatter.ps1, which already excludes plugins/**
• The change is minimal and localized, introducing no breaking changes or backwards compatibility concerns

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 85.49%. Comparing base (940773c) to head (cf5da89).
⚠️ Report is 1 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #1586      +/-   ##
==========================================
- Coverage   85.50%   85.49%   -0.01%     
==========================================
  Files          82       82              
  Lines       11805    11805              
==========================================
- Hits        10094    10093       -1     
- Misses       1711     1712       +1     

Flag	Coverage Δ
pester	83.65% <100.00%> (-0.02%)	⬇️

Flags with carried forward coverage won't be shown. Click here to find out more.

Files with missing lines	Coverage Δ
scripts/linting/Invoke-MsDateFreshnessCheck.ps1	91.96% <100.00%> (ø)

... and 1 file with indirect coverage changes

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