[agent-efficiency] Recurring agent workflow failures: checkout ref errors and missing agent-output artifact

[github-actions]

Scope

Lookback window: 2026-02-19T17:11:13Z to 2026-02-26T17:11:13Z (last 7 days).

Data analyzed:

• /tmp/gh-aw/failed_runs.json
• /tmp/gh-aw/errors.json
• Agent/copilot step logs under /tmp/gh-aw/logs/(run_id)/
• Workflow run metadata from GitHub Actions run listings (filtered to paths matching trigger-|gh-aw-)

Per-repository run summary (last 7 days)

Repository	Runs (trigger/gh-aw paths)	Completed	Success	Failure	Pass rate	Fail rate	Cancelled	Skipped	Action required
elastic/ai-github-actions	42	42	8	3	19.0%	7.1%	4	20	2
elastic/ai-github-actions-playground	0	0	0	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0	0
elastic/beats	39	39	0	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	39	0
elastic/integrations	0	0	0	0	0.0%	0.0%	0	0	0

Behavioral patterns

1) Checkout strategy repeatedly fails on missing remote PR head refs

What happened
Runs failed during agent checkout with git fetch origin (pr-head-branch) followed by missing remote ref.

How many runs / workflows

• 11 failed runs in this window
• Workflows: .github/workflows/trigger-update-pr-body.yml (6), .github/workflows/trigger-pr-review.yml (5)

Exact evidence

• Run: https://github.com/elastic/ai-github-actions/actions/runs/22373003086
• Log: /tmp/gh-aw/logs/22373003086/2_run _ agent.txt:990-997
  • Fetching branch: copilot/upgrade-gh-aw-to-v0494 from origin
  • fatal: couldn't find remote ref copilot/upgrade-gh-aw-to-v0494
  • Error message: The process '/usr/bin/git' failed with exit code 128

Root cause (observed fragment)
The failing path is the pull_request checkout strategy in agent execution (Strategy: git fetch + checkout in the same log block at lines 985-989), which depends on PR head refs being fetchable by name at run time.

2) Conclusion/safe-output flow repeatedly attempts to download missing agent-output artifact

What happened
After upstream failures, follow-up steps repeatedly emit Artifact not found for name: agent-output.

How many runs / workflows

• 12 failed runs in this window
• Workflows: .github/workflows/trigger-update-pr-body.yml (7), .github/workflows/trigger-pr-review.yml (5)

Exact evidence

• Run: https://github.com/elastic/ai-github-actions/actions/runs/22373003086
• Log: /tmp/gh-aw/logs/22373003086/0_run _ conclusion.txt:637-639
  • Downloading single artifact
  • Unable to download artifact(s): Artifact not found for name: agent-output

Root cause (observed file fragment)
These workflows include a download step for agent-output:

• .github/workflows/gh-aw-update-pr-body.lock.yml:1296-1301
• .github/workflows/gh-aw-pr-review.lock.yml:1469-1471

3) Model/endpoint incompatibility observed in a failed run

What happened
Agent execution failed after retries with a model endpoint compatibility error.

How many runs / workflows

• 1 failed run in this window
• Workflow: .github/workflows/trigger-update-pr-body.yml

Exact evidence

• Run: https://github.com/elastic/ai-github-actions/actions/runs/22445890696
• Log: /tmp/gh-aw/logs/22445890696/2_run _ agent.txt:2233
  • CAPIError: 400 model "gpt-5.3-codex" is not accessible via the /chat/completions endpoint

Root cause (observed file fragment)
The workflow source sets the default model to gpt-5.3-codex:

• .github/workflows/gh-aw-update-pr-body.md:21-25

Notes on requested behavior analysis dimensions

• No concrete evidence of excessive tool-call loops was found in the available failed-run agent logs for this window.
• No concrete evidence in these logs of MCP bulk-query misuse by the agent within run prompts.

Existing related issue found during duplicate check: #389 (open). This report covers the current 7-day window and includes updated counts plus per-repository run metadata.

Generated by Internal: Agent Efficiency

• expires on Mar 5, 2026, 5:15 PM UTC

[github-actions]

This issue was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-03-05T17:15:47.728Z.

Closed by Workflow