Description
PR Sous Chef's update_pull_request (branch-from-base) call hard-fails with ERR_API ... head ref does not exist when a target Copilot-authored PR's branch was deleted or force-pushed between the triggering comment and the scheduled run. In the 2026-08-03 Safe Output Health Monitor audit window, this happened 3 times (runs #2302, #2294, #2291) and hard-failed the run. Notably, in run 30751969165 the identical condition hit PR #49762 in the same batch but was logged non-fatal and did NOT fail the run — a working non-fatal code path already exists but isn't applied consistently to every PR in a batch.
Expected Impact
Eliminates a recurring class of PR Sous Chef hard failures (3+ in a single 16h window) without adding new logic — just consistently applying the existing non-fatal classification for this specific API error across all PRs processed in a run.
Suggested Agent
Existing maintainer / PR Sous Chef workflow owner (code fix, not agent-suited)
Estimated Effort
Quick (< 1 hour) — root cause is understood and a working reference implementation exists in the same codebase.
Data Source
DeepReport Intelligence Briefing 2026-08-03, cross-referencing Safe Output Health Monitor discussion #49905 and Weekly Workflow Analysis discussion #49950.
Generated by 🔬 Deep Report · agent · 112.8 AIC · ⌖ 36.4 AIC · ⊞ 5.7K · ◷
Description
PR Sous Chef's
update_pull_request(branch-from-base) call hard-fails withERR_API ... head ref does not existwhen a target Copilot-authored PR's branch was deleted or force-pushed between the triggering comment and the scheduled run. In the 2026-08-03 Safe Output Health Monitor audit window, this happened 3 times (runs #2302, #2294, #2291) and hard-failed the run. Notably, in run 30751969165 the identical condition hit PR #49762 in the same batch but was logged non-fatal and did NOT fail the run — a working non-fatal code path already exists but isn't applied consistently to every PR in a batch.Expected Impact
Eliminates a recurring class of PR Sous Chef hard failures (3+ in a single 16h window) without adding new logic — just consistently applying the existing non-fatal classification for this specific API error across all PRs processed in a run.
Suggested Agent
Existing maintainer / PR Sous Chef workflow owner (code fix, not agent-suited)
Estimated Effort
Quick (< 1 hour) — root cause is understood and a working reference implementation exists in the same codebase.
Data Source
DeepReport Intelligence Briefing 2026-08-03, cross-referencing Safe Output Health Monitor discussion #49905 and Weekly Workflow Analysis discussion #49950.