nighthawk-local-repos

name	nighthawk-local-repos
description	Local repository setup, required tools, and mandatory git pull procedure for all Nighthawk researcher agents. Read this skill before starting any research run.

Nighthawk Local Repository Setup

This skill covers tool requirements, local repo paths, initial clone commands, and the mandatory git pull step that every Nighthawk researcher agent must perform before starting research.

Required Tools

Tool	Purpose	Verify
git	Clone and update local repos	git --version
GitHub Copilot in VS Code	Agent runtime (grep_search, file_search, read_file, semantic_search, edit)	Active in workspace
Microsoft Learn MCP (microsoft-learn/*)	Official documentation, ARM template references	Available as deferred tool
GitHub MCP (github/search_code etc.)	Remote code search — fallback only if local clone is absent	Available as deferred tool

Local Repository Paths

All repos are cloned under repos/ in the workspace root. Always search local clones first using grep_search, file_search, read_file, and semantic_search. Only fall back to GitHub MCP if the local clone is missing and cannot be created.

ARO repos

Repo	Local Path	Remote
ARO-RP	repos/ARO-RP/	https://github.com/Azure/ARO-RP
azure-cli (ARO)	repos/azure-cli/	https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli

AKS repos

Repo	Local Path	Remote
AKS	repos/AKS/	https://github.com/Azure/AKS
AgentBaker	repos/AgentBaker/	https://github.com/Azure/AgentBaker
cloud-provider-azure	repos/cloud-provider-azure/	https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cloud-provider-azure
azure-cli (AKS)	repos/azure-cli/	https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli
azure-cli-extensions	repos/azure-cli-extensions/	https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli-extensions
cilium	repos/cilium/ (priority 3 only)	https://github.com/cilium/cilium

azure-cli is shared — clone it once, it covers both az aro and az aks.

Initial Clone (one-time setup)

If any repo is missing, clone it with --depth=1 to keep it fast:

mkdir -p repos

# Shared
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli.git repos/azure-cli

# ARO
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Azure/ARO-RP.git repos/ARO-RP

# AKS
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Azure/AKS.git repos/AKS
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Azure/AgentBaker.git repos/AgentBaker
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cloud-provider-azure.git repos/cloud-provider-azure
git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Azure/azure-cli-extensions.git repos/azure-cli-extensions

Step 0: Pull Latest Code (mandatory before every research run)

Run git pull on the relevant repos in a terminal before starting a research session. This must be done manually by the user or via a terminal outside the agent:

# ARO research
git -C repos/ARO-RP pull --ff-only
git -C repos/azure-cli pull --ff-only

# AKS research
git -C repos/AKS pull --ff-only
git -C repos/azure-cli pull --ff-only
git -C repos/azure-cli-extensions pull --ff-only
# Priority 3 only:
git -C repos/AgentBaker pull --ff-only
git -C repos/cloud-provider-azure pull --ff-only

The agent does not run terminal commands. Pull must be done before invoking a researcher agent.

Search Priority

RULE: Local repos before MCP — no exceptions for code.

Question type	Tool to use
Source code behavior, file paths, logic	grep_search / read_file against repos/
Official docs, how-to guides, ARM schema	microsoft-learn/* MCP tools
Commit history / blame not available locally	github/list_commits / github/get_file_contents (last resort)
Local clone missing and unrecoverable	GitHub MCP (last resort)

repos/ is gitignored — always set includeIgnoredFiles: true when using grep_search against it.