pbi-dispatcher-github

name	pbi-dispatcher-github
description	Dispatch work items to GitHub Copilot coding agent for GitHub-hosted repos. Uses `gh agent-task create` to create agent tasks.

PBI Dispatcher — GitHub

Dispatch work items to GitHub Copilot coding agent by creating agent tasks in GitHub-hosted repos. This skill is for GitHub repos only. For ADO repos, use pbi-dispatcher-ado.

Configuration

Read .github/orchestrator-config.json for:

• modules — module-to-repo mapping (each module has a repo key)
• repositories — repo details: slug, baseBranch, host
• github.configFile — per-developer config path (default: .github/developer-local.json)

Read the developer-local config file for GitHub account mapping:

// .github/developer-local.json
{
  "github_accounts": {
    "org/common-repo": "johndoe",
    "enterprise-org/service-repo": "johndoe_microsoft"
  }
}

To resolve a module to dispatch details:

1. Look up modules.<module>.repo → get the repo key
2. Look up repositories.<repo> → get slug, baseBranch, host
3. Look up developer-local.github_accounts.<slug> → get the GitHub username
4. Run gh auth switch --user <username> before dispatching

Prerequisites

• GitHub CLI (gh) authenticated
• Work items in ADO with tag copilot-agent-ready
• Copilot coding agent enabled on target repos

GitHub Account Discovery

CRITICAL: Determine which gh CLI accounts to use. Never hardcode usernames.

Discovery Sequence (stop at first success)

Step 0: Verify gh CLI is installed:

gh --version

If not found, offer to install:

• Windows: winget install --id GitHub.cli -e
• macOS: brew install gh

Step 1: Check developer config file (from github.configFile in config):

$config = Get-Content "<configFile>" -Raw -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ConvertFrom-Json

Step 2: Discover from gh auth status:

$ghStatus = gh auth status 2>&1

Map accounts to types:

• Non-EMU account (no _ suffix) → public repos
• EMU account (_microsoft suffix) → emu repos

Step 3: Prompt the developer (fallback):

"I need your GitHub usernames:

1. Public GitHub (for public org repos): ___
2. GitHub EMU (for enterprise repos, if applicable): ___"

Offer to save to the developer config file.

Step 4: Not signed in at all:

"Please run: gh auth login --hostname github.com"

Repo Routing

Use modules → repositories → developer-local.json to resolve dispatch details:

// orchestrator-config.json (committed, shared):
"repositories": {
  "common-repo": { "slug": "org/common-repo", "host": "github", "baseBranch": "main" },
  "service-repo": { "slug": "enterprise-org/service-repo", "host": "github", "baseBranch": "dev" }
},
"modules": {
  "core": { "repo": "common-repo" },
  "service": { "repo": "service-repo" }
}

// developer-local.json (per-developer, gitignored):
"github_accounts": {
  "org/common-repo": "johndoe",
  "enterprise-org/service-repo": "johndoe_microsoft"
}

// Resolution: module "core" → repo "common-repo" → slug "org/common-repo"
//   → gh account "johndoe" (from developer-local) → gh auth switch --user johndoe

Workflow

1. Read Work Items

Read PBI details from ADO (via MCP) or from the chat context. Need:

• AB# ID
• Full description (Objective, Technical Requirements, Acceptance Criteria)
• Target repo module

2. Check Dependencies

For each work item, check if dependencies (other AB# IDs) have merged PRs. Skip blocked items.

2a. Gather Cross-PBI Context for Dependencies

For each work item that HAS dependencies on already-merged PBIs, enrich the dispatch prompt with context about what those dependencies changed. This is critical — the coding agent implementing PBI #3 needs to know what PBI #1 introduced.

For each merged dependency:

gh pr list --repo "<slug>" --search "AB#<dep-id>" --state merged --json number,title,files --jq '.[0]'

If a merged PR is found, add this block to the dispatch prompt:

## Dependency Context

This work item depends on already-merged changes:

### AB#<dep-id>: <dep-title> (PR #<number>, merged)
Files changed:
- <file1> (added/modified)
- <file2> (added/modified)

Key APIs introduced: [extract from PR title/files — e.g., new classes, interfaces]
Build on these changes. Do NOT duplicate or re-implement what the dependency PR already added.

If the PR can't be found (no AB# match), skip gracefully — the PBI description is still self-contained.

3. Switch Account + Dispatch

For each ready work item:

Switch to correct account (based on repo's accountType from config):

gh auth switch --user <discovered_username_for_account_type>

Dispatch via gh agent-task create (preferred, requires gh v2.80+):

Write the full PBI description to a temp file to avoid shell escaping issues:

$prompt = @"
<full PBI description — Objective, Context, Technical Requirements,
Acceptance Criteria. Include 'Fixes AB#ID'. Include 'Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md strictly.'>
"@
$prompt | Set-Content -Path "$env:TEMP\pbi-prompt.txt"
gh agent-task create (Get-Content "$env:TEMP\pbi-prompt.txt" -Raw) --repo "<slug>" --base <baseBranch>

IMPORTANT prompt content:

• Include FULL PBI description (not truncated)
• Include Fixes AB#<ID> so PR links to ADO
• Include Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md strictly
• Do NOT include local file paths — agent can't access them

Fallback (if gh agent-task create fails): Create a GitHub Issue and assign to Copilot.

4. Update ADO State

Mark the ADO work item as Active, add tag agent-dispatched.

5. Report Summary

## Dispatch Summary

| AB# | Repo | Method | Status |
|-----|------|--------|--------|
| AB#12345 | org/common-repo | agent-task | ✅ Dispatched |
| AB#12346 | org/service-repo | agent-task | ✅ Dispatched |
| AB#12347 | org/client-repo | ⏸ Blocked | Waiting on AB#12345 |

### Next Step
> Say **"status"** to check agent PR progress.
> Use `@copilot` in PR comments to iterate with the coding agent.

Review Feedback Loop

After PRs are created, use @copilot in PR comments to iterate:

@copilot Please add unit tests for the error case.
@copilot Use the Logger class instead of direct logging.