cross-repo-testing

name	cross-repo-testing
description	This skill should be used when the user asks to "test a cross-repo feature", "deploy a feature branch to staging", "test SDK against OH Cloud", "e2e test a cloud workspace feature", "test provider tokens", "test secrets inheritance", or when changes span the SDK and OpenHands server repos and need end-to-end validation against a staging deployment.
triggers	["cross-repo","staging deployment","feature branch deploy","test against cloud","e2e cloud"]

Cross-Repo Testing: SDK ↔ OpenHands Cloud

How to end-to-end test features that span OpenHands/software-agent-sdk and OpenHands/OpenHands (the Cloud backend).

Repository Map

Repo	Role	What lives here
software-agent-sdk	Agent core	openhands-sdk, openhands-workspace, openhands-tools packages. OpenHandsCloudWorkspace lives here.
OpenHands	Cloud backend	FastAPI server (openhands/app_server/), sandbox management, auth, enterprise integrations. Deployed as OH Cloud.
deploy	Infrastructure	Helm charts + GitHub Actions that build the enterprise Docker image and deploy to staging/production.

Data flow: SDK client → OH Cloud API (/api/v1/...) → sandbox agent-server (inside runtime container)

When You Need This

There are two flows depending on which direction the dependency goes:

Flow	When	Example
A — SDK client → new Cloud API	The SDK calls an API that doesn't exist yet on production	workspace.get_llm() calling GET /api/v1/users/me?expose_secrets=true
B — OH server → new SDK code	The Cloud server needs unreleased SDK packages or a new agent-server image	Server consumes a new tool, agent behavior, or workspace method from the SDK

Flow A only requires deploying the server PR. Flow B requires pinning the SDK to an unreleased commit in the server PR and using the SDK PR's agent-server image. Both flows may apply simultaneously.

---

Flow A: SDK Client Tests Against New Cloud API

Use this when the SDK calls an endpoint that only exists on the server PR branch.

A1. Write and test the server-side changes

In the OpenHands repo, implement the new API endpoint(s). Run unit tests:

cd OpenHands
poetry run pytest tests/unit/app_server/test_<relevant>.py -v

Push a PR. Wait for the "Push Enterprise Image" (Docker) CI job to succeed — this builds ghcr.io/openhands/enterprise-server:sha-<COMMIT>.

A2. Write the SDK-side changes

In software-agent-sdk, implement the client code (e.g., new methods on OpenHandsCloudWorkspace). Run SDK unit tests:

cd software-agent-sdk
pip install -e openhands-sdk -e openhands-workspace
pytest tests/ -v

Push a PR. SDK CI is independent — it doesn't need the server changes to pass unit tests.

A3. Deploy the server PR to staging

See Deploying to a Staging Feature Environment below.

A4. Run the SDK e2e test against staging

See Running E2E Tests Against Staging below.

---

Flow B: OH Server Needs Unreleased SDK Code

Use this when the Cloud server depends on SDK changes that haven't been released to PyPI yet. The server's runtime containers run the agent-server image built from the SDK repo, so the server PR must be configured to use the SDK PR's image and packages.

B1. Get the SDK PR merged (or identify the commit)

The SDK PR must have CI pass so its agent-server Docker image is built. The image is tagged with the merge-commit SHA from GitHub Actions — NOT the head-commit SHA shown in the PR.

Find the correct image tag:

• Check the SDK PR description for an AGENT_SERVER_IMAGES section
• Or check the "Consolidate Build Information" CI job for "short_sha": "<tag>"

B2. Pin SDK packages to the commit in the OpenHands PR

In the OpenHands repo PR, pin all 3 SDK packages (openhands-sdk, openhands-agent-server, openhands-tools) to the unreleased commit and update the agent-server image tag. This involves editing 3 files and regenerating 3 lock files.

Follow the update-sdk skill → "Development: Pin SDK to an Unreleased Commit" section for the full procedure and file-by-file instructions.

B3. Wait for the OpenHands enterprise image to build

Push the pinned changes. The OpenHands CI will build a new enterprise Docker image (ghcr.io/openhands/enterprise-server:sha-<OH_COMMIT>) that bundles the unreleased SDK. Wait for the "Push Enterprise Image" job to succeed.

B4. Deploy and test

Follow Deploying to a Staging Feature Environment using the new OpenHands commit SHA.

B5. Before merging: remove the pin

CI guard: check-package-versions.yml blocks merge to main if [tool.poetry.dependencies] contains rev fields. Before the OpenHands PR can merge, the SDK PR must be merged and released to PyPI, then the pin must be replaced with the released version number.

---

Deploying to a Staging Feature Environment

The deploy repo creates preview environments from OpenHands PRs.

Option A — GitHub Actions UI (preferred): Go to OpenHands/deploy → Actions → "Create OpenHands preview PR" → enter the OpenHands PR number. This creates a branch ohpr-<PR>-<random> and opens a deploy PR.

Option B — Update an existing feature branch:

cd deploy
git checkout ohpr-<PR>-<random>
# In .github/workflows/deploy.yaml, update BOTH:
#   OPENHANDS_SHA: "<full-40-char-commit>"
#   OPENHANDS_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG: "<same-commit>-nikolaik"
git commit -am "Update OPENHANDS_SHA to <commit>" && git push

Before updating the SHA, verify the enterprise Docker image exists:

gh api repos/OpenHands/OpenHands/actions/runs \
  --jq '.workflow_runs[] | select(.head_sha=="<COMMIT>") | "\(.name): \(.conclusion)"' \
  | grep Docker
# Must show: "Docker: success"

The deploy CI auto-triggers and creates the environment at:

https://ohpr-<PR>-<random>.staging.all-hands.dev

Wait for it to be live:

curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" https://ohpr-<PR>-<random>.staging.all-hands.dev/api/v1/health
# 401 = server is up (auth required). DNS may take 1-2 min on first deploy.

Running E2E Tests Against Staging

Critical: Feature deployments have their own Keycloak instance. API keys from app.all-hands.dev or $OPENHANDS_API_KEY will NOT work. You need a test API key issued by the specific feature deployment's Keycloak.

You (the agent) cannot obtain this key yourself — the feature environment requires interactive browser login with credentials you do not have. You must ask the user to:

1. Log in to the feature deployment at https://ohpr-<PR>-<random>.staging.all-hands.dev in their browser
2. Generate a test API key from the UI
3. Provide the key to you so you can proceed with e2e testing

Do not attempt to log in via the browser or guess credentials. Wait for the user to supply the key before running any e2e tests.

from openhands.workspace import OpenHandsCloudWorkspace

STAGING = "https://ohpr-<PR>-<random>.staging.all-hands.dev"

with OpenHandsCloudWorkspace(
    cloud_api_url=STAGING,
    cloud_api_key="<test-api-key-for-this-deployment>",
) as workspace:
    # Test the new feature
    llm = workspace.get_llm()
    secrets = workspace.get_secrets()
    print(f"LLM: {llm.model}, secrets: {list(secrets.keys())}")

Or run an example script:

OPENHANDS_CLOUD_API_KEY="<key>" \
OPENHANDS_CLOUD_API_URL="https://ohpr-<PR>-<random>.staging.all-hands.dev" \
python examples/02_remote_agent_server/10_cloud_workspace_saas_credentials.py

Recording results

Both repos support a .pr/ directory for temporary PR artifacts (design docs, test logs, scripts). These files are automatically removed when the PR is approved — see .github/workflows/pr-artifacts.yml and the "PR-Specific Artifacts" section in each repo's AGENTS.md.

Push test output to the .pr/logs/ directory of whichever repo you're working in:

mkdir -p .pr/logs
python test_script.py 2>&1 | tee .pr/logs/<test_name>.log
git add -f .pr/logs/
git commit -m "docs: add e2e test results" && git push

Comment on both PRs with pass/fail summary and link to logs.

Key Gotchas

Gotcha	Details
Feature env auth is isolated	Each ohpr-* deployment has its own Keycloak. Production API keys don't work. Agents cannot log in — you must ask the user to provide a test API key from the feature deployment's UI.
Two SHAs in deploy.yaml	OPENHANDS_SHA and OPENHANDS_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG must both be updated. The runtime tag is <sha>-nikolaik.
Enterprise image must exist	The Docker CI job on the OpenHands PR must succeed before you can deploy. If it hasn't run, push an empty commit to trigger it.
DNS propagation	First deployment of a new branch takes 1-2 min for DNS. Subsequent deploys are instant.
Merge-commit SHA ≠ head SHA	SDK CI tags Docker images with GitHub Actions' merge-commit SHA, not the PR head SHA. Check the SDK PR description or CI logs for the correct tag.
SDK pin blocks merge	check-package-versions.yml prevents merging an OpenHands PR that has rev fields in [tool.poetry.dependencies]. The SDK must be released to PyPI first.
Flow A: stock agent-server is fine	When only the Cloud API changes, OpenHandsCloudWorkspace talks to the Cloud server, not the agent-server. No custom image needed.
Flow B: agent-server image is required	When the server needs new SDK code inside runtime containers, you must pin to the SDK PR's agent-server image.