pbi-dispatcher

name

pbi-dispatcher

description

Dispatch Azure DevOps PBIs to GitHub Copilot coding agent for autonomous implementation. Use this skill when PBIs have been created (by the `pbi-creator` skill or manually) and you want to send them to Copilot coding agent to generate PRs. Triggers include "dispatch PBIs to agent", "assign to Copilot", "send work items to coding agent", "kick off agent implementation", "dispatch these work items", or any request to have Copilot coding agent implement ADO work items.

PBI Dispatcher

Dispatch Azure DevOps PBIs to GitHub Copilot coding agent by creating GitHub Issues in the target repos and assigning them to copilot-swe-agent[bot].

Prerequisites

• ADO MCP Server running (for reading PBI details)
• GitHub CLI (gh) authenticated with accounts for target repos
• PBIs in ADO with tag copilot-agent-ready
• Copilot coding agent enabled on target repos

GitHub Account Discovery

CRITICAL: Before dispatching, you must determine which gh CLI accounts to use. Never hardcode GitHub usernames — they vary per developer.

Discovery Sequence

Follow these steps in order. Stop at the first one that succeeds:

Step 0: Verify gh CLI is installed:

gh --version

If this fails (command not found), offer to install it for the developer:

"GitHub CLI (gh) is not installed. Want me to install it for you?"

1. Yes, install it (recommended)
2. No, I'll install it myself

If the developer agrees, run the appropriate install command:

• Windows: winget install --id GitHub.cli -e --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
• macOS: brew install gh

After installation completes, verify with gh --version, then prompt authentication:

"gh CLI installed! Now you need to sign in:

gh auth login --hostname github.com

Run this, complete the auth flow, then say 'continue'."

Step 1: Check .github/developer-local.json (fastest — developer already configured):

$config = Get-Content ".github/developer-local.json" -Raw -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | ConvertFrom-Json
$publicUser = $config.github_accounts.AzureAD
$gheUser = $config.github_accounts.'msft.ghe.com'

Step 2: Discover from gh auth status (zero-config if logged in):

$ghStatus = gh auth status 2>&1
# Parse output for logged-in accounts on each host
# Look for lines like: "Logged in to github.com account <username>"

Map accounts to hosts:

• Account logged in to github.com → AzureAD/* repos
• Account logged in to msft.ghe.com → security/ad-accounts-for-android (broker)

Step 3: Prompt the developer (fallback — save for next time): If neither Step 1 nor Step 2 yields both accounts, ask:

"I need your GitHub usernames for dispatching:

1. github.com (for AzureAD/* repos like common, msal, adal): ___
2. msft.ghe.com (for security/ad-accounts-for-android, i.e. broker): ___"

After receiving the answer, offer to save:

"Save these to .github/developer-local.json so you don't have to enter them again? (Y/n)"

If yes, write the config file:

{
  "github_accounts": {
    "AzureAD": "<public_username>",
    "msft.ghe.com": "<ghe_username>"
  }
}

Step 4: Not signed in at all — if gh auth status shows no accounts:

"You're not signed in to GitHub CLI. Please run:

gh auth login --hostname github.com
gh auth login --hostname msft.ghe.com

Then try dispatching again."

Do NOT attempt to proceed without valid accounts — fail fast with clear instructions.

Repo Routing

Target in PBI	GitHub Repo	Account Type
common / common4j	AzureAD/microsoft-authentication-library-common-for-android	Public (AzureAD)
msal	AzureAD/microsoft-authentication-library-for-android	Public (AzureAD)
broker / broker4j / AADAuthenticator	security/ad-accounts-for-android	msft.ghe.com
adal	AzureAD/azure-activedirectory-library-for-android	Public (AzureAD)

Workflow

1. Read PBIs from ADO

Use ADO MCP Server tools to list/get work items tagged copilot-agent-ready. Read the full PBI description — it will be needed for the dispatch prompt.

2. Check Dependencies

For each PBI, check if its dependencies (other AB# IDs) have merged PRs. Skip blocked PBIs.

3. Select gh Host/Account + Dispatch to Copilot Agent

For each ready PBI:

Step 1: Target the correct gh host (using the discovered username from above):

# For AzureAD/* repos (common, msal, adal) on github.com:
gh auth switch --hostname github.com --user <discovered_public_username>

# For security/ad-accounts-for-android (broker) on msft.ghe.com:
# no account switch — add --hostname msft.ghe.com to every gh command

Step 2: Dispatch using gh agent-task create (PREFERRED — requires gh v2.80+):

Write the full PBI description to a temp file and pipe it as the prompt. This avoids shell escaping issues and ensures the full context reaches the agent:

# Write PBI description to temp file
echo "<full PBI description text here>" > /tmp/pbi-prompt.txt

# Create agent task with full PBI content
gh agent-task create "$(cat /tmp/pbi-prompt.txt)" \
  --repo "OWNER/REPO" \
  --base dev

On Windows PowerShell:

$prompt = @"
<full PBI description text here — include Objective, Context, Technical Requirements,
Acceptance Criteria, etc. from the ADO work item. Include 'Fixes AB#ID' in the prompt.>
"@
$prompt | Set-Content -Path "$env:TEMP\pbi-prompt.txt"
gh agent-task create (Get-Content "$env:TEMP\pbi-prompt.txt" -Raw) --repo "OWNER/REPO" --base dev

IMPORTANT for prompt content:

• Include the FULL PBI description (Objective, Context, Technical Requirements, Acceptance Criteria)
• Include Fixes AB#<ID> so the PR links to the ADO work item
• Include Follow .github/copilot-instructions.md strictly as a reminder
• Do NOT include local file paths (design-docs/, etc.) — the agent can't access them
• Do NOT truncate — the full description IS the implementation spec

Step 3 (FALLBACK — if gh agent-task create fails):

Create a GitHub Issue and assign to Copilot:

gh issue create \
  --repo "OWNER/REPO" \
  --title "[PBI Title]" \
  --body "[Full PBI description with 'Fixes AB#ID']"

Then assign via API (extract issue number from the URL output):

echo '{"assignees":["copilot-swe-agent[bot]"],"agent_assignment":{"target_repo":"OWNER/REPO","base_branch":"dev","custom_instructions":"Follow copilot-instructions.md. PR title must include Fixes AB#ID."}}' | gh api /repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/ISSUE_NUMBER/assignees --method POST --input -

4. Update ADO State

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

5. Report Summary

Output a dispatch summary table with AB#, repo, dispatch method, and status.

Batch Dispatch Script

For overnight automation, use scripts/agent-pipeline/orchestrate.py. This script handles dependency ordering, parallel dispatch, and ADO state updates.

Review Feedback Loop

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

@copilot Please use the Logger class instead of android.util.Log.
Add unit tests for the error case.