Remove legacy engine.steps field and add migration codemod by Copilot · Pull Request #17106 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-02-20T06:42:49Z

Original prompt

Remove the engine.steps field, it is legacy and not supported anymore.

Add a codemod that moves the steps one level up.

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…vel steps Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-02-20T07:15:07Z

@copilot add more codemod testing

Copilot

Pull request overview

Removes the legacy engine.steps field from workflow parsing/validation/runtime detection and introduces a CLI codemod to migrate existing workflows to the supported top-level steps field.

Changes:

Deleted engine.steps from EngineConfig, schema validation, and runtime package/runtime detection paths.
Removed the shared InjectCustomEngineSteps() helper and updated engines/tests accordingly.
Added codemod engine-steps-to-top-level (introduced in 0.11.0) with unit tests and registered it in the codemod list.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 21 out of 21 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
pkg/workflow/validation_test.go	Removes test coverage tied to legacy `engine.steps` package collection behavior.
pkg/workflow/threat_detection.go	Drops propagation of `EngineConfig.Steps` into threat-detection engine config.
pkg/workflow/runtime_validation.go	Removes package extraction from `engine.steps` (now only top-level steps + MCP).
pkg/workflow/runtime_setup_integration_test.go	Updates integration test frontmatter to use top-level `steps`.
pkg/workflow/runtime_detection.go	Removes runtime detection scanning of `engine.steps` (top-level steps already covered via `CustomSteps`).
pkg/workflow/pip_test.go	Updates comments to reflect package extraction source changes.
pkg/workflow/gemini_engine.go	Removes engine-step injection path (via `InjectCustomEngineSteps`) from Gemini execution steps.
pkg/workflow/engine_includes_test.go	Updates include-related tests to use top-level `steps` instead of `engine.steps`.
pkg/workflow/engine_helpers_shared_test.go	Deletes tests for the removed `InjectCustomEngineSteps` helper.
pkg/workflow/engine_helpers.go	Removes the `InjectCustomEngineSteps` helper implementation.
pkg/workflow/engine_config_test.go	Removes assertions and import usage related to `EngineConfig.Steps`.
pkg/workflow/engine.go	Removes `Steps` from `EngineConfig` and stops parsing `engine.steps`.
pkg/workflow/copilot_engine_execution.go	Removes engine-step injection path from Copilot execution steps.
pkg/workflow/collect_packages_test.go	Removes engine-steps package extraction tests; adjusts combined-source tests accordingly.
pkg/workflow/codex_engine.go	Removes engine-step injection path from Codex execution steps.
pkg/workflow/claude_engine.go	Removes engine-step injection path from Claude execution steps.
pkg/parser/schemas/main_workflow_schema.json	Removes `steps` property from `engine_config` schema.
pkg/cli/fix_codemods_test.go	Updates codemod count and expected ordering to include the new codemod.
pkg/cli/fix_codemods.go	Registers `engine-steps-to-top-level` in `GetAllCodemods()`.
pkg/cli/codemod_engine_steps_test.go	Adds unit tests for the new migration codemod.
pkg/cli/codemod_engine_steps.go	Implements the codemod that moves `engine.steps` to top-level `steps` and merges when needed.

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Copilot · 2026-02-20T07:21:08Z

pkg/cli/codemod_engine_steps.go

+				}
+				withoutEngineSteps = append(withoutEngineSteps, line)
+			}
+


The codemod removes the engine.steps lines but leaves the engine: key intact. If a workflow has an engine: block that only contained steps (or only comments besides steps), the result will include a dangling engine: with a null value, which is likely invalid per the workflow schema. Consider detecting when the engine block becomes empty after removal and removing the now-empty engine: key (and any adjacent blank lines) as part of the migration.

Suggested change

// Pass 1b: if the engine block is now empty (only comments/blank lines), remove it

cleanedWithoutEngine := make([]string, 0, len(withoutEngineSteps))

for i := 0; i < len(withoutEngineSteps); {

line := withoutEngineSteps[i]

trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(line)

// Look for a top-level "engine:" key

if isTopLevelKey(line) && strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "engine:") {

engineIndent := getIndentation(line)

startIdx := i

endIdx := i

j := i + 1

onlyCommentsOrBlank := true

// Walk the lines belonging to the engine block

for ; j < len(withoutEngineSteps); j++ {

l := withoutEngineSteps[j]

t := strings.TrimSpace(l)

// Stop at the next top-level key (same or smaller indentation)

if isTopLevelKey(l) && len(getIndentation(l)) <= len(engineIndent) && t != "" {

break

}

// Track the furthest extent of the engine block

endIdx = j

// Consider only blank lines or pure comments as "empty"

if t == "" || strings.HasPrefix(t, "#") {

continue

}

// Found non-comment, non-blank content under engine

onlyCommentsOrBlank = false

break

}

if onlyCommentsOrBlank {

// Remove engine block and any adjacent blank lines around it

removeStart := startIdx

for removeStart-1 >= 0 && strings.TrimSpace(withoutEngineSteps[removeStart-1]) == "" {

removeStart--

}

removeEnd := endIdx

for k := endIdx + 1; k < len(withoutEngineSteps) && strings.TrimSpace(withoutEngineSteps[k]) == ""; k++ {

removeEnd = k

}

engineStepsCodemodLog.Print("Removed empty 'engine' block after migrating 'engine.steps'")

// Skip over the removed region

i = removeEnd + 1

// Ensure we don't drop lines already added before removeStart

continue

}

}

// Keep the current line

cleanedWithoutEngine = append(cleanedWithoutEngine, line)

i++

}

withoutEngineSteps = cleanedWithoutEngine

Copilot · 2026-02-20T07:21:08Z

pkg/cli/codemod_engine_steps.go

+			// Find existing top-level steps block (if any)
+			topLevelStepsEndIdx := -1
+			hasTopLevelSteps := false
+			if _, exists := frontmatter["steps"]; exists {
+				hasTopLevelSteps = true
+				engineStepsCodemodLog.Print("Found existing top-level 'steps'")
+			}
+
+			if hasTopLevelSteps {
+				// Find the end of the top-level steps block in the lines
+				for i, line := range frontmatterLines {


When merging into an existing top-level steps, the codemod only checks frontmatter["steps"] for presence, but doesn’t verify it’s actually a YAML sequence. If steps exists but is a scalar/object (invalid but possible in real files), this code will append list items after steps: <value>, producing invalid YAML. Consider type-checking frontmatter["steps"] as []any (or verifying the steps: line is followed by indented list items) before merging; otherwise, treat it as no top-level steps (insert a fresh steps: block) or return a clear error.

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

pelikhan · 2026-02-20T07:31:38Z

@copilot fix tests in https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22215277211/job/64257651384

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-20T07:39:23Z

@copilot fix tests in https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22215277211/job/64257651384

Fixed in 5f5a9d9. TestSharedWorkflowWithEngineOnly used engine.steps in its YAML content; updated it to use top-level steps now that engine.steps is no longer in the schema.

pelikhan · 2026-02-20T11:13:26Z

@copilot fix tests https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22215645934/job/64278328103

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-20T11:21:18Z

@copilot fix tests https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22215645934/job/64278328103

Fixed in 47d9311. The failures were in TestMCPRegistryClient_LiveGetServer and TestMCPRegistryClient_GitHubRegistryAccessibility — both caused by the external MCP registry returning 503 (temporarily unavailable). Updated both tests to skip on 5xx responses instead of failing.

Initial plan

2a4742d

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Feb 20, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 06:43 View session

Remove legacy engine.steps field and add codemod to migrate to top-le…

bb47fda

…vel steps Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Remove engine.steps field and add codemod to update structure~~ Remove legacy engine.steps field and add migration codemod Feb 20, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:13

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:13

pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 20, 2026 07:14

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings February 20, 2026 07:14

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:15 View session

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:15 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Feb 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

Expand engine-steps-to-top-level codemod tests

e1b734b

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:24

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:33 View session

Fix CI test failure and address reviewer comments on codemod robustness

5f5a9d9

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 07:40

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 20, 2026

[Daily Report] Daily Status Report — 2026-02-20 #17112

Closed

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 11:15 View session

Fix flaky live MCP registry tests to skip on 5xx responses

47d9311

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan February 20, 2026 11:21

pelikhan merged commit 8ecd7ee into main Feb 20, 2026
90 checks passed

pelikhan deleted the copilot/remove-legacy-engine-steps branch February 20, 2026 11:33

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Feb 20, 2026

Smoke Test: Claude - 22222473735 #17134

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Remove legacy engine.steps field and add migration codemod#17106

Remove legacy engine.steps field and add migration codemod#17106
pelikhan merged 5 commits intomainfrom
copilot/remove-legacy-engine-steps

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+			// Pass 1b: if the engine block is now empty (only comments/blank lines), remove it
+			cleanedWithoutEngine := make([]string, 0, len(withoutEngineSteps))
+			for i := 0; i < len(withoutEngineSteps); {
+				line := withoutEngineSteps[i]
+				trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(line)
+				// Look for a top-level "engine:" key
+				if isTopLevelKey(line) && strings.HasPrefix(trimmed, "engine:") {
+					engineIndent := getIndentation(line)
+					startIdx := i
+					endIdx := i
+					j := i + 1
+					onlyCommentsOrBlank := true
+					// Walk the lines belonging to the engine block
+					for ; j < len(withoutEngineSteps); j++ {
+						l := withoutEngineSteps[j]
+						t := strings.TrimSpace(l)
+						// Stop at the next top-level key (same or smaller indentation)
+						if isTopLevelKey(l) && len(getIndentation(l)) <= len(engineIndent) && t != "" {
+							break
+						}
+						// Track the furthest extent of the engine block
+						endIdx = j
+						// Consider only blank lines or pure comments as "empty"
+						if t == "" || strings.HasPrefix(t, "#") {
+							continue
+						}
+						// Found non-comment, non-blank content under engine
+						onlyCommentsOrBlank = false
+						break
+					}
+					if onlyCommentsOrBlank {
+						// Remove engine block and any adjacent blank lines around it
+						removeStart := startIdx
+						for removeStart-1 >= 0 && strings.TrimSpace(withoutEngineSteps[removeStart-1]) == "" {
+							removeStart--
+						}
+						removeEnd := endIdx
+						for k := endIdx + 1; k < len(withoutEngineSteps) && strings.TrimSpace(withoutEngineSteps[k]) == ""; k++ {
+							removeEnd = k
+						}
+						engineStepsCodemodLog.Print("Removed empty 'engine' block after migrating 'engine.steps'")
+						// Skip over the removed region
+						i = removeEnd + 1
+						// Ensure we don't drop lines already added before removeStart
+						continue
+					}
+				}
+				// Keep the current line
+				cleanedWithoutEngine = append(cleanedWithoutEngine, line)
+				i++
+			}
+			withoutEngineSteps = cleanedWithoutEngine

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Copilot AI commented Feb 20, 2026 •

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