whyisjake / whyisjake/agentic-deployment-template
setup.sh overstates how GitHub picks named PR templates
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- Shell
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Description
setup.sh tells users GitHub will use the named PR template automatically. The docs don't support that.
Raised by @pandah3 while reviewing the GOOP/Parker integration (Automattic/vip-go-api#7369):
Since this is in the
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/folder rather than a singlepull_request_template.mdfile, it'll only show up if a user opens a PR with?template=agent-generated.md.
What the script currently claims
scripts/setup.sh:141-147:
# GitHub supports multiple named PR templates in PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/.
# If you have a flat .github/pull_request_template.md, both approaches work
# simultaneously — GitHub uses the named directory when it exists.
if [[ -f ".github/pull_request_template.md" ]]; then
dim " Found .github/pull_request_template.md — adding named PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ alongside it"
dim " (GitHub uses named templates when PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ exists; your existing template is unaffected)"
fi
Why that looks wrong
GitHub's docs say:
You can create a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ subdirectory in any of the supported folders to contain multiple pull request templates, and use the
templatequery parameter to specify the template that will fill the pull request body.
So a named template is specified via ?template=, not picked up automatically. The docs don't state the precedence when a flat pull_request_template.md and a PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/ directory both exist — but "GitHub uses the named directory when it exists" is a stronger claim than anything documented, and if it's wrong it's backwards: the flat template is the one that auto-applies.
This needs testing on a scratch repo rather than reasoning from docs. I couldn't confirm the precedence either way.
What isn't broken
Agent-opened PRs do get the template content — agent-ready-trigger.yml:322 instructs the agent to read the file and use it:
- Use the template at .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/agent-generated.md if it exists
That path writes the body directly and never relies on GitHub's auto-application. So this is about human-opened PRs and, more importantly, about setup.sh telling adopters something that may not be true.
Suggested fix
- Test the actual behavior on a scratch repo (flat only / directory only / both).
- Correct the comment and the
dimmessage to match. - If named templates really do need
?template=, say so plainly and give users the link form —…/compare/main...branch?template=agent-generated.md— or reconsider whether this belongs at.github/pull_request_template.mdfor repos that don't already have one.
Contributor guide
No contributing guide indexed for this repository
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with scripts/setup.sh:141-147 and compare its claims with GitHub’s pull request template behavior. Test a scratch repository with a flat template, a named-template directory, and both configurations, then update the comment and dim message to match the observed behavior. Confirm the agent-opened path in agent-ready-trigger.yml:322 remains unaffected.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- github, shell
- Domain
- developer-experience
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 72/100