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Fix docs: custom safe-output jobs run once per run, not once per tool call - #50635
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Thanks for working on this documentation fix! 📚 The issue you're addressing is well-scoped and directly improves our docs' accuracy — catching and correcting the silent data loss footgun around custom job execution is valuable. Current Status
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Keep the PR description updated as you make progress, and you're all set! 🚀
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Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>
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[WIP] Update documentation for safe-outputs.jobs custom jobs
Fix docs: custom safe-output jobs run once per run, not once per tool call
Aug 5, 2026
pelikhan
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August 5, 2026 17:35
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Pull request overview
Corrects custom safe-output job invocation documentation and clarifies job/script behavior.
Changes:
- Documents once-per-run custom jobs and
.items[]iteration. - Updates the scripts-versus-jobs comparison and secret-handling guidance.
Show a summary per file
| File | Description |
|---|---|
docs/src/content/docs/reference/custom-safe-outputs.md |
Clarifies safe-output invocation and processing models. |
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| The `inputs:` schema serves as both the MCP tool definition visible to the agent and validation for the output fields written to `GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT`. | ||
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| > [!IMPORTANT] | ||
| > A custom job runs **once per workflow run**, not once per tool call. If the agent calls the tool multiple times, every call is collected into the `.items[]` array of the single `GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT` file. Your job must iterate over `.items[]` (for example with `jq -c '.items[] | select(.type == "my_job")'`) to process all calls. Reading only `.items[0]` silently drops every call after the first — the run still succeeds, so the data loss is easy to miss. |
| > [!IMPORTANT] | ||
| > A custom job runs **once per workflow run**, not once per tool call. If the agent calls the tool multiple times, every call is collected into the `.items[]` array of the single `GH_AW_AGENT_OUTPUT` file. Your job must iterate over `.items[]` (for example with `jq -c '.items[] | select(.type == "my_job")'`) to process all calls. Reading only `.items[0]` silently drops every call after the first — the run still succeeds, so the data loss is easy to miss. | ||
| > | ||
| > Because inline [scripts](#inline-script-handlers-safe-outputsscripts) cannot access repository secrets, any per-item handler that needs a secret (for example to call an external API with a token) must be a job — and therefore must loop over `.items[]` itself. |
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🎉 This pull request is included in a new release. Release: |
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docs/reference/custom-safe-outputs.mdincorrectly claimedsafe-outputs.jobscustom jobs run once per agent tool call. The compiler emits a single job per workflow run (nostrategy: matrix), so all calls are collected into.items[]. The wrong model leads to silent data loss: implementing against it, you read.items[0]and drop every call after the first — with no error.Changes
Slower (new job per call)→Slower (one job per run), and added anInvocationrow contrasting scripts (per call) vs jobs (per run).[!IMPORTANT]note in the jobs section: the job must iterate.items[], and reading.items[0]silently drops later calls.The doc example already uses the correct once-per-run pattern:
Docs-only change; no code or workflows touched.