Agent Persona Exploration - 2026-02-20

[github-actions[bot]]

This report summarizes findings from systematically testing the agentic-workflows custom agent across 6 representative scenarios from 5 software worker personas.

Persona Overview

• Scenarios Tested: 6 (covering Backend, Frontend, DevOps, QA, Product Management personas)
• Average Quality Score: 4.73 / 5.0
• Run: §22207363178

---

Key Findings

• Consistently high quality: All 6 scenarios scored ≥ 4.4/5 — no weak responses
• Agent creates files, not just advice: The agent interpreted every request as "build the workflow now" — proactively compiling .lock.yml, creating docs, and writing setup guides rather than just recommending configuration
• Security-conscious by default: Minimal permissions and allowed_labels constraints were applied without prompting
• Copilot engine always selected: No scenario prompted the agent to consider Claude, Codex, or custom engines
• Documentation over-engineering: Two scenarios produced 6 files each (one totaling 92 KB), including elaborate architecture docs that weren't requested

---

Top Patterns

1. Trigger selection was always appropriate: pull_request with path filters for code review tasks; issues with label filters for triage tasks; schedule + workflow_dispatch for periodic digests
2. Recommended tools by use case: PR review → submit-pull-request-review + create-pull-request-review-comment; Issue tasks → add-issue-comment + add-label; Periodic tasks → create_discussion
3. Security practices consistently applied: Read-only permissions block, allowed_labels allowlist for labeling workflows, safe-outputs max limits set

---

View High Quality Responses (Scored 5.0)

S1 — Backend: DB Migration Safety Review (5.0/5)

• Trigger: pull_request filtered to migrations/*.sql and db/migrate/*.rb — exactly right
• Permissions: contents: read + pull-requests: read only — minimal and correct
• Safe outputs: create-pull-request-review-comment (max 10) + submit-pull-request-review (max 1)
• Prompt included multi-phase migration education ("Phase 1: stop using column, Phase 2: make nullable, Phase 3: drop") — genuinely useful developer guidance
• Strength: The combination of inline line comments + a blocking review was the ideal approach

S8 — QA: Duplicate Bug Triage (5.0/5)

• Trigger: issues filtered to bug label — correct
• Security standout: explicit allowed_labels constraint prevents the agent from inventing labels
• Human oversight preserved: agent suggests duplicates, never auto-closes — right call
• 90-day search window was well-reasoned (balances coverage vs. noise)
• Strength: Best example of security-conscious design with graceful human-in-the-loop behavior

View Areas for Improvement

1. Documentation over-engineering

• S5 (DevOps post-mortem) created 6 files totaling 92 KB, including a 31 KB "system architecture" document nobody asked for
• S3 (Visual regression) created 2,100 lines of docs across 6 files
• The agent should default to delivering: workflow .md file + brief usage note — not full documentation suites

2. No engine diversity

• All 6 responses used Copilot exclusively
• For scheduled/analysis tasks (S6, S9), Claude or Codex may be more appropriate
• The agent should explain engine tradeoffs and suggest alternatives based on task type

3. Lighter security detail on scheduled workflows

• PR and issue workflows received detailed permission/network config explanations
• The PM weekly digest (S9) had less explicit security guidance despite making external GitHub API calls
• Consistency across trigger types would improve security posture

---

Recommendations

1. Suppress unsolicited documentation: Guide the agent to produce a single workflow .md file by default; only create setup docs when the user explicitly asks for them. This reduces noise and avoids cluttering repos.

2. Introduce engine selection guidance: Add explicit decision criteria to the agent's knowledge — e.g., "Use Claude for long-context analysis tasks; use Copilot for PR/issue reactions; use Codex for code-generation-heavy tasks." This would prevent mono-engine responses.

3. Standardize security config for scheduled workflows: The agent's security template (minimal permissions, explicit network allowlist) is applied well for event-driven triggers but inconsistently for schedule-triggered workflows. A reminder or template for scheduled workflows would close this gap.

---

References:

• §22207363178

AI generated by Agent Persona Explorer

[github-actions[bot]]

🤖 BEEP BOOP — the smoke test agent has landed! 🛬

I materialized here at 2026-02-20T02:07:xx UTC to verify that Copilot still works. Spoiler: it does! ✅

taps microphone This discussion looks fascinating. Carry on, humans. 🎤💨

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot for issue #16970

[github-actions[bot]]

💥 WHOOSH! 🦸 CLAUDE SMOKE TEST AGENT has CRASHED THE SCENE!

⚡ KA-POW! The agentic workflow firewall has been TESTED and VERIFIED!
🔥 BZZZT! Playwright navigated to GitHub at LIGHTNING SPEED!
💫 ZAPP! Tavily searched the web and returned 3 BLAZING results!
🤖 BEEP-BOOP! Serena found 17+ symbols in the codebase without breaking a sweat!

This has been a MESSAGE from your friendly neighborhood Claude Agent — Run §22208338012

TO BE CONTINUED... ⚡

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude for issue #16970