fix: preserve agent task workflow JSON outputs (#1834)

Author: chubes4

.github/scripts/run-agent-task/execute-native-agent-task.mjs

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const codeboxRoot = resolve(process.env.WP_CODEBOX_WORKFLOW_ROOT || ".")
 const codeboxCliPath = process.env.WP_CODEBOX_CLI_PATH || join(codeboxRoot, "packages/cli/dist/index.js")
 const outputPath = process.env.GITHUB_OUTPUT
 const MAX_CAPTURE_BYTES = 32768
-const MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS = 8192
+const MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES = 8192
 const secretValues = ["OPENAI_API_KEY", "MODEL_PROVIDER_SECRET_1", "MODEL_PROVIDER_SECRET_2", "MODEL_PROVIDER_SECRET_3", "MODEL_PROVIDER_SECRET_4", "MODEL_PROVIDER_SECRET_5", "GITHUB_TOKEN", "GH_TOKEN", "ACCESS_TOKEN", "EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_SOURCE_POLICY"].map((name) => process.env[name]).filter(Boolean)
 let privateRuntimeSourceRoot = ""
 let privateRuntimeSourceRootForSanitization = ""
@@ -97,7 +97,53 @@ function capturedStream(limit = MAX_CAPTURE_BYTES) {
 function output(name, value) {
   if (!outputPath) return Promise.resolve()
   const rendered = typeof value === "string" ? value : JSON.stringify(value)
-  return appendFile(outputPath, `${name}<<__WP_CODEBOX_OUTPUT__\n${bounded(rendered, MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS)}\n__WP_CODEBOX_OUTPUT__\n`)
+  const safe = sanitizeRuntimeSourceText(redact(rendered), privateRuntimeSourceRootForSanitization)
+  const bytes = Buffer.byteLength(safe)
+  if (bytes > MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES) {
+    throw new Error(`${name} exceeds the ${MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES}-byte workflow output limit.`)
+  }
+  return appendFile(outputPath, `${name}<<__WP_CODEBOX_OUTPUT__\n${safe}\n__WP_CODEBOX_OUTPUT__\n`)
+}
+
+function serializedJson(value) {
+  return JSON.stringify(value)
+}
+
+function workflowOutputReference(name, rendered, artifactsPath) {
+  const bytes = Buffer.byteLength(rendered)
+  if (bytes <= MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES) return Promise.resolve({ rendered })
+
+  const artifactPath = `workflow-outputs/${name}.json`
+  const reference = {
+    schema: "wp-codebox/workflow-output-reference/v1",
+    kind: "codebox-workflow-output",
+    output: name,
+    artifact_path: artifactPath,
+    bytes,
+    sha256: createHash("sha256").update(rendered).digest("hex"),
+  }
+  return mkdir(join(artifactsPath, "workflow-outputs"), { recursive: true })
+    .then(() => writeFile(join(artifactsPath, artifactPath), `${rendered}\n`))
+    .then(() => ({ rendered: serializedJson(reference), reference }))
+}
+
+function projectionOutputLimitError(name, bytes) {
+  const error = new Error(`output_projections.${name} serializes to ${bytes} bytes, exceeding the ${MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES}-byte workflow output limit. Store the canonical value as a declared artifact and project its artifact-relative reference.`)
+  error.code = "wp-codebox.agent-task.output-projection-too-large"
+  error.output_name = name
+  error.bytes = bytes
+  error.max_bytes = MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES
+  return error
+}
+
+function validateProjectionOutputSize(value) {
+  for (const [name, projected] of Object.entries(value)) {
+    const projectedBytes = Buffer.byteLength(serializedJson(projected))
+    if (projectedBytes > MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES) throw projectionOutputLimitError(name, projectedBytes)
+  }
+  const rendered = serializedJson(value)
+  const bytes = Buffer.byteLength(rendered)
+  if (bytes > MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES) throw projectionOutputLimitError("projected_outputs_json", bytes)
 }
 
 function safeEnvironment(extra = {}) {
@@ -355,7 +401,7 @@ function failureClassification(error) {
 async function writeNormalizedFailure(error, request = {}) {
   const resultPath = join(workspace, ".codebox", "agent-task-workflow-result.json")
   const failure = failureClassification(error)
-  const message = bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS)
+  const message = bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES)
   const accessError = failure.classification === "policy" && /allowed_repos|ACCESS_TOKEN|GitHub token|Caller repository|authorized/i.test(message)
   const result = {
     schema: "wp-codebox/agent-task-workflow-result/v1",
@@ -592,7 +638,7 @@ if (execution.code === 0 && runtimeResult.success === true && request.runner_wor
       .filter((ref) => ref.kind === "codebox-patch" || ref.kind === "codebox-changed-files")
       workspaceApply = await runnerWorkspaceCore.applyRunnerWorkspacePatch({ artifactRoot: artifactsPath, artifactRefs: refs, workspaceRoot: workspace, writablePaths, seedIdentity: runnerWorkspaceSeedSnapshot?.provenance.identity })
   } catch (error) {
-    downstreamFailure = { stage: "apply", message: bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS), ...(error?.evidence ? { evidence: error.evidence } : {}) }
+    downstreamFailure = { stage: "apply", message: bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES), ...(error?.evidence ? { evidence: error.evidence } : {}) }
   }
 }
 runtimeResult = sanitizeRuntimeSourceValue(runtimeResult, runtimeSourceOutputRoots)
@@ -637,18 +683,26 @@ if (execution.code === 0 && runtimeRecord.success === true && verificationPassed
     runtimeRecord.metadata = { ...record(runtimeRecord.metadata), runner_workspace_publication: publication }
     runtimeRecord.outputs = { ...record(runtimeRecord.outputs), runner_workspace_publication: publication }
   } catch (error) {
-    downstreamFailure = { stage: "publication", message: bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS) }
+    downstreamFailure = { stage: "publication", message: bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES) }
   }
 }
 if (request.success?.requires_pr === true && workspaceApply.status === "no-op" && !publication) {
   downstreamFailure ??= { stage: "no-op", message: "success_requires_pr cannot succeed for a no-op runner workspace task." }
 }
 let evaluatedProjections = {}
-let projectionError = ""
+let projectionError
 try {
   evaluatedProjections = projections(request.outputs?.projections, runtimeRecord)
+  validateProjectionOutputSize(evaluatedProjections)
 } catch (error) {
-  projectionError = error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)
+  projectionError = {
+    code: typeof error?.code === "string" ? error.code : "wp-codebox.agent-task.output-projection",
+    classification: "output-projection",
+    message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    ...(typeof error?.output_name === "string" ? { output_name: error.output_name } : {}),
+    ...(Number.isSafeInteger(error?.bytes) ? { bytes: error.bytes } : {}),
+    ...(Number.isSafeInteger(error?.max_bytes) ? { max_bytes: error.max_bytes } : {}),
+  }
 }
 const publicationRequired = request.success?.requires_pr === true
 const publicationVerification = publicationRequired && execution.code === 0 && runtimeRecord.success === true
@@ -662,6 +716,12 @@ const success = request.run_agent && !request.dry_run
   ? execution.code === 0 && runtimeRecord.success === true && verificationPassed && publicationPassed && !projectionError && !downstreamFailure
   : true
 const status = request.run_agent && !request.dry_run ? (success ? "succeeded" : "failed") : "skipped"
+const workflowOutputs = {
+  transcript_json: await workflowOutputReference("transcript_json", serializedJson(agentResult.refs?.transcripts || []), artifactsPath),
+  engine_data_json: await workflowOutputReference("engine_data_json", serializedJson(redact(record(runtimeRecord.outputs))), artifactsPath),
+  projected_outputs_json: { rendered: serializedJson(projectionError ? { error: projectionError } : evaluatedProjections) },
+  declared_artifacts_json: await workflowOutputReference("declared_artifacts_json", serializedJson(request.artifacts?.declarations || []), artifactsPath),
+}
 const result = {
   schema: "wp-codebox/agent-task-workflow-result/v1",
   run_id: runId,
@@ -680,6 +740,10 @@ const result = {
     engine_data: record(runtimeRecord.outputs),
     projections: evaluatedProjections,
   },
+  ...(Object.values(workflowOutputs).some((output) => output.reference) ? {
+    workflow_output_artifacts: Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(workflowOutputs)
+      .flatMap(([name, output]) => output.reference ? [[name, output.reference]] : [])),
+  } : {}),
   access: { authorized: true, credential_mode: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN ? "runner-access-token" : (process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY ? "runner-provider-credentials" : "runner-default-credentials"), policy: { allowed_repos: request.access.allowed_repos } },
   ...(publicationRequired ? { publication_verification: publicationVerification } : {}),
   ...(publicationRequired && !publicationPassed ? { publication_error: "success_requires_pr requires a valid published runner-workspace pull request for target_repo." } : {}),
@@ -691,12 +755,12 @@ const sanitizedResult = sanitizeRuntimeSourceValue(redact(result), privateRuntim
 assertNoRuntimeSourcePaths(sanitizedResult, privateRuntimeSourceRootForSanitization)
 await writeFile(resultPath, `${JSON.stringify(sanitizedResult, null, 2)}\n`)
 await output("job_status", status)
-await output("transcript_json", JSON.stringify(agentResult.refs?.transcripts || []))
+await output("transcript_json", workflowOutputs.transcript_json.rendered)
 await output("transcript_summary", `${request.workload?.label || "Run Agent Task"}: ${status}`)
-await output("engine_data_json", result.outputs.engine_data)
-await output("projected_outputs_json", result.outputs.projections)
+await output("engine_data_json", workflowOutputs.engine_data_json.rendered)
+await output("projected_outputs_json", workflowOutputs.projected_outputs_json.rendered)
 await output("credential_mode", result.access.credential_mode)
-await output("declared_artifacts_json", result.artifacts.declarations)
+await output("declared_artifacts_json", workflowOutputs.declared_artifacts_json.rendered)
 await output("result_path", ".codebox/agent-task-workflow-result.json")
 
 if (!success) process.exitCode = 1
@@ -706,7 +770,7 @@ try {
   await executeNativeAgentTask()
 } catch (error) {
   await writeNormalizedFailure(error)
-  console.error(bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_OUTPUT_CHARS))
+  console.error(bounded(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error), MAX_WORKFLOW_OUTPUT_BYTES))
   process.exitCode = 1
 } finally {
   await cleanupMaterializedSources()

.github/scripts/run-agent-task/prepare-agent-task-upload.mjs

@@ -419,6 +419,24 @@ function declaredArtifactPaths(result, allowed) {
   return [...paths].sort()
 }
 
+function workflowOutputArtifacts(result) {
+  return Object.entries(record(result.workflow_output_artifacts)).flatMap(([name, value]) => {
+    const reference = record(value)
+    const path = safeRelativeArtifactPath(reference.artifact_path)
+    if (reference.schema !== "wp-codebox/workflow-output-reference/v1"
+      || reference.kind !== "codebox-workflow-output"
+      || reference.output !== name
+      || !/^[A-Za-z0-9_.-]+$/.test(name)
+      || path !== `workflow-outputs/${name}.json`
+      || !Number.isSafeInteger(reference.bytes)
+      || reference.bytes <= 0
+      || !/^[a-f0-9]{64}$/.test(reference.sha256)) {
+      throw new Error("Workflow output artifact reference is malformed.")
+    }
+    return [[path, reference]]
+  })
+}
+
 async function exclusions(root, declaredPaths, transcript) {
   const counts = new Map()
   const count = (category) => counts.set(category, (counts.get(category) || 0) + 1)
@@ -479,6 +497,7 @@ const request = parseJsonOrEmpty(await readFile(requestPath, "utf8").catch(() =>
 const resultSource = join(workspace, ".codebox", "agent-task-workflow-result.json")
 const result = parseJsonOrEmpty(await readFile(resultSource, "utf8").catch(() => "{}"))
 const declaredPaths = new Set(declaredArtifactPaths(result, declarations(request)))
+const workflowOutputArtifactsToStage = workflowOutputArtifacts(result)
 
 await rm(uploadPath, { recursive: true, force: true })
 await mkdir(uploadPath, { recursive: true })
@@ -495,6 +514,16 @@ for (const path of declaredPaths) {
   }
   await stageTextFile(source, join(uploadPath, ".codebox", "agent-task-artifacts", path))
 }
+for (const [path, reference] of workflowOutputArtifactsToStage) {
+  const source = resolve(artifactsPath, path)
+  if (relative(artifactsPath, source).startsWith("..") || sourceCategory(path, source)) continue
+  const bytes = await readFile(source)
+  const canonical = bytes.subarray(bytes.length - 1)[0] === 10 ? bytes.subarray(0, -1) : bytes
+  if (canonical.length !== reference.bytes || digest(canonical) !== reference.sha256) {
+    throw new Error("Workflow output artifact does not match its reference.")
+  }
+  await stageTextFile(source, join(uploadPath, ".codebox", "agent-task-artifacts", path))
+}
 const transcript = await stageCanonicalTranscript(result)
 if (transcript?.provenance?.source_sha256) {
   const stagedResultPath = join(uploadPath, ".codebox", "agent-task-workflow-result.json")

docs/agent-task-reusable-workflow.md

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ This release-coherence contract fixes [#1759](https://github.com/Automattic/wp-c
 - `access_token_repos`: comma-separated repositories available to the supplied access token.
 - `allowed_repos`: JSON repository allowlist. It and `access_token_repos` must explicitly include `target_repo`.
 - `expected_artifacts`: JSON allowlist and collection metadata. Required runtime artifacts are derived only from `artifact_declarations` entries with `required: true` and must be declared output artifacts.
-- `output_projections`: JSON object mapping output names to dot-delimited paths in the native result. A string value remains a required projection for compatibility. A descriptor value has the exact shape `{ "path": "result.path", "required": false }`; unresolved optional projections are omitted, while unresolved required projections fail the run.
+- `output_projections`: JSON object mapping output names to dot-delimited paths in the native result. A string value remains a required projection for compatibility. A descriptor value has the exact shape `{ "path": "result.path", "required": false }`; unresolved optional projections are omitted, while unresolved required projections fail the run. Each evaluated projection and the combined projection object must serialize to 8,192 bytes or less. Oversized projections fail before success with `wp-codebox.agent-task.output-projection-too-large`; declare an artifact and project its artifact-relative reference instead.
 
 ## Access And Publication
 
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ fail closed for every PR, issue, and comment operation outside that set. The
 checkout does not persist credentials. Verification, dependency, and drift
 commands run with a clean environment that excludes provider and GitHub secrets.
 Known secret values are redacted before result or artifact persistence; captured
-stdout/stderr is capped at 32 KiB and workflow outputs at 8 KiB.
+stdout/stderr is capped at 32 KiB and workflow outputs at 8,192 bytes.
 
 `EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_SOURCE_POLICY` is treated as a secret even when it contains
 only repository and path metadata. It is redacted from runner output, excluded
@@ -137,6 +137,15 @@ runner token, so a fabricated publication result cannot satisfy the gate.
 - `credential_mode`: redacted credential source classification.
 - `declared_artifacts_json`: accepted typed artifact declarations.
 
+Every structured workflow output is serialized as complete JSON. When a
+system-owned structured value exceeds 8,192 bytes, its workflow output becomes a
+`wp-codebox/workflow-output-reference/v1` object with an artifact-relative path,
+byte count, and SHA-256; the canonical JSON is collected from
+`.codebox/agent-task-artifacts/workflow-outputs/`. The workflow result records
+these references in `workflow_output_artifacts`. User-declared projections are
+validated instead of truncated, so a success result never omits or corrupts a
+projection.
+
 The result artifact includes the executable task input, normalized runtime
 result, evaluated projections, verification records, and runner-owned
 publication result. A single canonical `codebox-transcript` ref from the