fix(ci): Required check 'Validate Memory Files' references non-existent workflow

[rjmurillo-bot]

Problem Statement

PR #334 is blocked by a required status check "Validate Memory Files" that never completes. The workflow file that creates this check exists only on an unmerged feature branch.

Affected PRs

• PR docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334: Confirmed blocked

Root Cause

The workflow memory-validation.yml was added in commit f136249 on branch memory-automation-index-consolidation, but:

1. The branch was never merged to main
2. The check name was added to branch protection rules prematurely
3. PRs cannot create the check because the workflow doesn't exist on main

Evidence

# Required check exists in ruleset
gh api repos/rjmurillo/ai-agents/rulesets/11104075 \
  --jq '.rules[] | select(.type == "required_status_checks") | .parameters.required_status_checks[].context' \
  | grep "Validate Memory Files"

# Workflow does NOT exist on main
ls .github/workflows/memory-validation.yml  # File not found

# Workflow EXISTS on feature branch
git show origin/memory-automation-index-consolidation:.github/workflows/memory-validation.yml

Immediate Fix

Merge branch memory-automation-index-consolidation to main:

1. Find or create PR for the branch
2. Merge to main
3. Verify workflow runs and creates check
4. PR docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334 should unblock automatically

Related Issues

• Issue fix(ci): AI PR Quality Gate creates pending checks that never complete for docs-only PRs #335: Similar issue with AI PR Quality Gate (fixed by PR fix(ci): add skip matrix job to satisfy required agent review checks #337)
• Difference: fix(ci): AI PR Quality Gate creates pending checks that never complete for docs-only PRs #335 was workflow skipping incorrectly; this is missing workflow entirely

Long-Term Prevention

Document required check deployment protocol:

1. Workflow MUST exist on main before adding to required checks
2. Workflow MUST be verified to create exact check name
3. Add CI validation to detect phantom required checks

Acceptance Criteria

• memory-validation.yml merged to main
• "Validate Memory Files" check appears and passes/skips on PRs
• PR docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334 unblocked
• ADR created for required check deployment protocol

Analysis

Full root cause analysis: .agents/analysis/pr-334-validate-memory-files-check-missing.md

[latta-ai]

A new task Issue: fix(ci): Required check 'Validate Memory Files' references non-existent workflow has been created with an AI Solve step.
AI Solve is now analyzing the reported problem.

[github-actions]

AI Triage Summary

Note

This issue has been automatically triaged by AI agents

What is AI Triage?

This issue was analyzed by AI agents:

• Analyst Agent: Categorizes the issue and suggests appropriate labels
• Roadmap Agent: Aligns the issue with project milestones and priorities
• Explainer Agent (if escalated): Generates comprehensive PRD

Triage Results

Property	Value
Category	bug
Labels	["bug","area-workflows","area-infrastructure"]
Priority	P0
Milestone	v1.1

Categorization Analysis

```json
{
  "labels": ["bug", "area-workflows", "area-infrastructure"],
  "category": "bug",
  "confidence": 0.92,
  "reasoning": "Issue describes a CI configuration bug where a required status check references a workflow file that does not exist on main branch, blocking PRs"
}

</details>

<details>
<summary>Roadmap Alignment</summary>

```json
Based on my analysis of the issue and roadmap:

**Assessment:**
- This is a P0 bug blocking PR #334
- The issue is infrastructure/CI-related (area-workflows, area-infrastructure)
- Root cause is clear: workflow file exists only on unmerged branch while required check was added to branch protection
- Solution is documented: merge the feature branch

**RICE Analysis:**
- Reach: All PRs (100% of contributors)
- Impact: 3 (massive - blocks all PR merges)
- Confidence: 100% (root cause proven with evidence)
- Effort: 0.1 person-months (simple merge)
- Score: 90

**Epic Alignment:** No direct epic match. This is operational infrastructure, not a feature epic.

**PRD Escalation:** Not required. This is a clear bug with documented fix, not a feature requiring design.

```json
{
  "milestone": "v1.1",
  "priority": "P0",
  "epic_alignment": "",
  "confidence": 0.95,
  "reasoning": "Blocking bug with proven root cause and documented fix; infrastructure issue not aligned to feature epics",
  "escalate_to_prd": false,
  "escalation_criteria": [],
  "complexity_score": 0
}

</details>

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🔗 Similar Issues

Related Issues

• enhancement: Add GitHub workflow for YAML validation #1
• fix(ci): AI PR Quality Gate creates pending checks that never complete for docs-only PRs #335
• [P1] Implement Technical Guardrails for Autonomous Agent Execution #230
• feat: Apply paths-filter pattern to validate-paths workflow #102
• feat: Add pre-PR security gate for infrastructure changes #42

🔗 Related PRs

#53 - Create PRD for Visual Studio 2026 install support [merged]
#76 - fix(workflows): strengthen AI review rigor and enable PR gating [merged]
#100 - fix(ci): ensure Pester Tests workflow satisfies required checks for all PRs [merged]
#141 - feat(skills): document dorny/paths-filter checkout requirement [merged]
#296 - fix(workflow): ensure copilot synthesis posts comment on successful AI output [merged]

👤 Suggested Assignees

• rjmurillo-bot
• rjmurillo

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[rjmurillo]

Stuck PR Analysis (2025-12-24)

Investigation into PRs stuck for similar reasons as #334.

Key Finding: PR #334 is NOT Actually Stuck

PR #334 has:

• [PASS] All required CI checks passing
• [PASS] Approved by owner (@rjmurillo)
• [PASS] MERGEABLE status
• [PASS] Age: 1 hour (created 2025-12-24 07:14 UTC)

Verdict: PR #334 can be merged immediately. No blocker exists.

Actually Stuck PRs

PR	Title	Primary Blocker	Age	Similar to #334?
#342	ci: add memory validation workflow	[FAIL] Validate Memory Files	<1 hour	✅ YES (missing workflow)
#332	docs: feature request review workflow	[FAIL] Validate Spec Coverage	<2 hours	❌ No
#331	docs: velocity analysis	[FAIL] Aggregate Results	1.5 hours	❌ No
#322	feat: PR merge state verification	[FAIL] Aggregate Results (2x)	2.5 hours	❌ No
#320	chore: Session 85 analysis	[FAIL] Aggregate Results	2.5 hours	❌ No
#310	docs(adr): model routing policy	[FAIL] Aggregate Results	9 hours (DRAFT)	❌ No
#269	docs: Phase 4 validation workflow	[FAIL] Aggregate Results	1 day	❌ No
#255	feat(github-skill): enhance skill	[FAIL] Aggregate Results + [CONFLICT]	1.5 days	❌ No
#246	docs: Local Guardrails analysis	[FAIL] Validate Spec Coverage + Generated Files + Aggregate (2x)	2 days	❌ No
#235	feat(github-skills): issue comments	[FAIL] Aggregate Results + [CONFLICT]	2 days	❌ No
#199	feat(agents): mandatory memory phases	[FAIL] Aggregate Results	4 days	❌ No

Merge Conflict PRs (No CI Issues)

PR	Title	Age	Status
#300	docs(retrospective): autonomous PR monitoring	1 day	[CONFLICT] (all checks pass)
#299	docs: add autonomous PR monitoring prompt	1 day	[CONFLICT] (all checks pass)
#285	perf: Add -NoProfile to pwsh	1.5 days	[CONFLICT] (all checks pass)
#247	feat: technical guardrails	2 days	[CONFLICT] (all checks pass)

Draft PRs (Expected to be Incomplete)

PR	Title	Blocker	Age
#313	fix(pr-maintenance): remove exit code	None	8 hours
#301	docs: autonomous PR monitoring	None	1 day

Clean PRs Ready to Merge

PR	Title	Age
#334	docs(claude): GitHub workflow requirements	1 hour
#336	chore: Serena memories for workflows	1 hour
#245	docs(memory): decomposition analysis	2 days

Summary by Blocker Type

• Aggregate Results Failures: 10 PRs (docs: add velocity analysis and 10x improvement plan #331, feat: Implement PR merge state verification to prevent wasted review effort #322, chore: Session 85 - PR #315 post-merge analysis and new PR review skills #320, docs(adr): add model routing policy to minimize false PASS #310, docs(orchestrator): add Phase 4 pre-PR validation workflow and HANDOFF-TERMS.md #269, feat(github-skill): enhance skill for Claude effectiveness #255, docs: Local Guardrails analysis consolidated into Issue #230 #246, feat(github-skills): add issue comments support to Get-PRReviewComments #235, feat(agents): add mandatory memory phases to pr-comment-responder #199)
• Missing Workflow (like docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334): 1 PR (ci: add memory validation workflow for ADR-017 enforcement #342 - Validate Memory Files)
• Spec Coverage Failures: 2 PRs (docs: add feature request review workflow planning artifacts #332, docs: Local Guardrails analysis consolidated into Issue #230 #246)
• Merge Conflicts: 6 PRs (docs(retrospective): autonomous PR monitoring session analysis #300, docs: add autonomous PR monitoring prompt #299, perf: Add -NoProfile to pwsh invocations for 82% faster execution #285, docs(orchestrator): add Phase 4 pre-PR validation workflow and HANDOFF-TERMS.md #269, feat(github-skill): enhance skill for Claude effectiveness #255, feat: Implement technical guardrails for autonomous agent execution #247, feat(github-skills): add issue comments support to Get-PRReviewComments #235)
• No Blocker: 3 PRs (docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334, chore: add Serena memories for GitHub workflow protocols #336, docs(memory): add decomposition analysis for Issue #239 #245)

Root Cause: Shared "Aggregate Results" Failure Pattern

Most stuck PRs (10/19) share the same failure: "Aggregate Results" check failing in AI PR Quality Gate workflow.

This differs from #334's original issue (missing workflow file). The Aggregate Results failures indicate:

1. At least one AI agent review failed
2. PR is blocked until failures are addressed

Recommendations

1. Immediate: Merge docs(claude): add GitHub workflow requirements for issue assignment and PR templates #334, chore: add Serena memories for GitHub workflow protocols #336, docs(memory): add decomposition analysis for Issue #239 #245 (no blockers)
2. High Priority: Fix ci: add memory validation workflow for ADR-017 enforcement #342 (missing workflow, < 1 hour old)
3. Resolve Conflicts: Rebase docs(retrospective): autonomous PR monitoring session analysis #300, docs: add autonomous PR monitoring prompt #299, perf: Add -NoProfile to pwsh invocations for 82% faster execution #285, feat: Implement technical guardrails for autonomous agent execution #247, feat(github-skills): add issue comments support to Get-PRReviewComments #235, feat(github-skill): enhance skill for Claude effectiveness #255
4. Investigate Aggregate Failures: Review individual agent failures for docs: add velocity analysis and 10x improvement plan #331, feat: Implement PR merge state verification to prevent wasted review effort #322, chore: Session 85 - PR #315 post-merge analysis and new PR review skills #320, docs(adr): add model routing policy to minimize false PASS #310, docs(orchestrator): add Phase 4 pre-PR validation workflow and HANDOFF-TERMS.md #269, docs: Local Guardrails analysis consolidated into Issue #230 #246, feat(agents): add mandatory memory phases to pr-comment-responder #199

Data Sources

• gh pr list --state open (20 PRs total)
• gh pr checks for each PR
• gh pr view --json statusCheckRollup