Daily workflow AIC guardrail exceeded for Test Quality Sentinel: 5017.38/5000.\n##[error]Daily workflow AIC guardrail exceeded for Test Quality Sentinel: 5017.38/5000.\n```\n\nBecause the agent job already keys on `daily_ai_credits_exceeded`, the `core.setFailed` at line 593 is redundant for skipping the agent — its only effect is the red `failure` conclusion.\n\n### Affected workflows and run IDs\n\n| Workflow | Runs (in-window) |\n|---|---|\n| Test Quality Sentinel | [§27465717773](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27465717773), [§27465421432](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27465421432), [§27465299831](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27465299831), §27464789069, §27464680872 |\n| PR Code Quality Reviewer | §27465717777, §27465421426, §27465299828, §27464789060, §27464680882 |\n| Matt Pocock Skills Reviewer | §27465421436, §27464789067, §27464680862, §27463928154 |\n\nRepresentative run: §27465717773 (clearest `5017.38/5000` exceedance log). Comparator: same workflows succeeded earlier in the day before the shared budget was exhausted; no in-window successful comparator exists because every post-exhaustion run is blocked.\n\n\u003cdetails\u003e\n\u003csummary\u003eWhy this is distinct from existing AIC issues\u003c/summary\u003e\n\n- #38624 (raise max-ai-credits for Failure Investigator) and #38645 (graceful aggregator degradation at the AIC cap) address **budget consumption/tuning**.\n- This issue is about **how a budget-blocked run is reported** — it should conclude `skipped`/neutral, not `failure` — independent of what the budget is set to. Fixing the budget does not remove the false-failure noise.\n\n\u003c/details\u003e\n\n### Proposed remediation\n\n1. In `check_daily_aic_workflow_guardrail.cjs`, on exceedance keep `core.setOutput(\"daily_ai_credits_exceeded\", \"true\")` and `core.warning(...)`, but replace `core.setFailed(...)` (line 593) with a non-failing exit so the `activation` job concludes `success` (the agent still skips via the output gate).\n2. Optionally surface the block as a neutral GitHub conclusion (e.g. a `notice` + a step-summary line) so the run is visibly \"budget-skipped,\" not green-as-if-ran.\n3. Suppress the per-workflow auto-failure issue path (#39059/#39050 class) when `daily_ai_credits_exceeded == 'true'`, since the run is a deliberate skip, not a failure.\n\n### Success criteria / verification\n\n1. A workflow blocked by the daily-AIC guardrail produces a run whose conclusion is **not** `failure` (skipped/neutral/success-with-skip).\n2. The agent job still does not execute when `daily_ai_credits_exceeded == 'true'` (existing gate unchanged; verify via `daily_aic_workflow_guardrail_test.go`).\n3. No `[aw] ... exceeded daily AI credits budget` auto-failure issue is filed for a guardrail-skipped run.\n4. A subsequent Failure Investigator window over a budget-exhaustion period reports these runs as skipped, not as P-tier failures.\n\n### References\n\n- Representative: [§27465717773](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27465717773) · this analysis run [§27467779429](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27467779429)\n- Spawned auto-issues: #39059, #39050 · Related budget issues: #38624, #38645, #38834\nRelated to #29109\n\n\n\u003c!-- gh-aw-tracker-id: aw-failure-investigator --\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\u003e Generated by [🔍 [aw] Failure Investigator (6h)](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27467779429) · 191.6 AIC · ⌖ 12.9 AIC · ⊞ 5.1K · [◷](https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Agithub%2Fgh-aw+is%3Aissue+%22gh-aw-workflow-call-id%3A+github%2Fgh-aw%2Faw-failure-investigator%22\u0026type=issues)\n\u003e - [x] expires \u003c!-- gh-aw-expires: 2026-06-20T13:26:14.818Z --\u003e on Jun 20, 2026, 5:26 AM UTC-08:00\n\n\u003c!-- gh-aw-agentic-workflow: [aw] Failure Investigator (6h), gh-aw-tracker-id: aw-failure-investigator, engine: claude, model: agent, id: 27467779429, workflow_id: aw-failure-investigator, run: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/27467779429 --\u003e\n\n\u003c!-- gh-aw-workflow-id: