Recommendation
Seed the memory/git-simulator branch with a signed/verified commit via the GitHub Contents API or web UI (not a plain local git push) — the workflow cannot self-create the branch because orphan first-commit pushes are rejected by the Require signed commits ruleset (GH013). This corrects the remediation in parent #39024, whose suggested bare git push origin memory/git-simulator of an empty orphan would hit the exact same rejection.
Problem statement
The push_repo_memory job of Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator fails on every run. The agent, detection, and safe_outputs jobs all succeed; only the memory-branch push fails, marking the whole run failure. 5+ day streak (Jun 9–13, 2026).
Affected workflow & run IDs
Probable root cause (corrects #39024)
#39024 attributes this to the branch being "deleted accidentally or never initialized." Fresh evidence shows the deeper cause: the branch cannot be created by the automated push path at all under the signed-commit ruleset.
- Verified:
GET repos/github/gh-aw/branches/memory/git-simulator → 404; there are zero memory/* branches in the repo.
- The push job does attempt to seed the orphan branch, and the remote rejects the first commit.
push_repo_memory rejection log (run 27458229377)
remote: error: GH013: Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/memory/git-simulator.
! [remote rejected] memory/git-simulator -> memory/git-simulator (push declined due to repository rule violations)
##[warning]Push failed (attempt 1/4): pushSignedCommits: failed to push orphan branch 'memory/git-simulator' (first commit). If the repository requires signed commits, the branch must be seeded manually with a signed commit before this workflow can push to it.
##[error]Failed to push changes after 4 attempts
This is the known orphan-branch-first-commit-cannot-be-signed class previously seen in #29301, #31489, #31876, #36934. Because the branch can never self-seed, the failure is permanent until a verified seed commit exists. This affects any repo-memory workflow creating its branch for the first time under this ruleset, not just git-simulator.
Proposed remediation
Seed the branch once with a commit that is verified without needing a local GPG key — use the GitHub Contents API (server-side commits are auto-verified and satisfy the ruleset):
gh api -X PUT repos/github/gh-aw/contents/.gitkeep \
-f message='seed memory/git-simulator branch' \
-f branch='memory/git-simulator' \
-f content="$(printf '' | base64)"
Alternative: a maintainer with GPG signing configured pushes a signed orphan commit locally (the path #39024 suggests — but it only works with GPG signing, which is why the bare git push there is insufficient).
Longer-term: teach push_repo_memory to create first-commit orphan branches through the signed-commit API path so first-time memory branches self-seed under the ruleset.
Success criteria / verification
gh api repos/github/gh-aw/branches/memory/git-simulator returns 200 with a verified head commit.- The next scheduled Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator run completes with
push_repo_memory = success and overall success.
- No
GH013 rejection appears in the push_repo_memory job log.
References
Generated by 🔍 [aw] Failure Investigator (6h) · 233.2 AIC · ⌖ 14.2 AIC · ⊞ 5.1K · ◷
🔁 Recurrence confirmed — 2026-06-14 (Failure Investigator, 6h window)
Still failing — keep open. Root cause unchanged; the memory/git-simulator orphan branch still has no signed seed commit.
- New failure: §27490036102 (Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator, 2026-06-14T05:56Z). Streak now 6/6 consecutive failures in recent history.
- Agent job SUCCEEDED; only the
push_repo_memory job → step "Push repo-memory changes (default)" failed.
- Confirmed error:
remote: error: GH013: Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/memory/git-simulator — 'Commits must have verified signatures.' → ! [remote rejected] memory/git-simulator (push declined due to repository rule violations) → ##[error]Failed to push changes after 4 attempts.
pushSignedCommits detected "empty baseRef (orphan branch first push)" and fell back to a plain unsigned git push, which the ruleset rejects. All 4 retries (1s/2s/4s backoff) hit the identical deterministic rejection — the retry loop is futile here.
Additional observability gap (new): the push failure is NOT propagated into the structured classifier — the conclusion job reported GH_AW_CODE_PUSH_FAILURE_COUNT: 0 with empty GH_AW_CODE_PUSH_FAILURE_ERRORS, so this surfaces only as a raw job-step error. Consider wiring orphan-first-push GH013 rejections into the code-push-failure classifier so they are categorized rather than appearing as generic step failures.
Evidence: run 27490036102 (representative), 27458229377 (prior failure).
Generated by 🔍 [aw] Failure Investigator (6h) · 343.9 AIC · ⌖ 12.7 AIC · ⊞ 4.5K · ◷
Recommendation
Seed the
memory/git-simulatorbranch with a signed/verified commit via the GitHub Contents API or web UI (not a plain localgit push) — the workflow cannot self-create the branch because orphan first-commit pushes are rejected by theRequire signed commitsruleset (GH013). This corrects the remediation in parent #39024, whose suggested baregit push origin memory/git-simulatorof an empty orphan would hit the exact same rejection.Problem statement
The
push_repo_memoryjob of Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator fails on every run. Theagent,detection, andsafe_outputsjobs all succeed; only the memory-branch push fails, marking the whole runfailure. 5+ day streak (Jun 9–13, 2026).Affected workflow & run IDs
.github/workflows/daily-safeoutputs-git-simulator.md(repo-memory.branch-name: memory/git-simulator)push_repo_memoryrejected on all 4 attemptsProbable root cause (corrects #39024)
#39024 attributes this to the branch being "deleted accidentally or never initialized." Fresh evidence shows the deeper cause: the branch cannot be created by the automated push path at all under the signed-commit ruleset.
GET repos/github/gh-aw/branches/memory/git-simulator→404; there are zeromemory/*branches in the repo.push_repo_memory rejection log (run 27458229377)
This is the known orphan-branch-first-commit-cannot-be-signed class previously seen in #29301, #31489, #31876, #36934. Because the branch can never self-seed, the failure is permanent until a verified seed commit exists. This affects any repo-memory workflow creating its branch for the first time under this ruleset, not just git-simulator.
Proposed remediation
Seed the branch once with a commit that is verified without needing a local GPG key — use the GitHub Contents API (server-side commits are auto-verified and satisfy the ruleset):
Alternative: a maintainer with GPG signing configured pushes a signed orphan commit locally (the path #39024 suggests — but it only works with GPG signing, which is why the bare
git pushthere is insufficient).Longer-term: teach
push_repo_memoryto create first-commit orphan branches through the signed-commit API path so first-time memory branches self-seed under the ruleset.Success criteria / verification
gh api repos/github/gh-aw/branches/memory/git-simulatorreturns200with a verified head commit.push_repo_memory=successand overallsuccess.GH013rejection appears in thepush_repo_memoryjob log.References
repo-memorypush fails with "Commits must have verified signatures" —push_repo_memory.cjsshould usepushSignedCommits#29301, Regression of #29301: orphan-branch first commit pushes unsigned, fails on "Require signed commits" rulesets #31489, fix(push-signed-commits): refuse unsigned git push fallback for structurally unsignable commits #31876, Signed-commit push silently invents unrelated file changes (and bypasses protected_files) when checkout is shallow and base branch advances #36934, [aw] Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator failed — memory/git-simulator branch needs signed-commit seed #38289Related to [aw-failures] P1: Daily Safe Outputs Git Simulator — 5-day consecutive failure streak (memory branch missing) #39024
🔁 Recurrence confirmed — 2026-06-14 (Failure Investigator, 6h window)
Still failing — keep open. Root cause unchanged; the
memory/git-simulatororphan branch still has no signed seed commit.push_repo_memoryjob → step "Push repo-memory changes (default)" failed.remote: error: GH013: Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/memory/git-simulator — 'Commits must have verified signatures.'→! [remote rejected] memory/git-simulator (push declined due to repository rule violations)→##[error]Failed to push changes after 4 attempts.pushSignedCommitsdetected "empty baseRef (orphan branch first push)" and fell back to a plain unsignedgit push, which the ruleset rejects. All 4 retries (1s/2s/4s backoff) hit the identical deterministic rejection — the retry loop is futile here.Additional observability gap (new): the push failure is NOT propagated into the structured classifier — the conclusion job reported
GH_AW_CODE_PUSH_FAILURE_COUNT: 0with emptyGH_AW_CODE_PUSH_FAILURE_ERRORS, so this surfaces only as a raw job-step error. Consider wiring orphan-first-push GH013 rejections into the code-push-failure classifier so they are categorized rather than appearing as generic step failures.Evidence: run 27490036102 (representative), 27458229377 (prior failure).