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ci: 33 repositories schedule a sync-labels workflow that no longer exists #472
Description
Problem
33 repositories schedule a weekly workflow that calls a reusable workflow which does not exist.
Each carries .github/workflows/sync-labels.yml containing:
on:
schedule:
- cron: "22 2 * * 2"
jobs:
labels:
uses: z-shell/.github/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml@mainz-shell/.github/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml returns 404. It is not on main and is not in the workflow directory.
Two independent reasons to remove these
- They are broken. Any repository whose scheduled run is still active fails weekly against a missing callee. The sampled caller (
z-shell/fzy) showsstate=disabled_inactivity, so GitHub has auto-disabled some after 60 days of repository inactivity — which masks the breakage rather than fixing it. Repositories that see activity will start failing again. sync-labels.ymlis an explicitly deprecated pattern. The workspaceAGENTS.md"Deprecated patterns — never add these" table lists it by name, with the remedy "Remove; apply labels via API script".scripts/labels-sync.rbin this repository is that API script.
Affected repositories (33)
z-shell/any-gemz-shell/any-nodez-shell/aprz-shell/asciidoctorz-shell/brew-completionsz-shell/dircolors-materialz-shell/doctocz-shell/ecs-cliz-shell/firefox-devz-shell/fzyz-shell/H-S-MWz-shell/ls_colorsz-shell/pyenvz-shell/remarkz-shell/subversionz-shell/system-completionsz-shell/z-a-bin-gem-nodez-shell/z-a-default-icez-shell/z-a-patch-dlz-shell/z-a-readurlz-shell/z-a-rustz-shell/z-a-submodsz-shell/z-a-testz-shell/z-a-unscopez-shell/zbrowsez-shell/zconveyz-shell/zi-rbenvz-shell/zsh-binz-shell/zsh-cmd-architectz-shell/zsh-editing-workbenchz-shell/zsh-unique-idz-shell/ztracez-shell/zzcomplete
How this was found
A consumer audit for #461 swept every label-related file path across all 86 active, non-fork, non-archived repositories using the trees and contents API. These callers turned up in that sweep. They do not read lib/labels.yml — they never reached the label file at all — so they did not block #461.
Suggested fix
Delete .github/workflows/sync-labels.yml from each of the 33 repositories. Nothing replaces it: label rollout is handled by scripts/labels-sync.rb, run deliberately rather than on a schedule.
Worth batching, and worth confirming per repository that the file contains only this caller job before removing it — the sweep matched paths, not full contents.
Related
- Two labels.yml files have drifted; docs cite the stale one #461 — the audit that surfaced this
- chore(labels): run the legacy label cleanup across the organization #467 — the org-wide label cleanup run
Activity
ss-o commentedon Jul 27, 2026
Read-only 33-repository label-sync preflight
Live GET-only review completed on 2026-07-27.
disabled_inactivity..github/workflows/sync-labels.yml.mechanical-delete-ready, 1target-live, 0 in every other class.The 32 callers using
z-shell/.github/.github/workflows/sync-labels.yml@mainstill target a missing file.z-shell/zsh-editing-workbenchis the exception: it uses@v1.0.8, and that exact reusable target resolves and declaresworkflow_call. It should be reviewed separately rather than included under the missing-target rationale.Ready batches:
any-gem,any-node,apr,asciidoctor,brew-completions,dircolors-material,doctoc,ecs-cli,firefox-dev,fzy.H-S-MW,ls_colors,pyenv,remark,subversion,system-completions.z-a-bin-gem-node,z-a-default-ice,z-a-patch-dl,z-a-readurl,z-a-rust,z-a-submods,z-a-test,z-a-unscope.zbrowse,zconvey,zi-rbenv,zsh-bin,zsh-cmd-architect,zsh-unique-id,ztrace,zzcomplete.zsh-editing-workbench(target-live).Next gate: review this preflight. If implementation is then authorized, use one branch, one deletion commit, and one pull request per ready repository, in batch order. Decide the target-live exception separately.
No file deletion, repository branch, commit, pull request, workflow run, tracker comment, or settings mutation occurred during this preflight.
ss-o commentedon Aug 28, 2026
State refresh, 2026-08-27
Re-measured live. Read-only; no workflow was enabled, disabled, or deleted.
The callee is still missing
z-shell/.github/.github/workflows/sync-labels.ymlstill returns 404 onmain, so every caller remains broken.34 active repositories still ship the caller
One more than the 33 originally recorded. The full list is in the issue's
existing sample; the count is now 34 across 91 active repositories.
Every one of them is currently dormant
This qualifies the "fails weekly" framing in the problem statement. All 34
report workflow state
disabled_inactivity, meaning GitHub has alreadyauto-disabled the schedule after 60 days without repository activity. None of
them is failing on a weekly cadence today.
That does not make the cleanup unnecessary, and it should not be read as a
reason to close. Per
runbooks/recurring-operations.md,disabled_inactivityis live state rather than evidence that a workflow should be retired, and any
repository activity re-enables the schedule. The practical effect is that these
are latent breakages that reactivate exactly when a repository becomes active
again, which is the least convenient moment. Notably, several of these
repositories received label configuration pull requests this week, so some are
close to reactivation.
Effect on priority
The urgency is lower than "34 repositories failing weekly", but the fix is
unchanged and the cleanup remains worth doing as a single mechanical pass.
Removing a workflow file from 34 repositories is a mutation across many
repositories, so it is left for explicit maintainer authorization rather than
performed as part of this review.
ci: retire sync-labels and assign, pin checkout, plain workflow names (…
ci: retire labeler, sync-labels, and assign; plain trunk workflow (#10)
ss-o commentedon Sep 30, 2026
Project 28 triage pass. Blank values filled on this issue (existing values left unchanged):
Low. The 2026-08-27 refresh finds every callerdisabled_inactivity, and none is failing on a weekly cadence today; the breakage is latent.M. One mechanical deletion pull request per repository across 34 repositories, plus a separate decision for zsh-editing-workbench.ss-o commentedon Oct 1, 2026
Project 28 triage pass (2026-10-02): Status
Triage->Todo.mainatb849468: .github/workflows/sync-labels.yml absent from z-shell/.github main at b849468 (scripts/labels-sync.rb present). Callers still exist on default branches: fzy (blob b9b9843c), z-a-test (b9b9843c), zzcomplete (c9881679), zsh-editing-workbench (ca62482f, the @v1.0.8 target-live exception). Preflight comment of 2026-07-27 already batches the 32 mechanical deletions. ci: retire labeler, sync-labels, and assign; plain trunk workflow z-a-default-ice#10 (merged, 'ci: retire labeler, sync-labels, and assign') indicates one listed repository is already done; not re-verified by file read.ss-o commentedon Oct 3, 2026
Agent handoff
Status: In progress
Repository: z-shell/.github
Tracker/Issue: #472; dependency of #485
Current state
The fzy canary is complete: PR #5 merged as
d15e979d1cc2be9df92035c061b416db7e814b92. The merged main tree lacks the caller, and all 12 retained file blobs and modes match the original head. Its owning issue #4 is closed, and both records are Done in Project 28. The next removal is any-gem, after its own current-head premise check and owning issue; the remaining cross-repository work stays open. The inventory below records the pre-canary snapshot, not a newly collected inventory.The October 3 inventory finds 31 remaining
.github/workflows/sync-labels.ymlcallers across 84 active public nonfork repositories, from 91 public repositories enumerated. Thirty callers reference the missingmainreusable workflow. Thezsh-editing-workbenchcaller referencesv1.0.8, which resolves and needs its own removal rationale. Existing P2 priority, Low impact and M effort remain appropriate for dormant cross-repository cleanup.Two repositories from the original list are already complete: z-a-default-ice PR #10 removed the caller, and z-a-patch-dl commit 4d4a356 removed its caller. Both current default branches lack the file. The remaining set is the original 33 minus those two; the later count of 34 is superseded by this inventory.
Verification
All 31 files parse as a Tuesday 02:22 UTC schedule, manual dispatch and one reusable labels job, with no repository-specific execution steps. They form four unique source blobs. All 31 Actions records are
disabled_inactivity. Recent scheduled-run queries return no retained runs, so execution success, failure rate and cost are unavailable. Nine open pull requests across the caller repositories have no changed-file overlap with this path.The reusable target is absent from .github main at daee4d0. The exception's v1.0.8 target declares
workflow_call, but its fetch step still requests.github/lib/labels.ymlfrom current main, which returns 404. This is a static downstream defect, not an observed failing run; the conditional job may skip.The current label runbook makes
scripts/labels-sync.rbthe deliberate manual route. Its read-only fzy audit succeeds and reports one missing canonical label. The old deprecated-pattern table quoted in this issue is absent from current AGENTS.md; the removal rationale rests on the missing target and current label and recurring-operations policy instead.GitHub documents inactivity disabling and reactivation on a commit changing the cron schedule. Ordinary repository activity alone is not proof of reactivation. Dormancy is not, by itself, a retirement reason.
Removal scope
Remove only
.github/workflows/sync-labels.ymlin the 30 missing-target repositories listed below, using fzy as the first canary and then one owning issue and narrow pull request per repository. Preserve every other workflow, all labels and repository settings. Remove thezsh-editing-workbenchexception separately under its own rationale: its target exists, but the legacy manifest dependency and deliberate manual label ownership make it obsolete.Before each change, recheck its current head and caller blob, applicable repository guidance and open pull requests. Require the repository's full applicable checks and current-head review. After each merge, verify the caller is absent on the target branch and reconcile its owning issue. Rollback is a reviewed revert restoring the caller from the immutable source linked below. Keep #472 open until every agreed removal is verified. #485 remains dependent on that outcome.
Immutable caller inventory, 30 missing targets and one legacy exception
Blockers
The remaining work is the per-repository removal and verification for the other 29 missing-target repositories and the separate zsh-editing-workbench removal. Each pull request requires a current-head review and a maintainer merge decision. #472 remains open and In Progress.
Next steps
ci: retire obsolete sync-labels caller (#5)