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memory: action SHA hallucination — check repo first (#1417 lesson)#1422

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AceHack merged 1 commit intomainfrom
otto/memory-action-sha-hallucination-2026-05-03
May 3, 2026
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memory: action SHA hallucination — check repo first (#1417 lesson)#1422
AceHack merged 1 commit intomainfrom
otto/memory-action-sha-hallucination-2026-05-03

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@AceHack AceHack commented May 3, 2026

Summary

Discipline lesson from #1417's stryker-mutation.yml failure (hallucinated SHA for actions/upload-artifact). Substrate-or-it-didn't-happen — landing as durable memory file with MEMORY.md pointer so future-Otto inherits the lesson without re-discovering it the hard way.

Discriminating signal

When the very first CI run on a new workflow fails at Set up job with Unable to resolve action, the failure class is action-SHA hallucination. Resolution-time errors on action pins point at SHA + version mismatch.

Carved sentence

"A SHA-shaped string from training data is not a SHA. Verify against the repo first, the upstream releases page second, never the training prior."

Composes with

  • Otto-364 search-first-authority (general rule for load-bearing claims)
  • Otto-247 version-currency-always-search-first (narrower predecessor for version numbers)
  • PR-review meta-classes memory (sibling-pattern audit before authoring)

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Captures the author-time discipline lesson from #1417's stryker
workflow failure (hallucinated upload-artifact SHA). Discriminating
signal + carved sentence + composition with Otto-364 search-first +
Otto-247 version-currency.

Generalises to all `uses: <action>@<SHA> # <version>` pins: grep repo
first (existing pin is authoritative-by-use), WebSearch upstream
releases page second, never generate a SHA from training data.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings May 3, 2026 15:24
@AceHack AceHack enabled auto-merge (squash) May 3, 2026 15:24
@AceHack AceHack merged commit 6ad4e9d into main May 3, 2026
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@AceHack AceHack deleted the otto/memory-action-sha-hallucination-2026-05-03 branch May 3, 2026 15:27
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Pull request overview

Adds a new “feedback” memory capturing the CI failure mode where a GitHub Action is pinned to a hallucinated/non-existent SHA, and links it from the main memory/MEMORY.md index so it’s discoverable.

Changes:

  • Add new memory file documenting the action-SHA hallucination failure class and an author-time mitigation workflow.
  • Add a new top-level index entry in memory/MEMORY.md pointing to the memory.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File Description
memory/feedback_action_sha_hallucination_check_repo_first_aaron_2026_05_03.md New memory describing the failure class + mitigation steps for action SHA pinning.
memory/MEMORY.md Adds an index link to the new memory with a short synopsis.

Comment thread memory/MEMORY.md
<!-- paired-edit log (NOT the single-slot latest-marker — that lives on line 3 above): PR #986 lands carved-sentence fixed-point stability + Zeta soul-file executor architecture (Infer.NET-style Bayesian inference, NOT LLMs) + carved sentences ≈ formal specs provable in DST + Deepseek CSAP review absorption (Aaron 2026-04-30 → 2026-05-01, eight-message chain across two autonomous-loop ticks per the file body's section header). Architectural disclosure: substrate IS the priors; alignment IS substrate. The single-slot latest-marker on line 3 (forever-home Aaron 2026-05-01) takes precedence as the chronologically-latest paired edit; this PR's work is earlier. -->
**📌 Fast path: read `CURRENT-aaron.md` and `CURRENT-amara.md` first.** <!-- paired-edit: PR #690 scheduled-workflow-null-result-hygiene-scan tier-1 promotion 2026-04-28 --> These per-maintainer distillations show what's currently in force. Raw memories below are the history; CURRENT files are the projection. (`CURRENT-aaron.md` refreshed 2026-04-28 with sections 26-30 — speculation rule + EVIDENCE-BASED labeling + JVM preference + dependency honesty + threading lineage Albahari/Toub/Fowler + TypeScript/Bun-default discipline.)

- [**Action SHA hallucination — check repo first before pinning (2026-05-03)**](feedback_action_sha_hallucination_check_repo_first_aaron_2026_05_03.md) — PR #1417 stryker-mutation.yml pinned a hallucinated SHA for actions/upload-artifact (claimed v5.1.0 but doesn't resolve); every workflow run failed at Set-up-job. Discipline: grep repo first for existing authoritative pins (scorecard.yml had real v7.0.1 SHA); WebSearch upstream releases second; never generate a SHA from training data. SHA + version pair must come from one lookup; generating both from training guarantees inconsistency.
Comment on lines +42 to +49
1. **Grep the repo first.** `grep -rn "<action>@" .github/workflows/`
— if the action is already pinned somewhere, that pin is
authoritative-by-use (it's been working in CI). Copy the SHA +
version verbatim.
2. **If not in repo, WebSearch the upstream releases page.** Per
Otto-364 search-first-authority. Get the SHA from
`https://github.com/<owner>/<action>/releases/tag/<version>`
directly.
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2 participants