fix: configure Git credentials before merge/push in sync-branches workflow

Move the "Configure Git credentials" step (user.name/user.email +
authenticated origin URL) before the merge step in the compiled
workflow so that merge commits have a valid identity and pushes
use an authenticated remote.

Also add a credential setup pre-step in the source .md file and
tests to guard against future ordering regressions.

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/githubnext/autoloop/sessions/10022818-e9ec-4796-841a-d439e309e4b3

Co-authored-by: mrjf <180956+mrjf@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: Copilot

.github/workflows/sync-branches.lock.yml

@@ -759,3 +759,77 @@ def test_clone_before_scheduling(self):
             f"'{self.CLONE_STEP}' (index {clone_idx}) must come before "
             f"'{self.SCHED_STEP}' (index {sched_idx}). Steps: {steps}"
         )
+
+
+class TestSyncBranchesCredentialOrdering:
+    """Verify that Git credentials are configured before the merge/push step.
+
+    The sync-branches workflow merges the default branch into autoloop/*
+    branches.  Merge commits require a Git identity (user.name/user.email)
+    and pushes/fetches need an authenticated remote URL.  Both must be
+    configured before the merge step runs.
+    """
+
+    CRED_STEP = "Set up Git identity and authentication"
+    MERGE_STEP = "Merge default branch into all autoloop program branches"
+
+    def _load_steps(self):
+        """Return the list of pre-step names from workflows/sync-branches.md."""
+        import os
+
+        wf_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", "workflows", "sync-branches.md")
+        with open(wf_path) as f:
+            content = f.read()
+        step_names = []
+        for m in re.finditer(r'^\s*-\s*name:\s*(.+)$', content, re.MULTILINE):
+            step_names.append(m.group(1).strip())
+        return step_names
+
+    def _load_lock_steps(self):
+        """Return the list of step names from .github/workflows/sync-branches.lock.yml."""
+        import os
+        import yaml
+
+        lock_path = os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__), "..", ".github", "workflows", "sync-branches.lock.yml"
+        )
+        with open(lock_path) as f:
+            data = yaml.safe_load(f)
+        # Collect step names from the 'agent' job
+        steps = data.get("jobs", {}).get("agent", {}).get("steps", [])
+        return [s.get("name", "") for s in steps if s.get("name")]
+
+    def test_cred_step_exists(self):
+        """A step that configures Git identity/auth must exist in the source."""
+        steps = self._load_steps()
+        assert self.CRED_STEP in steps, (
+            f"Expected step '{self.CRED_STEP}' not found. Steps: {steps}"
+        )
+
+    def test_creds_before_merge(self):
+        """The credential step must come before the merge step in the source."""
+        steps = self._load_steps()
+        cred_idx = steps.index(self.CRED_STEP)
+        merge_idx = steps.index(self.MERGE_STEP)
+        assert cred_idx < merge_idx, (
+            f"'{self.CRED_STEP}' (index {cred_idx}) must come before "
+            f"'{self.MERGE_STEP}' (index {merge_idx}). Steps: {steps}"
+        )
+
+    def test_lock_creds_before_merge(self):
+        """In the compiled lock file, Configure Git credentials must come before the merge step."""
+        steps = self._load_lock_steps()
+        cred_names = [s for s in steps if "Configure Git credentials" in s]
+        assert cred_names, (
+            f"No 'Configure Git credentials' step found in lock file. Steps: {steps}"
+        )
+        merge_names = [s for s in steps if "Merge default branch" in s]
+        assert merge_names, (
+            f"No merge step found in lock file. Steps: {steps}"
+        )
+        cred_idx = steps.index(cred_names[0])
+        merge_idx = steps.index(merge_names[0])
+        assert cred_idx < merge_idx, (
+            f"'Configure Git credentials' (index {cred_idx}) must come before "
+            f"merge step (index {merge_idx}). Steps: {steps}"
+        )

tests/test_scheduling.py

@@ -20,6 +20,33 @@ tools:
   bash: true
 
 steps:
+  - name: Set up Git identity and authentication
+    env:
+      GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+      GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
+      GITHUB_SERVER_URL: ${{ github.server_url }}
+    run: |
+      node - << 'JSEOF'
+      const { spawnSync } = require('child_process');
+      function git(...args) {
+          const result = spawnSync('git', args, { encoding: 'utf-8' });
+          if (result.status !== 0) {
+              console.log('git ' + args.join(' ') + ' failed: ' + result.stderr);
+          }
+          return result;
+      }
+      git('config', '--global', 'user.email', 'github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com');
+      git('config', '--global', 'user.name', 'github-actions[bot]');
+      const ghToken = process.env.GH_TOKEN || '';
+      const serverUrl = process.env.GITHUB_SERVER_URL || 'https://github.com';
+      const repo = process.env.GITHUB_REPOSITORY || '';
+      if (ghToken && repo) {
+          const authUrl = serverUrl.replace('https://', 'https://x-access-token:' + ghToken + '@') + '/' + repo + '.git';
+          git('remote', 'set-url', 'origin', authUrl);
+      }
+      console.log('Git identity and authentication configured.');
+      JSEOF
+
   - name: Merge default branch into all autoloop program branches
     env:
       GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}