[prompt-analysis] Copilot PR Prompt Analysis - 2026-07-01

[github-actions[bot]]

Summary

Analysis Period: Last 30 days | Run: §28547924011
Total PRs: 1,000 | Merged: 812 (81.2%) | Closed: 180 (18.0%) | Open: 8 (0.8%)

Slight dip from yesterday (81.9% → 81.2%), staying within the stable 80–82% band over the past week.

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Prompt Categories and Success Rates

Category	Total	Merged	Closed	Success Rate
Testing	357	297	60	83.2% ✅
Documentation	67	55	12	82.1% ✅
Other	161	132	29	82.0%
Bug Fix	270	217	53	80.4%
Refactor	9	7	2	77.8%
Feature Addition	136	104	32	76.5%

Testing and documentation prompts continue to lead. Feature addition lags at 76.5%, consistent with prior days.

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✅ Successful Prompt Patterns

Characteristics of merged PRs:

• Average body length: 192 words (vs 184 for closed)
• Code blocks in 83.9% of merged bodies (vs ~69% for closed)
• Context-rich bodies ("This follows up on...", "This updates...") achieve 85.5% success rate
• Strong action verbs: fix, update, bump, improve, refactor, test

Examples:

1. Cover top-level app: migration and complete breaking-change release notes #42794: Cover top-level app: migration and complete breaking-change release notes → Merged
2. Add issue-intent prompt suffix to issue mutation safe-output tools #42776: Add issue-intent prompt suffix to issue mutation safe-output tools → Merged
3. Add regression coverage for Copilot AWF chroot-home cleanup #42736: Add regression coverage for Copilot AWF chroot-home cleanup → Merged

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❌ Unsuccessful Prompt Patterns

Characteristics of closed PRs:

• WIP/Draft label: 31 PRs tagged [WIP] → only 41.9% merge rate (vs 81.2% overall)
• Boilerplate bodies: PRs starting with "Thanks for asking me to work on this..." → 54.5% merge rate
• Shorter avg length: 184 words; vague scope: "phase 1", "align", "placeholder"

Examples:

1. [WIP] Fix ARC/DinD topology path redirections in gh-aw compiler #42808: [WIP] Fix ARC/DinD topology path redirections — boilerplate body → Closed
2. [WIP] Fix failing GitHub Actions job 'lint-js' #42666: [WIP] Fix failing GitHub Actions job 'lint-js' — no implementation context → Closed
3. Align issue-intent rationale limits to GitHub API’s 280-character cap #42803: Align issue-intent rationale limits — duplicate of merged Align issue-intent rationale limits to GitHub’s 280-character API constraint #42775 → Closed

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Key Insights

• Context framing boosts rate +4pp: Prompts that explain why ("This follows up on...") achieve 85.5% vs 81.2% baseline.
• WIP labels halve success: [WIP]-tagged PRs merge at 41.9%. Avoid placeholder PRs.
• Code blocks signal quality: Including fenced snippets lifts rate to 83.9%; absence drops it to ~69%.

Recommendations

1. DO: Open with context — "This follows up on [issue] by..." or "This fixes [symptom] caused by [root cause]..."
2. DO: Include a code block (before/after snippet, error trace, config diff)
3. DO: Use testing/documentation prompt types — outperform feature additions by ~7 pp
4. AVOID: [WIP] prefix — cuts merge rate in half
5. AVOID: Boilerplate openers — correlate with 54.5% closure rate

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📊 Historical Trends (last 8 days)

Date	Merged	Success Rate
2026-07-01	812	81.2%
2026-06-30	814	81.9%
2026-06-29	809	81.4%
2026-06-28	807	81.1%
2026-06-27	809	81.2%
2026-06-26	800	81.1%
2026-06-25	801	80.1%
2026-06-24	801	80.1%

Trend: Rate climbed from 80.1% → 81.9% over 7 days; slight pullback today. No structural regression.

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References: §28547924011

Generated by 🔍 Copilot PR Prompt Pattern Analysis · 60.6 AIC · ⌖ 26 AIC · ⊞ 1.9K · ◷

• expires on Jul 2, 2026, 1:19 PM UTC-08:00

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion was automatically closed because it expired on 2026-07-02T21:19:46.715Z.

Closed by Workflow