ci(ai-validation): skip prepare on Mergify-authored PRs

[andamasov]

Summary

• Lifts the existing Mergify-author short-circuit to a job-level if: on prepare, so the whole AI Validation pipeline skips for Mergify backport/queue PRs.
• Fixes the fatal: FETCH_HEAD...HEAD: no merge base crash that occurs when a backport's merge ref shares no shallow ancestor with the (advanced) base branch — concrete example: run 25842928620 on vyos-documentation#2042 (sagitta backport of vyos-documentation#2023).

The validate-level skip in vyos-documentation@0e8a2956 was correct for the upstream claude-code-action rejecting bot-initiated runs, but fires too late — prepare has already run and crashed before validate's if: needs.prepare.outputs.has_md_changes == 'true' even evaluates.

Backport

• circinus

(sagitta covered by direct hotfix vyos-documentation#2046 to unblock vyos-documentation#2042 immediately.)

Test plan

• Once merged + auto-backported to circinus, future Mergify backports on circinus show prepare and validate skipped (not failing).
• Human-authored PR on rolling still triggers prepare + validate normally.

🤖 Generated by robots

[coderabbitai]

Caution

Review failed

The pull request is closed.

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Central YAML (base), Organization UI (inherited)

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: ca212132-54f9-407c-b912-8b1edbe7e03d

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 1e42eb3 and 7d94d61.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• .github/workflows/ai-validation.yml

---

📝 Walkthrough

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Optimized CI/CD workflows by reducing unnecessary validation processing for automated pull requests, improving pipeline efficiency and reducing resource consumption.

Walkthrough

The PR adds a job-level if: condition to the prepare job in the AI validation workflow. When a PR is authored by Mergify (backport or queue operations), the job is skipped entirely, preventing execution of the expensive diff bundling step and avoiding failures on automated PR submissions.

Changes

AI Validation Workflow Guard

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Prepare job guard for Mergify PRs .github/workflows/ai-validation.yml	Lines 49–61 add a job-level if: condition that skips the prepare job when the PR author is mergify[bot], with explanatory comments.

Possibly related PRs

• vyos/vyos-documentation#2027: Implements bot-author short-circuit via step outputs in the same workflow, addressing the same recurring prepare failures on Mergify-authored PRs.
• vyos/vyos-documentation#1947: Introduces the prepare/validate workflow structure; this PR layers a Mergify-specific guard onto that foundation.
• vyos/vyos-documentation#1968: Adds conditional skips in the same workflow based on whether documentation files changed, showing related job-gating patterns.

✨ Finishing Touches

✨ Simplify code

• Create PR with simplified code
• Commit simplified code in branch yuriy/ai-validation-skip-prepare-on-bot-author

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands and usage tips.}

[andamasov]

@copilot review

[Copilot]

@copilot review

Reviewed commit 7d94d61 and the referenced failed run (25842928620/job 75939332539). The failure is the expected pre-fix FETCH_HEAD...HEAD: no merge base in prepare, and this branch now passes AI Validation with the prepare job guard in place; no further changes are needed.

[andamasov]

@mergify backport circinus sagitta

[mergify]

backport circinus sagitta

✅ Backports have been created

Details

• #2044 ci(ai-validation): skip prepare on Mergify-authored PRs (backport #2043) has been created for branch circinus
• #2045 ci(ai-validation): skip prepare on Mergify-authored PRs (backport #2043) has been created for branch sagitta