UX Analysis Report – 2026-02-24

[github-actions[bot]]

Executive Summary

Today's targeted analysis covered 2 documentation files, 2 CLI commands, and 1 validation file. Overall code quality is professional — the codebase follows enterprise software communication standards with clear, actionable messaging. Two medium-priority single-file improvements were identified.

Key Finding: The audit command help text contains a redundant "This command:" bullet list that duplicates its opening paragraph, adding noise to an otherwise excellent help experience.

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Quality Highlights ✅

Highlight 1: Sandbox Validation Error Messages

• File: pkg/workflow/sandbox_validation.go
• What works well: Every error message includes a problem statement, the field that failed, a specific resolution step, a YAML code example, and a documentation URL. This is a model for enterprise-quality error messages.
• Example: The mount mode error states: "mount mode must be 'ro' (read-only) or 'rw' (read-write)", followed by an inline YAML snippet showing both valid options — no documentation lookup required.

Highlight 2: Logs Command Examples

• File: pkg/cli/logs_command.go
• What works well: Examples are grouped into labelled categories (Basic usage, Date filtering, Content filtering, Run ID range filtering), allowing expert users to skim to the relevant section quickly. This reduces cognitive load for a command with many flags.

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Improvement Opportunities 💡

High Priority

None identified.

Medium Priority

Opportunity 1: Redundant "This Command:" Block in audit Help Text

• File: pkg/cli/audit.go
• Current State (lines 47–52):

  This command:
  - Downloads artifacts and logs for the specified run ID
  - Detects errors and warnings in the logs
  - Analyzes MCP tool usage statistics
  - Extracts missing tool reports
  - Generates a concise Markdown report
  

• Issue: The opening sentence already states "Audit a single workflow run by downloading artifacts and logs, detecting errors, analyzing MCP tool usage, and generating a concise Markdown report" — the bullet list repeats this verbatim in a different format. It doesn't add new information.
• User Impact: Users scanning --help see the same information twice, slowing them down and reducing trust in the documentation quality.
• Suggested Change: Remove the redundant "This command:" block entirely.
• Design Principle: Efficiency and Productivity — minimize cognitive load by eliminating duplication.

Opportunity 2: Bash Default Commands Formatted as Inline Prose in tools.md

• File: docs/src/content/docs/reference/tools.md
• Current State (line 29): "Defaults to safe commands (echo, ls, pwd, cat, head, tail, grep, wc, sort, uniq, date)."
• Issue: Eleven command names are listed inline as prose. This is harder to scan than a structured list, and it disrupts the flow of the description. The rest of the Bash tool section uses code blocks effectively for configuration variants.
• User Impact: Users wanting to quickly confirm whether a specific command is in the default set must scan through an 11-item comma-separated prose list.
• Suggested Change: Move the default commands to a dedicated code block or a short bulleted list to match the surrounding formatting style.
• Design Principle: Clarity and Precision — visual formatting should match the nature of the information.

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Files Reviewed

Category	File	Rating
Documentation	docs/src/content/docs/guides/getting-started-mcp.md	✅ Professional
Documentation	docs/src/content/docs/reference/tools.md	⚠️ Needs Minor Work
CLI	pkg/cli/audit.go (audit command)	⚠️ Needs Minor Work
CLI	pkg/cli/logs_command.go (logs command)	✅ Professional
Validation	pkg/workflow/sandbox_validation.go	✅ Professional

Metrics

• Files Analyzed: 5
• Quality Distribution:
  • ✅ Professional: 3
  • ⚠️ Needs Minor Work: 2
  • ❌ Needs Significant Work: 0

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🎯 Actionable Tasks

Here are 2 targeted improvement tasks, each affecting a single file:

Task 1: Remove Redundant Block in audit Help Text

File to Modify: pkg/cli/audit.go

Current Experience

Lines 47–52 contain a "This command:" bullet list:

This command:
- Downloads artifacts and logs for the specified run ID
- Detects errors and warnings in the logs
- Analyzes MCP tool usage statistics
- Extracts missing tool reports
- Generates a concise Markdown report

Quality Issue

Design Principle: Efficiency and Productivity

The opening paragraph (lines 31–32) already says: "Audit a single workflow run by downloading artifacts and logs, detecting errors, analyzing MCP tool usage, and generating a concise Markdown report suitable for AI agents." The "This command:" block is a verbatim restatement. Users running gh aw audit --help encounter the same information twice in a 6-line span.

Proposed Improvement

Remove lines 47–52 from the Long description entirely.

Before (lines 47–52 in Long):

This command:
- Downloads artifacts and logs for the specified run ID
- Detects errors and warnings in the logs
- Analyzes MCP tool usage statistics
- Extracts missing tool reports
- Generates a concise Markdown report

Examples:

After:

Examples:

Why This Matters

• User Impact: Help text becomes more concise; users reach the examples section faster
• Quality Factor: Eliminates redundancy that reduces trust in documentation quality
• Frequency: Every user invoking gh aw audit --help encounters this

Success Criteria

• Changes made to pkg/cli/audit.go only
• Long description no longer contains duplicate "This command:" section
• Opening paragraph and "This command accepts:" / "When a job URL is provided:" sections are preserved intact
• Quality rating improves from ⚠️ to ✅

Scope Constraint

• Single file only: pkg/cli/audit.go
• No changes to other files required
• Can be completed in under 10 minutes

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Task 2: Improve Bash Default Commands Formatting in tools.md

File to Modify: docs/src/content/docs/reference/tools.md

Current Experience

Line 29 reads: "Enables shell command execution in the workspace. Defaults to safe commands (echo, ls, pwd, cat, head, tail, grep, wc, sort, uniq, date)."

Eleven commands are embedded as an inline comma-separated list within a prose sentence.

Quality Issue

Design Principle: Clarity and Precision

The surrounding section uses code blocks to enumerate configuration variants clearly. The default command list is conceptually similar — a discrete enumeration — but formatted as prose, making it harder to scan. An enterprise user checking "is find in the default set?" must parse through a comma-separated inline list rather than skim a structured block.

Proposed Improvement

Replace the inline list with a brief prose sentence followed by a dedicated code block showing the defaults, consistent with how the configuration variants are presented immediately below.

Before (line 29):

Enables shell command execution in the workspace. Defaults to safe commands (`echo`, `ls`, `pwd`, `cat`, `head`, `tail`, `grep`, `wc`, `sort`, `uniq`, `date`).

After:

Enables shell command execution in the workspace. When set to `true` or omitted, a set of safe read-only commands is available by default:

```yaml wrap
# Default safe commands when bash: or bash: true
bash:  # Includes: echo, ls, pwd, cat, head, tail, grep, wc, sort, uniq, date

**Why This Matters**
- **User Impact**: Users can immediately see whether a specific command is in the default set without parsing a comma-separated prose list
- **Quality Factor**: Formatting consistency — matches the code-block style used elsewhere in the same section
- **Frequency**: The Bash tool is one of the most commonly configured tools in workflows

**Success Criteria**
- [ ] Changes made to `docs/src/content/docs/reference/tools.md` only
- [ ] Default commands are no longer embedded as an inline prose list
- [ ] Information is presented in a scannable format consistent with surrounding code blocks
- [ ] Quality rating improves from ⚠️ to ✅

**Scope Constraint**
- **Single file only**: `docs/src/content/docs/reference/tools.md`
- No changes to other files required
- Can be completed in under 15 minutes

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**References:**
- [§22348969198](https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22348969198)


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> - [x] expires <!-- gh-aw-expires: 2026-03-03T11:36:35.926Z --> on Mar 3, 2026, 11:36 AM UTC

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