fix: switch to default branch before pulling after add-wizard PR merge (#20094)

Copilot · dsyme · Copilot · web-flow · commit 59d071d7d926 · 2026-03-08T18:32:59.000Z
* Initial plan

* fix: pull changes to default branch after PR merge in add-wizard (#issue)

After `gh aw add-wizard` merges the PR, `updateLocalBranch()` now
switches to the default branch before pulling, ensuring the working
tree contains the merged workflow files. Previously, if the user was on
a feature branch, `git pull origin &lt;defaultBranch&gt;` would merge the
remote branch into the wrong local branch and the workflow files would
not be in the working tree, causing "workflow file not found" when
trying to run immediately after setup.

Also surface the pull failure warning to users in non-verbose mode
with a hint to run `git pull` manually.

Co-authored-by: dsyme &lt;7204669+dsyme@users.noreply.github.com&gt;

* Update pkg/cli/add_interactive_git.go

Co-authored-by: Copilot &lt;175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com&gt;

---------

Co-authored-by: copilot-swe-agent[bot] &lt;198982749+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com&gt;
Co-authored-by: dsyme &lt;7204669+dsyme@users.noreply.github.com&gt;
Co-authored-by: Don Syme &lt;dsyme@users.noreply.github.com&gt;
Co-authored-by: Copilot &lt;175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com&gt;
diff --git a/pkg/cli/add_interactive_git.go b/pkg/cli/add_interactive_git.go
@@ -157,19 +157,23 @@ func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) applyChanges(ctx context.Context, workflowFiles,
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Secret '%s' added", secretName)))
 	}
 
-	// Step 8d: Update local branch with merged changes from GitHub
+	// Step 8d: Update local branch with merged changes from GitHub.
+	// Switch to the default branch and pull so that workflow files are available
+	// locally for the subsequent "run workflow" step.
 	if err := c.updateLocalBranch(); err != nil {
-		// Non-fatal - warn but continue, workflow can still run on GitHub
+		// Non-fatal - warn the user and continue; the workflow exists on GitHub
+		// even if we can't update the local branch.
 		addInteractiveLog.Printf("Failed to update local branch: %v", err)
-		if c.Verbose {
-			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatWarningMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Could not update local branch: %v", err)))
-		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatWarningMessage(fmt.Sprintf("Could not update local branch: %v", err)))
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "You may need to switch to your repository's default branch (for example 'main') and run 'git pull' manually before running the workflow.")
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
 
-// updateLocalBranch fetches and pulls the latest changes from GitHub after PR merge
+// updateLocalBranch fetches and pulls the latest changes from GitHub after PR merge.
+// It switches to the default branch before pulling so that the working tree contains
+// the merged workflow files, which are required when offering to run the workflow.
 func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) updateLocalBranch() error {
 	addInteractiveLog.Print("Updating local branch with merged changes")
 
@@ -186,13 +190,28 @@ func (c *AddInteractiveConfig) updateLocalBranch() error {
 		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatProgressMessage("Fetching latest changes from GitHub..."))
 	}
 
-	// Use git fetch followed by git pull
 	fetchCmd := exec.Command("git", "fetch", "origin", defaultBranch)
 	fetchOutput, err := fetchCmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("git fetch failed: %w (output: %s)", err, string(fetchOutput))
 	}
 
+	// Switch to the default branch so the working tree contains the merged workflow
+	// files. Without this, users on a feature branch won't have the files locally and
+	// the subsequent "run workflow" step will fail with "workflow file not found".
+	currentBranch, err := getCurrentBranch()
+	if err != nil {
+		addInteractiveLog.Printf("Could not determine current branch: %v", err)
+		currentBranch = ""
+	}
+
+	if currentBranch != defaultBranch {
+		addInteractiveLog.Printf("Switching from %q to default branch %q", currentBranch, defaultBranch)
+		if err := switchBranch(defaultBranch, c.Verbose); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to switch to default branch %s: %w", defaultBranch, err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	pullCmd := exec.Command("git", "pull", "origin", defaultBranch)
 	pullOutput, err := pullCmd.CombinedOutput()
 	if err != nil {
