Getting Started with Campaigns

Quick Start

Prerequisites:

• Repository with GitHub Agentic Workflows installed
• GitHub Actions enabled
• (Optional) GitHub Projects V2 board for tracking campaign progress

Create a campaign workflow:

1. Create a new workflow file at .github/workflows/my-campaign.md:

---
name: My Campaign
on:
  schedule: daily
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  issues: read
  pull-requests: read

imports:
  - shared/campaign.md
---

# My Campaign

Your campaign instructions here...

2. Set up authentication:

   • For project access:

     gh aw secrets set GH_AW_PROJECT_GITHUB_TOKEN --value "YOUR_PROJECT_TOKEN"

     See GitHub Projects V2 Tokens for token setup.

   • For assigning work to Copilot (if your campaign uses assignees: copilot or assign-to-agent safe outputs):

     gh aw secrets set GH_AW_AGENT_TOKEN --value "YOUR_AGENT_TOKEN"

     See Agent Assignment Tokens for token setup.

3. Compile and deploy:

gh aw compile
git add .github/workflows/my-campaign.md .github/workflows/my-campaign.lock.yml
git commit -m "Add my campaign workflow"
git push

The imports: [shared/campaign.md] includes standard agent coordination rules and safe-output defaults.

Example: Dependabot Burner

The Dependabot Burner workflow is a small but useful campaign - it demonstrates the essential campaign pattern with minimal complexity:

---
name: Dependabot Burner
on:
  schedule: daily
  skip-if-no-match: 'is:pr is:open author:app/dependabot'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  issues: read
  pull-requests: read

imports:
  - shared/campaign.md

project: https://github.com/orgs/githubnext/projects/144
---
# Dependabot Burner

- Find all open Dependabot PRs and add them to the project.
- Create bundle issues for each runtime + manifest file.
- Add bundle issues to the project and assign to Copilot.

Key features:

• Imports orchestration - Uses shared/campaign.md for standard rules
• Scheduled execution - Runs daily to process new Dependabot PRs
• Smart discovery - Only runs if matching PRs exist (skip-if-no-match)
• Project tracking - Adds discovered items to GitHub Projects board

How it works

The campaign workflow:

1. Imports standard agent coordination rules from shared/campaign.md
2. Runs on schedule to discover work items
3. Processes items according to your instructions
4. Updates the GitHub Project board with progress
5. Reports status via project status updates

Next Steps

• Project Tracking Example - Complete guide with examples
• Safe Outputs Reference - Project operations documentation