Summary

When create-pull-request is configured with target-repo pointing to a different repository, the compiler-generated checkout step in the safe_outputs job uses the triggering repository's ref instead of the target repository's default branch. This causes the checkout to fail when the workflow is dispatched from a branch that does not exist in the target repo.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a workflow in Repo A with a create-pull-request safe output configured with target-repo pointing to a different Repo B
2. Add a checkout: entry for Repo B in the frontmatter (with ref: main)
3. Compile the workflow
4. Dispatch the workflow from a feature branch (e.g., my-feature-branch) in Repo A

Expected Behavior

The safe_outputs job should checkout Repo B at its default branch (e.g., main), since the PR will be created against that repo.

Actual Behavior

The compiler generates this checkout ref expression in the safe_outputs job for the target repo:

ref: ${{ github.base_ref || github.event.pull_request.base.ref || github.ref_name || github.event.repository.default_branch }}

For a workflow_dispatch event from a feature branch:

• github.base_ref → empty
• github.event.pull_request.base.ref → empty
• github.ref_name → my-feature-branch ← this wins
• github.event.repository.default_branch → never reached

The checkout then tries to fetch my-feature-branch from Repo B, which does not exist, causing a git fetch failure (exit code 1). This fails the entire safe_outputs job.

Root Cause

The ref expression at the checkout step (around the create_pull_request conditional block in the compiled lock file) is designed for same-repo PRs where the triggering branch exists in the target repo. When target-repo is a different repository, the branch is unlikely to exist there.

Suggested Fix

When target-repo is set on create-pull-request, the compiler should hardcode the ref for the safe_outputs checkout to the target repo's default branch, or use a different expression that does not fall through to github.ref_name. For example:

# For cross-repo target, use a fixed ref (e.g., from the checkout config or the target repo's default branch)
ref: main

Or the expression could be adjusted to prefer github.event.repository.default_branch over github.ref_name when target-repo is set.

Workaround

Run the workflow from the default branch (main) so that github.ref_name resolves to main, which exists in both repos.

Environment

• gh-aw compiler version: v0.68.3
• Trigger event: workflow_dispatch from a non-default branch