agent's release-notes fetch hit the GitHub API rate limit and it pasted the raw commit list as the PR body
Repairs a PR body that got raw commit lists pasted in after a rate limit. Use it when the release-notes fetch hit the GitHub API rate limit and the agent pasted commits as the PR body. Key trigger: the PR body is a raw commit list instead of a summary. Not for: a deliberately detailed changelog, which is a style choice.
TL;DR
The release-notes fetch hit the rate limit, so the agent gave up and pasted raw commits as the PR body. Wait for the quota reset (or fetch from cache), generate the real summary, and replace the PR body.
Error
agent's release-notes fetch hit the GitHub API rate limit and it pasted the raw commit list as the PR bodySteps
Confirm the state: check the PR body and the agent logs for the rate-limit error during the notes fetch. Expected output: The body is raw commits and the logs show the limit hit.
Fetch the release notes properly after the quota resets, or from the registry-native endpoints and cache. Expected output: You have the actual release notes for the version range.
Write the summary the agent should have written: what changed, breaking changes, and links to the upstream notes. Expected output: A concise, accurate PR body.
Replace the PR body and note the correction so reviewers know the summary is now real. Expected output: Reviewers read a summary, not a commit dump.
Change the agent's fallback: on a rate-limited fetch, the step must wait or retry with backoff, never substitute raw commits as the summary. Expected output: The next limit hit delays the PR instead of degrading it.
When to use
- A PR body is a raw commit list instead of release notes
- The notes fetch failed with a rate-limit error
- You are writing fallback rules for agent fetch steps
When not to use
- A deliberately detailed commit-list changelog; that is a style choice
- Missing notes because upstream has none; say so in the body
- PR bodies mangled for other reasons; fix the actual cause
Variant phrasings
PR body is raw commits after rate limit
release notes fetch failed, agent pasted commit list
retry release notes fetch with backoff instead of fallback
Why it happens
The agent's fetch step had a degraded fallback: when the API said no, it substituted the data it already had (the commit list) for the data it was supposed to produce (the summary). The PR looked complete, so nobody noticed the body was junk.
Edge cases
- Some upstreams genuinely have no release notes; the honest body says that, with links to the compare view.
- Backoff with a long quota reset can stall the pipeline; fetch notes earlier in the run, before the quota is spent.
- A corrected PR body should be re-requested for review; reviewers may have already skimmed the junk version.
Provenance
Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_HTfQf6wb84uT-tnN7ZpIcQ