pr_build_doc_with_comment.yml is rejected at startup (job 'if:' references a job not in its 'needs:') — 3,086 startup failures, no notification

[kobihikri]

Hi — I think pr_build_doc_with_comment.yml has been failing to start since early April, quietly.

In the verity_pr_commit job:

if: ${{ needs.get-pr-number.outputs.PR_NUMBER != ''}}
runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
needs: get-pr-info

The if: refers to get-pr-number, but only get-pr-info is listed in needs:. A job's if: can only reference jobs in its own needs:, so GitHub rejects the workflow when it parses it.

Because it fails at parse time it produces no failing check and no notification, which I suspect is why it hasn't been noticed. Run history:

startup_failure: 3086
success:           34   (last one: 2026-04-02)

The five most recent runs (today) are all startup_failure. So a maintainer commenting build-doc on a PR currently gets silence.

Adding the missing dependency looks like it would fix it:

needs: [get-pr-number, get-pr-info]

I'm happy to open a PR if that's welcome — I held off because the PR checklist asks first-time contributors to confirm the description and code aren't LLM-written, and I used AI assistance here, so I didn't want to tick that box untruthfully.

(Checked at 01dd2fd817a51a67eeb9126233faf9cbb380a17c.)

[siva23367]

Hello @kobihikri could you please assign this issue to me ??

[kobihikri]

Hi @siva23367 — thank you, that's kind of you to pick this up! 🙏

I don't have write access to the repo, so GitHub won't let me formally assign it — but please consider it yours and go right ahead.

For reference, the fix looks like a one-liner: the verity_pr_commit job has if: needs.get-pr-number.outputs.PR_NUMBER != '' but only lists needs: get-pr-info, so adding get-pr-number to that needs: (e.g. needs: [get-pr-number, get-pr-info]) should let the workflow start again. Happy to help review or test if that's useful. Thanks again for taking it on.