[Workflow Suggestions] Daily Report - January 22, 2026

[github-actions[bot]]

Executive Summary

• 🎉 1 workflow implemented since last run! (Soundness Bug Detector)
• 7 new/updated suggestions this run
• Priority breakdown: 4 High, 3 Medium, 2 Low
• Current automation coverage: ~50% → Target: 75% with High Priority implementations

---

🎉 Implemented Since Last Run

Soundness Bug Detector ✅

Previously suggested: January 21, 2026 (Run 20, High Priority #1)
Status: Successfully implemented and active!

This workflow was our #1 high priority suggestion and has been deployed. It automatically:

• Detects soundness bug reports (incorrect models, unsat issues)
• Validates and attempts to reproduce the bugs
• Creates detailed reports for maintainers

Impact: With 16 open soundness issues, this workflow provides critical automated validation and triage.

---

High Priority Suggestions

1. Performance Regression Detector [CRITICAL - 10 Open Performance Issues]

Purpose

Automatically detect performance regressions in solver benchmarks when code changes are made to core solving logic.

Problem Being Solved

• 10 open performance regression issues including:
  • Massive performance regression in 4.15.4.0 apparently due to lock contention #8019: Massive performance regression in 4.15.4.0 (lock contention)
  • Infinite loop/performance regression in Z3 4.15.3 #7991: Infinite loop/performance regression in 4.15.3
  • Performance degradation in Z3 on QF_SLIA instances with fixed-length strings and prefix/suffix constraints #8096: Performance degradation on QF_SLIA instances
  • Observe both compute and memory regression when upgrade to 4.15.3 from 4.14.1 #7800: Memory and compute regression upgrading to 4.15.3
• Users frequently report that Z3 "runs forever" or is much slower on queries that previously completed quickly
• No automated system to catch performance regressions before release

Trigger

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
    paths:
      - 'src/sat/**'
      - 'src/smt/**'
      - 'src/muz/**'
      - 'src/nlsat/**'
      - 'src/ast/**'

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]} - For PR comments and analysis
• bash: [":*"] - For building Z3 and running benchmarks
• network: defaults - For downloading benchmark sets

Safe Outputs

• add-comment: {max: 2} - Report regression results on PRs
• create-discussion: - For detailed performance analysis reports

Implementation Approach

Benchmark Selection:

• Use existing SMT-LIB2 examples in examples/SMT-LIB2/
• Focus on representative benchmarks from QF_SLIA, QF_BV, QF_LIA, QF_NRA
• Keep benchmark runtime under 30 seconds total for PR checks

Baseline Comparison:

1. Build Z3 from PR branch
2. Build Z3 from target branch (main/master)
3. Run same benchmark set on both versions
4. Compare solving times, memory usage
5. Report if any benchmark shows >20% slowdown

Performance Metrics:

• Solving time (wall clock)
• Number of conflicts/restarts
• Memory usage (if feasible)
• Timeout detection (>60s = likely infinite loop)

Value

• Critical: Performance is core to Z3's value proposition
• Preventive: Catch regressions before merge
• Time-saving: Automated validation vs manual testing
• User experience: Fewer performance surprise releases

Example Workflow

---
description: Detect performance regressions in solver benchmarks
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
    paths: ['src/sat/**', 'src/smt/**', 'src/muz/**', 'src/nlsat/**']
permissions: read-all
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [default]
  bash: [":*"]
network: defaults
safe-outputs:
  add-comment:
    max: 2
timeout-minutes: 45
---

Implementation Notes

• Start with small benchmark set (5-10 representative problems)
• Use timeouts to prevent infinite loops from blocking CI
• Compare only on same architecture/OS (avoid cross-platform comparison noise)
• Consider using existing benchmark infrastructure if available

2. Issue Triage & Labeling Assistant [Reduces Manual Triage Burden]

Purpose

Automatically analyze new issues and suggest appropriate labels, component assignments, and priority levels based on issue content.

Problem Being Solved

• Issues often lack labels or have incorrect labels
• Manual triage is time-consuming for maintainers
• Difficult to quickly identify critical issues (soundness, performance regressions)
• Component ownership unclear (SAT, SMT, theory solvers, API, etc.)

Trigger

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, edited]

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]} - For reading issue content and suggesting labels
• bash: [":*"] - For code analysis if needed
• web-fetch: {} - For looking up similar issues

Safe Outputs

• add-comment: {max: 1} - Suggest labels and categorization
• create-discussion: - For weekly triage summary

Implementation Approach

Content Analysis:
Analyze issue title and body for keywords:

• Soundness: "incorrect", "unsat", "sat", "model", "proof", "unsound"
• Performance: "slow", "regression", "timeout", "infinite loop", "hangs"
• Theory-specific: "string", "floating-point", "fp", "bitvector", "array", "QF_SLIA"
• Build/Platform: "cmake", "build", "windows", "macos", "linux"
• API: "python", "java", "binding", "api", "c++"

Label Suggestions:

• Component labels: smt, sat, theory:string, theory:fp, theory:bv, api
• Priority labels: critical (soundness), high (performance regression), medium, low
• Type labels: bug, enhancement, question, documentation

Duplicate Detection:

• Search for similar issue titles/descriptions
• Flag potential duplicates for maintainer review

Value

• Time-saving: Reduces manual triage time by 50%+
• Consistency: Standardized labeling across issues
• Prioritization: Critical issues identified immediately
• Routing: Component experts notified automatically

Example Workflow

---
description: Automatically triage and label new issues
on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, edited]
permissions: read-all
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [default]
  bash: [":*"]
  web-fetch: {}
safe-outputs:
  add-comment:
    max: 1
timeout-minutes: 10
---

Implementation Notes

• Start with conservative suggestions (high confidence only)
• Learn from maintainer corrections over time
• Focus on critical issues first (soundness, performance)
• Provide rationale for suggestions

3. Pull Request Dependency Checker [NEW - Prevents Merge Conflicts]

Purpose

Detect when multiple open PRs are modifying the same files or related code areas, and alert maintainers to coordinate merges or consolidate efforts.

Problem Being Solved

• Current situation: Multiple PRs working on C++ modernization ([WIP] Fix missing override keyword for virtual functions #8279 override, Add std::span overloads to core AST and decl_plugin expression builders #8278 std::span, Adopt std::string_view for trace utilities only #8273 std::string_view)
• Risk of merge conflicts when PRs touch similar code
• Duplicated effort when multiple contributors work on related improvements
• Difficult to coordinate large refactoring efforts

Trigger

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
  schedule: daily

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]} - For analyzing open PRs and file changes
• bash: [":*"] - For git diff analysis

Safe Outputs

• add-comment: {max: 1} - Notify PR authors of potential conflicts
• create-discussion: {close-older-discussions: true} - Daily coordination report

Implementation Approach

Conflict Detection:

1. Get list of all open PRs
2. For each new/updated PR, identify changed files
3. Check if other open PRs modify the same files
4. Calculate "overlap score" (shared files / total files)
5. Flag PRs with >30% overlap

Coordination Suggestions:

• Link related PRs in comments
• Suggest merge order based on PR age and complexity
• Identify opportunities to combine efforts
• Alert maintainers to conflicting changes

Analysis Depth:

• File-level: Same files modified
• Directory-level: Same components (e.g., multiple PRs in src/ast/)
• Semantic: Related functionality (e.g., multiple C++ modernization PRs)

Value

• Prevents conflicts: Early warning system
• Coordination: Better collaboration between contributors
• Efficiency: Avoid duplicated work
• Merge planning: Strategic merge ordering

Example Workflow

---
description: Detect and report on potentially conflicting PRs
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
  schedule: daily
permissions: read-all
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [default]
  bash: [":*"]
safe-outputs:
  add-comment:
    max: 1
  create-discussion:
    title-prefix: "[PR Coordination] "
    category: "Agentic Workflows"
    close-older-discussions: true
timeout-minutes: 15
---

Implementation Notes

• Focus on high-impact conflicts (core solver code)
• Avoid noise from low-risk overlaps (documentation, tests)
• Suggest merge order based on PR maturity
• Coordinate with C++ modernization efforts currently active

4. Cross-Language Example Validator [Ensures Multi-Language Quality]

Purpose

Automatically validate that code examples in all language bindings (Python, Java, C#, OCaml, C++) work correctly and produce expected results.

Problem Being Solved

• Z3 has examples in 5+ languages (Python, Java, C#, OCaml, C++)
• Examples can break when APIs change
• Manual testing of all language bindings is time-consuming
• Users rely on examples for learning Z3

Trigger

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
    paths:
      - 'examples/**'
      - 'src/api/**'
  schedule: weekly

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]} - For PR analysis
• bash: [":*"] - For building and running examples
• network: defaults - For downloading language SDKs if needed

Safe Outputs

• add-comment: {max: 2} - Report example failures on PRs
• create-discussion: - Weekly validation report

Implementation Approach

Language Coverage:

• Python: examples/python/*.py
• Java: examples/java/*.java
• C#: examples/dotnet/*.cs
• OCaml: examples/ml/*.ml
• C++: examples/c++/*.cpp

Validation Process:

1. Build Z3 with language bindings enabled
2. For each language:
   • Compile/interpret examples
   • Run examples with timeout (30s per example)
   • Capture output
   • Check for errors or crashes
3. Report failures with error messages

Expected Outcomes:

• Examples should complete without errors
• Output should match expected patterns (e.g., "sat", "unsat", models)
• No crashes or segfaults

Value

• Quality assurance: Catch API breaking changes
• User experience: Examples always work
• Documentation: Keep examples up-to-date
• Multi-language support: Equal quality across bindings

Example Workflow

---
description: Validate code examples across all language bindings
on:
  pull_request:
    paths: ['examples/**', 'src/api/**']
  schedule: weekly
permissions: read-all
tools:
  github:
    toolsets: [default]
  bash: [":*"]
network: defaults
safe-outputs:
  add-comment:
    max: 2
  create-discussion:
    title-prefix: "[Example Validation] "
    close-older-discussions: true
timeout-minutes: 30
---

Implementation Notes

• Start with Python examples (most commonly used)
• Expand to other languages incrementally
• Use Docker containers for consistent environment
• Cache build artifacts to speed up validation

---

Medium Priority Suggestions

5. Benchmark Performance Tracker [Long-term Performance Monitoring]

Purpose

Track Z3's performance on a standard benchmark suite over time, creating a historical performance database to identify trends and regressions.

Trigger

on:
  schedule: weekly
  workflow_dispatch:

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]}
• bash: [":*"]
• cache-memory: true - Store historical performance data
• network: defaults

Safe Outputs

• create-discussion: {close-older-discussions: true} - Weekly performance report

Value

• Historical performance trends
• Early detection of gradual slowdowns
• Benchmark suite maintenance

Implementation Notes

• Use consistent hardware/environment
• Store results in cache memory
• Generate trend graphs (if possible)
• Compare against previous releases

6. Academic Paper Citation Tracker [Research Impact Monitoring]

Purpose

Track academic papers that cite Z3 to understand research impact and identify new use cases.

Trigger

on:
  schedule: monthly
  workflow_dispatch:

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]}
• web-fetch: {} - Search academic databases (Google Scholar, arXiv)
• cache-memory: true - Track papers over time

Safe Outputs

• create-discussion: {close-older-discussions: false} - Monthly citation report

Value

• Research impact visibility
• Identify new use cases
• Community engagement

Implementation Notes

• Query Google Scholar for "Z3 theorem prover"
• Track paper count over time
• Highlight interesting applications

7. API Breaking Change Detector [Protects Multi-Language Compatibility]

Purpose

Detect potential API breaking changes in the C API that could affect language bindings.

Trigger

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
    paths: ['src/api/**/*.h']

Required Tools

• github: {toolsets: [default]}
• bash: [":*"]

Safe Outputs

• add-comment: {max: 1} - Warn about potential breaking changes

Value

• Prevents accidental API breaks
• Protects language binding users
• Requires explicit acknowledgment for breaking changes

Implementation Notes

• Analyze API header changes
• Detect removed/renamed functions
• Flag signature changes

---

Low Priority Suggestions

8. TODO/FIXME Progress Tracker

Purpose

Track the 307 TODO/FIXME comments in the codebase to monitor technical debt reduction.

Trigger

on:
  schedule: monthly

Value

• Technical debt visibility
• Progress tracking

9. Documentation Freshness Checker

Purpose

Verify that documentation examples compile and run correctly.

Trigger

on:
  schedule: monthly
  pull_request:
    paths: ['doc/**']

Value

• Keep documentation accurate
• Improve user onboarding

---

Repository Insights

Issue Patterns

• Soundness issues (16 open): Highest priority, now automated with soundness-bug-detector ✅
• Performance regressions (10 open): Critical gap, needs Performance Regression Detector
• Theory-specific bugs: String, FP, and Array theories most affected
• Cross-platform issues: Build and compatibility problems

Development Activity

• Active C++ modernization: 3+ PRs on modern C++ features (override, std::span, std::string_view)
• Agentic workflows: Generating multiple PRs daily (build warnings, code conventions)
• Community contributions: Active external contributors on performance and APIs

Automation Coverage Progress

• Current: 6 active workflows (~50% coverage)
• With High Priority: 10 workflows (~75% coverage)
• Full suggestion implementation: 15 workflows (~90% coverage)

---

Recommendations for Maintainers

Immediate Actions (This Week)

1. Celebrate soundness-bug-detector success - First community-suggested workflow implemented!
2. Review Performance Regression Detector - Critical gap with 10 open issues
3. Consider Issue Triage Assistant - Would significantly reduce manual triage burden

Short-term (This Month)

4. Implement PR Dependency Checker - Coordinate current C++ modernization efforts
5. Deploy Cross-Language Example Validator - Protect multi-language binding quality

Long-term (This Quarter)

6. Establish benchmark performance tracking - Historical performance database
7. Implement API breaking change detection - Protect language bindings

Success Metrics

• Workflow implementation rate: 1 workflow implemented in 1 day (soundness-bug-detector) ✅
• Issue resolution time: Track if automated workflows reduce time-to-resolution
• Community satisfaction: Monitor feedback on automated triage and validation

---

Next Run

Scheduled: January 23, 2026

Will focus on:

• Verifying new workflow implementations
• Tracking soundness-bug-detector effectiveness
• Identifying additional automation opportunities
• Updating priority based on team feedback

---

Appendix: Previous Suggestions Status

From Run 20 (January 21, 2026)

Suggestion	Priority	Status
Soundness Bug Detector	High	✅ IMPLEMENTED
Performance Regression Detector	High	❌ Carried forward
Issue Triage & Labeling Assistant	High	❌ Carried forward
Example Code Validator	Medium	❌ Carried forward (now High)
TODO/FIXME Tracker	Medium	❌ Carried forward (now Low)
Security Vulnerability Scanner	Medium	❌ Deprioritized
Community Contributor Recognition	Low	❌ Deprioritized
Research Paper Tracker	Low	❌ Carried forward (now Medium)

New suggestions added: PR Dependency Checker, Benchmark Performance Tracker, API Breaking Change Detector

AI generated by Workflow Suggestion Agent

• expires on Jan 29, 2026, 6:55 AM UTC