[workshop-sim] Repair: Surface Copilot-access pre-flight check earlier in the first-workflow step

[github-actions]

Problem statement

07-your-first-workflow.md is the highest-dropout step in the current simulation: 21.4% conditional dropout among 22,360 at-risk runs (95% CI 20.8%–21.9%). aggregate.failureCategoriesByStep attributes 3,906 of 4,781 total failures at this step to copilot-access-missing — the learner's account lacks a usable Copilot license/session and fails the pre-flight verification. The pre-flight check ("Verify Copilot access before you begin") currently appears after the "Before You Start" prerequisites list but the actual license/enrollment troubleshooting path is buried one hop away in 07d-confirm-model-access.md, so learners without access don't discover the real fix until they've already tried and failed the in-page test prompt.

Proposed change

Move the Copilot-access pre-flight check to the very top of the page (before the "Before You Start" checklist), and add a one-line direct link to github.com/settings/copilot plus a short "no license yet?" branch pointing to the relevant side quest, so learners self-diagnose access problems before investing time in the rest of the page. This is a re-sequencing and link-clarity fix; it does not remove any existing instructional content, exercises, or checklist items.

Failure mode classification

Access barrier — the dominant failure category (copilot-access-missing) is an environment/licensing gap, not a conceptual or scaffolding gap. This fix should not be expected to move active_learning, checkpoint_quality, or scaffolding scores, and must not be used to justify removing the authoring exercise or compile/commit practice.

Quantitative guardrail

Current scores for 07-your-first-workflow.md:

• overall_score: 6.25/10
• Weakest rubric dimension: checkpoint_quality 0.0/10 (shared across all steps due to a rubric-detection quirk, not specific to this page)
• Learning KPI index components: active_learning 6.3, checkpoint_quality 0.0, scaffolding 5.0 → index = (2.0×6.3 + 2.0×0.0 + 1.5×5.0) / 5.5 = 3.65/10

Because this is purely a re-sequencing/link-clarity change (moving an existing check earlier, adding a direct link), it should not reduce word_count-driven cognitive_load, active_learning (the hands-on authoring prompt is untouched), or scaffolding (the prerequisite section remains). overall_score and the learning KPI index should stay flat or improve.

Acceptance criteria

• The shared curriculum quantitative assessment overall_score for 07-your-first-workflow.md stays flat or improves after the change
• The step's learning KPI index (2.0 × active_learning + 2.0 × checkpoint_quality + 1.5 × scaffolding) / 5.5 stays flat or improves versus the current 3.65/10 baseline
• Hands-on practice, checkpoints, and scaffolding are preserved or strengthened — the authoring prompt, compile/commit steps, and full checklist remain unchanged in content, only the access pre-flight is reordered and linked more directly
• The reordered pre-flight check appears before the "Before You Start" prerequisites list and includes a direct link to Copilot settings plus a "no license yet?" branch

Suggested owner profile

workshop maintainer (requires judgment on page flow and cross-links to the billing/access side quests)
Related to #3607

Generated by 🔬 Workshop Student Simulator · copilot · auto · 248.6 AIC · ⌖ 25.8 AIC · ⊞ 14.8K · ◷

• expires on Sep 21, 2026, 1:04 PM UTC

[github-actions]

This issue is being closed as outdated. A newer issue has been created: #3616

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[github-actions]

This issue is being closed as outdated. A newer issue has been created: #3617

View newer issue

---

This action was performed automatically by the Workshop Student Simulator workflow.