github-issues

GitHub Issues

What is it?

This skill manages the lifecycle of GitHub Issues. It handles creation, triage (assignment), milestones, exploration (reading/searching), and hierarchy (sub-issues).

Success Criteria

• Issues are created with appropriate titles and descriptive bodies.
• Milestones are used to group issues into actionable releases or sprints.
• type (Bug, Feature, Task) is correctly assigned when the feature is enabled.
• Sub-issues are linked using numeric parent numbers and either string Node IDs (MCP) or numeric Database IDs (REST).
• Search queries are specific to avoid hitting rate limits.

Why use it?

• Complete issue lifecycle management: Handle creation, updates, assignment, and closure in one place
• Advanced planning capabilities: Use milestones, sub-issues, and dependencies for complex project tracking
• Efficient triage: Quickly assign issues, set types, and organize work
• Powerful search and discovery: Find relevant issues across repositories with targeted queries
• AI-powered assistance: Leverage Copilot assignment for automated issue resolution

When to use this skill

• "Create a bug report for X."
• "What are the open issues assigned to me?"
• "Create a milestone for V1.0."
• "Add issue #42 to the 'Beta' milestone."
• "Break this task down into sub-issues."
• "Assign Copilot to fix issue #123."

What this skill can do

• Create/Update: Open new issues, close completed ones, update descriptions following standard issue templates.
• Planning: Create and list milestones, assign issues to milestones.
• Triage: Assign users, Assign Copilot.
• Explore: Search specific issues, read comments, list issue types.
• Hierarchy: Create and manage sub-issues (tracking lists).
• Dependencies: explicit blocking relationships using REST API (see DEPENDENCIES.md).

What this skill will NOT do

• Create Pull Requests (use github-pr-flow).
• Modify code (use github-pr-flow).
• Create repositories.

How to use this skill

1. Identify Intent: Are we creating, reading, or modifying?
2. Select Tool: Use MCP_TOOL_MAP.
3. Execute: Call the corresponding MCP tool function.

Quick Example: Create a Bug Report

// Create a bug report with proper structure
issue_write({
  method: "create",
  owner: "acme-corp",
  repo: "app",
  title: "Bug: Login fails on Safari",
  body: `## Description
Users cannot log in when using Safari 17.

## Steps to Reproduce
1. Open Safari 17
2. Navigate to login page
3. Enter credentials

## Expected Behavior
User should be logged in

## Actual Behavior
Login button does nothing`,
  type: "Bug"  // Set type if issue types are enabled
});

Tool usage rules

• Issue Structure: Follow standard patterns from issue templates when creating issues (Bug Report, Feature Request, Task/Chore). Prefer repository-specific templates when available.

• Issue Type: Attempt to specify a type (e.g., "Bug", "Feature", "Task") when creating issues if supported. Use list_issue_types to discover valid names. If listing types fails (404) or returns empty, issue types are not enabled — in that case, do not attempt to emulate types using labels; omit the type parameter and proceed without it.

  • CLI note: gh issue create often does not support a --issue-type flag; prefer setting type via the REST API (POST or PATCH with -f type="...") or use MCP issue_write when available.

• MCP First: Use issue_write, issue_read, search_issues, list_issue_types.

• Sub-issues: Use sub_issue_write to link parent/child issues.

  • MCP and REST API both require Database ID: The sub_issue_id parameter requires the numeric databaseId (e.g., 12345678), NOT the Node ID. You must convert the Node ID to Database ID using GraphQL first.

  • Conversion Step (required for both MCP and REST API): You can obtain a numeric databaseId from a Node ID via GraphQL, but the simplest method when you have an issue number or URL is to use gh issue view to retrieve databaseId directly.

    # Preferred: Get databaseId from issue number or URL
    gh issue view <ISSUE_NUMBER_OR_URL> --json databaseId -q .databaseId
    # Returns: 12345678
    
    # Alternative (when only Node ID available): convert Node ID -> databaseId via GraphQL
    gh api graphql -f query='query($id: ID!) { node(id: $id) { ... on Issue { databaseId } } }' -f id='<NODE_ID>' --jq '.data.node.databaseId'
    # Returns: 12345678
    

  • MCP Example:

    sub_issue_write({
      owner: "OWNER",
      repo: "REPO",
      issue_number: 101,
      sub_issue_id: 12345678,  // Database ID (numeric)
      method: "add"
    });
    

  • REST API (CLI) Example:

    # Add as sub-issue using the parent number and child databaseId
    gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/issues/101/sub_issues -X POST -F sub_issue_id=12345678
    

  • Edge Case - Duplicate Sub-Issues:

    • Check First: Before adding a sub-issue, verify it's not already linked. For a robust check, use issue_read with method: "get_sub_issues", which handles pagination. For a quick check of up to 100 items, you can use gh issue view <parent> --json "subIssues(first:100){databaseId}".
    • Error: Attempting to add a duplicate sub-issue returns HTTP 422 with message: "This issue is already a child of this issue"
    • Why: GitHub prevents adding the same issue as a sub-issue multiple times to the same parent.
    • Solution: Check existing sub-issues before adding new ones to avoid errors.

  • Edge Case - Issue Already Has Parent:

    • Scenario: Attempting to add an issue as a sub-issue when it's already a child of another parent.

    • Error: Returns HTTP 422 with message: "Sub issue may only have one parent"

    • Why: Each issue can have at most ONE parent. GitHub prevents orphaning issues from their current parent.

    • Solution: Use the replace_parent parameter to move the issue to a new parent:

      // MCP Example - Move issue from old parent to new parent
      sub_issue_write({
        owner: "OWNER",
        repo: "REPO",
        issue_number: 100,        // New parent
        sub_issue_id: 12345678,   // Child issue (Database ID)
        method: "add",
        replace_parent: true      // Allow parent replacement
      });
      

    • Important: Setting replace_parent: true will automatically remove the issue from its current parent and add it to the new parent.

• Milestones:

  • Milestones: Use gh api to list/create. Use gh issue edit (CLI) or issue_write (MCP) to assign.
  • Discovery: Use gh api /repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones (via run_command) to list existing milestones and find their number.
  • Creation: Use gh api -X POST /repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones -f title="title" to create new ones.
  • Assignment:
    • MCP: Use issue_write with the milestone parameter (integer).
    • CLI: Use gh issue edit <number> --milestone "title" for title-based assignment.

• Issue Types: Types are CONDITIONAL. Use list_issue_types to find valid types (e.g. "Bug 🐞"). You MUST use issue_write (MCP) with the type parameter (exact name) if types are available. If using gh issue create (CLI), note that --issue-type requires the exact type name. If the API returns a 404 for issue types, do not attempt to use them.

• CLI Scripting Rule: When using gh issue create in a script, it returns the issue URL string, not JSON. You must parse the URL to get the issue number, then call gh issue view <number> --json id,number to get the structured metadata for downstream tasks.

• Reading Issues: Use issue_read to retrieve issue details, comments, and sub-issues.

  • Method Options:

    • get: Get full issue details (default) - no pagination
    • get_comments: Retrieve all comments on an issue - supports pagination
    • get_sub_issues: List all sub-issues of a parent issue - supports pagination

  • Parameters: All methods require owner, repo, and issue_number

  • Pagination: Only get_comments and get_sub_issues support pagination. Use page and perPage parameters for large lists (default: 30 per page, max: 100)

  • Example:

    // Read all comments on issue #42 with pagination
    issue_read({
      owner: "OWNER",
      repo: "REPO",
      issue_number: 42,
      method: "get_comments",
      page: 1,
      perPage: 100  // Get up to 100 comments per page
    });
    

• Issue Dependencies:

  • Method: Use gh api REST endpoints as described in DEPENDENCIES.md.
  • IDs: Adding or removing dependencies requires the database ID (integer) of the blocking issue. Use issue_read to find the id field.

• Copilot: Use assign_copilot_to_issue to start an AI session on an issue.

Examples

See references/examples.md for compliant issue management examples.

For issue structure patterns (Bug Report, Feature Request, Task), refer to assets/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.

Limitations

• Cannot see deleted issues.
• Rate limits apply to search queries.

Troubleshooting

• Sub-issue Linking Fails: Ensure you are using the Database ID (numeric integer) for the child issue, not the Node ID or issue number, when calling sub_issue_write. Convert the Node ID to Database ID using the GraphQL query documented above.
• Milestone Not Found: Milestones must be referenced by their integer number, not their title, in API calls. Use gh api to list milestones and find the correct number.
• Issue Type Errors: If you receive a 404 when listing issue types, the feature is not enabled in the repository. Do not attempt to set issue types in that case.