Pr Harden

PR Harden

Purpose

Turn a needs_work pull request into a merge-ready PR by editing the PR branch directly.

When To Use

Use this skill only when:

• The user explicitly asks to harden, fix, repair, or finish a PR
• The PR is labeled needs_work
• The user explicitly asks you to address blocking review findings

Use pr-review instead for read-only PR review.

Requirements

• git
• gh CLI with permission to push to the PR branch
• Clean local worktree before checking out the PR
• Clear target PR URL or number

Workflow

1. Start from a clean base

Run:

git status --short --branch
git fetch --prune origin

Stop if the worktree is dirty unless the dirty files are known to be yours and part of this hardening task.

2. Inspect before editing

Fetch PR metadata, checks, labels, reviews, comments, and changed files:

gh pr view <number> --json title,body,labels,reviewDecision,mergeable,statusCheckRollup,headRefName,baseRefName
gh pr checks <number>
gh pr diff <number> --name-only

Identify blocking issues first:

• Correctness bugs
• Missing regression tests
• Failing CI
• Merge conflicts
• Unresolved blocking review comments

3. Check out the writable PR branch

Use:

gh pr checkout <number>

Confirm the checkout is writable before editing. If the PR comes from a fork and is not writable, stop and report the limitation.

4. Fix blockers only

Keep changes scoped to the PR goal. For each blocking issue:

• Fix the behavior
• Add or strengthen focused regression tests
• Preserve unrelated user changes
• Avoid broad refactors unless required to make the fix safe

5. Validate

Run the focused tests that prove each fix. Then run repo-standard validation. If no alias is documented, run at least:

mix test
mix compile --warnings-as-errors

If GitHub CI was failing, make sure local validation covers the failing area before pushing.

6. Push and relabel

Commit with a conventional commit message and push to the PR branch only. Never push to main.

After push, update labels:

gh pr edit <number> --add-label needs_work --remove-label ready_to_merge
gh pr edit <number> --add-label ready_to_merge --remove-label needs_work

Apply ready_to_merge only when all blockers are resolved, focused validation passes, required CI is green, and the PR is merge-clean. If CI is pending after the push, keep or apply needs_work and report that the PR should be relabeled after CI passes.

Output Expectations

Report:

• Blocking issues fixed
• Tests added or strengthened
• Validation commands run
• Commit and push status
• Final label state
• Remaining blockers, if any

Guardrails

• Do not merge the PR.
• Do not rewrite unrelated PR history unless the user explicitly asks.
• Do not push to main.
• Do not mark ready_to_merge with known failing CI, unresolved blockers, or conflicts.
• Do not expand scope beyond blockers needed for merge readiness.