Resolve Issue
Wrap up work on a GitHub issue. Do not commit, create a PR, or merge without user approval at the required gates.
Auto-Invocation Gate
If this skill was auto-selected from context rather than explicitly invoked with /resolve-issue-gnadd, stop before running git or GitHub commands. Briefly explain why resolving the current issue appears useful and ask: "Run /resolve-issue-gnadd now?" Proceed only after confirmation.
GNADD Invariants
- Resolve verifies the issue contract against actual changes before anything ships.
- The PR records what shipped, including descopes, divergences, and non-obvious decisions.
- GitHub computes mergeability; do not locally rebase or resolve conflicts autonomously.
- The human must review the diff before merge. Tests, CI, and mergeability checks support that decision; they do not replace it.
- For broader workflow or file-hygiene guidance, use
help-gnadd.
Mechanics
Ship mechanics run through the bundled script — gnadd.sh in this skill's directory. It enforces the invariants deterministically: never ships from main, refuses conflicting merges, halts on the dangerous divergence direction, and deletes branches only after GitHub confirms the merge. When it exits with state=<NAME>, that is a human decision point — have the conversation, never work around it with raw git. If the script is missing, stop and tell the user to reinstall the GNADD skills per help-gnadd's Install & Update guidance (npx skills update -y in the scope used at install, or scripts/sync.sh for local-checkout installs).
1. Identify The Issue
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" state --no-fetch
- If
issue=<N>, that is the issue being resolved. - If on
main,master, or detached HEAD, stop. Never run this flow from main: shipping from main would push unreviewed work straight toorigin/main, bypassing the PR gate (the script refuses this too). List local issue branches (git branch --list "issue-*"), ask which one to resolve, and switch to it — applying the same working-tree protection asstart-issue-gnadd(never switch on a dirty tree without an explicit commit/stash/abort choice). - If on some other non-issue branch, ask the user to confirm this branch holds the work to resolve. Only after explicit confirmation, use
--any-branchin step 4; everything below still applies.
2. Verify Completeness
Fetch the issue:
gh issue view <N>
Verify the finished work against the Acceptance Criteria — the issue's definition of done:
- Assess each criterion against the actual diff and observable behavior, not from memory of the session. Inspect
git diff origin/main...HEADto ground the assessment in what actually changed. - Treat checkboxes already ticked in the issue as claims, not facts — later work may have invalidated them. Re-verify every criterion regardless of checkbox state.
- For each criterion, report: met, not met, or descoped (with a reason). Do the same for any subtask checklist.
- Flag anything unmet as a check, not a hard blocker. The user may override and proceed — but say so explicitly rather than skipping silently.
- Note any descopes or divergences now; they go in the PR body in step 5.
Then run the project's tests:
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" test
It auto-detects the test command (npm/make/cargo/go/pytest). Report the result alongside the criteria assessment. state=NO_TESTS means nothing automated verified this work — say so; the diff review is then the only safeguard. A failing suite is a stop-and-discuss, not something to wave past.
3. Stage And Commit
If the working tree is clean (all work already committed via /commit-gnadd), skip to step 4 — nothing needs to be invented or re-staged. The PR body's Closes #<N> still auto-closes the issue on merge.
Otherwise inspect and stage intended changes:
git status
git diff
git add <relevant-files>
Choose a conventional commit message from the actual change (the issue label is only a starting point: bug→fix, feature→feat, chore→chore; override when the diff warrants it). Allowed types match the commit-gnadd skill: feat, fix, chore, docs, refactor, test, style, perf.
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
<type>: <summary>
<brief behavioral description>
Closes #<N>
EOF
)"
4. Push (and detect an existing PR)
This workflow does not rebase the issue branch onto main — GitHub's squash-merge already applies the branch as one commit on top of latest main, and rebase is the most dangerous operation to hand an agent. Conflicts are detected via GitHub after the PR exists (step 6) and handed to the human.
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" ship push
Outcomes:
pr_exists=truewithpr_number=<PR>: an open PR already exists for this branch — this is a resume (e.g. the PR was left open in a previous session). New commits are now pushed to it. Skip step 5 and go straight to the merge gate in step 6 with<PR>.pr_exists=false: continue to step 5 to create the PR.state=NOTHING_TO_SHIP: no commits beyondorigin/main— nothing to resolve; stop and say so.state=ON_MAIN/NOT_ISSUE_BRANCH/DIRTY_TREE/DETACHED_HEAD: return to the step 1/3 conversations.state=PUSH_FAILED: report; retry after the user checks network/auth.
5. Record The Final Feedback, Then Draft And Create The PR
The user's word that the work is done is the last round's feedback, and no later checkpoint will carry it. Put it on the record before the PR exists, as typed:
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" round feedback --feedback "<the user's words that brought you here>"
state=FEEDBACK_RECORDED means it is already there (skip). state=NO_ROUNDS means the branch never posted a round comment; say so and move on, the PR body is the record then.
Draft the PR and show it for approval before creating:
- Title: same as or close to the final commit summary.
- Body (this exact structure — step 7 updates it after merge):
<concise behavioral summary of what was actually done>
## Acceptance Criteria
| Criterion | Status |
|---|---|
| <criterion text> | Met / Not verified / Descoped — <reason> / Changed — <what the user changed it to, and when> |
## Decisions & Divergences
<non-obvious implementation decisions made during the work, descopes,
follow-ups; omit the section if genuinely none — but remember chat
evaporates and PRs are permanent>
## Test Plan
- [ ] Automated tests pass (<runner from step 2, or "none configured">)
- [ ] Diff reviewed by a human before merge
Closes #<N>
Create only after approval, and capture the PR number from the output URL — issues and PRs share a number space, so the issue number is never the PR number:
gh pr create --title "<title>" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
<body>
EOF
)"
Report the PR URL and, on its own line, the direct link to the diff: https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/pull/<PR>/files. The user should be able to click straight into the changes, not be told to go look. <PR> below means this captured PR number.
6. Merge Only If Confirmed
Surface the two signals, then ask whether to merge now or leave the PR open. Do not auto-merge.
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" ship status <PR>
mergeable=MERGEABLE— present the merge choice.mergeable=CONFLICTING— do not offer to merge.mainhas moved and the PR conflicts. Hand resolution to the user: GitHub's web editor, or a deliberate local resolution they drive. The agent never resolves conflicts autonomously.mergeable=UNKNOWN— GitHub is still computing; wait briefly and re-run.checks=pass— every check GitHub reports passed. Present the merge choice.checks=pendingorchecks=not_started— CI is running, or the workflow exists and has not reported yet. Wait for it before offering the merge:gh pr checks <PR> --watch. Do not read "no checks reported" as "no CI configured" when the tree has a workflow file.checks=failed— say which check is red. A red CI is a stop-and-discuss. The user can override with--no-checkat the merge below, and that decision is theirs, said out loud.checks=none— no checks and no workflow in the tree, so nothing automated verified this PR beyond the local test run. Say so. Merging needs--no-check, which records that the human accepted that.
AI-authored PRs read as authoritative and can hide subtle logic errors. The merge gate is only as good as the human reading the diff. Do not let "merge now" become reflexive. Give the files-changed link again at this gate (
.../pull/<PR>/files) so reading the diff is one click, never an instruction.
If — and only if — the user confirms:
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" ship merge <PR>
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" sync-main
ship merge squash-merges only when the PR is OPEN, MERGEABLE, and every reported check passed. It halts with state=CHECKS_PENDING (wait and re-run), state=CHECK_FAILED (stop and discuss), or state=NO_CHECKS (nothing automated ran; --no-check is the human's explicit acceptance). Never add --no-check on your own. sync-main returns to main and fast-forwards it — after a merge, local main is normally just behind by the squash commit, which is the expected, safe state. If it reports state=DIVERGED_MAIN instead, stop: show the listed commits, and offer gnadd.sh doctor --rescue-main <name> or user-managed resolution. Never reset, never merge without --ff-only.
If the user leaves the PR open: stop here. Next session, /resolve-issue-gnadd on this branch resumes at the merge gate automatically (step 4 detects the open PR).
7. Sync The Record (Issue + PR)
After merge (or when closing the issue without merge), sync both the issue and the PR body with the step-2 assessment. Do this before reporting resolve complete.
Issue
Fetch the current body fresh immediately before editing — never reconstruct it from memory or an earlier read; gh issue edit --body replaces the whole body, so a stale copy silently destroys collaborator edits:
gh issue view <N> --json body --jq .body > "$TMPDIR/issue-<N>.md"
Modify only: acceptance-criteria checkboxes (- [x] for met, - [ ] for not met / not verified) and an appended ## Resolution section (PR link, merge commit, one line per unchecked criterion explaining why the issue still closed). Preserve everything else verbatim. Edit the fetched file in place (a scripted substitution, never a retyped body) and send the file back:
gh issue edit <N> --body-file "$TMPDIR/issue-<N>.md"
The merge commit is the main_commit that sync-main printed in step 6 (after a squash-merge, it is the same hash cleanup reports as merge_commit in step 8).
Editing works on closed issues, so auto-close from Closes #<N> is not a problem.
PR
Same fetch-fresh rule (gh pr view <PR> --json body --jq .body > "$TMPDIR/pr-<PR>.md"), then update the step-5 structure in that file to match what was actually verified: the acceptance-criteria table's Status column, and the Test Plan checkboxes for steps that actually ran.
gh pr edit <PR> --body-file "$TMPDIR/pr-<PR>.md"
The issue is the canonical record; the PR is the ship-time audit trail — both should agree on what was met vs deferred.
8. Clean Up After Merge
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" cleanup <PR> issue-<N>/<slug>
The script confirms via GitHub that the PR actually merged (state=MERGED with a real mergedAt) before force-deleting the branch — that check is what makes -D provably non-destructive after a squash-merge (safe -d always refuses, because squash commits are not ancestors of the branch). It then removes the remote branch if GitHub's auto-delete hasn't already, and reports merge_commit=<hash>.
state=NOT_MERGED: the PR didn't merge (left open, or merge failed) — the branch is not deleted. Stop and report.state=BRANCH_MISMATCH: the branch named is not the merged PR's head, so the merge proves nothing about it. Nothing is deleted. Check which PR the branch belongs to and rerun with the matching pair.state=UNMERGED_COMMITS: the branch has commits after the head GitHub merged. Nothing is deleted. Those commits never shipped: push them as a new PR, or the user drops them by hand. Never delete around this.- Never run
git resetonmainto discard commits — in any form, for any reason. If anything about main looks wrong here,gnadd.sh doctoris the sanctioned path.
Report what was cleaned up, and give the user the merge commit hash — their one-command undo for the whole feature (git revert <hash>).
9. Notice When The Phase Empties
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" phase status
If a phase is open and open_issues=0, say so: the phase has no open issues left, and ask whether it is done. Closing is the user's act. Never run phase close on your own initiative. When the user says it is done and gives their verdict (what the phase found out, in their words), run it on their word:
bash "<skill-dir>/gnadd.sh" phase close "<title>" --verdict "<the user's verdict, as typed>"
The next phase is opened only after this one closes, and only when the user asks for it (phase open <title> --description <what it is trying to find out, and what ends it>). If phase=none, skip this step silently.
Closing Guidance
Offer a brief next-step nudge only at natural completion — not at intermediate gates (wrong branch, unmet criteria discussion, commit/PR approval waits, merge conflicts, failing tests or CI, or main divergence during cleanup).
Natural completion:
- Merged and cleanup finished → nudge toward
/prime-gnaddfor the next session. - PR created but left open → nudge toward reviewing the diff or addressing feedback — not
/start-issue-gnaddfor new work.
Stopped on a blocker: nudge only toward resolving that blocker.
Keep it to a sentence or two with invitational options. Do not restate the full GNADD workflow.