Issue Status Sync

GitHub Issue Status Sync Skill

This skill provides patterns for keeping GitHub issues synchronized with actual development progress.

GitHub Issue Status Model

Unlike Jira, GitHub issues have simple states:

• Open: Active, needs work
• Closed: Complete or won't fix

Status is conveyed through:

• Labels (in progress, blocked, etc.)
• Milestones
• Project board columns
• Comments

Status Labels

Recommended Label Set

Workflow:

• needs-triage - Needs initial review
• needs-info - Waiting for reporter
• in progress - Being worked on
• blocked - Cannot proceed
• ready for review - PR ready
• ready for merge - Approved, waiting merge

Type:

• bug
• enhancement
• documentation
• chore

Priority:

• priority: critical
• priority: high
• priority: medium
• priority: low

Status Transitions via Labels

# Starting work
gh issue edit {number} --add-label "in progress" --remove-label "needs-triage"

# Blocked
gh issue edit {number} --add-label "blocked"

# Ready for review
gh issue edit {number} --add-label "ready for review" --remove-label "in progress"

# Complete
gh issue close {number} --comment "Completed in PR #456"

Progress Updates

Starting Work

gh issue edit {number} --add-assignee @me --add-label "in progress"
gh issue comment {number} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Starting work on this issue.

**Approach:**
- [Brief description]

**Branch:** `feature/{number}-description`

**ETA:** [Rough estimate]
EOF
)"

Progress Update

gh issue comment {number} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Progress Update**

**Completed:**
- [What's done]

**In Progress:**
- [Current work]

**Next:**
- [What's planned]

**Blockers:** None / [Description]
EOF
)"

Blocked

gh issue edit {number} --add-label "blocked"
gh issue comment {number} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Blocked**

**Reason:** [Clear explanation]
**Blocked by:** #123 / [External factor]
**Action needed:** [What would unblock]
**Impact:** [What can't proceed]
EOF
)"

Unblocked

gh issue edit {number} --remove-label "blocked"
gh issue comment {number} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Unblocked**

**Resolution:** [How it was resolved]
**Next steps:** [Resuming work]
EOF
)"

Completing Work

gh issue comment {number} --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
**Completed**

**PR:** #456
**Changes:**
- [Summary of changes]

**Testing:**
- [How it was tested]

Ready for review.
EOF
)"
gh issue edit {number} --add-label "ready for review" --remove-label "in progress"

Linking PRs to Issues

In PR Description

Fixes #123

or

Closes #123

or

Resolves #123

This auto-closes the issue when PR merges.

For Related (Not Closing)

Related to #123
Part of #123
See #123

In Commit Messages

git commit -m "feat(auth): add password reset (#123)"

Project Board Integration

If using GitHub Projects:

Move Card

# List project columns
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/projects/{project_id}/columns

# Move issue card
gh api projects/columns/cards/{card_id}/moves \
  -f position=top \
  -f column_id={column_id}

Automated Moves

Configure in project settings:

• New issues → "To Do"
• Issues with "in progress" label → "In Progress"
• Closed issues → "Done"

Milestone Tracking

Assign to Milestone

gh issue edit {number} --milestone "v1.0"

Check Milestone Progress

gh issue list --milestone "v1.0" --json number,title,state

Automation Opportunities

Using GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/issue-management.yml
name: Issue Management

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, closed]
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, merged]

jobs:
  manage:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Add triage label to new issues
        if: github.event_name == 'issues' && github.event.action == 'opened'
        run: gh issue edit ${{ github.event.issue.number }} --add-label "needs-triage"
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Status Check Commands

My In-Progress Issues

gh issue list --assignee @me --label "in progress"

Blocked Issues

gh issue list --label "blocked"

Issues Without Assignee

gh issue list --state open --search "no:assignee"

Stale Issues

gh issue list --state open --search "updated:<2024-01-01"

Best Practices

Do:

• Update status promptly
• Add context with changes
• Link related issues and PRs
• Use consistent labels
• Close with resolution summary

Don't:

• Leave issues "in progress" when blocked
• Forget to assign yourself
• Close without explanation
• Mix up similar issues
• Ignore stale issues

Quick Reference