Managing Github Issues Deep

Managing GitHub Issues (Deep)

Deep GitHub Issues analysis covering lifecycle metrics, label health, and contributor workload via the GitHub REST API.

Discovery Phase

#!/bin/bash
GH_BASE="https://api.github.com"
OWNER="${1:?Owner/org required}"
REPO="${2:?Repo name required}"

echo "=== Repository Info ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO" \
  | jq '{full_name, open_issues_count, has_issues, default_branch}'

echo ""
echo "=== Open Issues (latest 25) ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=25&sort=updated" \
  | jq -r '.[] | select(.pull_request == null) | "\(. | "#\(.number)")\t\(.title[0:40])\t\(.user.login)\t\(.labels | map(.name) | join(","))\t\(.assignees | map(.login) | join(",") // "unassigned")"' \
  | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Labels ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO/labels?per_page=50" \
  | jq -r '.[] | "\(.name)\t\(.description // "no description")"' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Milestones ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO/milestones?state=open&per_page=10" \
  | jq -r '.[] | "\(.title[0:30])\topen=\(.open_issues)\tclosed=\(.closed_issues)\tdue=\(.due_on[0:10] // "none")"' | column -t

Analysis Phase

#!/bin/bash
GH_BASE="https://api.github.com"
OWNER="${1:?Owner required}"
REPO="${2:?Repo required}"

echo "=== Issue Counts ==="
OPEN=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=1" -I | grep -i 'link:' | grep -o 'page=[0-9]*' | tail -1 | cut -d= -f2)
CLOSED=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/search/issues?q=repo:$OWNER/$REPO+type:issue+is:closed" | jq '.total_count')
echo "Open: ${OPEN:-N/A}  Closed: ${CLOSED:-N/A}"

echo ""
echo "=== Issues by Label ==="
for LABEL in bug enhancement "good first issue" documentation; do
  COUNT=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
    "$GH_BASE/search/issues?q=repo:$OWNER/$REPO+type:issue+is:open+label:\"$LABEL\"" | jq '.total_count')
  echo -e "$LABEL\t$COUNT open"
done | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Unassigned Open Issues ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/search/issues?q=repo:$OWNER/$REPO+type:issue+is:open+no:assignee" \
  | jq '{unassigned_open: .total_count}'

echo ""
echo "=== Stale Issues (no update in 90 days) ==="
STALE_DATE=$(date -v-90d +%Y-%m-%d 2>/dev/null || date -d "-90 days" +%Y-%m-%d)
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/search/issues?q=repo:$OWNER/$REPO+type:issue+is:open+updated:<$STALE_DATE&per_page=10" \
  | jq -r '.items[:10][] | "#\(.number)\t\(.title[0:40])\tupdated=\(.updated_at[0:10])"' | column -t

echo ""
echo "=== Top Issue Contributors ==="
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  "$GH_BASE/repos/$OWNER/$REPO/issues?state=all&per_page=100&sort=created" \
  | jq -r '[.[] | select(.pull_request == null) | .user.login] | group_by(.) | map({user: .[0], count: length}) | sort_by(-.count)[:10][] | "\(.user)\t\(.count) issues"' | column -t

Output Format

GITHUB ISSUES DEEP HEALTH: [owner/repo]
Open Issues:       [count]
Closed Issues:     [count]
Close Rate:        [pct]%
Unassigned Open:   [count]
Stale (90d+):      [count]

ISSUES BY LABEL
Label              Open    Closed
bug                [n]     [n]
enhancement        [n]     [n]

MILESTONE PROGRESS
Milestone          Open  Closed  Due        Progress
[title]            [n]   [n]     [date]     [pct]%

TOP CONTRIBUTORS
User               Issues Created
[login]            [count]

Anti-Hallucination Rules

1. NEVER assume resource names — always discover via CLI/API in Phase 1 before referencing in Phase 2.
2. NEVER fabricate metric names or dimensions — verify against the service documentation or --help output.
3. NEVER mix CLI commands between service versions — confirm which version/API you are targeting.
4. ALWAYS use the discovery → verify → analyze chain — every resource referenced must have been discovered first.
5. ALWAYS handle empty results gracefully — an empty response is valid data, not an error to retry.

Counter-Rationalizations