# Lisa Github Sync

> Syncs plan progress to a linked GitHub Issue. Posts plan contents, progress updates, branch links, and PR links at key milestones. Use this skill throughout the plan lifecycle to keep issues in sync. The GitHub counterpart of lisa-jira-sync.

- Skill: `codyswanngt/lisa-github-sync` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add codyswanngt/lisa-github-sync`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/codyswanngt/lisa-github-sync/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: codyswanngt (https://skillmd.com/u/codyswanngt)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/codyswanngt/lisa-github-sync

---


# GitHub Issue Sync

Sync current plan progress to a GitHub Issue: `$ARGUMENTS`

If no argument is provided, search for an issue ref (`org/repo#<number>` or `https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/issues/<n>` URL) in the active plan file (most recently modified `.md` in `plans/`).

Optional arguments include `pr_url=<url>` for the live pull request and `merge_sha=<sha>` once merged.

## Workflow

### Step 1: Identify Issue and Context

1. **Parse issue ref** from `$ARGUMENTS` or extract from the active plan file.
2. **Fetch current issue state**:

   ```bash
   gh issue view <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --json number,title,state,labels,milestone,assignees,comments,url
   ```

3. **Determine current milestone** by checking:
   - Does a plan file exist? → Plan created
   - Is there a working branch? → Implementation started
   - Are tasks in progress? → Active implementation
   - Is there an open PR? → PR ready for review
   - Is the PR merged? → Complete

### Step 2: Gather Update Content

| Milestone | Content to post |
|-----------|-----------------|
| **Plan created** | Plan summary, branch name, link to PR (if draft exists) |
| **Implementation in progress** | Task completion summary (X of Y tasks done), any blockers |
| **PR ready** | PR link, summary of changes, test results |
| **PR merged** | Final summary, suggest moving issue to `status:done` |

### Step 3: Post Update

1. **Idempotency check** — read the issue's recent comments. If the most recent comment with the prefix `[claude-sync] <milestone>` matches the current milestone AND the body content is unchanged, skip the post (no duplicate).
2. **Add the comment**:

   ```bash
   gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body-file /tmp/sync-comment.md
   ```

   The body must start with `[claude-sync] <milestone>` so the next sync run can dedupe.

3. **Report** to the user what was synced.

### Step 3b: Ensure PR Backlink

When `$ARGUMENTS` includes `pr_url=<url>` for `PR ready` or `PR merged`, ensure the GitHub Issue has a durable ticket -> PR link:

1. Make sure the PR body contains `Refs #<n>` (or the fully qualified cross-repo form) — never a closing keyword, per the GitHub rule in `lisa-git-submit-pr`. Read the issue side with `gh api graphql` against `issue.timelineItems`, or `gh issue view <number> --json closedByPullRequestsReferences`. **Not** `gh issue view --json timelineItems`: `timelineItems` is not a supported field for that command, so the check silently returns nothing useful rather than failing loudly.
2. Establish the managed backlink comment by running the command that owns it — never by hand, and never by describing the procedure here:

   ```bash
   node scripts/lisa-work-item.mjs backlink --ref <work-item> --pr-url <url>
   ```

   It creates the `[lisa-pr-link]` comment or updates the one already present, instead of appending duplicates, so it is safe to run on every milestone. This is **unconditional**, not contingent on step 1 failing: under the non-closing rule GitHub never creates a native development link (that surface is the closing-reference mechanism), so this comment is the only ticket-side backlink there will be — run it whether or not native linkage exists or cannot be verified, because the required Work-Item Traceability check reads this comment and nothing else guarantees one. The comment carries the marker and the PR URL only; the milestone (`pr-ready` / `pr-merged`) and merge SHA belong in the milestone progress note, so that a rerun at a new milestone still converges on one backlink comment.

Native GitHub linkage cannot be verified under the non-closing rule because it is never created in the first place, so the managed comment is not a contingency here — it is the mechanism. The issue must show the PR from at least one ticket-side surface, and this is the only one available.

### Step 4: Suggest Status Transition

Based on the milestone, suggest (but do NOT automatically perform) a label transition:

| Milestone | Suggested label |
|-----------|-----------------|
| Plan created | `status:in-progress` |
| PR ready | configured `done` label (`status:done` in this repo) |
| PR merged | no additional build-label transition |

The actual `status:in-progress` flip is owned by `lisa-github-build-intake` (claim) and `lisa-github-agent`. The configured `done` flip is owned by the build-intake owner after a successful build and evidence post. This skill never relabels.

Every suggested transition is bound by the **Tracker status vocabulary** section of `lisa-tracker-sync` — cite it, do not restate the policy. GitHub has **no review lane** (`BUILD_LABEL_DEFAULTS` seeds no `review` key, and `config-resolution` records "no default review label"), so the `pr-ready` milestone suggests the configured `done` label directly; there is no intermediate hop to skip. Resolve every label through the shared resolver rather than an inlined helper.

### Step 5: Parent Status Rollup (`--rollup`)

When invoked with `--rollup`, this skill **derives a parent/container issue's `status:*` label from the roll-up of its child sub-issues** instead of posting a milestone update on a leaf. This implements the GitHub sub-issue-completion arm of the **Parent status rollup (the state machine)** section of the `leaf-only-lifecycle` rule — cite that rule, do not restate the policy. It is the sync-side complement to the write-time labeling (`lisa-github-write-issue`), the validate-time S15 gate (`lisa-github-validate-issue`), and the claim-time gate (`lisa-github-build-intake`); all four cite the same rule so the classification never drifts.

**Resolve the child set the same way `lisa-github-read-issue` does** — native sub-issues via GraphQL, each with its `status:*` label and open/closed state:

```bash
gh api graphql -f query='
  query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$number:Int!){
    repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){
      issue(number:$number){
        number title state
        subIssues(first:100){ nodes { number state labels(first:20){ nodes { name } } } }
      }
    }
  }' -F owner=<org> -F repo=<repo> -F number=<parent-number>
```

If the `subIssues` field is unavailable (older GHES), fall back to body parentage exactly as `lisa-github-read-issue` does. If the issue has **no** children it is a leaf, not a parent — rollup is N/A; behave as a normal milestone sync.

**Evaluate the required children over the env ladder `in-progress < dev < staging < production` (the ordered keys of the GitHub env-keyed `done` map, e.g. `status:on-dev < status:on-stg < status:done`) and take the first match** (canonical roles from `config-resolution`; the GitHub label map is `status:blocked`, `status:in-progress`, env-keyed `done`):

| If among the required child leaves… | Derived parent role | GitHub label |
|---|---|---|
| any child carries `status:blocked` (or is otherwise blocked) | `blocked` | `status:blocked` |
| else **every** required child has shipped to some env (each at a `done`-map label, e.g. `status:on-dev`/`status:on-stg`/`status:done`) | `done[min-env]` | the **least-advanced** env label among them (all `status:on-stg` → `status:on-stg`; mixed dev+staging → `status:on-dev`; all production → `status:done`) |
| else any child has **started** (`status:in-progress`, or shipped to an env while a sibling has not) | `claimed` | `status:in-progress` |
| else (children exist, none started) | — | unchanged — parent keeps its non-ready container label |

- **Blocked dominates — and the rollup must say which child and which kind** — a single blocked child surfaces `status:blocked` on the parent even while siblings progress, so a human sees the parent needs attention. `status:blocked` alone is a single bit and cannot tell a child waiting on an external event from one whose acceptance criteria are unbuildable; the second never clears on its own.
- **Run the shared classifier for every derived rollup state before writing the label or comment**, not only for `status:blocked`. Include the exact rendered state and child tally in the classifier input alongside the resolved child graph, so its fingerprint and `change.summary` deduplicate the complete rollup note for `status:in-progress`, every env-keyed `done`, and `status:blocked` alike:

```bash
run_rollup_classifier() {
  local input_path="$1"
  local attempted_paths=""
  local seen_root=""
  local candidate_suffix="scripts/rollup-blocker-classification.mjs"
  local root root_real candidate candidate_real expected_candidate
  local classifier_output

  for root in "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT:-}" "${PLUGIN_ROOT:-}"; do
    [ -n "$root" ] || continue
    [ "$root" != "$seen_root" ] || continue
    seen_root="$root"
    case "$root" in
      /*) ;;
      *) continue ;;
    esac
    case "$root" in
      */../*|*/..|*/./*|*/.) continue ;;
    esac

    candidate="${root%/}/$candidate_suffix"
    if [ -z "$attempted_paths" ]; then
      attempted_paths="$candidate"
    else
      attempted_paths="$attempted_paths, $candidate"
    fi

    root_real="$(realpath "$root" 2>/dev/null)" || continue
    [ -f "$candidate" ] && [ -r "$candidate" ] || continue
    candidate_real="$(realpath "$candidate" 2>/dev/null)" || continue
    expected_candidate="${root_real%/}/$candidate_suffix"
    [ "$candidate_real" = "$expected_candidate" ] || continue

    if classifier_output="$(
      node "$candidate" --input="$input_path" 2>/dev/null
    )"; then
      printf '%s\n' "$classifier_output"
      return 0
    fi

    printf 'Rollup classifier failed at trusted path: %.4000s\n' \
      "$candidate" >&2
    return 1
  done

  printf 'No usable rollup classifier; attempted paths: %.4032s\n' \
    "$attempted_paths" >&2
  return 1
}

if ! CLASSIFIER_REPORT="$(run_rollup_classifier "<graph.json>")"; then
  echo "Rollup classifier failed before any lifecycle or comment write." >&2
  exit 1
fi
```

  When the derived state is blocked, its report names, per class, the blocking leaf, the path to it (`#1495 -> #1515 -> #1547`) and **who must act** — that text goes in the rollup comment verbatim. It exits non-zero when it classified nothing (unreadable graph, no children, no readable child): that is a strict **no-write** result. Do not change a label and do not post/update a rollup comment; report the classifier failure to the caller. Never fall through to "no blocked children", infer a class from prose, or apply the `spec_defect` marker from a flow — see `leaf-only-lifecycle` → **Classifying a hold**.
- **Least-advanced env wins** — the parent reaches an env only when every required child has reached at least that env; it never sits ahead of its laggard child. Native closure (`gh issue close --reason completed`) fires only when the resolved env is the production `status:done`, never at `status:on-dev`/`status:on-stg`.
- **"Required" children only** — a child labelled won't-do / optional does not hold the parent open; only leaves that must ship count toward the env-rollup check.
- **Recursive** — a parent reaches an env only when its children have all reached at least that env; an Epic reaches it only when its Stories have themselves rolled up to it. Evaluate bottom-up.
- **Never set the parent to `status:ready`** — `ready` is leaf-only (the human "claim this" signal). Rollup only moves the parent between non-ready container labels.

**Single-environment collapse (this repo).** `.lisa.config.json` `deploy.branches` declares only `production: main`, so the env-keyed `done` resolves to the single label `status:done` — there is no `status:on-dev` / `status:on-stg` and **no dev → staging → prod promotion chain**. Resolve the env rungs via the env-keyed `done` logic in `config-resolution`, but in the single-environment case the only rung is production and it collapses to the one `status:done` value; the rollup never attempts to resolve a dev or staging `done`. Projects that DO have multiple environments keep the env-keyed map and roll the parent up to whichever `done` (including intermediate `status:on-dev`/`status:on-stg`) its leaves have collectively reached.

**Apply the derived label** (only when it differs from the parent's current `status:*`): remove the parent's existing `status:*` label and add the derived one, keeping exactly one `status:*` label so the build-queue invariant holds. Re-read the labels immediately after the edit and require exactly one `status:*`; if the count differs, surface an error and stop without trying to normalize the ambiguous set automatically. Post an idempotent `[claude-sync] rollup` comment naming the derived state and the child tally (e.g. `3/4 leaves terminal, 1 blocked → status:blocked`); when the derived state is `status:blocked` the comment also carries the classifier's per-class section, so the blocking child and its actor are one read rather than a descent. Persist the classifier's `change.fingerprint` with the rollup comment and use `change.changed` as the dedupe decision for every rollup. Use `change.summary` only as display text; it describes the transition and is not a stable key.

```bash
gh issue edit <parent-number> --repo <org>/<repo> \
  --remove-label "<current status:*>" --add-label "<derived status:*>"
```

**Safe default.** If a successfully-read rollup cannot be applied automatically (e.g. ambiguous required-set or a derived terminal that the env logic cannot resolve), this skill does **not** guess — it posts the derived suggestion as a comment and leaves the parent's label untouched. A classifier/read failure is stricter: it writes neither label nor comment. No unsafe transition is ever made.

## Important Notes

- **Never auto-transition labels** — always suggest and let the user / pipeline confirm. The one exception is the explicit `--rollup` parent derivation (Step 5), which moves a *parent's* `status:*` label as the `leaf-only-lifecycle` rule mandates — never a leaf's, and never to `status:ready`.
- **Idempotent updates** — the `[claude-sync] <milestone>` prefix on the most-recent comment is the dedupe key; the rollup path uses `[claude-sync] rollup`.
- **Comment format** — use GitHub-flavored markdown (`##` headings, fenced code blocks). The same template is used for the JIRA path (rendered as wiki markup there); keep the markdown source canonical.
- **Rollup cites the rule by slug** — parent state derivation follows the `leaf-only-lifecycle` rule's state machine; this skill does not restate the policy.

## Execution

Sync the issue now.