Gentleman-Programming Issue Creation
Core Rule
Discover the target repository's contribution workflow before proposing or publishing. YAML Issue Forms are the format authority for the default automated path: materialize reviewed answers into a private BODY_FILE and publish with --body-file.
Safe Discovery
Run read-only checks first:
gh auth status
REPO="$(gh repo view --json nameWithOwner -q .nameWithOwner)"
REPO_URL="$(gh repo view --json url -q .url)"
HOST="${REPO_URL#*://}"
HOST="${HOST%%/*}"
TARGET="$HOST/$REPO"
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,url,hasDiscussionsEnabled,hasIssuesEnabled,isBlankIssuesEnabled
git ls-files README.md CONTRIBUTING.md CONTRIBUTING.* .github/CONTRIBUTING.md .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml
gh api --hostname "$HOST" --paginate "repos/$REPO/labels?per_page=100" --jq '.[].name'
Inspect README.md, contribution instructions, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml contact links, forms, labels, and open and closed issues. For questions/support, follow repository-prescribed Discussions/contact routing when available; otherwise ask or stop. Complete target verification for REPO, HOST, and TARGET. Fail closed before mutation when authentication, target verification, issue availability, policy, form selection, or required metadata is missing or ambiguous. A blank fallback is allowed only when isBlankIssuesEnabled is explicitly true.
Build LABEL_ARGS only from reviewed labels that exist and policy permits the actor to apply:
LABEL_ARGS=()
LABEL_ARGS+=(--label "$LABEL") # Repeat only for each permitted discovered label.
Duplicate And Form Decision
Describe the report in one sentence, derive
QUERY, then complete one duplicate search across open and closed issues:gh issue list --repo "$TARGET" --state all --search "$QUERY" --limit 1000If results are saturated or completeness is uncertain, narrow the read-only search or stop. Comment on a confirmed duplicate instead of creating one. Before commenting on a confirmed duplicate, perform the same privacy scan/redaction on the exact comment body as for publication.
Select one repository-provided form only when its declared purpose matches. If multiple forms match and policy does not distinguish them, stop and request that decision.
For a YAML form, read its schema and establish controls in declared order. Support only
input,textarea,dropdown, andcheckboxes. Markdown controls are non-answer guidance: honor their visible instructions when collecting and materializing adjacent answers, but do not render them as response sections. Fail closed before mutation on malformed, unsupported, missing, or ambiguous required structure or answers. A malformed schema, or missing or ambiguous required answers, fail closed: do not open a browser or mutate. A browser handoff is available only when the user explicitly requests browser completion or a syntactically valid selected form cannot safely/faithfully be represented by the automated path; otherwise report why automation is unsafe and stop.
| Control | Required handling |
|---|---|
input / textarea |
Preserve the visible label. Require an answer when validations.required is true; otherwise render _No response_. |
dropdown |
Preserve visible labels and options. Require exact selected option text; single-select has one selection, and multi-select preserves selections in declared options order. A required dropdown needs at least one valid selection; an optional dropdown with no selection renders _No response_. |
checkboxes |
Preserve the visible label and every option as - [x] or - [ ] in declared order. Enforce individually required checkboxes and require explicit first-person affirmation for first-person option text. |
For each answer, render ### <visible label> followed by its materialized value. For textarea.attributes.render, fence the answer with the declared language and a fence long enough for its content. Never invent answers, selections, confirmations, or labels.
A Markdown template may be completed only from known evidence into the same private BODY_FILE. If no matching template exists, use the reviewed structured blank fallback only when blank issues are explicitly enabled; otherwise stop without publishing.
Review And Publication
Before the single create attempt, review the target, title, selected form or permitted fallback, exact body, and permitted labels. Perform a privacy scan immediately before publication: replace private project names, usernames, hostnames, home paths, credentials, and private network addresses with useful placeholders without removing reproduction structure.
Create one owner-only temporary directory outside the repository for both private files; restrict it to the current user and clean up both files on every exit/outcome:
umask 077
REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" || exit 1
REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$REPO_ROOT" && pwd -P)" || exit 1
if [ "$REPO_ROOT" = "/" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "Temporary directory is inside the repository" >&2; exit 1
fi
TMP_DIR="$(TMPDIR=/tmp mktemp -d /tmp/gentle-ai-issue.XXXXXXXX)" || exit 1
trap 'rm -rf -- "$TMP_DIR"' EXIT
TMP_DIR_REAL="$(cd "$TMP_DIR" && pwd -P)" || exit 1
case "$TMP_DIR_REAL/" in
"$REPO_ROOT/"*) printf '%s\n' "Temporary directory is inside the repository" >&2; exit 1 ;;
esac
chmod 700 "$TMP_DIR_REAL"
BODY_FILE="$TMP_DIR_REAL/body.md"
READBACK_FILE="$TMP_DIR_REAL/readback.json"
Make one mutation attempt through the automated path and publish exactly once:
gh issue create --repo "$TARGET" --title "$TITLE" --body-file "$BODY_FILE" "${LABEL_ARGS[@]}"
When browser completion is available under the form decision above, an optional, separate browser handoff may open the repository form. It is never proof of publication and is never a response to malformed schemas or missing/ambiguous required answers:
gh issue create --repo "$TARGET" --web
Do not retry a timeout, network failure, missing identity, or other uncertain result. Capture the returned issue number, then read it back from the verified target host before reporting success:
gh issue view "$NUMBER" --repo "$TARGET" --json number,url,title,body,state,labels >"$READBACK_FILE"
Confirm that read-back identifies the target-host issue and that title and body match after only CRLF-to-LF and trailing-final-newline normalization. Report confirmed only after this target-host read-back. Otherwise report no_write when an authoritative rejection proves no issue was created, or unknown and stop all later mutations.
Triage
Before approving or closing an issue, verify it is concrete, non-duplicate, sufficiently evidenced, in scope, and consistent with repository label/status policy. If any point is uncertain, retain the repository review state and request the smallest missing evidence.