kellymears Issue Creator
Create a well-titled GitHub issue from a pull request, a Slack message, or a plain description — with duplicate detection and structured output.
Philosophy
An issue is a promise to do something. The title should be scannable in a list of 50 other issues. The body should give someone enough context to start working without asking follow-up questions. If the work is already tracked somewhere, don't create noise — link to what exists.
Workflow
1. Detect Source
Determine where the issue content is coming from:
- PR reference — the user mentions a PR number, URL, or says "from this PR"
- Slack message — the user pastes a message (often with timestamps, usernames, or conversational tone)
- Ad-hoc — the user describes the issue directly
2. Gather Context
From a PR:
gh pr view <number> --json title,body,labels,url,closingIssuesReferences
Check closingIssuesReferences — if the PR already links to an issue, surface it:
"This PR already references #34. Do you want to create a new issue anyway, or is #34 the one you're looking for?"
Wait for confirmation before proceeding. Don't create duplicate tracking.
Also read the PR diff to understand the scope of changes:
gh pr diff <number> --stat
From a Slack message:
The user will paste the message content. Extract:
- The core problem or request (strip conversational filler)
- Any mentioned files, errors, or URLs
- Who raised it (if visible) — useful for the issue body as context, not as an assignee
From ad-hoc input:
Take what the user gives you. Ask clarifying questions only if the description is genuinely too vague to write a useful issue — a single sentence is often enough.
3. Check for Duplicates
Before drafting, search for existing issues that might cover the same ground:
gh issue list --state open --limit 20 --search "<key terms>"
If something looks like a match, surface it:
"Found #12 which looks related: 'Session tokens not invalidated on logout'. Is this the same issue, or something different?"
Only proceed to creation after the user confirms it's new.
4. Draft
Compose the issue title and body.
Title follows conventional commit style — type and concise description:
type(scope): concise description
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
bug |
Something is broken |
feat |
New functionality requested |
docs |
Documentation gap or error |
task |
Maintenance, refactor, or chore |
Body uses this template:
[One to two sentence description of the issue]
Source: [PR #N / Slack / reported by user]
## Context
[2-3 sentences of relevant background. What's happening now, what should happen instead, or what's missing. Include error messages, file paths, or URLs if available.]
## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] [Concrete, verifiable outcome]
- [ ] [Another outcome if needed]
Rules for the body:
- Description: Brief and direct. State what's wrong or what's needed.
- Source line: Credit where the issue came from. For Slack, you can say "Raised in Slack by [name]" if the name is visible. For PRs, link the PR. For ad-hoc, omit the source line.
- Context: Enough background that someone unfamiliar can understand the issue without reading a PR or Slack thread. Include reproduction steps for bugs.
- Acceptance Criteria: Checkboxes describing what "done" looks like. Keep them concrete and testable. 2-4 items is typical.
5. Labels
Suggest labels based on the issue type and content. Check what labels exist in the repo first:
gh label list --limit 50
Map to existing labels where possible rather than inventing new ones. Present the suggested labels with the draft for the user to confirm.
6. Confirm
Present the draft title, body, and suggested labels to the user. Wait for confirmation before creating.
7. Create
gh issue create --title "type(scope): description" --label "label1,label2" --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
[the body from step 4]
EOF
)"
Return the issue URL to the user.
Safety Rules
- Always check for linked issues on PRs — don't create duplicates
- Always search for existing issues — surface potential matches
- Always confirm the draft — don't create without user approval
- Don't assign without asking — mention potential assignees but let the user decide
- Respect privacy — if a Slack message contains sensitive context, note it but don't paste it verbatim into a public issue
Examples
From a PR:
User: "create an issue from PR #47" → Read the PR, check for linked issues, draft an issue capturing the problem the PR solves (or a follow-up task discovered during the PR).
From Slack:
User pastes: "hey has anyone noticed the dashboard is super slow when you filter by date range? it takes like 10 seconds to load" → Title: bug(dashboard): date range filter causes slow load times → Body captures the symptom, asks about reproduction steps if needed.
Ad-hoc:
User: "we need to add rate limiting to the public API" → Title: feat(api): add rate limiting to public endpoints → Body describes the need, suggests acceptance criteria like "returns 429 after threshold".