Gh Issue Create

GitHub Issue Create Skill

Create GitHub issues using the gh CLI with intelligent templates and automation.

When to Use

• User says "create an issue" or "file a bug report"
• User wants to track a feature request
• User needs to document a task or problem
• User wants to create issues from errors or logs
• After discovering bugs during development

Prerequisites

Verify GitHub CLI is installed and authenticated:

gh --version
gh auth status

Verify repository access:

gh repo view --json viewerPermission --jq '.viewerPermission'
# Should be: WRITE, MAINTAIN, or ADMIN (or TRIAGE for issues)

Execution Workflow

Step 1: Determine Issue Type

Identify what kind of issue to create:

Bug Report:

• Something is broken or not working as expected
• Use bug template if available
• Include reproduction steps

Feature Request:

• New functionality or enhancement
• Use feature template if available
• Include use case and acceptance criteria

Task/Chore:

• Work item, refactoring, or maintenance
• Simple description of work needed
• Include definition of done

Question/Discussion:

• Need clarification or discussion
• May not have a clear resolution
• Use discussion if available, otherwise issue

Step 2: Check for Existing Templates

# List available issue templates
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/contents/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE \
  --jq '.[].name' 2>/dev/null || echo "No templates found"

# Or check in root
ls -la .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ 2>/dev/null

If templates exist:

# Create with specific template
gh issue create --template bug_report.md

# Or list templates interactively
gh issue create  # Will prompt for template

Step 3: Gather Issue Information

For Bug Reports:

1. Title: Clear, specific description of the bug
2. Steps to reproduce
3. Expected behavior
4. Actual behavior
5. Environment details (OS, version, etc.)
6. Error messages or logs
7. Screenshots if relevant

For Feature Requests:

1. Title: Concise feature description
2. Problem/Use case: Why is this needed?
3. Proposed solution: How should it work?
4. Alternatives considered
5. Additional context

For Tasks:

1. Title: What needs to be done
2. Description: Context and details
3. Definition of done: How to know it's complete
4. Dependencies: Related issues or blockers

Step 4: Create the Issue

Simple issue:

gh issue create \
  --title "Fix login button not responding" \
  --body "Button doesn't respond when clicked on mobile Safari"

With template structure:

gh issue create \
  --title "Bug: User authentication fails on Safari" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Description
Users cannot log in when using Safari browser on iOS.

## Steps to Reproduce
1. Open app in Safari on iPhone
2. Navigate to login page
3. Enter valid credentials
4. Click "Login" button
5. Nothing happens

## Expected Behavior
User should be logged in and redirected to dashboard.

## Actual Behavior
Login button doesn't respond. No error message shown.

## Environment
- Browser: Safari 17.2
- OS: iOS 17.3
- Device: iPhone 14 Pro
- App Version: 2.1.0

## Error Logs

Console: "Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'submit'"

## Additional Context
Works fine on Chrome and Firefox desktop.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)"

With metadata:

gh issue create \
  --title "Feature: Add dark mode support" \
  --body "..." \
  --label "enhancement,priority-high" \
  --assignee "@me" \
  --milestone "v2.0" \
  --project "Q1 Roadmap"

Interactive mode:

# Let gh prompt for all fields
gh issue create

From file:

gh issue create \
  --title "Bug: Memory leak in auth module" \
  --body-file bug-report.md \
  --label "bug,performance"

Step 5: Link Related Items

Link to PR:

# Create issue and note PR number
gh issue create --title "..." --body "Related to #123"

Reference other issues:

gh issue create --title "..." --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Depends on #45
Blocks #67
Related to #89
EOF
)"

Step 6: Capture Issue URL

# Create and capture URL
ISSUE_URL=$(gh issue create --title "..." --body "..." 2>&1 | grep -o 'https://github.com/[^[:space:]]*')
echo "Created issue: $ISSUE_URL"

# Or get issue number
ISSUE_NUM=$(echo "$ISSUE_URL" | grep -o '[0-9]*$')
echo "Issue #$ISSUE_NUM created"

Step 7: Report to User

Present the result:

✓ Issue #123 created successfully

Title: Fix login button on Safari
Type: Bug
Labels: bug, priority-high
Assigned: @username
Milestone: v2.0

🔗 [View Issue](https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123)

Next steps:

- Start working: Use `gh-issue-develop` skill
- Add comments: Use `gh-issue-comment` skill

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Quick Bug Report

# Minimal bug report
gh issue create \
  --title "Bug: Checkout button crashes app" \
  --body "App crashes when user clicks checkout with empty cart" \
  --label "bug"

Scenario 2: Detailed Feature Request

gh issue create \
  --title "Feature: Export data to CSV" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
## Problem
Users need to export their data for analysis in Excel/spreadsheets.

## Proposed Solution
Add "Export to CSV" button on the data table page that:
- Exports all visible columns
- Respects current filters
- Downloads immediately
- Includes headers

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Export button added to data table toolbar
- [ ] CSV file includes all filtered rows
- [ ] Column headers are human-readable
- [ ] File named with timestamp: data_YYYY-MM-DD.csv
- [ ] Works for tables with >10,000 rows

## Alternatives Considered
- PDF export - Less flexible for analysis
- API endpoint - Too technical for end users
- Excel format - More complex, CSV is universal

## Additional Context
Users have been requesting this for 3 months.
Competitors already offer this feature.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)" \
  --label "enhancement,user-request" \
  --assignee "alice" \
  --milestone "v2.1"

Scenario 3: Task with Checklist

gh issue create \
  --title "Task: Update all dependencies" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Update all npm dependencies to latest stable versions.

## Checklist
- [ ] Run `npm outdated` to identify updates
- [ ] Update minor/patch versions
- [ ] Test all functionality
- [ ] Update major versions one at a time
- [ ] Run full test suite after each major update
- [ ] Update lockfile
- [ ] Document breaking changes

## Definition of Done
- All dependencies on latest stable versions
- All tests passing
- No new security vulnerabilities
- CHANGELOG.md updated

Estimated time: 4 hours
EOF
)" \
  --label "maintenance,dependencies" \
  --assignee "@me"

Scenario 4: Bulk Issue Creation from Audit

# Create multiple issues from a security audit report

while IFS=, read -r title severity description; do
  gh issue create \
    --title "Security: $title" \
    --body "$(cat <<EOF
## Severity
$severity

## Description
$description

## Remediation Required
Please address this security finding.

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)" \
    --label "security,$severity"
  sleep 1  # Rate limiting
done < security-findings.csv

Scenario 5: Create Issue from Error Log

# Parse error logs and create issues

ERROR_MSG=$(grep "ERROR" app.log | tail -1)
STACK_TRACE=$(grep -A 10 "ERROR" app.log | tail -10)

gh issue create \
  --title "Bug: Application error - ${ERROR_MSG:0:50}" \
  --body "$(cat <<EOF
## Error Message
\`\`\`
$ERROR_MSG
\`\`\`

## Stack Trace
\`\`\`
$STACK_TRACE
\`\`\`

## Context
Occurred in production at $(date)
User ID: $USER_ID
Request ID: $REQUEST_ID

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
EOF
)" \
  --label "bug,production,needs-triage"

Scenario 6: Create Issue from PR Review

# Create follow-up issues from PR review comments

gh issue create \
  --title "Refactor: Extract auth logic from handlers" \
  --body "$(cat <<'EOF'
Follow-up from PR #234 review.

## Context
During review of authentication PR, we identified that auth logic
is mixed with HTTP handlers, making it hard to test.

## Task
Extract authentication logic into separate service:
- Create `AuthService` class
- Move validation logic from handlers
- Add unit tests for `AuthService`
- Update handlers to use service

## Related
- PR #234
- Original implementation

Estimated time: 2-3 hours
EOF
)" \
  --label "refactoring,technical-debt" \
  --assignee "@me"

Advanced Options

Using Issue Templates

Check available templates:

gh api repos/:owner/:repo/contents/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE \
  | jq -r '.[].name'

Create with specific template:

gh issue create --template bug_report.yml

Bypass template:

gh issue create --template ""

Issue Forms (GitHub Issue Forms)

For repositories using issue forms:

# List form fields
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/contents/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml \
  | jq -r '.content' | base64 -d

# Create issue (will prompt for form fields)
gh issue create --template bug_report.yml

Projects and Milestones

List available projects:

gh project list

List available milestones:

gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[].title'

Create with project:

gh issue create \
  --title "..." \
  --body "..." \
  --project "Sprint 23"

Auto-assign Based on Labels

# Auto-assign based on area
LABEL="backend"
case $LABEL in
  "backend")
    ASSIGNEE="bob"
    ;;
  "frontend")
    ASSIGNEE="alice"
    ;;
  "security")
    ASSIGNEE="charlie"
    ;;
esac

gh issue create \
  --title "..." \
  --body "..." \
  --label "$LABEL" \
  --assignee "$ASSIGNEE"

Create Issue and Branch Together

# Create issue and immediately start working
ISSUE_URL=$(gh issue create --title "..." --body "...")
ISSUE_NUM=$(echo "$ISSUE_URL" | grep -o '[0-9]*$')

# Create branch for issue
gh issue develop $ISSUE_NUM --checkout

Issue Templates

Bug Report Template

## Description

[Clear description of the bug]

## Steps to Reproduce

1. Step one
2. Step two
3. Step three

## Expected Behavior

[What should happen]

## Actual Behavior

[What actually happens]

## Environment

- OS: [e.g., macOS 14.0]
- Browser: [e.g., Chrome 120]
- Version: [e.g., 2.1.0]

## Error Messages

[Paste error messages here]

## Additional Context
[Any other relevant information]

Feature Request Template

## Problem Statement

[What problem does this solve?]

## Proposed Solution

[How should it work?]

## Use Cases

- Use case 1
- Use case 2

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] Criterion 1
- [ ] Criterion 2

## Alternatives Considered

[Other approaches considered]

## Additional Context

[Mockups, examples, references]

Tips

• Use clear titles: Make issues discoverable in searches
• Add labels early: Helps with triage and filtering
• Assign ownership: Clarify who's responsible
• Link related items: Connect issues and PRs
• Use templates: Ensure consistency and completeness
• Include reproduction: For bugs, always include steps to reproduce
• Attach files: Use --body-file for long descriptions
• Set milestones: Track issues by release
• Use projects: Organize work in project boards

Error Handling

Error: "Not authorized to create issues"

• Cause: Insufficient repository permissions
• Solution: Request triage/write access or use personal fork

Error: "Issue template not found"

• Cause: Template doesn't exist
• Solution: List templates with gh api or create without template

Error: "Invalid label"

• Cause: Label doesn't exist in repository
• Solution: List labels with gh label list or create new label

Error: "Invalid assignee"

• Cause: User not a repository collaborator
• Solution: Add as collaborator or skip assignment

Error: "Project not found"

• Cause: Project doesn't exist or no access
• Solution: List projects with gh project list

Best Practices

1. Clear titles: Use format "Type: Brief description"

   • Bug: Login fails on mobile
   • Feature: Add export to CSV
   • Task: Update dependencies

2. Detailed descriptions: Provide enough context for anyone to understand

3. Use labels consistently:

   • Type: bug, enhancement, task, question
   • Priority: priority-low, priority-high, critical
   • Area: backend, frontend, security, docs

4. Assign appropriately: Assign to person who will do the work, not reporter

5. Link related items: Use #123 syntax to reference issues/PRs

6. Use milestones: Track issues by release or sprint

7. Include acceptance criteria: Make it clear when issue is complete

8. Attach evidence: Add screenshots, logs, or reproduction repos

9. Set expectations: Estimate effort or timeline if known

10. Follow up promptly: Update issues as work progresses

Related Skills

• gh-issue-view - View issue details
• gh-issue-develop - Start working on issue (create branch)
• gh-issue-comment - Add updates to issue
• gh-issue-edit - Update issue metadata
• gh-issue-close - Close/resolve issue

Limitations

• Requires write/triage access to repository
• Cannot create issues in archived repositories
• Template selection limited in non-interactive mode
• Cannot attach binary files directly (must use separate upload)
• Project assignment may require additional permissions

See Also

• GitHub CLI docs: https://cli.github.com/manual/gh_issue_create
• Issue templates: https://docs.github.com/en/communities/using-templates-to-encourage-useful-issues-and-pull-requests
• Mastering Issues: https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues