Issue Review

Iterative Issue Tracker Review (Rule of 5)

Perform thorough issue review using the Rule of 5 - iterative refinement until convergence.

Setup

Gathering Issues to Review

For Beads:

bd list                    # All issues
bd ready                   # Unblocked issues
bd graph                   # Dependency visualization
bd show <id>               # Individual issue details
bd dep tree                # Dependency tree
bd dep cycles              # Check for circular dependencies

For GitHub Issues:

gh issue list --label "needs-review" --json number,title,body,labels
gh issue view <number>

For other systems:

• Export issues to JSON/CSV
• Use API or CLI tools
• Provide issue data as input

Process

Perform 5 passes, each focusing on different aspects. After each pass (starting with pass 2), check for convergence.

PASS 1 - Completeness & Clarity

Focus on:

• Title clearly describes the work
• Description has enough context to implement
• File paths and changes are concrete (not vague)
• Success criteria or tests are defined
• No ambiguous or vague language
• Acceptance criteria clear

Output format:

PASS 1: Completeness & Clarity

Issues Found:

[CLRT-001] [CRITICAL|HIGH|MEDIUM|LOW] - Issue ID/Number
Title: [Issue title]
Description: [What's unclear or incomplete]
Evidence: [Why this is a problem]
Recommendation: [How to fix - specific command or action]

[CLRT-002] ...

What to look for:

• Vague titles: "Fix auth" (fix what?)
• No description or minimal description
• "Implement X" without saying how or where
• Missing file paths
• No verification steps
• Unclear done criteria

For Beads:

# Fix issues found
bd edit <id> description     # Update description
bd update <id> --title="New clear title"

For GitHub:

gh issue edit <number> --title "New title"
gh issue edit <number> --body "New description"

PASS 2 - Scope & Atomicity

Focus on:

• Each issue represents one logical unit of work
• Issues not too large (should complete in one session)
• Issues not too small (trivial changes bundled appropriately)
• Clear boundaries between issues
• No overlapping scope between issues
• Each issue independently valuable

Prefix: SCOPE-001, SCOPE-002, etc.

What to look for:

• "Implement entire authentication system" (too large)
• "Fix typo in README line 42" (maybe too small, could bundle)
• Two issues both say "update user model"
• Issue requires changes across 10+ files
• Issue mixes refactoring with feature work

For Beads:

# Split large issues
bd create --title="Phase 1: ..." --description="..."
bd create --title="Phase 2: ..." --description="..."
bd dep add phase2-id phase1-id  # phase2 depends on phase1

# Merge small issues
bd close small-issue-1 --reason="merged into main-issue"
bd update main-issue --description="Now includes work from small-issue-1"

PASS 3 - Dependencies & Ordering

Focus on:

• Dependencies correctly defined
• No missing dependencies (B needs A but not linked)
• No circular dependencies (A→B→C→A)
• Critical path is sensible
• Parallelizable work not falsely serialized
• Dependency rationale is clear

Prefix: DEP-001, DEP-002, etc.

What to look for:

• Issue requires another to be done but not linked
• Circular dependency chains
• Everything depends on one issue (bottleneck)
• No dependencies when clear order exists
• Dependencies prevent parallel work unnecessarily

For Beads:

# Check for problems
bd dep cycles                           # Find circular dependencies
bd dep tree                            # Visualize dependencies

# Fix dependencies
bd dep add <blocked-id> <blocker-id>   # Add missing dependency
bd dep remove <blocked-id> <blocker-id> # Remove incorrect dependency

For GitHub:

# Use labels and issue references
gh issue edit <number> --add-label "blocked-by-#123"
# Or reference in description: "Depends on #123"

PASS 4 - Plan & Spec Alignment

Focus on:

• Issues trace back to plan phases
• Plan references in descriptions
• Related specs linked where applicable
• TDD approach clear (tests defined before impl)
• All plan phases have corresponding issues
• Issue breakdown matches plan structure

Prefix: ALIGN-001, ALIGN-002, etc.

What to look for:

• Plan has 5 phases but only 3 issues
• Issue doesn't reference source plan
• Plan says "test first" but issue doesn't mention tests
• Spec requirements not covered by any issue
• Issue contradicts plan approach

For Beads:

# Add plan reference
bd update <id> --description="...

Ref: plans/2026-01-12-feature.md#phase-2"

For GitHub:

gh issue edit <number> --body "...

Related Plan: `plans/2026-01-12-feature.md#phase-2`"

PASS 5 - Executability & Handoff

Focus on:

• Can be picked up by any developer/agent
• No implicit knowledge required
• Verification steps clear and specific
• Handoff points defined for multi-issue work
• Priority and labels appropriate
• Estimation realistic (if used)

Prefix: EXEC-001, EXEC-002, etc.

What to look for:

• "You know what to do" (no, they don't)
• Assumes knowledge of previous conversations
• "Test it" without saying how
• No verification steps
• Priority/labels missing or incorrect

Convergence Check

After each pass (starting with pass 2), report:

Convergence Check After Pass [N]:

1. New CRITICAL issues: [count]
2. Total new issues this pass: [count]
3. Total new issues previous pass: [count]
4. Estimated false positive rate: [percentage]

Status: [CONVERGED | ITERATE | NEEDS_HUMAN]

Convergence criteria:

• CONVERGED: No new CRITICAL, <10% new issues vs previous pass, <20% false positives
• ITERATE: Continue to next pass
• NEEDS_HUMAN: Found blocking issues requiring human judgment

If CONVERGED before Pass 5: Stop and report final findings.

Final Report

After convergence or completing all passes:

## Issue Tracker Review Final Report

**System:** [Beads/GitHub/Linear/Jira]
**Scope:** [All issues / Milestone X / Labels Y]

### Summary

Total Issues Reviewed: [count]

Issues Found by Severity:
- CRITICAL: [count] - Must fix before work starts
- HIGH: [count] - Should fix before work starts
- MEDIUM: [count] - Consider addressing
- LOW: [count] - Nice to have

Convergence: Pass [N]

### Top 3 Most Critical Findings

1. [DEP-001] Circular dependency detected
   Issues: #42 → #43 → #44 → #42
   Impact: Cannot start any of these issues
   Fix: `bd dep remove 42 44` to break cycle

2. [SCOPE-002] Issue too large to complete
   Issue: #38 "Implement authentication system"
   Impact: Unmanageable scope, blocks other work
   Fix: Split into 5 issues for each plan phase

3. [CLRT-003] Missing implementation details
   Issue: #29 "Update API"
   Impact: Cannot implement without more info
   Fix: Add file paths, endpoints, and success criteria

### Recommended Actions

Provide specific commands for fixes:

**Beads Commands:**
```bash
# Fix circular dependency
bd dep remove 42 44

# Split large issue
bd create --title="Phase 1: Auth tokens" --description="..."
bd create --title="Phase 2: Auth middleware" --description="..."
bd dep add phase2-id phase1-id
bd close 38 --reason="split into phase issues"

# Update missing details
bd edit 29 description
# Then add: Files: api/routes.ts, api/handlers.ts; Tests: api/routes.test.ts

GitHub Commands:

gh issue edit 29 --body "...

Files to change:
- api/routes.ts
- api/handlers.ts
- api/routes.test.ts

Success criteria:
- [ ] Tests pass
- [ ] Endpoints return correct status codes"

Verdict

[READY_TO_WORK | NEEDS_UPDATES | NEEDS_REPLANNING]

Rationale: [1-2 sentences explaining the verdict]

Issue Quality Assessment

• Clarity: [Excellent|Good|Fair|Poor] - [brief comment]
• Scope: [Excellent|Good|Fair|Poor] - [brief comment]
• Dependencies: [Excellent|Good|Fair|Poor] - [brief comment]
• Completeness: [Excellent|Good|Fair|Poor] - [brief comment]

## Rules

1. **Reference specific issues** - Use issue IDs/numbers precisely
2. **Provide actionable commands** - Show exact commands to fix issues
3. **Check actual content** - Don't assume, verify with issue details
4. **Prioritize correctly**:
   - CRITICAL: Blocks all work (circular deps, missing info)
   - HIGH: Blocks specific work or causes confusion
   - MEDIUM: Could be clearer but workable
   - LOW: Minor improvements
5. **If converged before pass 5** - Stop and report