# File Issue

> File a GitHub issue only when explicitly requested or delegated by another selected workflow; do not create issues merely because a problem was found.

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

---


# File a GitHub issue

Before drafting, read `AGENTS.md` and:

- `.agents/skills/writing-style/SKILL.md`
- `.agents/skills/writing-style/issues.md`
- `.agents/skills/writing-style/ai-writing-donts.md`

## Issue Kinds and Body Structure

Pick the smallest matching structure.

| Kind | When to use | Labels |
|---|---|---|
| **bug** | A bug or regression was found | `bug`, `agent-generated` |
| **task** | An improvement, refactor, or feature request | `agent-generated` + priority if known |
| **experiment** | An experiment needs tracking | `experiment`, `agent-generated` |

### Bug body

```markdown
<what is broken and its impact -- concrete symptoms or error messages>

Reproduce:
1. <step>
2. <step>

Expected: <what should happen instead>

<optional: concise evidence or confirmed root cause>
```

### Task body

```markdown
<what needs to be done and why -- enough context for anyone on the team>

Done when:
<specific, testable completion criteria>
```

### Experiment body

```markdown
## TL;DR

<One-paragraph current summary. Leave blank only when the work is just being kicked off.>

## Description

<Context someone outside the thread can understand.>

## Hypothesis or Goal

<What are you trying to learn, fix, or achieve?>

## Status

<Current state; update as evidence lands.>

## Links

* Logbook:
* W&B Report:
* Important updates:

## Decision Log

## Conclusion
```

## Workflow

### 1. Gather and classify

Extract the symptom or desired outcome, impact, location, reproduction, known
cause, and severity. Ask when the issue or its kind is ambiguous.

### 2. Check duplicates

Search for existing issues first:

```bash
gh issue list --repo marin-community/marin --state open --search "<keyword>"
```

If a match exists, tell the user and offer to comment on it instead.

### 3. Draft

**Title**: At most 80 characters, optionally prefixed with a scope tag. State a
factual symptom for a bug (e.g. `[levanter] Gradient accumulation drops the last
microbatch`) and an imperative outcome for a task (e.g. `[levanter] Handle
partial accumulation steps`). Do not add `bug:`, `task:`, or another type
prefix.

Use the body structure above. Keep the facts needed to act; link code with
`file:line`, trim errors to relevant frames, and omit filler, repeated titles,
diff inventories, and unnecessary implementation narration. Bugs need numbered
reproduction steps; tasks need testable completion criteria.

### 4. Inspect the payload

Apply the writing-style final compression pass to the exact title and body that
will be sent to GitHub. For a bug or task, verify the title is at most 80
characters. Every remaining sentence must add
a symptom, impact, reproduction step, observation, expected behavior, or
completion criterion.

### 5. Apply the approval boundary

If the user explicitly asked to file an issue, skip the preview — file it and
share the link. If the agent surfaced the issue (not explicitly requested),
show the drafted title and body and wait for approval or edits.

### 6. File the issue

Write the body to a uniquely named temp file, then pass it with `--body-file`.
Do not inline the body with shell substitution (`--body "$(cat <<'EOF' ...)"`)
— multiline text can be corrupted by pasted output or escaping mistakes. Do not
reuse a fixed path like `/tmp/issue-body.md`; concurrent agent runs can
overwrite each other's drafts on shared hosts.

```bash
body_file="$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/issue-body.XXXXXX.md")"
trap 'rm -f "$body_file"' EXIT

cat > "$body_file" <<'EOF'
<body>
EOF

issue_url="$(gh issue create --repo marin-community/marin \
  --title "<title>" \
  --label "agent-generated" \
  --body-file "$body_file")"
```

Add kind-appropriate labels (`bug`, `experiment`). If a relevant label does not
exist, skip it rather than creating new labels. For task issues, add a priority
label (`p1`, `p2`, `p3`) if the user specifies one or severity is clear.

Before creating the issue, re-open the body file and verify it contains no
unrelated shell output (pre-commit logs, pytest session headers, prompt
transcripts). If it does, clean the draft before posting.

After creating the issue, fetch its published text with
`gh issue view "$issue_url" --json title,body` and correct any text added or
altered by the publishing tool.

### 7. Report

Print the issue URL.