Babysit With Github Copilot

babysit-with-github-copilot

Drive a pull request from "just opened" (or "ready for review") to merged + clean worktree, in tight 5-minute cycles around GitHub Copilot review feedback.

Invocation: always /babysit-with-github-copilot (hyphens, not colons). The on-disk skill name is babysit-with-github-copilot. Use this exact form in any ScheduleWakeup prompt that re-enters this skill — a colon form is NOT a valid command and will fail with "Unknown command".

Hard stops (read first — violations ship broken PRs)

These are non-negotiable. If any would be violated, stop the turn and schedule the next cycle instead of merging.

1. Never merge in the same agent turn as git push. Push ends the turn. Schedule the next cycle (ScheduleWakeup, 300 s) and exit.
2. Never merge in the same agent turn as re-requesting Copilot review. Re-request fires against the new commit; Copilot needs time to respond.
3. Never merge without completing Step 3 at least once after the latest push. Replying to comment threads is not a substitute for waiting.
4. Never treat “no CI checks reported” as permission to skip the wait. Absent CI is not a merge signal during the review loop.
5. Never merge while Copilot comments exist whose created_at is after last_push_at and are not addressed with a code push or a documented “won’t fix” reply.
6. Never merge while a Copilot review Action is in_progress or queued. An active Action is a stronger signal than silence — the review is in flight, not absent. Merging cancels it mid-scan (the --delete-branch kills the run), and you ship without seeing comments that were about to land. Check via gh run list -R <owner>/<repo> --branch <head-branch> --workflow "Running Copilot Code Review" --limit 3 (the workflow is named "Running Copilot Code Review", not "Copilot"; if unsure, gh run list -R <owner>/<repo> --branch <head-branch> --limit 6 and match the run whose name contains "Copilot") before every merge. Wait for status: completed (any conclusion is fine — Copilot may produce comments AND a completed run, but a still-running run means more comments may still appear).
7. Never merge until Copilot has posted a review event dated after last_push_at. This is the master gate. After a re-request, Copilot always submits a review summary — even "I reviewed your changes and found no new comments" is an explicit review event with its own submitted_at (the REST field the gate uses; GraphQL calls the same value submittedAt). That event, newer than your last push, is what authorises merge. Until it arrives, the absence of comments is pending review, not clean review — keep waiting (ScheduleWakeup), never merge on silence. A completed Copilot Action is necessary but not sufficient: the Action can finish seconds before the review summary posts (this exact race has shipped PRs with unaddressed comments). Gate on the review event, not the Action — and resolve that review's comments through its own endpoint, not the global comments list (see Hard Stop #8 / Step 3).
8. Never read a review's comments from the global /repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/comments list to decide a merge. A review event appears on /repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews a few seconds before its inline comments propagate to the global comments list — so the global list can read "0 new comments" while the review you just detected actually carries several (this race merged a PR with 4 unaddressed comments). Get the post-push review's numeric id, then read gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews/<id>/comments — the per-review endpoint is consistent with the review object, so its count is authoritative the instant the review is visible. Merge only when that endpoint returns zero comments for the post-push review. (Step 3 has the full command; the bot's login differs per endpoint — match with startswith("copilot-pull-request-reviewer") on REST.)

If you pushed fixes this turn: commit → push → re-request review (Step 2) → brief status to user → ScheduleWakeup → stop. Do not call gh pr merge until a later wake-up completes Step 3.

Preconditions (verify before starting)

• Current branch has commits ahead of origin/main (or repo's default).
• Working tree clean (or only files you're about to commit yourself).
• gh is authenticated for the repo.
• Conventional Commits already used on the branch's history.
• A spec exists at docs/superpowers/specs/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-design.md if the repo follows that convention. Don't fabricate one — if absent and the change is non-trivial, flag it before opening the PR.

If any precondition fails, stop and report. Don't paper over.

Loop state to track between cycles

Persist across wake-ups (in the wakeup prompt or session notes):

Reset awaiting_rereview to false only after a full Step 3 wake-up that finds (a) a Copilot review event with submitted_at > last_push_at and (b) no unaddressed Copilot comments newer than last_push_at. The merge gate is last_review_at > last_push_at — a fix push always makes last_push_at newer than last_review_at, so you cannot merge again until Copilot re-reviews.

Step 1 — Open the PR (if not already open)

1. Lint + test locally first. The user's repo conventions take precedence (make lint && make test). Don't push if lint or unit tests fail — fix first.
2. Rebase onto the upstream default branch: git fetch origin --prune && git rebase origin/main
3. Push: git push -u origin <branch>.
4. Compose the PR body from the repo's template at .github/WORKFLOW_TEMPLATES/pull_request.md (or PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md). Fill it in fully — no placeholder bullets, no "TBD". Sections expected: Summary, Context, What changed, Test plan, Risk & rollback, Checklist.
5. Open via gh pr create --title "<conventional title>" --body-file <path>. Pass the body via --body-file, never inline --body "$(cat ...)".
6. Capture the returned PR URL + number; the rest of the loop hangs off <N>.

Step 2 — Request Copilot review

gh pr edit <N> -R <owner>/<repo> --add-reviewer copilot-pull-request-reviewer

Copilot may auto-review on PR creation in some repos; the explicit add is a no-op if so, and a trigger if not. Don't request other human reviewers unless the user told you to.

Step 3 — The 5-minute cycle (mandatory gate)

You must sleep 5 minutes before deciding to merge. Use ScheduleWakeup with delaySeconds: 300 and a prompt that re-enters this skill. Do not poll in a tight loop; do not skip because “CI is empty” or “comments look addressed”.

On wake-up, do all of the following before deciding next move:

gh pr checks <N> -R <owner>/<repo>          # CI status
gh pr view <N> -R <owner>/<repo> --json reviews \
  --jq '.reviews | map({author: .author.login, state: .state, submitted: .submittedAt})'

# Copilot review Action — separate from CI checks. An in-flight Copilot run
# blocks merge (see Hard Stop #6). Note: `gh pr checks` can lag and report
# `pending` for a job that's already completed — verify any "pending" via
# `gh run view <runId> -R <owner>/<repo> --json status,conclusion` before treating it as live.
gh run list -R <owner>/<repo> --branch <head-branch> --workflow "Running Copilot Code Review" --limit 3 \
  --json status,conclusion,createdAt
# Workflow name is "Running Copilot Code Review" (NOT "Copilot"). If --workflow
# returns nothing, run without it and match the run whose name contains Copilot:
#   gh run list -R <owner>/<repo> --branch <head-branch> --limit 6 --json status,conclusion,name,createdAt

Compute the merge gate authoritatively. Do NOT filter the global /repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/comments list by timestamp: a review event becomes visible on /repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews a few seconds before its own inline comments propagate to the global comments list — that race once merged a PR with 4 unaddressed comments. Instead, find the post-push review's id, then read that review's own comments (the per-review endpoint is consistent with the review object, so there is no lag):

# 1) Newest post-push Copilot review. REST /reviews reports the bot as
#    "copilot-pull-request-reviewer[bot]" with field submitted_at; startswith()
#    also matches a non-[bot] form. `--paginate` emits ONE array per page, so
#    `jq -s` (slurp) + `add` concatenates all pages into a single array before
#    filtering — a bare `jq 'map(...)'` would run per-page and pick the wrong
#    (or multiple) ids. sort_by parsed epoch (fromdateiso8601), not the raw
#    string, so "newest" stays correct regardless of timestamp formatting.
review=$(gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews --paginate \
  | jq -s --arg lp "<last_push_at>" \
      'add
       | map(select((.user.login|startswith("copilot-pull-request-reviewer"))
                    and (.submitted_at|fromdateiso8601? // 0) > ($lp|fromdateiso8601? // 0)))
       | sort_by(.submitted_at | fromdateiso8601? // 0) | last')
review_id=$(printf '%s' "$review" | jq -r '.id? // empty')
# Persist into loop state ONLY when a post-push review exists — otherwise keep
# the previously persisted value (overwriting with "" would drift the state and
# could break the documented last_review_at > last_push_at gate):
[ -n "$review_id" ] && last_review_at=$(printf '%s' "$review" | jq -r '.submitted_at? // empty')

# 2) Read THAT review's own comments (authoritative; no propagation lag).
#    Always emit an explicit {count, comments} object — including the
#    no-review case — so the gate output is unambiguous in transcripts/logs:
if [ -n "$review_id" ]; then
  gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews/$review_id/comments \
    --jq '{count: length, comments: [.[] | {path, line, body, user: .user.login}]}'
else
  printf '%s\n' '{"count":0,"comments":[],"note":"no post-push review yet — gate closed"}'
fi

Interpret:

• review_id empty → Copilot has NOT re-reviewed since the push. Gate closed; you may NOT merge no matter how quiet the PR looks (Step 4 #6).
• review_id present, zero comments → genuinely clean re-review → merge-eligible.
• review_id present, ≥ 1 comment → those are unaddressed until fixed and pushed (or replied “won’t fix” with reason); go to Step 4 #3.

The bot's login differs by endpoint: REST /reviews → copilot-pull-request-reviewer[bot], REST /comments → Copilot, gh pr view <N> -R <owner>/<repo> --json reviews (GraphQL) → copilot-pull-request-reviewer. Match accordingly. Always compare timestamps numerically with fromdateiso8601? // 0, never as strings.

Step 4 — Decide

Decision tree, in order. If the answer sends you to Step 3, do not merge this turn.

1. CI failing → investigate. Reproduce locally if possible. Push a fix. Set last_push_at, awaiting_rereview=true. Re-request review (Step 2). Stop turn → Step 3. Do NOT merge with red CI.
2. CI still pending after 5 minutes → wait one more cycle, then escalate to the user if it's still pending — usually means a stuck runner.
3. New Copilot comments since watermark (see Step 3) → address every comment that has substance. Skip nothing without justification (a "won't fix" gets a one-line reply on the comment with the reason). Run lint + tests again. Commit + push. Set last_push_at, awaiting_rereview=true. For every addressed comment, complete Step 4a (reply + resolve + echo) before re-requesting review. Re-request Copilot via Step 2. Stop turn → Step 3. Do NOT merge.
4. awaiting_rereview is true → you pushed since the last completed cycle. Even if comments look answered, waited time has not elapsed. Apply Step 5 on this wake-up only; do not merge on the push turn itself.
5. Copilot review Action is in_progress or queued → wait one more cycle. ScheduleWakeup 270s. Do NOT merge — see Hard Stop #6.
6. No Copilot review event dated after last_push_at yet → Copilot has not finished re-reviewing, even if its Action shows completed (the summary posts seconds after the Action ends). Wait one more cycle (ScheduleWakeup 270s). Do NOT merge — see Hard Stop #7. If no review event arrives after 3 consecutive cycles (15 min), surface to the user and let them decide; never auto-merge on silence.
7. CI green (or no checks) AND a post-push Copilot review event exists (review_id non-empty) AND that review's own comments endpoint (/repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews/<review_id>/comments) returns zero AND no Copilot Action in flight → merge. Skip to Step 6. (Never substitute the global comments list here — Hard Stop #8.)

Note: branch #7 is the only path to merge. Branches #1, #3, #5, #6, and the push turn of #4 all require another Step 3 cycle first.

Step 4a — Reply, resolve, and echo every addressed comment (mandatory)

After pushing the fix commit(s), for each comment you addressed (whether applied or "won't fix"):

1. Compose the reply text. One concise sentence: what changed, where, why.
   • Applied: "Done in <sha> — <one-line summary> (file:line)."
   • Won't fix: "Skipping — <reason>. (Tracked: <link/issue> if applicable.)"
2. Echo the reply to the agent terminal BEFORE posting. Print exactly what you are about to send, prefixed with the comment's path:line and the reviewer login. The user must be able to read the verbatim reply text in the agent transcript without opening GitHub.
3. Post the reply on the comment thread:

   gh api -X POST \
     repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/comments/<comment_id>/replies \
     -f body="<reply text>"
   

4. Resolve the review thread. Get the thread id via GraphQL by matching the comment's databaseId:

   gh api graphql -F owner=<owner> -F repo=<repo> -F number=<N> -f query='
     query($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $number: Int!) {
       repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
         pullRequest(number: $number) {
           reviewThreads(first: 100) {
             nodes {
               id
               isResolved
               comments(first: 1) { nodes { databaseId } }
             }
           }
         }
       }
     }'
   

   Then resolve:

   gh api graphql -f threadId="<thread_id>" -f query='
     mutation($threadId: ID!) {
       resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: $threadId}) {
         thread { id isResolved }
       }
     }'
   

5. Verify isResolved: true in the mutation response.

A comment is not "addressed" until reply + resolve + terminal echo all complete. Re-requesting review with unresolved threads is a Step 4 #3 violation.

Step 5 — The post-push review gate (post-fix only)

Applies only when awaiting_rereview is true and Step 3 has completed once after that push (i.e., you are on a wake-up, not the push turn).

The gate is a Copilot review event, not silence and not a finished Action. After every fix push you re-request review (Step 2); Copilot responds by submitting a review summary — and it does so even when it has nothing to add ("I reviewed your changes and found no new comments"). That summary is an explicit review with its own submitted_at. Wait for it.

Three mandatory pre-checks before merge:

1. Action completed — the Copilot review Action on the head branch must not be in_progress/queued (Hard Stop #6 / Step 4 #5).
2. Review event present — there must be a Copilot review whose submitted_at > last_push_at, i.e. review_id from Step 3 is non-empty (Hard Stop #7 / Step 4 #6). A completed Action alone does not clear this; the summary commonly posts a few seconds after the Action ends.
3. That review's own comments are zero — read /repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<N>/reviews/<review_id>/comments, never the global comments list (Hard Stop #8). The review event can be visible before its inline comments propagate to the global list, so a global "0 new" is not trustworthy.

Then branch on what the per-review endpoint returned:

• review_id present, its /comments returns zero → genuinely clean re-review. Merge (CI green or absent). Go to Step 6.
• review_id present, its /comments returns ≥ 1 → go to Step 4 #3 (fix round). Do not merge.
• review_id empty → no post-push review yet; keep waiting (Step 4 #6). Do not merge on silence. After 3 empty cycles (15 min), surface to the user; never auto-merge.

This gate never overrides the hard stops: it does not permit merging in the same turn as push/re-request, nor skipping Step 3, nor merging with a Copilot Action still in flight.

Step 6 — Merge

Use the project's preferred merge style. Default is squash:

gh pr merge <N> -R <owner>/<repo> --squash --delete-branch

--delete-branch removes the remote branch. Confirm with gh pr view <N> -R <owner>/<repo> that state is MERGED.

Step 7 — Local cleanup

git fetch origin --prune
# Drop local branches whose upstream is gone:
git branch -vv | awk '/: gone]/{print ($1 == "*" ? $2 : $1)}' \
  | while read -r b; do
      git branch -d "$b" || echo "skip $b (not fully merged locally — inspect)"
    done

If the work was in a worktree under .worktrees/<name>/:

git worktree remove .worktrees/<name>

Worktree removal will fail if there are uncommitted changes — investigate before forcing.

House rules (do NOT skip)

• Conventional Commits on every commit, including review-feedback commits. fix(frontend): apply Copilot round-N feedback on … is a fine pattern.
• Never --no-verify to dodge a hook. If a pre-commit hook fails, fix the underlying issue.
• Never --amend a published commit. New commits only.
• Never force-push unless the user explicitly asked. Rebase + git push fast-forwards if your local history is a clean superset; otherwise stop.
• Never weaken security controls to make e2e easier (no bypassing 2FA freshness gates, no disabling CSRF). Stub at the test layer instead (Playwright page.route, fixture monkeypatch).
• Don't merge with failing CI. Don't merge with unaddressed Copilot comments unless you've explicitly justified each as "won't fix" with a reply.
• Spec parity: when a review comment exposes drift between the spec and the shipped code, update the spec in the same fix commit. Spec must match what merges.

Notes for the babysit loop

• Disambiguate the repo with -R <owner>/<repo> on every gh pr ... / gh run ... call when the local clone has more than one remote (e.g. an upstream fork remote). Without -R, gh may resolve pr view <N> / pr checks <N> against the wrong remote and silently report another repo's PR (stale reviews, wrong head branch) — which can fake-pass or fake-fail the merge gate. The gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/... form is already explicit and safe.
• Each cycle should send a brief status to the user: round number, # of new comments, what you applied, next ETA. One short paragraph, not prose.
• Use the user's preferred output style if they're in caveman / lite mode.
• Spec the wakeup prompt to re-enter this skill verbatim, so the next firing picks up where this one left off. Include <N>, last_push_at, and awaiting_rereview in the prompt.
• If review rounds stack past 5+ without convergence, surface that to the user before continuing — Copilot may be looping on style nits and the user may want to ship anyway.

Anti-patterns

• Marking a Copilot comment "applied" without actually pushing the change.
• Replying on GitHub that a fix landed without pushing, then merging.
• Re-requesting review before pushing the fix commit (review fires against stale code).
• Merging in the same turn as push or re-request — the most common failure mode; always ScheduleWakeup and stop.
• Treating Step 5 as “merge immediately after replies” — Step 5 requires one completed 5-minute cycle after the push.
• Merging on Copilot silence before its post-push review summary posts — the canonical race. A completed Action is not the review; Copilot posts its "no new comments" (or its new comments) a few seconds later. Merging in that gap ships unaddressed comments. Gate on the review event (submitted_at > last_push_at), never on a quiet PR (Hard Stop #7).
• Letting CI go untested for >2 cycles without flagging.
• Merging with a chore: review-feedback commit that contains unrelated refactors. Keep review-fix commits tightly scoped.
• Treating "Copilot has nothing new" as license to merge while CI is still red or pending.
• Treating "no checks reported" as license to skip the 5-minute wait.
• Resolving a thread without posting a reply — the GitHub history loses the audit trail of what was done.
• Posting a reply without resolving the thread — leaves the PR UI cluttered with stale "Unresolved" badges; reviewer can't tell at a glance what's still open.
• Marking resolved without echoing the reply text to the agent terminal — the user reads the agent transcript to audit the loop; hiding what you said on GitHub breaks that trust loop.
• Merging while a Copilot review Action is in_progress or queued — gh pr merge --delete-branch cancels the run mid-scan and the comments it was about to post are lost. Treat an active Action as a stronger signal than comment silence; wait for the run to reach completed before invoking Step 5. See Hard Stop #6.

Quick reference — one turn, one phase