Cboone Cboone Cc Plugins Suggest Next Issue

Suggest Next Issue

Analyze open GitHub issues and recommend what to work on next.

Options

The user may provide these options inline:

• label filter: Focus on issues with a specific label (e.g., "suggest next bug" or "suggest next issue --label enhancement")
• milestone filter: Focus on issues in a specific milestone
• limit: Number of recommendations (default: 5)
• include PRs: Also consider open PRs needing attention (reviews, conflicts, CI failures)

Workflow

1. Gather Context

Run these commands to build a complete picture:

# Open issues (with details for analysis)
gh issue list --state open --json number,title,labels,assignees,createdAt,updatedAt,comments,milestone,body --limit 100

# Recently closed issues (understand momentum)
gh issue list --state closed --json number,title,labels,closedAt --limit 10 --sort updated

# Current branches/worktrees (what's already in progress)
git worktree list
git branch --list --format='%(refname:short)'

# Current authenticated user (for assignment detection)
gh api user --jq '.login'

# Project context
gh repo view --json description,defaultBranchRef

If the user specified --label or --milestone, add the corresponding --label or --milestone flag to gh issue list.

If the user specified --include-prs:

gh pr list --state open --json number,title,labels,createdAt,updatedAt,isDraft,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup

Also read the repo's README and any roadmap or project documentation to understand project goals.

2. Identify In-Progress Work

An issue is considered in progress if any of the following are true:

1. Branch or worktree match: A branch or worktree name contains the issue number (existing behavior)
2. "in progress" label: The issue has a label named "in progress" (case-insensitive match on the labels data already fetched in step 1)
3. Assigned to current user: The issue's assignees list (already fetched in step 1) includes the authenticated username from gh api user

Exclude in-progress issues from recommendations, but note them in the output as "already in progress" along with how each was detected (branch, label, assignment, or a combination).

3. Analyze Each Issue

Evaluate each open issue (that is not already in progress) on these signals:

Dependency analysis: scan each issue body for references to other issues (#N, "depends on #N", "blocked by #N", "after #N"). Build a dependency graph to identify:

• Issues that unblock other open issues (high value)
• Issues that are blocked by other open issues (note the blocker)

4. Generate Recommendations

Present the top N issues (default 5) organized by category:

Categories (use whichever apply, skip empty categories):

• Quick Wins: Small, well-defined issues that can be resolved quickly
• High Impact: Important features, critical bugs, or heavily requested items
• Unblocks Others: Issues that other open issues depend on
• Overdue: Old issues that have been neglected (use judgment based on repo's typical issue age)

For each recommendation, include:

1. Issue number and title text (e.g., #23 - Fix typo in help output). Use the title field from the JSON, not the issue URL.
2. Labels and age
3. What it is: a brief summary of the issue (1-2 sentences distilled from the issue body, so the user understands the scope and substance without having to open the issue)
4. Why it's recommended (1-2 sentences with specific reasoning)
5. Suggested first steps or approach (1 sentence)
6. Blockers or considerations, if any

5. Summarize In-Progress Work

After recommendations, briefly list issues detected as in progress. For each, note how it was detected: branch/worktree, "in progress" label, assignment to current user, or a combination. This gives the user a complete picture of active work.

6. Offer to Start Work

End with an offer to create a worktree for the chosen issue via the create-worktree-from-issue skill. Example:

Ready to start on one of these? Just say "start issue #N" or pick a number from the list.

Example Output

## Suggested Next Issues

### Quick Wins

1. **#23 - Fix typo in help output** (bug, 2 days old)
   The `--version` flag prints "verison" instead of "version" in the CLI help text.
   Small fix, keeps the issue count tidy.
   Start: Check the help string in the CLI entry point.

### High Impact

2. **#18 - Add dark mode support** (enhancement, 12 days old, 4 comments)
   Add a system-preference-aware dark color scheme with a manual toggle in the settings panel.
   Most-requested feature. Pairs well with the theme work done in #15.
   Start: Add CSS variables for color scheme, then add a toggle component.

3. **#11 - Add manage-plan skill** (enhancement, 1 day old)
   Create a skill that can list, rename, archive, and delete saved plans from within a session.
   High-frequency workflow pattern from session analysis.
   Start: Review existing plan-related commands and design the skill interface.

### Unblocks Others

4. **#7 - Refactor config loading** (enhancement, 20 days old)
   Replace the ad-hoc JSON parsing with a centralized, schema-validated config module that supports defaults and env overrides.
   Issues #8 and #9 both depend on the new config system.
   Start: Extract config into a dedicated module with typed schema.

### Overdue

5. **#3 - Update installation docs** (documentation, 45 days old)
   The install guide still references the old `curl | bash` method; needs updating for the new package manager install flow.
   Open since v0.2. Quick update needed for current install process.
   Start: Compare current docs against actual install steps.

---

**Already in progress:**

- #14 — feature/improve-notifications (branch)
- #16 — fix/search-pagination (branch, assigned)
- #21 — Add export feature (label: "in progress")
- #25 — Fix auth timeout (assigned)

Ready to start on one of these? Just say "start issue #N".

Error Handling

• If gh is not authenticated, instruct the user to run gh auth login
• If no open issues exist, report that and suggest checking closed issues or creating new ones
• If all open issues are already in progress, report that and congratulate the user

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