Github Operations

GitHub Operations

Comprehensive GitHub CLI (gh) operations for project management, from basic issue creation to advanced Projects v2 integration and milestone tracking via REST API.

Overview

• Creating and managing GitHub issues and PRs
• Working with GitHub Projects v2 custom fields
• Managing milestones (sprints, releases) via REST API
• Automating bulk operations with gh
• Running GraphQL queries for complex operations

CRITICAL: Task Management is MANDATORY (CC 2.1.16)

BEFORE doing ANYTHING else, create tasks to track progress:

# 1. Create main task IMMEDIATELY
TaskCreate(
  subject="GitHub Operations: {target}",
  description="Managing GitHub issues, PRs, milestones, or Projects",
  activeForm="Managing GitHub resources"
)

# 2. Create subtasks matching the operation scope
TaskCreate(subject="Issue management", activeForm="Creating/updating issues")
TaskCreate(subject="PR management", activeForm="Managing pull requests")
TaskCreate(subject="Milestone tracking", activeForm="Updating milestones")

# 3. Set dependencies if operations are sequential
TaskUpdate(taskId="3", addBlockedBy=["2"])
TaskUpdate(taskId="4", addBlockedBy=["3"])

# 4. Before starting each task, verify it's unblocked
task = TaskGet(taskId="2")  # Verify blockedBy is empty

# 5. Update status as you progress
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="in_progress")  # When starting
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="completed")    # When done

Quick Reference

Issue Operations

# Create issue with labels and milestone
gh issue create --title "Bug: API returns 500" --body "..." --label "bug" --milestone "Sprint 5"

# List and filter issues
gh issue list --state open --label "backend" --assignee @me

# Edit issue metadata
gh issue edit 123 --add-label "high" --milestone "v2.0"

PR Operations

# Create PR with reviewers
gh pr create --title "feat: Add search" --body "..." --base dev --reviewer @teammate

# Watch CI status and auto-merge
gh pr checks 456 --watch
gh pr merge 456 --auto --squash --delete-branch

# Resume a session linked to a PR (CC 2.1.27)
claude --from-pr 456           # Resume session with PR context (diff, comments, review status)
claude --from-pr https://github.com/org/repo/pull/456

Tip (CC 2.1.27): Sessions created via gh pr create are automatically linked to the PR. Use --from-pr to resume with full PR context.

Milestone Operations (REST API)

Footgun: gh issue edit --milestone takes a NAME (string), not a number. The REST API uses a NUMBER (integer). Never pass a number to --milestone. Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md").

# List milestones with progress
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | "\(.title): \(.closed_issues)/\(.open_issues + .closed_issues)"'

# Create milestone with due date
gh api -X POST repos/:owner/:repo/milestones \
  -f title="Sprint 8" -f due_on="2026-02-15T00:00:00Z"

# Close milestone (API uses number, not name)
MILESTONE_NUM=$(gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | select(.title=="Sprint 8") | .number')
gh api -X PATCH repos/:owner/:repo/milestones/$MILESTONE_NUM -f state=closed

# Assign issues to milestone (CLI uses name, not number)
gh issue edit 123 124 125 --milestone "Sprint 8"

Projects v2 Operations

# Add issue to project
gh project item-add 1 --owner @me --url https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123

# Set custom field (requires GraphQL)
gh api graphql -f query='mutation {...}' -f projectId="..." -f itemId="..."

JSON Output Patterns

# Get issue numbers matching criteria
gh issue list --json number,labels --jq '[.[] | select(.labels[].name == "bug")] | .[].number'

# PR summary with author
gh pr list --json number,title,author --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title) by \(.author.login)"'

# Find ready-to-merge PRs
gh pr list --json number,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollupState \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.reviewDecision == "APPROVED" and .statusCheckRollupState == "SUCCESS")]'

Key Concepts

Milestone vs Epic

Rule: Use milestones for "when", use parent issues for "what".

Projects v2 Custom Fields

Projects v2 uses GraphQL for setting custom fields (Status, Priority, Domain). Basic gh project commands work for listing and adding items, but field updates require GraphQL mutations.

Rules Quick Reference

Batch Issue Creation

When creating multiple issues at once (e.g., seeding a sprint), use an array-driven loop:

# Define issues as an array of "title|labels|milestone" entries
SPRINT="Sprint 9"
ISSUES=(
  "feat: Add user auth|enhancement,backend|$SPRINT"
  "fix: Login redirect loop|bug,high|$SPRINT"
  "chore: Update dependencies|maintenance|$SPRINT"
)

for entry in "${ISSUES[@]}"; do
  IFS='|' read -r title labels milestone <<< "$entry"
  NUM=$(gh issue create \
    --title "$title" \
    --label "$labels" \
    --milestone "$milestone" \
    --body "" \
    --json number --jq '.number')
  echo "Created #$NUM: $title"
done

Tip: Capture the created issue number with --json number --jq '.number' so you can reference it immediately (e.g., add to Projects v2, link in PRs).

Best Practices

1. Always use --json for scripting - Parse with --jq for reliability
2. Non-interactive mode for automation - Use --title, --body flags
3. Check rate limits before bulk operations - gh api rate_limit
4. Use heredocs for multi-line content - --body "$(cat <<'EOF'...EOF)"
5. Link issues in PRs - Closes #123, Fixes #456 — GitHub auto-closes on merge
6. Use ISO 8601 dates - YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ for milestone due_on
7. Close milestones, don't delete - Preserve history
8. --milestone takes NAME, not number - Load Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md")
9. Never gh issue close directly - Comment progress with gh issue comment; issues close only when their linked PR merges to the default branch

Related Skills

• ork:create-pr - Create pull requests with proper formatting and review assignments
• ork:review-pr - Comprehensive PR review with specialized agents
• ork:release-management - GitHub release workflow with semantic versioning and changelogs
• stacked-prs - Manage dependent PRs with rebase coordination
• ork:issue-progress-tracking - Automatic issue progress updates from commits

Key Decisions

References

Load on demand with Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/references/<file>"):

Examples

Load: Read("${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/examples/automation-scripts.md") - Ready-to-use scripts for bulk operations, PR automation, milestone management

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