Issue Handoff

Issue Handoff Skill

You are a GitHub issue creation and handoff specialist. Your role is to create well-structured GitHub issues from conversation context and hand them off to a coding agent worker using load balancing.

Arguments

Your args are: $ARGUMENTS

Parse the args to determine:

1. Operation type (optional): create (default), bug, or feature — same as issue-create
2. Label parameter (^): If the args contain ^ followed by a label name (e.g., ^urgent), apply that label to the created issue in addition to the default labels
3. Worker count (optional number): The number of coding workers for distribution. Defaults to 4 if not provided.

Argument Examples

# No args — create issue, distribute across 4 workers
/issue-handoff

# Specify 8 workers
/issue-handoff 8

# Create with a specific label
/issue-handoff ^urgent

# Feature request with label and 6 workers
/issue-handoff feature ^backend 6

# Bug report with default workers
/issue-handoff bug

# Bug with label
/issue-handoff bug ^critical 8

Parsing rules:

• A bare number (e.g., 4, 8) is the worker count
• ^label-name is the label parameter — the ^ character followed immediately by the label name
• create, bug, or feature is the operation type
• Arguments can appear in any order
• Defaults: operation = create, worker count = 4, label = none

Workflow

This skill runs in two phases: Create then Assign.

Phase 1: Create Issue

Follow the exact same workflow as issue-create based on the operation type (create, bug, or feature).

Operation: create

Step 1: Analyze Conversation Context

Review the current conversation to identify:

• What is the user trying to accomplish or solve?
• What problem or need has been discussed?
• What decisions or insights have emerged?
• What relevant code, files, or technical context exists?
• What questions or uncertainties remain?

Step 2: Determine Issue Nature

Based on conversation, identify what type of issue this is:

• Feature request or enhancement
• Bug report or defect
• Technical task or chore
• Investigation or spike
• Documentation need
• Or any other category that fits

Step 3: Clarify with User (Required)

Use AskUserQuestion to:

• Confirm your understanding of what should be captured
• Resolve any ambiguities or unclear points
• Verify scope and priority
• Fill gaps in information

Ask 2-4 focused questions.

Step 4: Create Issue

Title format: Conventional Commit style prefix (feat:, bug:, refactor:, etc.) followed by lowercase description, no period.

Labeling:

• Choose labels based on issue nature (enhancement, bug, documentation, tech-debt, etc.)
• If a ^label parameter was provided, include that label as well
• Always include the pending label (it will be replaced by the worker label in Phase 2)

gh issue create \
  --title "[type]: [clear, descriptive description]" \
  --body "[Synthesized content]" \
  --label "[appropriate-labels],pending" \
  --assignee @me

If a ^label was specified, add it to the label list:

gh issue create \
  --title "[type]: [clear, descriptive description]" \
  --body "[Synthesized content]" \
  --label "[appropriate-labels],pending,[specified-label]" \
  --assignee @me

Operation: bug

Follow the same bug workflow as issue-create:

1. Gather bug information from conversation
2. Clarify missing details via AskUserQuestion
3. Create with bug: title prefix, bug label, plus pending label (and ^label if specified)

Operation: feature

Follow the same feature workflow as issue-create:

1. Gather feature information from conversation
2. Clarify ambiguities via AskUserQuestion
3. Create with feat: title prefix, enhancement label, plus pending label (and ^label if specified)

Phase 2: Assign to Coding Worker

After the issue is created, immediately assign it to a coding worker using load balancing.

Step 1: Capture Issue Number

Extract the issue number from the gh issue create output.

Step 2: Get Current User

ME=$(gh api user --jq '.login')

Step 3: Count Issues and PRs Per Worker

Using the worker count (default 4, or as specified in args), count both open issues and open PRs for each worker:

MAX_WORKERS=<from args or 4>
for i in $(seq 1 $MAX_WORKERS); do
  LABEL=$(printf "vm%02d" "$i")
  ISSUE_COUNT=$(gh issue list --repo vm0-ai/vm0 --label "$LABEL" --assignee "$ME" --state open --json number --jq 'length')
  PR_COUNT=$(gh pr list --repo vm0-ai/vm0 --label "$LABEL" --author "$ME" --state open --json number --jq 'length')
  TOTAL=$((ISSUE_COUNT + PR_COUNT))
  echo "$LABEL: $TOTAL (issues: $ISSUE_COUNT, PRs: $PR_COUNT)"
done

Label format: Always use printf "vm%02d" to generate labels — this produces vm01..vm09 for single digits and vm10..vm99 for double digits. Never use seq -w combined with string concatenation.

Step 4: Select Least-Loaded Worker

Pick the worker label with the lowest total (issues + PRs). Prefer workers with zero total items. If there's a tie, pick the lowest-numbered worker.

Step 5: Update Issue Labels

1. Remove pending label:

   gh issue edit $ISSUE --remove-label "pending"
   

2. Ensure the worker label exists:

   gh label create "$SELECTED_LABEL" --description "Coding worker $SELECTED_LABEL" --color 0E8A16 2>/dev/null || true
   

3. Add the selected worker label:

   gh issue edit $ISSUE --add-label "$SELECTED_LABEL"
   

Step 6: Report

Output a combined summary:

Issue created and assigned: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123
Assigned to worker: <LABEL>

Worker load (issues + PRs):
  vm01: 3 (issues: 2, PRs: 1)
  vm02: 0 (issues: 0, PRs: 0)  <-- assigned here
  vm03: 3 (issues: 1, PRs: 2)
  vm04: 4 (issues: 3, PRs: 1)

Key Rules

• Always create then assign — the two phases are sequential
• Always pick the least-loaded worker — balance is the primary goal
• Break ties by lowest number — prefer vm01 over vm02 when equal
• Remove pending label — replaced by the worker label
• Create labels on demand — if vm0N label doesn't exist, create it
• One worker label per issue — do not add multiple worker labels
• ^label is additive — it does not replace default labels, it adds to them
• Ensure the ^label exists — create it if needed before applying
• Display the issue URL — always show the URL to the user at the end