External Items Dashboard

Usage: /sw:external [--refresh]

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Purpose

Display a comprehensive dashboard of open external items from all configured providers:

• GitHub Issues - Open issues in linked repository
• JIRA Tickets - Open issues in configured project
• Azure DevOps Work Items - Open work items in configured project

Helps you stay aware of pending work and unaddressed items across all tools.

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Output Format

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                    External Items Dashboard
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

GitHub Issues (4 open, 2 stale)
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
  #779     DORA Metrics Workflow Failed                  10h ago
  #778     DORA Metrics Workflow Failed                  1d ago
  #777     DORA Metrics Workflow Failed                  1d ago   ⚠️ stale
  #776     DORA Metrics Workflow Failed                  3d ago   ⚠️ stale

JIRA: not configured

ADO: not configured

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Total: 4 open (2 stale >7d)
Last updated: 2 minutes ago (use --refresh to update)

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Options

--refresh

Force refresh the cache and fetch latest data from all providers.

/sw:external --refresh

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Implementation

When this command is invoked, execute the following:

import { ExternalItemsCounter, displayDetailedDashboard } from '../src/core/external-tools/index';

// Parse options
const refresh = args.includes('--refresh');

// Create counter
const counter = new ExternalItemsCounter({
  projectRoot: process.cwd(),
  forceRefresh: refresh,
});

// Get summary
const summary = await counter.getSummary();

// Display dashboard
displayDetailedDashboard(summary);

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Stale Detection

Items older than 7 days are marked as "stale" with ⚠️ indicator:

• Stale = created more than 7 days ago and still open
• Review stale items regularly to avoid accumulating technical debt
• Close or address items promptly

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Caching

• Default TTL: 15 minutes
• Uses .specweave/cache/external-items-summary.json
• Use --refresh to force update from APIs
• Stale cache is used as fallback when rate limited

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Provider Configuration

GitHub

Auto-detected from git remote. Requires:

• GitHub CLI (gh) installed
• Authenticated: gh auth login

JIRA

Set environment variables:

• JIRA_BASE_URL - JIRA instance URL
• JIRA_EMAIL - Your email
• JIRA_API_TOKEN - API token
• JIRA_PROJECT_KEY - Project key (optional)

Azure DevOps

Set environment variables:

• ADO_ORG_URL or AZURE_DEVOPS_ORG_URL - Organization URL
• ADO_PROJECT or AZURE_DEVOPS_PROJECT - Project name
• ADO_PAT or AZURE_DEVOPS_PAT - Personal Access Token

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Integration Points

External items are also shown in:

• /sw:status - Summary section at bottom
• /sw:increment - Notification after planning
• /sw:progress - Footer line

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Related Commands

• /sw:status - Show increment status with external items summary
• /sw:progress - Show detailed progress with external items footer
• /sw:import-external - Import external items as increments

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Command: /sw:external Plugin: specweave (core) Version: v0.31.0+ Part of: Increment 0109 - External Items Dashboard