Issue Triage Command

Analyze an open issue and make a recommendation to either treat (continue working on it) or close it with an explanatory comment.

Usage:

/issue-triage

Instructions for Claude

Your task: List open issues, let the user pick one, then analyze it and help decide whether to treat or close it.

Step 1: List Open Issues

Run this command to list all open issues:

gh issue list --state open --limit 30 --json number,title,author,createdAt,labels,assignees

Present the issues in a table format:

| # | Title | Labels | Age |
|---|-------|--------|-----|
| 123 | Issue title here | `label1` `label2` | X days |

Then use AskUserQuestion to ask the user which issue they want to triage. Store the selected issue number for subsequent steps.

Step 2: Gather Issue Information

Once the user selects an issue, run these commands to gather context:

# Get issue details (replace ISSUE_NUMBER with selected issue)
gh issue view ISSUE_NUMBER --json title,body,state,author,createdAt,updatedAt,labels,assignees,comments,milestone,projectItems

# Get issue timeline/activity
gh issue view ISSUE_NUMBER --comments

Step 3: Fact-Check the Issue

Before recommending action, verify the issue is still valid:

1. Check if the issue still exists in the codebase

   • Search for files, functions, or patterns mentioned in the issue
   • Verify the bug/feature request is still relevant

2. Check if already fixed/implemented

   • Search recent commits for related changes
   • Check if linked PRs were merged

3. Check for duplicates

   • Search open issues for similar titles/keywords
   • Note any that should be linked or closed as duplicates

Step 4: Analyze the Issue

Evaluate based on:

1. Age & Activity

   • How old is the issue?
   • When was the last activity?
   • Is there ongoing discussion or is it stale?

2. Clarity & Quality

   • Is the issue clearly described?
   • Are there reproduction steps (for bugs)?
   • Is there enough context to act on it?

3. Labels & Assignment

   • Is it properly labeled?
   • Is anyone assigned?
   • Is it in a milestone or project?

4. Relevance

   • Does the issue still align with project goals?
   • Is the feature/fix still needed?
   • Has the relevant code area changed significantly?

Step 5: Present Summary

Provide a concise summary with:

## Issue Summary: [Title]

**Author:** @username | **Created:** X days/weeks ago | **Last activity:** Y days ago

**Labels:** [label1, label2] or none
**Assignees:** [@user] or unassigned
**Milestone:** [milestone] or none

**Fact-check results:**
- [Finding 1: e.g., "Bug confirmed - error still occurs in current code"]
- [Finding 2: e.g., "Related PR #123 was merged but didn't fully fix this"]
- [Finding 3: e.g., "Duplicate of #456"]

**Key observations:**
- [Observation 1]
- [Observation 2]
- [Observation 3]

**Recommendation:** [TREAT/CLOSE]
**Reason:** [Brief explanation]

Step 6: Ask User for Decision

Use AskUserQuestion to present the options:

• Treat: Keep open, add labels, assign someone, or add to milestone
• Close: Close with an appropriate reason

Step 7: Execute Decision

If TREAT:

• Ask what actions to take (label, assign, milestone, comment)
• Execute using gh issue edit or gh issue comment

If CLOSE:

• Draft a polite comment explaining the closure reason
• Show the draft and confirm before posting
• Execute:

  gh issue comment ISSUE_NUMBER --body "<comment>"
  gh issue close ISSUE_NUMBER --reason <completed|not_planned>
  

Closure Reasons

Use --reason completed when:

• Issue was fixed (even if not by a PR linked to the issue)
• Feature was implemented
• Question was answered

Use --reason not_planned when:

• Won't fix (by design, out of scope)
• Duplicate (link to original)
• Cannot reproduce
• Stale with no response
• Invalid or spam

Comment Templates

Already Fixed:

This issue has been resolved. [Brief explanation of how/when it was fixed.]

Closing as completed. If you're still experiencing this issue, please open a new issue with updated reproduction steps.

Duplicate:

This appears to be a duplicate of #[number].

Closing in favor of the original issue. Please follow #[number] for updates.

Cannot Reproduce:

We weren't able to reproduce this issue with the information provided. If you're still experiencing this:

1. Please confirm you're using the latest version
2. Provide detailed reproduction steps
3. Include any error messages or logs

Feel free to reopen with additional details.

Stale:

This issue has been open for a while without recent activity. We're closing it to keep the issue tracker manageable.

If this is still relevant, please reopen with any additional context or updates. We appreciate your contribution!

Won't Fix:

Thank you for the suggestion! After consideration, we've decided not to implement this because [reason].

We appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas. If you have other suggestions, we'd love to hear them.

Needs More Info (keep open but comment):

Thanks for reporting this! To help us investigate, could you provide:

- [ ] Steps to reproduce the issue
- [ ] Expected vs actual behavior
- [ ] Environment details (OS, version, etc.)
- [ ] Any error messages or logs

We'll revisit this once we have more details.

Customize comments based on the specific situation.