Update Work Item

Update an existing issue/work item on your configured platform.

Task

Determine what the user wants to update:

Actions

1. Add comment - Post a progress update or note
2. Change status - Move to different state (In Progress, Done, etc.)
3. Edit fields - Update title, description, labels, assignee
4. Check off criteria - Mark acceptance criteria as done

Platform Commands

GitHub Issues

Add comment:

gh issue comment 42 --body "Comment text here"

Change status (close/reopen):

gh issue close 42
gh issue reopen 42

Edit fields:

gh issue edit 42 --title "New title"
gh issue edit 42 --body "New description"
gh issue edit 42 --add-label "in-progress"
gh issue edit 42 --remove-label "needs-triage"
gh issue edit 42 --add-assignee "@me"

JIRA

Add comment:

• Method: POST
• URL: https://{host}/rest/api/3/issue/PROJ-123/comment
• Body: { "body": { "type": "doc", "version": 1, "content": [...] } }

Change status (transition):

• Method: POST
• URL: https://{host}/rest/api/3/issue/PROJ-123/transitions
• Body: { "transition": { "id": "31" } }

Edit fields:

• Method: PUT
• URL: https://{host}/rest/api/3/issue/PROJ-123
• Body: { "fields": { "summary": "New title" } }

Azure DevOps

Add comment:

• Method: POST
• URL: https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_apis/wit/workitems/42/comments?api-version=7.0-preview.3
• Body: { "text": "Comment here" }

Update fields:

• Method: PATCH
• URL: https://dev.azure.com/{org}/{project}/_apis/wit/workitems/42?api-version=7.0
• Body: JSON Patch operations

Example Interactions

Adding a comment

User: /onus:update 42 comment

Claude: What would you like to comment on issue #42?

User: Completed the API integration, moving to frontend work

Claude: Adding comment...
[Runs: gh issue comment 42 --body "..."]

Comment added to #42.

Changing status

User: /onus:update 42 status

Claude: What status should I set for #42?
Current: Open
Options: In Progress, Done, Won't Fix

User: In Progress

Claude: For GitHub Issues, I'll add a label. Adding 'in-progress' label...
[Runs: gh issue edit 42 --add-label "in-progress"]

Checking off acceptance criteria

User: /onus:update 42 criteria

Claude: Which acceptance criteria have been completed?
Current criteria for #42:
- [ ] User can log in with email/password
- [ ] Form validates input
- [ ] Token stored securely

User: The first two are done

Claude: I'll add a comment documenting progress...
[Runs: gh issue comment 42 --body "Progress update: ..."]

Bulk Updates

To update multiple issues:

# Close all issues with a label
gh issue list --label "duplicate" --json number -q '.[].number' | xargs -I {} gh issue close {}

Troubleshooting

Can't transition issue (JIRA)?

• Check available transitions: GET /rest/api/3/issue/PROJ-123/transitions
• Ensure you have permission for that transition

Comment failed?

• Verify issue exists and you have write access
• Check authentication token is valid