eia-github-pr-checks

GitHub PR Checks Skill

Overview

This skill enables agents to monitor, interpret, and wait for GitHub Pull Request check statuses. Use this skill when you need to:

• Verify all CI/CD checks are passing before merging
• Wait for pending checks to complete
• Understand why a check failed
• Determine if a PR is ready for merge based on required checks
• Poll for check completion with intelligent backoff

Output

Output Type	Format	Contents
Check Status Report	JSON	Complete status of all PR checks including pass/fail counts, individual check conclusions, and required check status
Wait Completion Report	JSON	Final status after polling, including timeout status, total wait time, and checks summary
Check Details	JSON	Detailed information about a specific check including duration, logs URL, and failure output
Exit Code	Integer	Standardized exit code (0-6) indicating success, error type, or specific failure reason

Instructions

Follow these steps to monitor and manage GitHub PR checks:

1. Determine Your Objective

   • Review the decision tree below to identify which script matches your needs
   • Consider whether you need real-time polling or just current status
   • Identify if you need all checks or only required checks

2. Select and Execute the Appropriate Script

   • Use eia_get_pr_checks.py for current status snapshots
   • Use eia_wait_for_checks.py for polling until completion
   • Use eia_get_check_details.py for investigating specific failures
   • Refer to the Scripts Reference section for command-line options

3. Parse the JSON Output

   • All scripts return structured JSON to stdout
   • Check the all_passing or final_status field for overall status
   • Examine individual check objects for detailed information
   • Use the exit code for automated decision-making

4. Interpret Check Conclusions

   • Refer to the Check Status Quick Reference table
   • Identify which checks are required vs optional
   • Determine if action is needed (see Action Required column)

5. Take Appropriate Action

   • If all passing: proceed with merge or next workflow step
   • If failing: investigate using eia_get_check_details.py
   • If pending: wait using eia_wait_for_checks.py with appropriate timeout
   • If timeout: check CI runner status and consider increasing timeout

6. Handle Errors Gracefully

   • Check exit codes (see Exit Codes section)
   • Refer to Error Handling section for common issues
   • Use debugging commands to verify authentication and access

Checklist

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

• Verify gh CLI is authenticated: gh auth status
• Determine objective (current status, wait for completion, investigate failure)
• Get current PR check status: python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr <number>
• Review all_passing field in JSON output
• If checks pending, wait for completion: python eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr <number> --timeout <seconds>
• If checks failing, investigate: python eia_get_check_details.py --pr <number> --check "<name>"
• Interpret check conclusions using Quick Reference table
• Identify required vs optional failing checks
• Take appropriate action based on results:
  • If all passing: proceed with merge
  • If failing: fix issues and push new commit
  • If timeout: check CI runner status
• Handle any errors using exit codes (0=success, 1-4=errors)
• Verify PR is ready for merge before proceeding

When to Use This Skill

Scenario	Script to Use
Get current status of all PR checks	eia_get_pr_checks.py
Wait for all checks to finish	eia_wait_for_checks.py
Investigate a specific failing check	eia_get_check_details.py
Quick check if PR is mergeable	eia_get_pr_checks.py --summary-only

Decision Tree: Which Script Do I Need?

START: What do you need to know about PR checks?
│
├─► "What is the current status of all checks?"
│   └─► Use: eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr <number>
│       Returns: List of all checks with their conclusions
│
├─► "Are all required checks passing?"
│   └─► Use: eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr <number> --required-only
│       Returns: Status of only required checks
│
├─► "I need to wait until checks complete"
│   └─► Use: eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr <number> --timeout <seconds>
│       Returns: Final status after all checks complete or timeout
│
├─► "Why did a specific check fail?"
│   └─► Use: eia_get_check_details.py --pr <number> --check <name>
│       Returns: Detailed check info including logs URL
│
└─► "Is this PR ready to merge?"
    └─► Use: eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr <number> --summary-only
        Returns: Simple pass/fail summary

Check Status Quick Reference

Conclusion	Meaning	Action Required
success	Check passed	None
failure	Check failed	Investigate and fix
pending	Check still running	Wait or investigate if stuck
skipped	Check was skipped	Usually OK, verify skip condition
cancelled	Check was cancelled	Re-run if needed
timed_out	Check exceeded time limit	Optimize or increase timeout
action_required	Manual action needed	Review check details
neutral	Neither pass nor fail	Check is informational only
stale	Check is outdated	Push new commit to trigger

Scripts Reference

1. eia_get_pr_checks.py

Purpose: Retrieve all check statuses for a Pull Request.

Usage:

# Get all checks for PR #123
python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr 123

# Get only required checks
python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr 123 --required-only

# Get summary only (pass/fail count)
python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr 123 --summary-only

# Specify repository (if not in git directory)
python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr 123 --repo owner/repo

Output Format:

{
  "pr_number": 123,
  "total_checks": 5,
  "passing": 3,
  "failing": 1,
  "pending": 1,
  "skipped": 0,
  "all_passing": false,
  "required_passing": false,
  "checks": [
    {
      "name": "build",
      "status": "completed",
      "conclusion": "success",
      "required": true
    }
  ]
}

2. eia_wait_for_checks.py

Purpose: Poll and wait for all PR checks to complete.

Usage:

# Wait up to 10 minutes for checks
python eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr 123 --timeout 600

# Wait only for required checks
python eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr 123 --required-only --timeout 300

# Custom polling interval (default 30s)
python eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr 123 --interval 60

Output Format:

{
  "pr_number": 123,
  "completed": true,
  "timed_out": false,
  "final_status": "all_passing",
  "wait_time_seconds": 180,
  "checks_summary": {
    "passing": 5,
    "failing": 0,
    "pending": 0
  }
}

3. eia_get_check_details.py

Purpose: Get detailed information about a specific check.

Usage:

# Get details for a specific check
python eia_get_check_details.py --pr 123 --check "build"

# Include logs URL
python eia_get_check_details.py --pr 123 --check "test" --include-logs-url

Output Format:

{
  "name": "build",
  "status": "completed",
  "conclusion": "failure",
  "started_at": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "completed_at": "2024-01-15T10:05:30Z",
  "duration_seconds": 330,
  "details_url": "https://github.com/...",
  "logs_url": "https://github.com/.../logs",
  "output": {
    "title": "Build failed",
    "summary": "Compilation error in src/main.py"
  }
}

Reference Documents

Understanding CI Status Interpretation

For detailed guidance on interpreting check statuses, see ci-status-interpretation.md:

• 1. Understanding GitHub Check Conclusions
  • 1.1 Complete list of conclusion values
  • 1.2 When each conclusion occurs
  • 1.3 How to respond to each conclusion
• 2. Required vs Optional Checks
  • 2.1 How branch protection defines required checks
  • 2.2 Identifying required checks programmatically
  • 2.3 Handling optional check failures
• 3. Check Run vs Check Suite
  • 3.1 Difference between check runs and check suites
  • 3.2 When to query which API endpoint
  • 3.3 Aggregating results from multiple providers
• 4. Common CI Providers
  • 4.1 GitHub Actions check naming conventions
  • 4.2 CircleCI integration patterns
  • 4.3 Jenkins GitHub plugin behavior
  • 4.4 Third-party status checks

Polling Strategies

For guidance on waiting for checks, see polling-strategies.md:

• 1. When to Poll for Check Completion
  • 1.1 Scenarios requiring polling
  • 1.2 Avoiding unnecessary polling
  • 1.3 Webhook alternatives
• 2. Exponential Backoff Implementation
  • 2.1 Why exponential backoff matters
  • 2.2 Recommended backoff parameters
  • 2.3 Jitter for distributed systems
• 3. Timeout Handling
  • 3.1 Setting appropriate timeouts
  • 3.2 Graceful timeout behavior
  • 3.3 Partial completion scenarios
• 4. Partial Success Scenarios
  • 4.1 Handling mixed results
  • 4.2 Re-running failed checks
  • 4.3 Determining merge readiness with failures

Examples

Example 1: Check PR Status Before Merge

# Get all check statuses for PR #123
python eia_get_pr_checks.py --pr 123

# If all_passing is true, proceed with merge
# If not, investigate failing checks

Example 2: Wait for CI to Complete

# Wait up to 10 minutes for all checks to complete
python eia_wait_for_checks.py --pr 456 --timeout 600

# If timed_out is true, check CI runner status
# If completed is true and final_status is all_passing, merge is safe

Error Handling

Common Issues

Problem	Cause	Solution
"No checks found"	PR has no CI configured	Verify repository has CI workflows
Checks stuck in "pending"	CI runner unavailable	Check GitHub Actions status page
Required check missing	Branch protection misconfigured	Review repository settings
Timeout while waiting	CI taking too long	Increase timeout or check CI performance
Authentication error	gh CLI not logged in	Run gh auth login

Debugging Commands

# Verify gh CLI authentication
gh auth status

# Check repository access
gh repo view owner/repo

# Manual check inspection
gh pr checks <number> --json name,status,conclusion

# View raw API response
gh api repos/owner/repo/commits/SHA/check-runs

Prerequisites

• gh CLI: Must be installed and authenticated (gh auth login)
• Repository access: Read access to the target repository
• Python 3.8+: For running the scripts

Exit Codes (Standardized)

All scripts use standardized exit codes for consistent error handling:

Code	Meaning	Description
0	Success	Output is valid JSON with check data
1	Invalid parameters	Bad PR number, missing required args
2	Resource not found	PR or check does not exist
3	API error	Network, rate limit, timeout waiting for checks
4	Not authenticated	gh CLI not logged in
5	Idempotency skip	N/A for these scripts
6	Not mergeable	N/A for these scripts

Note: eia_wait_for_checks.py returns exit code 3 on timeout. Check the JSON output's timed_out field for details.

Resources

• references/ci-status-interpretation.md - Understanding check conclusions and required checks
• references/polling-strategies.md - When and how to poll for check completion