/describe-pr

name: describe-pr
description: Only use when the user explicitly invokes this skill by name.

Describe a Pull Request

Create or update the pull request for the current task with a concise description that helps a reviewer understand why the change exists and the shape of the implementation.

Workflow

1. Read the description template:

`Read({SKILLBASE}/references/pr_description_template.md)`

2. Identify or create the pull request:

• If `gh` is missing or signed out, stop and tell the user. Do not work around it.
• Check the current branch for a PR with `gh pr view --json url,number,title,state,baseRefName,headRefName 2>/dev/null`.
• If no PR exists, inspect `git status --short --branch` and the commits on the current branch.
• Commit task-related changes when needed, push the branch with an upstream, and create a PR for it. Follow the repository's git safety protocol.
• Ask the user to select a PR only when the current branch has no relevant work and there is no safe current-branch PR to create.

3. Gather only the context needed to explain the change:

• Read the ticket and any relevant task artifacts.
• Read the complete PR diff and enough surrounding code to understand behavior and ownership.
• Use `gh pr view` to collect PR metadata and changed files.
• Read `{SKILLBASE}/references/show-me.md` for the visual-outline conventions used in the PR body.

4. Write the PR description using the template:

• Keep **Why the change** to exactly one sentence.
• Keep **Special things to note** to 1-3 bullets. Prioritize reviewer warnings, migrations, compatibility constraints, deliberate omissions, or surprising decisions. Write `- None.` when there are no special considerations.
• Make **Change outline** a compact, `/show-me`-inspired structural view rather than prose or a file-by-file changelog.
• Include only the views that help explain this PR:
• SQL table and endpoint contract changes, plus pseudocode for business logic.
• A shallow file tree showing changed responsibilities.
• React component tree changes, including important hooks, state, and package boundaries.
• Call-tree, call-stack, control-flow, or data-flow changes.
• Prefer `diff` blocks when showing changes to an existing shape. Show the complete target shape when most of it is new or diff notation would obscure ownership or order.
• Keep each view focused on the calls, files, fields, components, and boundaries a reviewer needs. Omit categories that did not change.
• Do not add walkthrough artifacts, exhaustive implementation narratives, verification checklists, changelog text, or plan-deviation sections.

5. Stamp the session trailer:

• Read the session deep-link from the environment with `printf '%s' "$HUMANLAYER_SESSION_URL"`. The daemon sets it for every session it runs, the same way it feeds the `HumanLayer-Session` commit trailer.
• When the environment value is empty, fall back to the branch commits: `git log {baseRefName}..HEAD --format=%B | grep -i '^humanlayer-session:' | head -1` and use the URL from the newest stamped commit. This covers a PR described outside the session that wrote the commits.
• When either source yields a URL, end the PR body with the session footer from the template: a horizontal rule, a `HumanLayer | open session` badge that links to the URL, and a hidden HTML comment whose middle line is exactly `HumanLayer-Session: {url}`. The comment is the machine-readable trailer, the same line the commit stamper writes, and it must be the last thing in the body.
• When neither source yields a URL, or the existing PR body already carries a `HumanLayer-Session:` line for this URL, add nothing. Never invent or guess a session URL.
• Keep the footer out of the body's prose, headings, and link line. It is attribution, not part of the description.

6. Save and publish the description:

• Use `.humanlayer/tasks/{task-slug}/pr-description.md` when the task directory exists; otherwise use `.humanlayer/tasks/pr-{number}/description.md`.
• Update the PR with `gh pr edit {number} --body-file {output-path}`.
• Confirm the update succeeded.

7. Report completion:

• Read key task artifacts briefly to capture their cloud URLs.
• Read `{SKILLBASE}/references/describe_pr_final_answer.md`.
• Respond using that final answer template with the PR URL, saved description URL, and concise list of changed files.

Always read and follow `{SKILLBASE}/references/pr_description_template.md`. Do not expand the PR body beyond that template.

Write as one human talking to another: avoid jargon and slang, and use simple, coherent, concise language.