/github-operations

name: github-operations
license: MIT
compatibility: "Claude Code 2.1.277+. Requires gh CLI."
description: "gh CLI and REST patterns for issues, PRs, milestones and Projects v2. Use when managing GitHub issues, PRs or projects."
user-invocable: false
metadata:
  category: workflow-automation
  version: "1.1.0"
  author: "OrchestKit"
  complexity: "medium"
  tags: "github, gh, cli, issues, pr, milestones, projects, api"
allowed-tools: "Read Glob Grep Bash Write Edit TaskCreate TaskUpdate TaskList"

GitHub Operations

Comprehensive GitHub CLI (`gh`) operations for project management, from basic issue creation to advanced Projects v2 integration and milestone tracking via REST API.

Overview

• Creating and managing GitHub issues and PRs
• Working with GitHub Projects v2 custom fields
• Managing milestones (sprints, releases) via REST API
• Automating bulk operations with `gh`
• Running GraphQL queries for complex operations

---

CRITICAL: Task Management is MANDATORY (CC 2.1.16)

**BEFORE doing ANYTHING else, create tasks to track progress:**

# 1. Create main task IMMEDIATELY
TaskCreate(
  subject="GitHub Operations: {target}",
  description="Managing GitHub issues, PRs, milestones, or Projects",
  activeForm="Managing GitHub resources"
)

# 2. Create subtasks matching the operation scope
TaskCreate(subject="Issue management", activeForm="Creating/updating issues")
TaskCreate(subject="PR management", activeForm="Managing pull requests")
TaskCreate(subject="Milestone tracking", activeForm="Updating milestones")

# 3. Set dependencies if operations are sequential
TaskUpdate(taskId="3", addBlockedBy=["2"])
TaskUpdate(taskId="4", addBlockedBy=["3"])

# 4. Update status as you progress
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="in_progress")  # When starting
TaskUpdate(taskId="2", status="completed")    # When done

Quick Reference

Issue Operations

# Create issue with labels and milestone
gh issue create --title "Bug: API returns 500" --body "..." --label "bug" --milestone "Sprint 5"

# List and filter issues
gh issue list --state open --label "backend" --assignee @me

# Edit issue metadata
gh issue edit 123 --add-label "high" --milestone "v2.0"

PR Operations

# Create PR with reviewers
gh pr create --title "feat: Add search" --body "..." --base dev --reviewer @teammate

# Watch CI status and auto-merge
gh pr checks 456 --watch
gh pr merge 456 --auto --squash --delete-branch

# Resume a session linked to a PR (CC 2.1.27)
claude --from-pr 456           # Resume session with PR context (diff, comments, review status)
claude --from-pr https://github.com/org/repo/pull/456

> **Tip (CC 2.1.27):** Sessions created via `gh pr create` are automatically linked to the PR. Use `--from-pr` to resume with full PR context.

Milestone Operations (REST API)

> **Footgun:** `gh issue edit --milestone` takes a **NAME** (string), not a number. The REST API uses a **NUMBER** (integer). Never pass a number to `--milestone`. Load `Read("references/cli-vs-api-identifiers.md")`.

# List milestones with progress
gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | "\(.title): \(.closed_issues)/\(.open_issues + .closed_issues)"'

# Create milestone with due date
gh api -X POST repos/:owner/:repo/milestones \
  -f title="Sprint 8" -f due_on="2026-02-15T00:00:00Z"

# Close milestone (API uses number, not name)
MILESTONE_NUM=$(gh api repos/:owner/:repo/milestones --jq '.[] | select(.title=="Sprint 8") | .number')
gh api -X PATCH repos/:owner/:repo/milestones/$MILESTONE_NUM -f state=closed

# Assign issues to milestone (CLI uses name, not number)
gh issue edit 123 124 125 --milestone "Sprint 8"

Projects v2 Operations

# Add issue to project
gh project item-add 1 --owner @me --url https://github.com/org/repo/issues/123

# Set custom field (requires GraphQL)
gh api graphql -f query='mutation {...}' -f projectId="..." -f itemId="..."

---

JSON Output Patterns

# Get issue numbers matching criteria
gh issue list --json number,labels --jq '[.[] | select(.labels[].name == "bug")] | .[].number'

# PR summary with author
gh pr list --json number,title,author --jq '.[] | "\(.number): \(.title) by \(.author.login)"'

# Find ready-to-merge PRs (statusCheckRollup is an ARRAY, so fold it first)
gh pr list --json number,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.reviewDecision == "APPROVED"
        and ([(.statusCheckRollup // [])[] | .conclusion // .state]
             | length > 0 and all(IN("SUCCESS","SKIPPED","NEUTRAL"))))]'

---

Key Concepts

Milestone vs Epic

| Milestones | Epics | |------------|-------| | Time-based (sprints, releases) | Topic-based (features) | | Has due date | No due date | | Progress bar | Task list checkbox | | Native REST API | Needs workarounds |

**Rule**: Use milestones for "when", use parent issues for "what".

Projects v2 Custom Fields

Projects v2 uses GraphQL for setting custom fields (Status, Priority, Domain). Basic `gh project` commands work for listing and adding items, but field updates require GraphQL mutations.

---

Rules Quick Reference

| Rule | Impact | What It Covers | |------|--------|----------------| | issue-tracking-automation (load `rules/issue-tracking-automation.md`) | HIGH | Auto-progress from commits, sub-task completion, session summaries | | issue-branch-linking (load `rules/issue-branch-linking.md`) | MEDIUM | Branch naming, commit references, PR linking patterns |

Batch Issue Creation

When creating multiple issues at once (e.g., seeding a sprint), use an array-driven loop:

# Define issues as an array of "title|labels|milestone" entries
SPRINT="Sprint 9"
ISSUES=(
  "feat: Add user auth|enhancement,backend|$SPRINT"
  "fix: Login redirect loop|bug,high|$SPRINT"
  "chore: Update dependencies|maintenance|$SPRINT"
)

for entry in "${ISSUES[@]}"; do
  IFS='|' read -r title labels milestone <<< "$entry"
  NUM=$(gh issue create \
    --title