babysit-pr

name

babysit-pr

description

Open a pull request for the current branch and babysit it to ready-to-merge: push, create/reuse the PR, then loop — fix failing CI, keep the branch current with base, and triage + answer every review thread (CodeRabbit and human) until CI is green and all threads are resolved. Never merges. Use when running /babysit-pr, or any "create the PR and watch it green up" request, standalone (no kautopilot session needed).

babysit-pr — open a PR and drive it to ready-to-merge

Self-contained PR babysitting. No kautopilot session, no special binary — just git + gh. Takes the current branch from "has commits" to ready to merge (CI green + every review thread resolved) and stops there. It never merges.

Ready to merge ≠ merged. Ready = CI green, all review threads resolved, no outstanding change requests. Required human approval is NOT part of the bar — that's the human's job, and so is the actual merge.

Preconditions

• Inside a git repo, on a feature branch (never main/master).
• PR work belongs in a fresh git worktree. If you're running on a main/shared checkout instead, warn the user and suggest creating one first (wt / git worktree) — but don't hard-block if they want to proceed in place.
• gh authenticated; the branch (or its commits) exists locally.
• If the repo uses CodeRabbit, it comments on the PR like any other reviewer — handled by the review loop below.

0. Orient

1. Resolve the base branch: --base if given, else the remote default (gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name).
2. Resolve the current branch (git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD). If it is the base branch, stop and tell the user — refuse to PR from base.
3. Find an existing PR for the branch: gh pr list --head <branch> --state open --json number,url -q '.' (or the PR number arg). Reuse it if present; otherwise you'll create one.

1. Push + create (or reuse) the PR

1. Sync with base first so the PR isn't born behind: git fetch origin <base> then rebase (git rebase origin/<base>) or merge.
   • On conflicts you can resolve cleanly, do so. If not, stop and ask the user — never guess a conflict resolution.
2. Push the branch. First push sets upstream (git push -u origin <branch>). On a rejected non-fast-forward, try git pull --rebase then push; only ever force with --force-with-lease, never plain --force, and never push to main/master.
3. Create the PR (skip if reusing, or if --no-create):
   • Write a real title + body: summarize the change from the commits/diff (git log origin/<base>..HEAD, git diff origin/<base>...HEAD --stat). What changed, why, how to test. Don't dump the diff.
   • gh pr create --base <base> --head <branch> --title "…" --body "…".
   • If reusing an existing PR and the scope changed, update its title/body (gh pr edit) rather than opening a second PR.

2. The babysit loop

Repeat until ready (§3) or stuck (§4). Every progress update you give the user during the loop — and every raise-to-user message (§4) — must include the full PR URL (https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/pull/<n>), never just the number. Each cycle:

a. Poll the PR state

Use non-blocking gh / gh api graphql calls — never the blocking watchers gh pr checks --watch or gh run watch. Gather:

• CI checks: gh pr checks <pr> → counts of failing / pending / passing. Treat a branch-protection required check that hasn't reported yet as pending.
• Mergeability: gh pr view <pr> --json mergeable,mergeStateStatus,reviewDecision.
• Review threads (unresolved, with bodies) via GraphQL, e.g.:

  gh api graphql -f query='
    query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$pr:Int!){
      repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){ pullRequest(number:$pr){
        reviewThreads(first:100){ nodes{ id isResolved isOutdated
          comments(first:20){ nodes{ author{login} body path line } } } }
        comments(first:100){ nodes{ id author{login} body } }
      }}}' -F owner=<owner> -F repo=<repo> -F pr=<pr>
  

• PR-level comments and reviews (CHANGES_REQUESTED?).

b. Classify

• failing CI → go to (c).
• unresolved review threads OR actionable human PR comment OR changes requested → go to (d).
• CI still pending → wait (e.g. 30–60s) and re-poll. Bound your patience; if it never settles, treat as stuck (§4).
• nothing failing/pending/unresolved → ready (§3).

Don't let un-resolvable PR-level chatter block forever: a bot summary comment (e.g. CodeRabbit's overview) and your own already-posted replies are NOT blocking. Only genuinely actionable, not-yet-answered human comments and unresolved inline threads count.

c. Fix failing CI

1. Pull the failed run's logs: gh run list --branch <branch> → gh run view <id> --log-failed (or gh pr checks links).
2. Diagnose and fix the real cause locally. Re-run the relevant check/test to confirm.
3. Commit (clear message) and re-push (§1.2). Back to (a).

d. Triage + answer review feedback — every thread ends RESOLVED or RAISED

Each unresolved thread MUST reach exactly one terminal state: resolved by you, or raised to the user (§4). Never leave a thread open-and-unaddressed, and never resolve away something that genuinely needs a human call. For each thread, work through these in order and stop at the first that fits:

1. Outdated — the code the comment points at has changed (the thread is marked outdated, or the lines no longer exist): resolve with a one-line "superseded by …" note. It no longer applies.
2. Genuine, fixable issue → code_fix: change it in the worktree, run checks, commit + push (§1.2), then reply + resolve.
3. False positive (contradicts intent / already satisfied / out of scope / pure style) → reply explaining why you're not changing it. Do not resolve on this pass — give them one cycle to counter.
4. Ghosted (bot reviewers only) — for a bot reviewer's thread (e.g. CodeRabbit) where the latest comment is a bot-signed reply (the signature above) and it's still open with no counter at least 5 minutes after that reply was posted (not merely "next cycle" — your cycles can be faster than a bot can answer): resolve with a brief closing note — stop re-fighting a settled bot thread, never loop on it. Never ghost-resolve a human's thread this way → that's (5).
5. Needs a human decision — a product / scope / priority call, a genuinely ambiguous requirement, a security or correctness trade-off you're unsure of, or any human change-request you replied to that they haven't conceded → raise to the user (§4). Human threads outrank (4): if a human is waiting, raise it — never guess, never auto-resolve.

Apply the GitHub side-effects yourself (reply/resolve/react) — don't assume a sub-agent did the I/O. Sign every reply By Codex 🤖 (this is also how you recognize your own prior replies when judging "ghosted"). After acting, re-verify: re-poll the threads to confirm your resolves actually landed before treating them as done. Back to (a).

Thread mechanics — the actual commands:

• Reply to an inline thread (REST; comment_id = the numeric id of the thread's first comment):

  gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/{pr}/comments/{comment_id}/replies -f body='…'
  

• Resolve a thread (GraphQL only — no REST equivalent; threadId = the node id from the read query in §2a):

  gh api graphql -f query='mutation { resolveReviewThread(input:{threadId:"<id>"}) { thread { isResolved } } }'
  

• Thread ids come from the §2a read query; for the numeric comment_id, add databaseId to its comment fields.

e. Keep the branch current

Whenever the PR shows as behind base or not mergeable for branch-staleness: git fetch origin <base> → rebase/merge → re-push (§1.2). Conflicts you can't resolve cleanly → ask the user (§4).

3. Ready — report and stop

When CI is green, no changes are requested, and every thread is resolved (none left open, none awaiting a user decision):

• Report: full PR URL, check status, that all threads are resolved.
• Do not merge. Hand back to the user; the merge is theirs.

4. Raise to the user — don't spin, don't guess

When something needs the user's call, don't loop on it — collect it and raise it. Triggers:

• a merge/rebase conflict you can't resolve with confidence,
• a thread that needs a human decision (§2d.5),
• CI that keeps failing for a cause you can't fix (after a real attempt),
• CI stuck pending well past a reasonable wait.

Gather all such items into one message and present them together — lead with the full PR URL, then for each item: the thread link, the specific question, and your recommendation. Then stop and wait. Do not declare the PR ready while any item awaits a decision, and never guess a resolution just to make the loop finish.

Hard rules

1. Never merge. gh pr merge is off-limits — ready-to-merge is the finish line.
2. Never push to main/master; force only with --force-with-lease.
3. Poll with gh / gh api graphql, never blocking watchers (gh pr checks --watch, gh run watch).
4. Never invent a conflict resolution or an ambiguous-feedback decision — ask the user.
5. Sign replies By Codex 🤖.
6. Keep the branch current with base before pushing and before declaring ready.
7. Always give the full PR URL in every update, raise, and report — never just the PR number.
8. Every thread ends resolved or raised — never silently left open, and never spun on. A thread you've pushed back on and been ghosted → resolve it (§2d.4); a genuine human-decision thread → raise it (§4).