dispatch

name	dispatch
description	Pick the next backlog/ready issue, claim it, and prepare a branch — without implementing it
disable-model-invocation	true

Dispatch — Claim the Next Issue

Pick the highest-priority backlog/ready issue, label it agent/implementing, create the feature branch, and report back the issue number and branch name. Does NOT implement.

Used by /forge-loop to separate "what to work on next" from "do the work". Can also be run standalone to claim an issue and hand off to a human or a different agent.

Input

$ARGUMENTS — optional issue number.

• /dispatch — auto-pick highest-priority backlog/ready issue
• /dispatch 42 — claim a specific issue

---

Step 0 — Read Configuration

Read forge.toml:

[project]
repo = "org/project"
base_branch = "main"

[dispatch]
max_concurrent_prs = 1

[trust]
trusted_users = [...]

If forge.toml is missing, stop and tell the user to run /onboard first.

---

Step 1 — Concurrency Guard

OPEN_COUNT=$(gh pr list --repo $REPO \
  --state open --json number,labels \
  --jq '[.[] | select(
    (.labels | map(.name) | any(startswith("via/")))
    and (.labels | map(.name) | any(. == "human/blocked") | not)
  )] | length')

If $OPEN_COUNT >= max_concurrent_prs, stop:

Dispatch skipped: $OPEN_COUNT open autodev PR(s) already in flight (max $MAX).
Open PRs: <list titles and numbers>

Ask the user if they want to override the concurrency limit.

---

Step 2 — Select Issue

If an issue number was provided

gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --repo $REPO --json number,title,body,labels,state

Validate:

• Issue is open
• Not already labeled agent/implementing or human/blocked
• Has backlog/ready label (warn if missing — user is overriding)

If no issue number was provided

gh issue list --repo $REPO \
  --label "backlog/ready" \
  --state open \
  --json number,title,labels \
  --limit 30

Filter out issues with agent/implementing or human/blocked labels. Sort by:

1. priority/critical first
2. priority/high second
3. Lowest issue number as tiebreaker

Present the top choice with a 1-sentence rationale. If running non-interactively (e.g., called by /forge-loop), skip the confirmation and proceed.

---

Step 2.5 — Parent Issue Resolution

If the selected issue has child issues, navigate to the next unblocked leaf child. See /autodev Step 2.5 for the full parent resolution algorithm. Apply it here identically.

---

Step 3 — Claim and Prepare Branch

Label the issue:

gh issue edit $ISSUE_NUMBER --repo $REPO --add-label "agent/implementing"

Compute the branch name:

ISSUE_TITLE=$(gh issue view $ISSUE_NUMBER --repo $REPO --json title --jq .title)
SLUG=$(echo "$ISSUE_TITLE" \
  | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' \
  | sed -E 's/[^a-z0-9]+/-/g' \
  | sed -E 's/^-+|-+$//g' \
  | cut -c1-50)
BRANCH="autodev/issue-${ISSUE_NUMBER}-${SLUG}"

Check for stale remote branch and clean up:

git ls-remote --exit-code origin "refs/heads/$BRANCH" 2>/dev/null && \
  git push origin --delete "$BRANCH" || true

Fetch and create the worktree:

git fetch origin $BASE_BRANCH
WORKTREE_PATH=".worktrees/${BRANCH##autodev/}"
git worktree add -b "$BRANCH" "$WORKTREE_PATH" origin/$BASE_BRANCH

---

Step 4 — Report

Print a machine-readable summary (parseable by /forge-loop):

DISPATCH_ISSUE=$ISSUE_NUMBER
DISPATCH_TITLE=$ISSUE_TITLE
DISPATCH_BRANCH=$BRANCH
DISPATCH_WORKTREE=$WORKTREE_PATH

Then a human-readable summary:

Claimed #$ISSUE_NUMBER: $ISSUE_TITLE
  Branch:   $BRANCH
  Worktree: $WORKTREE_PATH

Next step: run /autodev $ISSUE_NUMBER to implement, or /forge-loop to run the full pipeline.

---

Guardrails

• Never claim an issue already labeled agent/implementing or human/blocked
• Never create the worktree outside .worktrees/
• Never push to the base branch
• If the worktree already exists, remove and recreate: git worktree remove --force $WORKTREE_PATH