batch-retry

name	batch-retry
description	Retry failed batch tasks. Cleans up failed branches/PRs and re-runs specified tasks.

Batch Retry — Re-run Failed Tasks

Overview

Companion to /batch-tasks. Retries specific tasks that failed during a batch run. Cleans up the failed attempt (branch + PR if created) and re-executes with the same PRD.

Usage

/batch-retry 2, 4          # retry tasks 2 and 4 by their batch index
/batch-retry #42            # retry by GitHub issue number
/batch-retry branch-name    # retry by branch name

Workflow

Step 1 — Identify Failed Tasks

Parse the user's input to determine which tasks to retry. Find the associated PRs/branches:

# Find PR by branch name
gh pr list --head "{branch-name}" --json number,title,url,headRefName,state

# Or find by issue reference
gh pr list --search "Closes #{issue-number}" --json number,title,url,headRefName,state

Step 2 — Cleanup Failed Attempt

Confirm cleanup with the user before proceeding with any destructive operations.

For each task to retry:

a) Close the failed PR (if it exists)

gh pr close {number} --comment "Closing for retry via /batch-retry"

b) Delete the remote branch

git push origin --delete {branch-name}

c) Delete the local branch (if exists)

git branch -D {branch-name} 2>/dev/null || true

Step 3 — Re-execute

For each task, follow the same execution flow as /batch-tasks Phase 3:

1. Spawn an Agent with:

   • subagent_type: "general-purpose"
   • isolation: "worktree"
   • run_in_background: true

2. Use the same agent prompt template from /batch-tasks, but add context about the previous failure:

## Previous Attempt
This task was previously attempted and failed. Here is context from the failed attempt:
- **Error**: {error summary from the failed run or PR body}
- **What was tried**: {brief description of what the previous attempt did}

Avoid the same mistakes. Pay extra attention to:
{specific guidance based on the failure reason}

Step 4 — Report

Present results in the same format as /batch-tasks Phase 4:

## Retry Complete

| # | Task | Branch | PR | Build | Lint | Status |
|---|------|--------|----|-------|------|--------|
| 2 | {title} | `{branch}` | {PR URL} | pass/fail | pass/fail | pass/fail |
| 4 | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

Rules

• Always confirm cleanup before deleting branches/PRs
• Never force-push
• Include failure context in the retry prompt so the agent doesn't repeat the same mistake
• If a task fails twice, suggest that it may need manual intervention
• Spawn all retry agents in parallel (same as /batch-tasks)