issue-resolver

name	issue-resolver
description	Create an atomic PR that closes a GitHub issue end-to-end via a 6-step pipeline. Use when asked to resolve issue #N, fix #N, implement #N, work on #N, take issue #N, or /issue-resolver. Don't use for analyzing an issue without implementing (use /issue-analysis), reviewing an existing PR (use /issue-pr-review), or bulk backlog processing (use /auto-pilot).
license	MIT
compatibility	Requires git and GitHub CLI (gh) with authentication and push access. Self-contained — uses shared agents from shared/agents/.
effort	max
metadata	{"version":"0.7.1","creator":"Luong NGUYEN <[e-mail]>"}

/issue-resolver N

Resolve a GitHub issue end-to-end — from issue to atomic PR in 6 steps.

Invocation

Invocation	Mode	What happens
/issue-resolver <N>	interactive	Resolve issue #N, ask user to pick plan
/issue-resolver <N> --auto	auto-pilot	Resolve fully autonomously, no user prompts

The argument must be a GitHub issue number. The --auto flag is set automatically when invoked by /auto-pilot.

Prerequisites

Before any operation, verify the environment. On failure, output the exact error from references/error-messages.md and stop.

1. Confirm git repository: git rev-parse --git-dir
2. Confirm gh is installed: which gh
3. Confirm authentication: gh auth status
4. Confirm GitHub remote exists: git remote -v

Repo Sync Before Edits (mandatory)

Before making file modifications, sync with remote using the stash-first pattern (see references/docs/sync-conventions.md for the full convention and recovery procedure):

branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
dirty=0
if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
  git stash push -u -m "pre-sync: ${branch}"
  dirty=1
fi
git fetch origin
git pull --rebase origin "$branch"
if [ "$dirty" -eq 1 ]; then
  git stash pop || {
    echo "✗ Stash pop failed — recover with: git stash list && git stash show -p stash@{0}"
    exit 1
  }
fi

If origin is missing or rebase conflicts occur, stop and ask the user (interactive) or abort with a clear error (auto).

Configuration

Load .gitissue.yml from the repo root once at skill start. If the file does not exist, use defaults and print:

○ First run — using default config. Run /init-gitissue to customize.

Defaults:

• issue.auto_normalize: true
• resolve.approval_gate: auto (ignored in auto mode — always auto)
• resolve.branch_prefix: "auto"
• resolve.auto_test: true
• resolve.test_timeout: 300
• resolve.pr_auto_link: true
• resolve.max_commits: 10
• resolve.qa_max_cycles: 5

---

Subagent Architecture

The resolve pipeline delegates heavy work to subagents to keep the main agent's context window clean and the token budget predictable. All agents are in shared/agents/.

Main Agent (orchestrator)
├── Step 0: Preflight (lightweight — stays in main)
│
├── Spawn: Codebase Researcher subagent (Step 1)
│   Verifies not already fixed, scans codebase, assesses complexity
│   Returns: structured findings (JSON or markdown)
│
├── Spawn: Synthesizer subagent (Step 2)
│   Proposes 3 implementation options from research
│   Returns: analysis + ranked options
│
├── Spawn: Implementer subagent (Step 3)
│   Writes code + all tests based on selected plan
│   Returns: files changed, tests written, commits
│
├── Step 4: QA (main agent orchestrates review-fix loop)
│   Spawns Code Reviewer subagent per cycle
│   Runs tests/build between cycles
│   Max 5 cycles
│
└── Step 5: Deliver (main agent — push + create PR + report)

Read references/agents/codebase-researcher.md for the researcher prompt. Read references/agents/synthesizer.md for the synthesizer prompt. Read references/agents/implementer.md for the implementer prompt. Read references/agents/code-reviewer.md for the reviewer prompt.

Environment check

If the Agent tool is available, use subagents as described above. If not (e.g., Claude.ai), execute each step inline using the fallback instructions.

---

Pipeline Overview

The resolve pipeline has 6 steps (0-5). Display progress using the [N/5] step counter:

  ◆ Resolve Pipeline
  ┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄
  [0/5] Preflight    ✓ issue #42 open, not yet resolved
  [1/5] Research     ✓ read 12 files, complexity: medium
  [2/5] Plan         ✓ option 2 selected: balanced refactor
  [3/5] Implement    ✓ 3 files changed, 8 unit tests, 2 e2e tests
  [4/5] QA           ✓ clean after 2 cycles
  [5/5] Deliver      ✓ PR #87 created

Each step prints a new line when it starts (with ●) and updates to ✓ on success or ✗ on failure. Static sequential output — no animation.

---

Step 0 — Preflight

Check whether this issue should be worked on at all.

● Preflight check for issue #N...

0a — Fetch issue

gh issue view {N} --json number,title,body,labels,assignees,state,comments

If not found: output error and stop. If closed: output warning and stop.

0b — Check for existing work

# Check for existing branches
git branch -a | grep -i "{N}"

# Check for existing PRs targeting this issue
gh pr list --state open --json number,title,body,headRefName --limit 20

Scan PR bodies for Closes #N, Fixes #N, Resolves #N. If a PR already exists:

⚠ PR #{pr_number} already targets issue #N
  https://github.com/owner/repo/pull/{pr_number}

  Use /issue-pr-review {pr_number} to review it instead.

Stop.

0c — Guards

In interactive mode, check guards and prompt:

• Assignment guard: If assigned to someone else, warn and ask to continue.
• Blocking label guard: If wontfix, blocked, do-not-merge labels exist, warn and ask.

In auto mode, skip assignment guard (auto-pilot resolves regardless). For blocking labels, skip and log a warning — do not stop.

0d — Auto-normalize

If issue.auto_normalize is true and the issue is not already normalized (no <!-- gitissue:normalized v1 --> marker):

1. Classify issue type, generate normalized body, add marker
2. Post backup comment with original body
3. Update issue body via gh issue edit
4. Re-fetch issue

If normalization fails, warn and continue with original body.

0e — Create branch

Create working branch: {type}/{N}-{short-description} (see references/docs/naming-conventions.md).

If branch already exists:

• Interactive mode: ask continue or fresh
• Auto mode: continue (checkout existing branch)

After preflight:

[0/5] Preflight    ✓ issue #N open, branch: {branch_name}

---

Step 1 — Research

Deeply understand the issue, affected codebase, and possible solutions. Also verifies the issue hasn't already been fixed (early-exit path closes the issue in auto mode).

Spawn the codebase-researcher subagent (see references/agents/codebase-researcher.md). Use this Agent invocation:

Agent(
  description="Research issue #N",
  prompt=<codebase-researcher.md prompt with {variables} replaced>,
  subagent_type="general-purpose"  # NOT "codebase-researcher"
)

Full delegation payload, phases, early-exit behavior, and inline fallback are in references/pipeline-steps.md (Step 1 — Research).

After research:

[1/5] Research     ✓ read {N} files, complexity: {level}

---

Step 2 — Plan

Generate implementation options and select one. Spawn the synthesizer subagent (see references/agents/synthesizer.md). Use this Agent invocation:

Agent(
  description="Plan for issue #N",
  prompt=<synthesizer.md prompt with {variables} replaced>,
  subagent_type="general-purpose"  # NOT "synthesizer"
)

It returns 3 options — minimal / balanced / comprehensive — with the balanced option usually recommended.

Selection behavior (interactive auto, interactive comment-and-wait, auto-pilot) and inline fallback are in references/pipeline-steps.md (Step 2 — Plan).

After plan selection:

[2/5] Plan         ✓ approach: {selected option name}

---

Step 3 — Implement

Write code and tests based on the selected plan. Spawn the implementer subagent (see references/agents/implementer.md) with the plan, branch name, and naming conventions. Use this Agent invocation:

Agent(
  description="Implement issue #N",
  prompt=<implementer.md prompt with {variables} replaced>,
  subagent_type="general-purpose"  # NOT "implementer"
)

Full payload, commit guardrails, and inline fallback are in references/pipeline-steps.md (Step 3 — Implement).

After implementation:

[3/5] Implement    ✓ {N} files changed, {U} unit tests, {E} e2e tests

---

Step 4 — QA

Automated review-fix loop: review → test → fix → repeat until clean or max cycles reached. Each cycle spawns a fresh code-reviewer subagent (see references/agents/code-reviewer.md) for unbiased review.

Spawning the code reviewer

For each QA cycle, spawn a general-purpose agent with the code-reviewer prompt:

Agent(
  description="Review cycle N",
  prompt=<code-reviewer.md prompt with {variables} replaced>,
  subagent_type="general-purpose"
)

Do NOT use subagent_type: "code-reviewer" — that is not a registered agent type. Always use general-purpose and pass the full code-reviewer prompt (see references/agents/code-reviewer.md).

Cycle mechanics, loop controls (resolve.qa_max_cycles, exit-on-clean, exit-on-stagnation), and the remaining-issues flow are in references/pipeline-steps.md (Step 4 — QA).

---

Step 5 — Deliver

Push, create PR, and report.

Verify all tests pass

Run the full test suite one final time to confirm everything is clean after QA fixes.

If tests fail at this point:

✗ Final test run failed — PR not created
  {failure details}

Stop (even in auto mode — a failing PR is worse than no PR).

Update documentation

If the changes affect documented behavior:

• Update README if applicable
• Update inline documentation
• Update CHANGELOG if the project maintains one

Push branch

Before pushing, run the pre-commit security scan against every file touched by commits on this branch. The implementer ran the scan per commit during Step 3, but a final pre-push pass catches secrets that may have slipped in during QA fixes (see the pre-commit security conventions reference at references/docs/pre-commit-security.md — that document is authoritative; the snippet below mirrors its Primary Pattern). Real secrets block the push; warnings prompt for confirmation in interactive mode and log-and-continue in auto mode.

# Pre-push security scan — mirrors the Primary Pattern in the
# pre-commit-security conventions reference. Set IDD_AUTO_MODE=1 in auto mode.
base="$(gh pr view --json baseRefName --jq .baseRefName 2>/dev/null || echo main)"
files="$(git diff --name-only "origin/${base}"...HEAD)"
secrets_found=0
warnings=()
if printf '%s\n' "$files" | grep -E -q '(^|/)\.env($|\.)|\.key$|\.pem$|credentials\.json$|secrets\.ya?ml$|id_rsa($|\.pub$)|\.p12$|\.pfx$|\.cer$'; then
  echo "✗ Secret-bearing file in branch diff."
  secrets_found=1
fi
realkey='(sk-(proj-)?[A-Za-z0-9_-]{20,}|sk_live_[A-Za-z0-9]{20,}|AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}|ASIA[0-9A-Z]{16}|ghp_[A-Za-z0-9]{30,}|gho_[A-Za-z0-9]{30,}|ghs_[A-Za-z0-9]{30,}|ghu_[A-Za-z0-9]{30,}|github_pat_[A-Za-z0-9_]{40,}|xox[abprs]-[A-Za-z0-9-]{10,}|glpat-[A-Za-z0-9_-]{20,}|AIza[0-9A-Za-z_-]{30,})'
while IFS= read -r f; do
  [ -z "$f" ] && continue
  [ -f "$f" ] || continue
  file --mime "$f" 2>/dev/null | grep -q 'charset=binary' && continue
  if grep -E -q "$realkey" "$f" 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "✗ Real API key detected in: $f"
    secrets_found=1
  fi
  size=$(stat -f%z "$f" 2>/dev/null || stat -c%s "$f" 2>/dev/null || echo 0)
  [ "$size" -gt 10485760 ] && warnings+=("⚠ Large file (>10 MB) without LFS: $f")
done <<< "$files"
junk='(^|/)(node_modules|dist|build|__pycache__|\.venv)(/|$)|\.pyc$|(^|/)(\.DS_Store|thumbs\.db)$|\.swp$|\.tmp$'
while IFS= read -r f; do
  [ -z "$f" ] && continue
  printf '%s\n' "$f" | grep -E -q "$junk" && warnings+=("⚠ Build artifact in diff: $f")
done <<< "$files"
case "$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)" in
  main|master|production|release) warnings+=("⚠ On protected branch — confirm intentional") ;;
esac
[ "$secrets_found" = 1 ] && { echo "✗ Pre-push security scan blocked. See pre-commit-security conventions reference."; exit 1; }
if [ "${#warnings[@]}" -gt 0 ]; then
  printf '%s\n' "${warnings[@]}"
  if [ "${IDD_AUTO_MODE:-0}" = "1" ]; then
    echo "○ Warnings logged — proceeding (auto mode)."
  else
    printf "Proceed anyway? [y/N] "; read -r reply
    case "$reply" in y|Y|yes|YES) echo "○ Continuing despite warnings." ;; *) echo "✗ Stopped."; exit 1 ;; esac
  fi
fi
git push -u origin {branch_name}

Create PR

gh pr create --title "{pr_title}" --body "{pr_body}"

PR title: {type}({scope}): {description} (#{issue_number}) (see references/docs/naming-conventions.md)

PR body: Fill the template in references/report-templates.md (section PR Body Template) — Summary, Approach, Decision Record (lifted from .gitissue/analysis-<N>.json if present, else synthesized from Steps 1-2 findings), Changes table, Test Results, Acceptance Criteria Verification table. The Decision Record and the verification table are the durable analysis signal that survives the squash-merge into git history; do not omit them. See Analysis Artifacts and Durable Memory in references/docs/idd-methodology.md.

Project board sync

If projects.sync_enabled is true, update status to status_map.done (see references/docs/github-projects-sync.md).

After delivery:

[5/5] Deliver      ✓ PR #{pr_number} created

---

Final Report

After the pipeline completes, print a structured step-by-step summary so the user can scan the whole resolution at a glance. Use the templates in references/report-templates.md:

• Final Report — Successful Resolution — every step passed
• Final Report — Resolution With Warnings — QA left residual issues or another step warned
• Final Report — Already Resolved — Step 0 or Step 1 detected the issue was already closed

---

Auto-Pilot Mode

When invoked with --auto (or by /auto-pilot), the entire pipeline runs without user interaction:

• Environment: Export IDD_AUTO_MODE=1 before any shell snippet that consults it (the pre-commit security scan reads this to switch from prompt-on-warning to log-and-continue; see references/docs/pre-commit-security.md).
• Preflight: Skip assignment guard. Log blocking labels as warnings, don't stop.
• Research: If already resolved, close the issue with a comment and exit cleanly.
• Plan: Auto-select the recommended option (best balance of quality/effort).
• Implement: Continue past max commits guard with a warning.
• QA: Run full cycle autonomously. If stagnation detected, continue to deliver with known issues.
• Deliver: Create PR. Do NOT merge — merging is handled by /auto-pilot or /issue-pr-review.

No [y/N] prompts, no Choose: prompts, no Continue? prompts. Every decision point has a defined auto behavior.

---

Expected Output

A successful resolve prints the 6-step tracker and ends with the PR URL — see the Expected Inline Pipeline Output example in references/report-templates.md.

Edge Cases

No acceptance criteria

PR body notes: > **Note:** No acceptance criteria defined — manual review recommended.

Issue body is empty

• Interactive: warn and ask to continue
• Auto: warn in log, continue with title-only context

Large issues (20+ files estimated)

• Interactive: warn and ask
• Auto: warn in log, continue

Tests fail or timeout

• PR is not created. The Verify step stops with the failing test output and a resume hint.

Branch already exists

• Interactive: continue or fresh prompt.
• Auto: resume from the existing branch.

---

GitHub CLI Convention

Every gh command uses --json with explicit field selection. Never parse text output.

Terminal Output

Follow DESIGN.md symbol vocabulary:

• Step counter: [N/5] for pipeline steps
• Symbols: ● progress, ✓ success, ✗ failure, ◆ header, ⚡ recommendation, ⚠ warning, ○ info
• Two-space indent, ┄ separators, URLs on own line, max 80 chars

Error Handling

All errors use rich format from references/error-messages.md:

✗ Short error description

  To fix:  <actionable command>
  Docs:    <url>

Additional Resources

• references/agents/codebase-researcher.md — Research subagent (Step 1)
• references/agents/synthesizer.md — Plan subagent (Step 2)
• references/agents/implementer.md — Implement subagent (Step 3)
• references/agents/code-reviewer.md — QA review subagent (Step 4)
• references/pipeline-steps.md — Full delegation payloads, phases, and inline fallbacks for Steps 1–4
• references/report-templates.md — PR body template, final report templates, and expected inline output
• references/error-messages.md — Complete error catalog
• references/docs/naming-conventions.md — Branch, commit, PR naming conventions
• references/docs/github-projects-sync.md — GitHub Projects status sync
• DESIGN.md — Terminal output style guide
• references/docs/config-schema.md — Configuration schema