github-issue-dedupe

name	github-issue-dedupe
description	Detect duplicate GitHub issues using semantic search and keyword matching. Use when asked to find duplicates, check for similar issues, or set up automated duplicate detection.
license	MIT

GitHub Duplicate Issue Detection

Find duplicate GitHub issues using multi-strategy search. Can be run manually or automated via GitHub Actions.

Workflow

1. Gather Issue Context

Extract key information from the target issue:

• Issue number and title
• Full body content
• Error messages or stack traces
• Keywords and technical terms
• Symptoms or behavior descriptions

2. Search Strategy

Use gh to search for related issues using multiple strategies:

• Keyword search from title and body
• Search for similar error messages
• Look for similar symptoms

3. Candidate Inspection

For each potential duplicate:

• View full issue with gh issue view <number>
• Compare:
  • Root cause (same underlying problem?)
  • Symptoms (identical behavior?)
  • Error messages (exact match or very similar?)
  • Affected components (same area of code?)

High confidence indicators:

• Identical error messages
• Same reproduction steps
• Same root cause with different descriptions
• One issue references the other

Low confidence (not duplicates):

• Similar symptoms but different causes
• Related but independent bugs
• Same component but different behaviors

4. Report Findings

If duplicates found:

Post comment on target issue:

gh issue comment <number> --body "This is potentially a duplicate of #123 and #456."

Format rules:

• Single duplicate: "This is potentially a duplicate of #123."
• Two duplicates: "This is potentially a duplicate of #123 and #456."
• Three+ duplicates: "This is potentially a duplicate of #123, #456, and #789."

Only comment if high confidence (90%+ certain). When uncertain, do nothing.

Examples

Example 1: Clear Duplicate

Target Issue #150:

Title: "Dropdown menu stays open on mobile Safari"
Body: Clicking menu items doesn't close dropdown on iOS

Search process:

gh issue list --search "dropdown mobile safari"
gh issue list --search "menu doesn't close"
gh issue view 87  # Found similar issue

Issue #87:

Title: "Mobile menu not closing after selection"
Body: On iOS Safari, menu stays open after clicking items

Determination: Duplicate

• Same symptom (menu stays open)
• Same platform (iOS Safari)
• Same root cause

Example 2: Similar But Not Duplicate

Target Issue #200:

Title: "Form validation error on submit"
Error: "Cannot read property 'value' of null"

Search process:

gh issue list --search "form validation"
gh issue list --search "Cannot read property value null"
gh issue view 175

Issue #175:

Title: "Form submission fails"
Error: "Cannot read property 'email' of undefined"

Determination: Not duplicate

• Different error messages
• Different null references (value vs email)
• Related area but different bugs

Example 3: Multiple Duplicates

Target Issue #300:

Title: "Build fails with 'module not found' error"
Error: Error: Cannot find module './config'

Search results:

• Issue #250: Same error, same module
• Issue #280: Same error, same module
• Issue #290: Different module error (not duplicate)

Action:

gh issue comment 300 --body "This is potentially a duplicate of #250 and #280."