replying-to-pr-review-threads

name	replying-to-pr-review-threads
description	Use when a `discussion_rNNN` URL anchor appears, when replying to a specific PR review comment (CodeRabbit, human reviewer), reading all reviews on a PR with their replies as a tree, or resolving review threads from the CLI. Triggers on "reply to coderabbit", "answer this review comment", "read all reviews on PR", "show review threads", "resolve this thread".

PR review threads

A PR has three independent comment surfaces. Cover all three to "read all reviews".

Stream	What it is	How to read
PR conversation	Top-level issue comments	gh pr view N --comments
Review summaries	Body of each "Approve / Request changes / Comment"	gh pr view N --comments
Inline review threads	Diff comments + replies, grouped by file/line	GraphQL reviewThreads

gh pr comment writes only to stream 1. There is no native gh subcommand for reading nested inline threads or replying to one (cli/cli#12273). Use gh api.

URL anchor: pull/N#discussion_rNNN -> NNN is the comment's REST id and GraphQL databaseId.

Reading all reviews on a PR

# Streams 1 + 2
gh pr view N --comments

# Stream 3: inline threads as a tree
gh api graphql -f query='
  query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$num:Int!){
    repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){
      pullRequest(number:$num){
        reviewThreads(first:100){
          nodes{
            id isResolved isOutdated path line
            comments(first:50){
              nodes{ databaseId author{ login } createdAt body url }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }' -f owner=OWNER -f repo=REPO -F num=N

-F num=N (typed Int), not -f.

Shape:

• Each reviewThreads.nodes[] is one diff-anchored thread.
• comments.nodes[0] is the original; [1..] are replies in order.
• id (PRRT_*) is the GraphQL thread ID, needed for resolve.
• databaseId is the REST id (the NNN in discussion_rNNN), needed to reply or to find a thread by URL.

Filter examples (--jq):

# Only unresolved threads
... --jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes
  | map(select(.isResolved|not))'

# Only CodeRabbit threads
... --jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes
  | map(select(.comments.nodes[0].author.login == "coderabbitai"))'

# Find the GraphQL thread.id given a discussion_rNNN
... --jq --argjson id NNN '.data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.nodes[]
  | select(.comments.nodes[].databaseId == $id) | .id'

Replying to a thread

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/comments/NNN \
  --jq '{id, path, body: (.body|.[0:200])}'

gh api repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/N/comments/NNN/replies \
  -X POST \
  -f body="$(cat <<'EOF'
Reply body. Markdown OK.
EOF
)" --jq '.html_url'

Replying to an AI reviewer (CodeRabbit, Claude, etc.)

AI reviewers persist your reply as a learning for future reviews (CodeRabbit shows an "✏️ Learnings added" block confirming it). Write the reply so the stored learning is correct AND generalizable.

• Terse and low word count: Facts + rationale, no pleasantries, no closing.
• Lead with the conclusion ("Skipping. YAGNI." / "Applied as suggested.").
• Give the verifiable evidence: command run, files inspected, why the rule applies or doesn't.
• Phrase the rationale in terms that generalize beyond this file/line. "For sync helpers in this codebase, ..." beats "for with_modifiable, ...". The reviewer copies your wording into the learning - narrow phrasing produces a one-off rule.
• If the AI reviewer should change behavior next time, say so directly. ("Grep callers before flagging defensive guards on sync helpers.")
• Do not include code blocks or diffs unless correcting the suggestion. The thread already has the suggested code.

Resolving a thread

REST has no resolve endpoint. Mutation needs the GraphQL thread id (PRRT_*), not the REST comment id - look it up via the reviewThreads query above.

gh api graphql -f query='
  mutation($id:ID!){
    resolveReviewThread(input:{threadId:$id}){ thread{ isResolved } }
  }
' -f id=PRRT_xxxx

Common mistakes

Mistake	Symptom	Fix
Used repos/.../pulls/{n}/comments/{id} to fetch one comment	404 Not Found	Drop the /{n}: repos/.../pulls/comments/{id}
Used POST /pulls/{n}/comments with in_reply_to	422 "in_reply_to is not a permitted key"	Use /pulls/{n}/comments/{id}/replies
Passed numeric ID with -f	422 "not a number"	Use -F
Resolving with the REST comment id	GraphQL: invalid ID	Look up thread.id (PRRT_*) via reviewThreads