| name | lisa-github-sync |
| description | Syncs plan progress to a linked GitHub Issue. Posts plan contents, progress updates, branch links, and PR links at key milestones. Use this skill throughout the plan lifecycle to keep issues in sync. The GitHub counterpart of lisa-jira-sync. |
| allowed-tools | ["Bash","Read","Glob","Grep"] |
GitHub Issue Sync
Sync current plan progress to a GitHub Issue: $ARGUMENTS
If no argument is provided, search for an issue ref (org/repo#<number> or https://github.com/<org>/<repo>/issues/<n> URL) in the active plan file (most recently modified .md in plans/).
Optional arguments include pr_url=<url> for the live pull request and merge_sha=<sha> once merged.
Workflow
Step 1: Identify Issue and Context
-
Parse issue ref from $ARGUMENTS or extract from the active plan file.
-
Fetch current issue state:
gh issue view <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --json number,title,state,labels,milestone,assignees,comments,url
-
Determine current milestone by checking:
- Does a plan file exist? → Plan created
- Is there a working branch? → Implementation started
- Are tasks in progress? → Active implementation
- Is there an open PR? → PR ready for review
- Is the PR merged? → Complete
Step 2: Gather Update Content
| Milestone | Content to post |
|---|
| Plan created | Plan summary, branch name, link to PR (if draft exists) |
| Implementation in progress | Task completion summary (X of Y tasks done), any blockers |
| PR ready | PR link, summary of changes, test results |
| PR merged | Final summary, suggest moving issue to status:done |
Step 3: Post Update
-
Idempotency check — read the issue's recent comments. If the most recent comment with the prefix [claude-sync] <milestone> matches the current milestone AND the body content is unchanged, skip the post (no duplicate).
-
Add the comment:
gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body-file /tmp/sync-comment.md
The body must start with [claude-sync] <milestone> so the next sync run can dedupe.
-
Report to the user what was synced.
Step 3b: Ensure PR Backlink
When $ARGUMENTS includes pr_url=<url> for PR ready or PR merged, ensure the GitHub Issue has a durable ticket -> PR link:
- Prefer GitHub's native development link by making sure the PR body contains
Refs #<n> / Closes #<n> (or the fully qualified cross-repo form) and verify with gh issue view <number> --json timelineItems or an equivalent GitHub read that exposes the linked PR.
- If native linkage cannot be verified, post or update a single managed issue comment starting with
[lisa-pr-link]. Include the PR URL, milestone (pr-ready or pr-merged), and merge SHA when available.
- Keep the fallback idempotent: search existing comments for
[lisa-pr-link] and the PR URL; update/replace that managed comment where the provider allows updates, otherwise skip when the current body already matches. Do not append duplicate backlink comments on reruns.
This fallback is required even though GitHub usually links PRs natively from PR body keywords; the issue must show the PR from at least one ticket-side surface.
Step 4: Suggest Status Transition
Based on the milestone, suggest (but do NOT automatically perform) a label transition:
| Milestone | Suggested label |
|---|
| Plan created | status:in-progress |
| PR ready | configured done label (status:done in this repo) |
| PR merged | no additional build-label transition |
The actual status:in-progress flip is owned by lisa-github-build-intake (claim) and lisa-github-agent. The configured done flip is owned by the build-intake owner after a successful build and evidence post. This skill never relabels.
Step 5: Parent Status Rollup (--rollup)
When invoked with --rollup, this skill derives a parent/container issue's status:* label from the roll-up of its child sub-issues instead of posting a milestone update on a leaf. This implements the GitHub sub-issue-completion arm of the Parent status rollup (the state machine) section of the leaf-only-lifecycle rule — cite that rule, do not restate the policy. It is the sync-side complement to the write-time labeling (lisa-github-write-issue), the validate-time S15 gate (lisa-github-validate-issue), and the claim-time gate (lisa-github-build-intake); all four cite the same rule so the classification never drifts.
Resolve the child set the same way lisa-github-read-issue does — native sub-issues via GraphQL, each with its status:* label and open/closed state:
gh api graphql -f query='
query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$number:Int!){
repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){
issue(number:$number){
number title state
subIssues(first:100){ nodes { number state labels(first:20){ nodes { name } } } }
}
}
}' -F owner=<org> -F repo=<repo> -F number=<parent-number>
If the subIssues field is unavailable (older GHES), fall back to body parentage exactly as lisa-github-read-issue does. If the issue has no children it is a leaf, not a parent — rollup is N/A; behave as a normal milestone sync.
Evaluate the required children over the env ladder in-progress < dev < staging < production (the ordered keys of the GitHub env-keyed done map, e.g. status:on-dev < status:on-stg < status:done) and take the first match (canonical roles from config-resolution; the GitHub label map is status:blocked, status:in-progress, env-keyed done):
| If among the required child leaves… | Derived parent role | GitHub label |
|---|
any child carries status:blocked (or is otherwise blocked) | blocked | status:blocked |
else every required child has shipped to some env (each at a done-map label, e.g. status:on-dev/status:on-stg/status:done) | done[min-env] | the least-advanced env label among them (all status:on-stg → status:on-stg; mixed dev+staging → status:on-dev; all production → status:done) |
else any child has started (status:in-progress, or shipped to an env while a sibling has not) | claimed | status:in-progress |
| else (children exist, none started) | — | unchanged — parent keeps its non-ready container label |
- Blocked dominates — a single blocked child surfaces
status:blocked on the parent even while siblings progress, so a human sees the parent needs attention.
- Least-advanced env wins — the parent reaches an env only when every required child has reached at least that env; it never sits ahead of its laggard child. Native closure (
gh issue close --reason completed) fires only when the resolved env is the production status:done, never at status:on-dev/status:on-stg.
- "Required" children only — a child labelled won't-do / optional does not hold the parent open; only leaves that must ship count toward the env-rollup check.
- Recursive — a parent reaches an env only when its children have all reached at least that env; an Epic reaches it only when its Stories have themselves rolled up to it. Evaluate bottom-up.
- Never set the parent to
status:ready — ready is leaf-only (the human "claim this" signal). Rollup only moves the parent between non-ready container labels.
Single-environment collapse (this repo). .lisa.config.json deploy.branches declares only production: main, so the env-keyed done resolves to the single label status:done — there is no status:on-dev / status:on-stg and no dev → staging → prod promotion chain. Resolve the env rungs via the env-keyed done logic in config-resolution, but in the single-environment case the only rung is production and it collapses to the one status:done value; the rollup never attempts to resolve a dev or staging done. Projects that DO have multiple environments keep the env-keyed map and roll the parent up to whichever done (including intermediate status:on-dev/status:on-stg) its leaves have collectively reached.
Apply the derived label (only when it differs from the parent's current status:*): remove the parent's existing status:* label and add the derived one, keeping exactly one status:* label so the build-queue invariant holds. Post an idempotent [claude-sync] rollup comment naming the derived state and the child tally (e.g. 3/4 leaves terminal, 1 blocked → status:blocked); skip the comment if an identical one is already the most recent rollup comment.
gh issue edit <parent-number> --repo <org>/<repo> \
--remove-label "<current status:*>" --add-label "<derived status:*>"
Safe default. If rollup cannot be applied automatically (e.g. ambiguous required-set, GraphQL hierarchy unavailable, or a derived terminal that the env logic cannot resolve), this skill does not guess — it posts the derived suggestion as a comment and leaves the parent's label untouched. No unsafe transition is ever made.
Important Notes
- Never auto-transition labels — always suggest and let the user / pipeline confirm. The one exception is the explicit
--rollup parent derivation (Step 5), which moves a parent's status:* label as the leaf-only-lifecycle rule mandates — never a leaf's, and never to status:ready.
- Idempotent updates — the
[claude-sync] <milestone> prefix on the most-recent comment is the dedupe key; the rollup path uses [claude-sync] rollup.
- Comment format — use GitHub-flavored markdown (
## headings, fenced code blocks). The same template is used for the JIRA path (rendered as wiki markup there); keep the markdown source canonical.
- Rollup cites the rule by slug — parent state derivation follows the
leaf-only-lifecycle rule's state machine; this skill does not restate the policy.
Execution
Sync the issue now.