| name | update-pr |
| description | Update an existing GitHub pull request after adding commits by revising title/body, preserving template format, and pushing pending branch changes. |
| effort | low |
| allowed-tools | Bash(git status *), Bash(git diff *), Bash(git log *), Bash(git rev-parse *), Bash(git push *), Bash(git ls-files *), Bash(gh repo view *), Bash(gh pr view *), Bash(gh pr edit *), Read, Glob, Grep, AskUserQuestion |
Pre-fetched context
!git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD
!git status --short
!git ls-files ':(top,icase).github/pull_request_template.md' ':(top,icase).github/pull_request_template/*.md' ':(top,icase)pull_request_template.md'
Instructions
Update the existing pull request for the current branch. Follow this flow:
-
Gather context: Get the default branch locally via git rev-parse --abbrev-ref origin/HEAD (strip the origin/ prefix); only if that fails (origin/HEAD unset) fall back to gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef -q .defaultBranchRef.name. Then read the commits with full messages via git log <base>..HEAD (bodies included — the commit skill records the why there) plus git diff --stat <base>..HEAD for the file-level shape. Pull the full git diff <base>..HEAD only when the messages and stat don't sufficiently explain the changes (thin or missing commit bodies) — the commits added since the last PR revision are the main material for the update, so focus there.
-
Missing PR check: Run gh pr view --json number,url,title,body,baseRefName,headRefName,isDraft. If it fails, there is nothing to update — report that no open PR exists for this branch and that /create-pr would create one, then stop. (This is a terminal condition, not a blocking question.)
-
Uncommitted changes: Don't block. Update the PR from the pushed/committed state and note in your reply that any uncommitted changes were left out.
-
PR template:
- If a template path is listed,
Read it before writing title/body.
- Detect
template_language from headings/instructions/checklists (ignore code, URLs, HTML comments).
- Keep template headings/order and keep HTML comments (
<!-- -->).
- If no template exists, skip.
-
Compose updated PR content:
- Infer what changed since the previous PR revision from the commit log and diff.
- Title: Conventional Commits.
- Decide title language before drafting and keep it fixed unless the user requests a change.
- Title language policy: use
template_language first whenever it can be detected.
- If the user explicitly asks to override language for the current PR, follow that override.
- If no
template_language is detected, use: explicit user request > latest substantive user message > English.
- Ignore slash commands (for example
/update-pr), code blocks, file paths, and URLs when inferring language.
- If language signals conflict or are ambiguous, don't block — fall back to the priority order above (default to English when nothing is decisive).
- Keep
type(scope) tokens standard (feat, fix, etc.); localize only the description text.
- Body: if template exists, fill its sections. If not, use Summary / Changes / Concerns / References.
- Proactively include any reference links (issues, docs, related PRs) found in conversation history.
-
No approval gate: Do not ask the user to confirm the title/body — proceed directly to push and update (mirrors create-pr, which creates without confirmation). Report the final title/body in your reply after the update lands.
-
Push and update:
-
Check for an upstream with git rev-parse --abbrev-ref --symbolic-full-name @{upstream}.
-
If it fails (no upstream), push unconditionally with git push -u origin HEAD.
-
If an upstream exists, push only when git log @{upstream}..HEAD shows unpushed commits.
-
Update the PR, passing the body via a quoted heredoc into --body-file - (stdin) so backticks, $, and quotes in the body stay literal — no escaping, no temp file, and no $() subshell:
gh pr edit --title "<title>" --body-file - <<'PR_BODY_EOF'
<body>
PR_BODY_EOF
-
Keep the title free of backticks — GitHub renders PR titles as plain text, so backticks would appear literally and would trigger shell command substitution inside the double quotes; escape any $ or " if the title contains them.
-
Return the PR URL.
