claim

name	claim
description	Claim the next issue from the backlog — picks highest priority todo, moves it to in-progress
argument-hint	[issue-number]
allowed-tools	Bash, Read
user-invocable	true
metadata	{"version":"1.0","created":"2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z","author":"Ability.ai","changelog":["1.0: Initial version — claims the highest-priority todo from the GitHub Issues backlog and moves it to in-progress"]}

Claim

ℹ️ First, set expectations: before anything else, print one short line with this skill's version and its most recent change — the top entry of metadata.changelog above — e.g. claim vX.Y — recent: <summary>. Then proceed.

Select the next issue from the GitHub Issues backlog and mark it as in-progress.

State Dependencies

Source	Location	Read	Write	Description
GitHub Issues	Current repo	Yes	Yes	Task backlog
GitHub Labels	status:, priority:, skill:*	Yes	Yes	Update status

Prerequisites

• gh CLI installed and authenticated (gh auth status)
• Repository has required labels (run /backlog to check/create)

Process

Step 1: Check Current Work

gh issue list --label "status:in-progress" --state open --json number,title --limit 1

If an issue is already in-progress, report it and ask:

1. Continue that work (show full issue)
2. Park it and claim something new
3. Cancel

Step 2: Select Issue

If specific issue number provided ($ARGUMENTS):

gh issue view $ARGUMENTS --json number,title,body,labels,state

Verify it exists and is open.

If no argument — find highest priority todo:

# Try P0 first
gh issue list --label "priority:p0" --label "status:todo" --state open --json number,title,body,labels --limit 1

# If none, try P1
gh issue list --label "priority:p1" --label "status:todo" --state open --json number,title,body,labels --limit 1

# If none, try P2
gh issue list --label "priority:p2" --label "status:todo" --state open --json number,title,body,labels --limit 1

# If none, try any status:todo
gh issue list --label "status:todo" --state open --json number,title,body,labels --limit 1

Step 3: Move to In-Progress

gh issue edit $ISSUE_NUMBER --remove-label "status:todo" --add-label "status:in-progress"
gh issue comment $ISSUE_NUMBER --body "Claimed — starting work."

Step 4: Present Issue

Display the full issue. If a skill:* label is present, surface it prominently:

## Claimed: #$NUMBER — $TITLE

**Priority:** $PRIORITY
**Skill scope:** $SKILL_LABEL  → open `.claude/skills/$SKILL_NAME/SKILL.md`

### Requirements

$ISSUE_BODY

---

Next steps:
- Run `/autoplan` to analyze the change before implementing
- Or run `/adjust-playbook $SKILL_NAME` / `/create-playbook` directly
- When done, run `/commit` to close this issue

If no skill:* label present, note: "No skill tag — run /groom to tag this issue, or proceed with /autoplan."

Outputs

• Issue moved to status:in-progress
• Comment added to issue
• Full issue details with skill scope displayed

Error Handling

Error	Action
No open issues	Report "Backlog is empty"
Issue not found	Report issue number not found
Already in-progress	Ask user how to proceed
Label update fails	Report error, check permissions