| name | github-build-intake |
| description | GitHub counterpart to lisa:jira-build-intake. Scans a GitHub repository for issues carrying the configured `ready` build label, processes the first eligible issue, runs leaf work via lisa:github-agent, relabels to the configured `done` label on completion, then exits. Enforces the claim-time arm of the `leaf-only-lifecycle` rule: a parent/container with open child work (or a childless Epic) that still carries a stale build-ready label is moved out of the ready pickup queue into the configured `claimed` label with a lifecycle-repair comment, never dispatched to lisa:github-agent. The `ready` label is the human-flipped signal that an issue is truly ready for direct development pickup — mirroring how Notion PRDs work product Draft → Ready → (us) In Review → Blocked|Ticketed. |
| allowed-tools | ["Skill","Bash"] |
GitHub Build Intake: $ARGUMENTS
$ARGUMENTS is one of:
- A GitHub
org/repo token (e.g., acme/frontend-v2).
- A full GitHub repo URL (e.g.,
https://github.com/acme/frontend-v2).
- The literal token
github — falls back to .lisa.config.json (github.org / github.repo).
Run one build-intake cycle. The first eligible issue in the configured ready build label is claimed, built via the lisa:github-agent flow, relabeled to the configured done label (env-aware — see Workflow resolution), then the cycle exits. Remaining ready issues stay queued for later scheduler invocations.
This skill also accepts an optional assignee=<github-login> queue filter. Resolve it in this
order:
$ARGUMENTS assignee=<login>
.lisa.config.local.json intake.assignee
- empty default
When the resolved assignee is empty, scan the shared ready queue exactly as before. When it is
non-empty, filter the ready-item query to issues already assigned to that login. This filter is
selection-only: never assign or reassign issues as part of build intake.
Workflow resolution
Build-queue label names are read from .lisa.config.json github.labels.build.*, falling back to defaults documented in the config-resolution rule. Bash pattern:
read_role() {
local role="$1" default="$2"
local local_v global_v
local_v=$(jq -r ".github.labels.build.${role} // empty" .lisa.config.local.json 2>/dev/null)
global_v=$(jq -r ".github.labels.build.${role} // empty" .lisa.config.json 2>/dev/null)
echo "${local_v:-${global_v:-$default}}"
}
READY=$(read_role ready "status:ready")
CLAIMED=$(read_role claimed "status:in-progress")
read_intake_assignee() {
local cli_value local_v
cli_value=$(printf '%s\n' "$ARGUMENTS" | sed -n 's/.*assignee=\([^[:space:]]*\).*/\1/p' | head -1)
local_v=$(jq -r '.intake.assignee // empty' .lisa.config.local.json 2>/dev/null)
echo "${cli_value:-${local_v:-}}"
}
ASSIGNEE=$(read_intake_assignee)
For env-keyed done, resolve the env first, then look up done[<env>]:
- Explicit caller arg (
target_env=staging) wins.
- Otherwise, infer the env from the PR's base branch via
deploy.branches (reverse lookup).
- If
done is a string in config, use it directly regardless of env.
- If
done is a map and env cannot be resolved, fail loudly — do not pick arbitrarily.
TARGET_ENV="${target_env:-}"
if [ -z "$TARGET_ENV" ] && [ -n "$PR_BASE_BRANCH" ]; then
TARGET_ENV=$(jq -r --arg b "$PR_BASE_BRANCH" \
'.deploy.branches // {} | to_entries[] | select(.value == $b) | .key' \
.lisa.config.json 2>/dev/null | head -1)
fi
DONE_TYPE=$(jq -r '.github.labels.build.done | type' .lisa.config.json 2>/dev/null)
if [ "$DONE_TYPE" = "string" ]; then
DONE=$(jq -r '.github.labels.build.done' .lisa.config.json)
DONE_LABELS_JSON=$(jq -c '[.github.labels.build.done]' .lisa.config.json)
elif [ "$DONE_TYPE" = "object" ]; then
[ -z "$TARGET_ENV" ] && { echo "ERROR: github.labels.build.done is env-keyed but env not resolvable"; exit 1; }
DONE=$(jq -r --arg e "$TARGET_ENV" '.github.labels.build.done[$e] // empty' .lisa.config.json)
[ -z "$DONE" ] && { echo "ERROR: github.labels.build.done has no entry for env '$TARGET_ENV'"; exit 1; }
DONE_LABELS_JSON=$(jq -c '[.github.labels.build.done[]]' .lisa.config.json)
else
case "$TARGET_ENV" in
dev) DONE="status:on-dev" ;;
staging) DONE="status:on-stg" ;;
production) DONE="status:done" ;;
*) echo "ERROR: cannot resolve done label without env"; exit 1 ;;
esac
DONE_LABELS_JSON=$(jq -cn --arg d "$DONE" '[$d]')
fi
In prose below, the role names refer to the resolved labels: e.g. "the ready label" means whatever github.labels.build.ready resolves to (default: status:ready).
Confirmation policy
Do NOT ask the caller whether to proceed. Once invoked with a repo, run the cycle to completion — claim and dispatch the first eligible issue through lisa:github-agent, relabel a successful build to $DONE, write the summary, and exit. The caller (a human or a cron) has already authorized the run by invoking the skill; re-prompting defeats the purpose of a background queue.
Specifically forbidden:
- Previewing projected scope (issue count, projected PR count, build duration) and asking whether to continue.
- Offering A/B/C-style choices like "proceed / skip a few / dry-run only".
- Pausing because the queue is large, issues look complex, or issues are likely to be
Blocked by lisa:github-agent's pre-flight gate. Pre-flight Blocked is a valid terminal state of the per-issue lifecycle, not a failure mode.
- Pausing because the build flow looks expensive.
The only legitimate reasons to stop early:
- Missing repo or required configuration. Surface the missing value and exit.
- Label namespace not adopted (no issue carries any of
$READY / $CLAIMED / $DONE). Surface a label-convention error and exit (this is setup, not a normal idle cycle — see "Adoption" at the bottom).
- Empty ready set. Exit cleanly with
"No GitHub issues labeled $READY in <org>/<repo>. Nothing to do."
Lifecycle assumed
The GitHub Issues build lifecycle uses labels (we deliberately do NOT key off open/closed alone — closed issues aren't always the right post-build state):
ready → claimed → done(env-keyed)
(human) (us claim) (us done; PR ready)
(Defaults: status:ready / status:in-progress / status:on-dev/status:on-stg/status:done.)
This skill ONLY transitions:
$READY → $CLAIMED (claim)
$CLAIMED → $DONE (build complete, PR ready)
A "transition" means: remove the old role label and add the new one, in two gh issue edit calls (--remove-label + --add-label) or one combined call. The skill MUST verify exactly one build-lifecycle label (from the resolved $READY/$CLAIMED/$DONE set) is present after the update — having two simultaneously breaks idempotency.
Pre-flight check: at the start of each cycle, confirm at least one of the resolved role labels ($READY, $CLAIMED, or any $DONE value) exists on the repo via gh label list --repo <org>/<repo> --json name. If none exist, the convention has not been adopted — surface the label-convention error and exit.
Phases
Phase 1 — Resolve the repo
- Parse
$ARGUMENTS:
org/repo token → use as-is.
- GitHub URL → extract
org and repo.
- Literal
github → resolve from .lisa.config.json (github.org, github.repo); error if not set.
- Confirm
gh auth status succeeds.
- Confirm the repo is reachable:
gh repo view <org>/<repo> --json name --jq '.name'.
Phase 2 — Find ready issues
if [ -n "$ASSIGNEE" ]; then
gh issue list --repo <org>/<repo> --label "$READY" --assignee "$ASSIGNEE" --state open \
--json number,title,labels,assignees,milestone,createdAt --limit 100
else
gh issue list --repo <org>/<repo> --label "$READY" --state open \
--json number,title,labels,assignees,milestone,createdAt --limit 100
fi
If empty, run a secondary check to distinguish a genuinely empty queue from an unconfigured repo:
gh label list --repo <org>/<repo> --json name \
| jq -r --arg r "$READY" --arg c "$CLAIMED" --argjson d "$DONE_LABELS_JSON" \
'[.[] | .name | select(. == $r or . == $c or (. as $n | $d | index($n)))] | length'
If none of the configured role labels exist on the repo → label convention not adopted, surface a setup error and exit. If the role labels exist but none are $READY on any open issue matching the resolved assignee filter (or any open issue when the filter is empty) → genuinely empty queue, exit cleanly with "No GitHub issues labeled $READY. Nothing to do."
Phase 3 — Process the first eligible ready issue
3a.0 Repo-scope gate (claim only current-repo issues)
GitHub Issues live in one repo by definition, so the scanned repo's issues are usually inherently current-repo. But a planning/umbrella repo's issues can target sibling repos, so this skill still claims only issues for the repo it is running in. Run this gate before the leaf-only gate (3a) and the claim (3b), per the repo-scope-split rule's "Claim-time repo scoping" section (cite it by slug; do not restate its decision table).
- Resolve the current repo per
config-resolution "Repo scoping" (.repo → .github.repo → git remote get-url origin basename). If unresolvable, stop and report.
- Cheap path first. Prefer candidates already carrying the
repo:<current> label. Keep the Phase 2 scan broad so unlabeled issues are still seen, determined, and stamped.
- Per candidate, apply the repo-scope decision (
repo-scope-split):
- Carries
repo:<other> → skip (leave it ready for that repo's own intake); next candidate.
- Unlabeled → determine the target repo(s) from the issue + code surfaces, then stamp
repo:<name> via gh issue edit <n> --add-label "repo:<name>" (create the label lazily) so later cycles filter cheaply; re-apply with the now-known repo. (An issue whose work is entirely in the scanned repo is simply labeled repo:<current>.)
- Container visibility is allowed. A multi-repo Epic / Story / Spike may legitimately carry multiple
repo:<name> labels for operator visibility. Do not split or claim it here; leave the repo markers intact and fall through to the leaf-only gate, which repairs the stale build-ready label instead of dispatching the container.
- Multi-repo leaf → split, never claim. Run the
repo-scope-split work-time procedure into single-repo siblings, each created build-ready (build_ready: true) and stamped with its own repo:<name>; the current repo's sibling becomes a normal candidate.
- Single-repo leaf for the current repo → fall through to 3a (leaf-only gate) and 3b (claim).
- Continue until a claimable current-repo leaf is found (claim it; one per cycle) or the ready set is exhausted — exit cleanly with
"No ready issues for repo <current>. Nothing to do.".
3a. Leaf-only claim gate (repair containers)
Build intake dispatches only independently implementable leaf work units to the build agent. This enforces the claim-time arm of the vendor-neutral leaf-only-lifecycle rule: a parent/container that still carries a stale build-ready role (e.g. status:ready applied before this rule existed, or hand-applied to an Epic/Story) is never dispatched — intake moves it out of the pickup queue by replacing $READY with $CLAIMED, then posts a clear lifecycle-repair message. It is the claim-time complement to the write-time labeling in lisa:github-write-issue and the validate-time S15 gate in lisa:github-validate-issue; all three cite the same rule so the classification never drifts. Never silently implement a container.
Run this gate before the leaf claim relabel, starting with the oldest/highest-priority ready candidate. Do NOT comment "Claimed" or invoke lisa:github-agent for an issue that fails the gate. A container repair still changes labels: remove $READY, add $CLAIMED, explain that parent/container $CLAIMED means rollup/build-lane progress through child/leaf work rather than direct implementation, record it, and end the cycle.
Resolve container vs. leaf — structural first, then nominal. Per leaf-only-lifecycle the classification is structural: an issue is a container if it has open child work, whatever its declared type; otherwise the type label decides. Resolve child work using the same hierarchy lisa:github-read-issue uses — native sub-issues first, then body parentage (task-list checkboxes referencing other issues, Parent: #<n> references). Dependency links such as Blocked by: are not parentage; they are handled by the active dependency hold gate below.
SUBS=$(gh api graphql -f query='
query($org:String!,$repo:String!,$number:Int!){
repository(owner:$org,name:$repo){
issue(number:$number){
subIssues(first: 100) {
nodes { number state }
}
}
}
}' -F org=<org> -F repo=<repo> -F number=<number> 2>/dev/null)
OPEN_CHILDREN=$(echo "$SUBS" | jq -r '[.data.repository.issue.subIssues.nodes[]? | select(.state == "OPEN")] | length' 2>/dev/null)
OPEN_CHILDREN=${OPEN_CHILDREN:-0}
If the GraphQL subIssues field is unavailable (older GHES), fall back to parsing the body for child references exactly as lisa:github-read-issue does, and treat the issue as a container if any referenced child issue is open. Note "GraphQL sub-issues unavailable" so the operator knows parentage was text-derived.
Classify and act (first match wins). type: is read from the issue's labels (type:Epic, type:Story, type:Spike, type:Bug, type:Task, type:Sub-task, type:Improvement):
| Condition | Class | Action |
|---|
OPEN_CHILDREN > 0 (open child work, any type) | Container | Move to $CLAIMED as lifecycle repair — do NOT dispatch |
no open children AND type = Epic | Childless Epic (pure rollup container) | Move to $CLAIMED as lifecycle repair — do NOT dispatch |
no open children AND type ≠ Epic (Bug, Task, Sub-task, Improvement, Story, Spike, or no type: label) | Leaf work unit | Proceed to 3b claim |
The childless-parent exception promotes every childless type except Epic to a dispatchable leaf: a childless Story is a directly shippable increment and a childless Spike is the investigation unit, so neither is stranded. Only a childless Epic is held back — an Epic is a pure rollup container by design, and a childless one is an incomplete decomposition or a mis-applied role, moved out of the ready pickup queue for repair/rollup and never dispatched.
Lifecycle repair (default action for a flagged container). Move the issue out of the pickup queue by removing $READY and adding $CLAIMED, post a single lifecycle-repair comment, and record the issue under "Repaired (container)" in the summary. Do NOT invoke lisa:github-agent. Keep the comment idempotent — skip posting if an identical [claude-build-intake] lifecycle-repair comment already exists on the issue, so a re-entrant cycle doesn't spam it.
gh issue edit <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --remove-label "$READY" --add-label "$CLAIMED"
gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body "[claude-build-intake] Lifecycle repair: this issue carried the build-ready role ($READY) but is a parent/container with open child work (or a childless Epic). I moved it to $CLAIMED without invoking the build agent. For parent/container issues, $CLAIMED means rollup/build-lane progress through child/leaf work; direct implementation must happen on leaf issues. Build-ready is leaf-only per leaf-only-lifecycle — move $READY onto its leaf children, or decompose/reclassify a childless Epic."
This gate never blocks a legitimate flat Task/Bug: those have no open children and a leaf type:, so they fall straight through to the claim in 3b.
Active dependency hold gate. After the leaf-only gate passes, but still before the claim relabel, parse explicit blocker relationships from the issue body and durable Lisa relationship sections. Support these forms at minimum:
Blocked by: #123
Blocked by: #123, #456
Blocked by: owner/repo#123
Blocked by: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123
Resolve local #123 references against the candidate issue's repo. Resolve qualified refs and GitHub issue URLs against their named repo. For each blocker, read the blocker issue's status labels with gh issue view <number> --repo <owner>/<repo> --json labels,state.
Default cleared blocker labels for GitHub build intake are:
status:code-review
status:on-dev
status:on-stg
status:done
A blocker is active if it is open and has no cleared status label. Treat status:ready, status:in-progress, missing status labels, and inaccessible blockers as active. Closed blockers are cleared. If any blocker is active, skip the candidate without changing lifecycle labels, without posting "Claimed", and without invoking lisa:github-agent. Record it under "Skipped (active blockers)" in the summary and include the active blocker refs. Keep any dependency-hold comment idempotent with a [claude-build-intake] prefix.
3b. Claim
gh issue edit <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --remove-label "$READY" --add-label "$CLAIMED"
gh issue view <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --json assignees -q '.assignees | length'
gh issue edit <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --add-assignee "@me"
gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body "[claude-build-intake] Claimed by Claude. Starting build."
This is the idempotency lock — a re-entrant cycle's --label $READY filter will not see this issue again.
If the relabel fails (permission, race), log under "Errors" in the cycle summary and skip this issue. Do not invoke the build flow on an issue you didn't successfully claim.
3c. Run the build flow
Invoke lisa:github-agent (the per-issue lifecycle agent) with the issue ref. lisa:github-agent owns:
- Reading the full issue graph (
lisa:github-read-issue)
- Running its own pre-flight quality gate (
lisa:github-verify)
- Running issue triage (
lisa:ticket-triage)
- Routing to the appropriate flow (Build / Fix / Investigate / Improve based on
type: label)
- Posting progress comments via
lisa:github-sync
- Posting evidence via
lisa:github-evidence
Wait for lisa:github-agent to return. Capture its outcome:
- Success — the build flow completed and a PR exists; evidence posted. The PR may already be merged or still open (auto-merge enabled, awaiting checks/merge). "Success" means the build work is sound — it does not assert the change reached an environment. The env transition in 3d gates on the PR actually being merged; an open PR does not advance the issue to a
done env status.
- Blocked by github-verify pre-flight gate —
lisa:github-agent itself relabels the issue to status:blocked (or removes $CLAIMED and reassigns to the original author). This is correct and expected — let it stand. Record and move on.
- Duplicate already fixed —
lisa:github-agent / lisa:ticket-triage returned DUPLICATE_ALREADY_FIXED with a canonical issue reference and empirical base-branch evidence. Post the triage finding, ensure the native duplicates <canonical> relationship exists when GitHub exposes it (otherwise leave an explicit cross-reference comment/body link), remove $CLAIMED, add the terminal $DONE label, close the issue with gh issue close --reason "not planned", and do not open a PR. If the canonical fix is merged but not yet on the production branch, the close comment must say the production error can recur until the canonical issue promotes and that recurrence is tracked by the canonical issue; do not reopen this duplicate for that recurrence.
- Blocked by ticket-triage ambiguities —
lisa:github-agent posts findings and stops. The issue stays in $CLAIMED. Surface to human; do not auto-relabel. Record under "Errors".
- Errored — exception, missing config, etc. Leave the issue in
$CLAIMED for human investigation. Record under "Errors".
3c.1 Close duplicate already fixed
Run this only when the returned triage verdict is exactly DUPLICATE_ALREADY_FIXED.
- Verify the structured result includes a canonical issue reference, the canonical PR/commit, and empirical evidence that the canonical fix is present on the base branch. If any piece is missing, treat the outcome as Held instead of closing.
- Post or preserve the triage-finding comment that explains why this issue is a duplicate and names the canonical issue.
- Ensure a native
duplicates <canonical> link exists when GitHub exposes issue relationships; if this installation cannot create that relationship, leave an explicit issue cross-reference comment/body link and record the limitation in the summary.
- Resolve terminal
$DONE exactly as in Phase 3d. For a single-env repo, $DONE is terminal; for env-keyed config, only the production/final value is terminal.
- Replace
$CLAIMED with $DONE, then close the issue as duplicate/not-planned:
gh issue edit <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --remove-label "$CLAIMED" --add-label "$DONE"
gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body "[claude-build-intake] Closed as duplicate of <canonical>. Canonical fix: <PR-or-commit>. Evidence: <base-branch-proof>."
gh issue close <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --reason "not planned"
If the canonical fix is merged but not yet present on the production branch, append the production-promotion caveat to the close comment: the production error can recur until the canonical issue promotes, and recurrence is tracked by the canonical issue rather than by reopening this duplicate.
This path is distinct from BLOCKED: ambiguity, open blockers, and duplicate-of-open findings remain held for human action and must not be auto-closed.
3d. Transition to $DONE (only after the PR is merged)
A done env state (status:on-dev, status:on-stg, or the terminal value) asserts that the code has actually reached that environment. Never set it for a PR that is merely open: auto-merge can be blocked indefinitely (a required rebase / BEHIND branch, failing checks, an unaddressed review), and the change may never land. Relabeling an issue status:on-stg on an open PR makes it claim a deploy that never happened. Transition only after confirming the PR merged.
If lisa:github-agent returned Success:
- Confirm the PR merged. Read the live state of the issue's PR —
gh pr view <pr> --json state,mergedAt,mergeStateStatus,url:
- Merged (
state == MERGED) → proceed to resolve and apply $DONE below. Where the env deploy is observable (a deploy workflow run / deployment status keyed to the merged-into branch via deploy.branches), confirm it did not fail before relabeling; a still-running deploy is treated like an open PR (leave in $CLAIMED), a failed deploy is recorded as an Error.
- Open / not yet merged → do not transition. The build is sound but the change has reached no environment yet. Record the issue under "PR open — awaiting merge" in the summary (with the PR URL and its
mergeStateStatus), leave it in $CLAIMED, and stop. A later lisa:repair-intake cycle drives the open PR to merge — re-syncing a BEHIND branch so the already-enabled auto-merge can land, or surfacing a real blocker — and, once merged, applies this same env transition. Do not comment "Build complete" or close anything.
- Closed without merging → record an Error (the PR was abandoned unmerged); leave the issue in
$CLAIMED.
- Resolve
$DONE for this issue's PR base branch using the Workflow resolution algorithm above. If env can't be resolved and done is env-keyed, record an Error and skip this transition — never guess.
- Determine whether
$DONE is the true terminal done value per the leaf-only-lifecycle rule's Terminal native closure section:
- If
github.labels.build.done is a string, that string is terminal.
- If
github.labels.build.done is an object, only the production/final environment value is terminal (default: status:done). Intermediate env values such as status:on-dev and status:on-stg are not terminal and must stay open.
- If the project uses a different final environment name, resolve it from the configured deployment topology; if ambiguous, record an Error and do not close.
gh issue edit <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --remove-label "$CLAIMED" --add-label "$DONE"
gh issue comment <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --body "[claude-build-intake] Build complete. PR <URL> merged. Transitioned to $DONE."
If $DONE is terminal, immediately close the native GitHub issue:
gh issue close <number> --repo <org>/<repo> --reason completed
This close is idempotent: if the issue is already closed, record that native closure was already satisfied and continue. If $DONE is an intermediate env state, leave the issue open by design.
For any non-Success outcome, do NOT transition. The issue sits in $CLAIMED (or wherever lisa:github-agent left it) — humans take it from there.
3d.1 Roll up the parent chain (forward rollup)
Run this only after a successful $DONE transition in 3d (the leaf actually reached an env — intermediate or terminal). This is the forward arm of the leaf-only-lifecycle rule's "rollup is evaluated whenever a child transitions" requirement: a leaf reaching $DONE is exactly such a transition, so its parent's derived state may now have changed — the last open child of a Story just shipped, so the Story rolls up to $DONE and closes, which may in turn complete its Epic. Without this step a fully-built parent stays open until the recovery lisa:repair-intake cron happens to run.
- Resolve the leaf's parent using the same hierarchy
lisa:github-read-issue uses — native sub-issue parent first (GraphQL parent), then body parentage (Parent: #<n> / Parent Epic: #<n>). If the leaf has no parent, skip — nothing to roll up.
- Walk up the ancestor chain bottom-up: for the immediate parent, then its parent, and so on, invoke
lisa:github-sync <org>/<repo>#<ancestor> --rollup. That skill derives the ancestor's status:* from its children per leaf-only-lifecycle, applies it only when it differs (never status:ready), and performs terminal native closure (gh issue close --reason completed) when the derived env is the production/terminal $DONE. It is idempotent and safe-defaults (suggests, does not guess) when the rolled state is ambiguous.
- Stop walking up when an ancestor has no parent, or when
--rollup reports no change (a higher ancestor cannot advance past an unchanged child). Record each rolled-up ancestor and its derived state in the summary.
This does not re-implement the state machine — it delegates to lisa:github-sync --rollup, the single rollup implementation lisa:repair-intake also uses, so the forward and recovery paths can never drift. Children closed outside this flow (e.g. by external automation) are not observed here; lisa:repair-intake remains the recovery net for those.
3e. Stop
Stop immediately after the first claimed, skipped, blocked, held, or errored issue. Later scheduler invocations process the remaining ready issues.
Phase 4 — Summary report
## github-build-intake summary
Repo: <org>/<repo>
Cycle started: <ISO timestamp>
Cycle completed: <ISO timestamp>
Issues processed: <n>
- $DONE (build complete, PR merged): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> → PR <URL>
- PR open — awaiting merge (left in $CLAIMED for repair-intake): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> → PR <URL> (mergeStateStatus: <state>)
- Repaired (container — leaf-only-lifecycle): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — build-ready on a parent/container; moved $READY → $CLAIMED without invoking lisa:github-agent; lifecycle-repair comment posted
- Skipped (active blockers): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — waiting on <blocker refs>
- Duplicate already fixed (closed as duplicate): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — duplicate of <canonical>; no PR opened
- Blocked (pre-flight verify failed): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — see issue comments
- Held (triage found ambiguities): <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — see issue comments
- Errors: <n>
- <org>/<repo>#<number> <title> — <reason>
Total PRs opened: <n>
Idempotency & safety
- Leaf-only claim gate runs first: Phase 3a classifies each candidate before any leaf claim; a container with open child work (or a childless Epic) is moved
$READY → $CLAIMED as lifecycle repair and never dispatched. The lifecycle-repair comment is idempotent — a re-entrant cycle does not re-post it.
- Dependency hold runs before leaf claim: explicit
Blocked by: relationships are resolved after container repair is ruled out but before $READY → $CLAIMED; active blockers leave the leaf candidate in $READY and are reported as skipped, not blocked.
- Claim-first ordering:
$CLAIMED set BEFORE lisa:github-agent invocation for leaves; containers are also moved to $CLAIMED to leave the ready pickup queue, but are not dispatched.
- No writes outside the lifecycle: this skill only relabels
$READY → $CLAIMED and $CLAIMED → $DONE. For containers, $READY → $CLAIMED is a lifecycle repair, not a direct build claim. Every other label change is owned by lisa:github-agent.
- Duplicate terminal exception:
DUPLICATE_ALREADY_FIXED is the only triage outcome that may close a claimed item without a PR from this cycle. It must include a canonical issue reference and empirical base-branch evidence, and it closes as duplicate/not-planned rather than as completed build work.
- Terminal native closure: after
$CLAIMED → $DONE, close the GitHub issue only when $DONE is the true terminal done value per leaf-only-lifecycle; intermediate env labels stay open.
- One item per cycle: per-issue exceptions are caught and recorded, then the cycle exits. The scheduler owns retrying or moving on to the next ready item.
- Single cycle per repo: do not run two
lisa:github-build-intake cycles in parallel against the same repo — concurrent claims could race. The scheduling layer is responsible for serialization.
- Single-label invariant: after every transition, verify exactly one
status:* label is present on the issue. If two are present (rare race), surface as an Error and skip — do NOT auto-resolve.
- Never pick an arbitrary env for
$DONE. If done is a map and env is ambiguous, fail loudly.
Configuration
| Variable | Default | Purpose |
|---|
.lisa.config.json github.org | (from $ARGUMENTS) | GitHub org for the default queue |
.lisa.config.json github.repo | (from $ARGUMENTS) | GitHub repo for the default queue |
.lisa.config.json github.labels.build.ready | status:ready | The label that signals "human says this is buildable" |
.lisa.config.json github.labels.build.claimed | status:in-progress | The label set on pickup |
.lisa.config.json github.labels.build.done | env-keyed map or string | The label set after a successful build; env-aware |
.lisa.config.json deploy.branches | — | Reverse-lookup map for env inference from PR base branch |
If the repo has not adopted the status:* label namespace, this skill cannot run. The remediation is to create the labels — gh label create status:ready --color FBCA04 --description "Ready for build" and similar — typically a one-time setup. See "Adoption" below for the full command set using the defaults; if your project overrides the role names, substitute accordingly.
Rules
- Dispatch leaves only. Per the
leaf-only-lifecycle rule, never dispatch a container — an issue with open child work, or a childless Epic — even if it carries the build-ready role. Move it $READY → $CLAIMED as lifecycle repair (Phase 3a); never silently implement a container.
- Never relabel an issue outside the cycle's allowed transitions. The
$CLAIMED label is the signature of cycle ownership for leaves, and the parent/container progress state for lifecycle repairs.
- Never bypass
lisa:github-agent to do build work directly. lisa:github-agent owns the per-issue lifecycle.
- Never auto-transition past
$DONE. Downstream labels (terminal status:done, etc.) are owned by QA / PM / merge automation.
- Never close a GitHub issue at intermediate env states (
status:on-dev, status:on-stg, or configured equivalents). Native close happens only at the terminal done value.
- Never auto-close a
BLOCKED, ambiguous, or duplicate-of-open issue. Auto-close is allowed only for DUPLICATE_ALREADY_FIXED.
- If the issue has no Validation Journey or no sign-in credentials,
lisa:github-agent's pre-flight verify will catch it — don't try to fix the issue from here.
- On any unexpected response from
lisa:github-agent (status it doesn't claim, missing PR URL on success), record as Error and surface — never assume.
- Never pick an arbitrary env for
$DONE resolution. If done is a map and env is ambiguous, fail loudly.
Adoption (one-time per repo)
Before this skill can run, the repo must adopt the status:* label namespace. Using the defaults:
- Create the labels:
gh label create status:ready --color FBCA04 --description "Ready for build" --repo <org>/<repo>
gh label create status:in-progress --color 0E8A16 --description "Build in progress" --repo <org>/<repo>
gh label create status:on-dev --color 1D76DB --description "Built, deployed to dev" --repo <org>/<repo>
gh label create status:done --color 0E8A16 --description "Shipped" --repo <org>/<repo>
If your project overrides any github.labels.build.* role name in config, substitute the actual label names you configured.
- Apply the
$READY label to issues that are ready for development.
- Reserve
$CLAIMED, $DONE for this skill — humans should not set them manually except to recover from an error.
- PRD-source labels (defaults:
prd-ready, prd-in-review, etc.) are a SEPARATE namespace owned by lisa:github-prd-intake. Don't conflate.