triage

name	triage
description	Triage GitHub issues by applying type, effort, priority, and area labels. Runs in an isolated context to avoid polluting the main conversation with issue details. Delegates to a specialized triage agent with label validation hooks.
argument-hint	[unlabeled|all|N|N-M]
disable-model-invocation	true
context	fork
agent	triage-agent
allowed-tools	Bash(gh *), Read, Glob, Grep

Triage GitHub Issues

Triage issues for this repository by applying appropriate labels.

Repository Context

• Current repo: !gh repo view --json nameWithOwner -q .nameWithOwner 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown"
• Open issues: !gh issue list --state open --json number --jq 'length' 2>/dev/null || echo "?"
• Existing labels: !gh label list --json name -q '.[].name' 2>/dev/null | head -20 || echo "none found"

---

Scope

Determine which issues to triage based on the arguments: $ARGUMENTS

Argument	Behavior
(empty)	Only unlabeled issues (default)
unlabeled	Only issues without any labels
all	All open issues
N	Specific issue (e.g., 67)
N-M	Range of issues inclusive (e.g., 60-67)

Process

1. Fetch available labels — run gh label list --json name,description to understand the label taxonomy. Labels are organized into type, effort, priority, and area categories.

2. Fetch target issues — based on the scope above. For each issue, fetch the full body:

   gh issue view {number} --json number,title,body,labels
   

3. For each issue:

   • Read the title and full body carefully
   • If needed, explore the codebase (Glob, Grep, Read) to understand the affected code
   • Classify: one type, one effort, one priority, one or more areas
   • Track relationships with other issues (duplicates, related, blocking)
   • Apply labels:

     gh issue edit {number} --add-label "type,effort/level,P#,area.domain"
     

   • Skip issues that already have complete labeling (type + effort + priority + area)
   • For partially labeled issues, only add missing label categories

4. Output a triage summary:

   ## Triage Summary
   
   | Issue | Title | Labels Applied | Reasoning |
   |-------|-------|----------------|-----------|
   | #67 | ... | bug, effort/low, P1, core.config | ... |
   
   **Totals:**
   - Issues triaged: X
   - Already labeled (skipped): Y
   - By priority: P0(n), P1(n), P2(n), P3(n)
   
   ## Relationships Discovered
   
   | Issues | Relationship | Notes |
   |--------|--------------|-------|
   | #61, #62 | Related | Both involve config/logging UX |
   

Rules

• Don't hardcode labels — always fetch current labels first, they may change
• Respect existing labels — don't remove labels, only add missing ones
• Check issue body — titles alone aren't enough context
• Use the codebase — if understanding a relationship requires seeing how modules connect, look
• When uncertain, note it — flag ambiguous issues in the summary rather than guessing