Issue Authoring

Agent modes

This skill uses internal agent modes for type-specific drafting logic:

• agents/bug.agent.md: bug-focused issue drafting and triage structure
• agents/feature.agent.md: feature-focused scope and acceptance structure
• agents/user-story.agent.md: role/workflow/scenario-driven story structure
• agents/task.agent.md: checklist-first task decomposition and dependency planning
• agents/devils-advocate.agent.md: always-on quality collaborator that raises key concerns after classification (moderate mode) and runs a full structured interview when explicitly asked or when scope/criteria gaps are significant (interrogator mode)

Agent modes are activated internally based on issue type classification. Users never reference agent files directly. Shared gates (labels, assignee confirmation, draft review, publish confirmation, and mutation sequencing) remain in this skill.

When to use

Use this skill when you need to turn ideas, bugs, feature requests, or user needs into clear, actionable GitHub issues. Use it as the top-level router for both creating and updating issues.

Typical triggers:

• "create an issue"
• "draft a ticket"
• "turn this into a GitHub issue"
• "help me structure this work item"
• "update this issue"
• "maintain/clean up this issue"

When not to use

Do not use this skill for:

• Implementing code changes
• Pull request authoring or review
• General research tasks not resulting in an issue draft
• Mutating GitHub state without explicit user confirmation

Required inputs

Collect before publishing:

• Target repository for issue creation/update
• Issue intent/context
• Issue type (Bug, Feature, User Story, Task)
• Existing issue number/url when updating
• Repository label set (or confirmation that labels are intentionally skipped). Cache the full label set per repository for the active session and filter locally instead of validating labels one by one. Prefer host session memory when available; otherwise use a .tmp/ cache file that is never committed.
• Parent/related issue links and dependency direction (sub-issue vs blocking)
• Assignee preference (assign to user, specific person, or leave unassigned). Reuse cached assignee-candidate results for the active session and skip candidate searches when the user already gave @me or an exact login.

If required details are missing, ask concise clarifying questions from references/questions.md. If issue destination is unclear, ask explicitly where the issue should be created/updated before drafting mutation commands.

Instructions

Step 1 — Classify and route

Classify request as Bug, Feature, User Story, or Task, then activate the matching agent mode:

• Bug -> agents/bug.agent.md
• Feature -> agents/feature.agent.md
• User Story -> agents/user-story.agent.md
• Task -> agents/task.agent.md

If ambiguous, ask only essential clarifying questions.

Devil's advocate pass: agents/devils-advocate.agent.md is always active in moderate mode — it surfaces the 2–3 most important concerns after classification without interrupting flow. When the user asks to be "grilled", says "stress-test this", or when scope/criteria gaps are significant, escalate to interrogator mode for a full structured interview before the type-specific agent. The devil's advocate returns confirmed decisions and noted risks, then hands off to the type-specific drafting agent.

Step 2 — Resolve repository and template

• Resolve the destination repository before any mutation.
• When no explicit repository is given, check the active workspace for contributor guides (CONTRIBUTING.md, contribute/) that define default issue routing by type. Apply any routing rules found there before asking the user.
• If no routing guidance exists in the repo, ask explicitly where the issue should be created.
• Template precedence:
  1. repository template (.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/)
  2. specialist fallback template

Step 3 — Check duplicates

Run one focused duplicate search with mcp_github::search_issues and surface matches before drafting/publishing. Do not run repeated broad duplicate scans unless the user changes scope/title materially.

Step 4 — Draft first

Before writing, check user preferences and session memory for a preferred draft location. If a stored preference exists, use it. If no preference is found and the intent is ambiguous, ask once and remember the answer for the session. Default to .tmp/{TYPE}-{CONTEXT}.md when no preference is found and there is nothing to ask about. Write the draft using GitHub Flavored Markdown.

Step 5 — Review and confirm

• Ask for content edits first.
• Ask explicit publish confirmation before mutation.
• Never publish/update in the same pass as first draft unless user explicitly confirms.

Step 6 — Apply shared gates

Before mutation, confirm:

• labels (only labels that exist in the target repo)
• assignee intent (@me, specific login, or unassigned)

Shared gate cache policy:

• On the first label lookup for owner/repo, fetch the repository label set once and cache it for the active session. Prefer /memories/session/<owner>-<repo>-labels.json when the host exposes session memory; otherwise use .tmp/issue-authoring-labels-<owner>-<repo>.json.
• On cache hit, validate requested labels locally. Do not repeat point lookups for each requested label.
• If the host only exposes point label lookups and no cached label set exists yet, do not loop through labels one by one. Ask whether to skip optional labels or include only user-confirmed labels in the first mcp_github::issue_write call and handle a single rejection path.
• Skip mcp_github::search_users when the user already gave @me or an exact GitHub login.
• When assignee lookup is needed, cache candidate results for the active session keyed by owner/repo (or owner) and query. Prefer /memories/session/<owner>-<repo>-assignee-candidates.json or /memories/session/<owner>-assignee-candidates.json; otherwise use .tmp/issue-authoring-assignee-candidates-<owner>-<repo>.json.
• If rate limits block optional label or assignee enrichment, ask whether to continue without them instead of looping retries.

Step 7 — Mutate via MCP (ordered)

After explicit confirmation, execute MCP mutations in this order:

1. mcp_github::issue_write create/update with the full known payload (title, body, and include labels, assignees, type only when supported)
2. Optional single follow-up mcp_github::issue_write only when required fields were unknown in step 1 and become available later
3. mcp_github::sub_issue_write only when relationship/order changes are requested
4. mcp_github::add_issue_comment only when blocker/status notes are explicitly requested

If mutation fails due to missing MCP server/auth/config:

• explain the failure clearly
• guide user to setup steps in references/mcp-server.md
• retry after user confirms setup is complete

Rate-limit behavior:

• Detect and report rate-limit failures clearly (API rate limit exceeded, secondary rate limit, GraphQL quota exhaustion).
• Stop non-essential lookups and skip optional enrichments when rate limits are hit.
• Keep draft artifacts and return a safe retry plan instead of looping retries.
• Prefer MCP tools over ad hoc gh api/GraphQL retries when equivalent MCP capability exists.
• When using GraphQL fallback: mutations cost 5 secondary-limit points each (vs 1 for queries), so batch fields into a single mutation call and pause at least 1 second between mutation calls.
• Respect retry-after and x-ratelimit-reset headers before retrying any request.

type rule:

• Only use type if the repository has issue types configured.
• Use cached issue types per organization when available.
• Call mcp_github::list_issue_types only on cache miss or invalid cache.
• If issue types are not supported, omit type for the rest of the session.

Step 8 — Validate relationships

Before linking:

• use sub-issues for decomposition
• use sub-issue ordering to represent prerequisites
• ensure no contradictory dependency graph

Use detailed behavior and payload examples in references/instructions.md and references/mcp-server.md.

Core behavior to preserve

• Classification-first workflow
• Route-to-agent-mode workflow
• Draft-first workflow
• Clarifying questions for missing critical context
• Explicit confirmation before any GitHub mutation

Use detailed authoring guidance in references/instructions.md. Fallback template locations:

• Bug: assets/issue-templates/bug.md
• Feature: assets/issue-templates/feature.md
• User Story: assets/issue-templates/user-story.md
• Task: assets/issue-templates/task*.md

Expected output

• Selected agent mode path
• Draft issue file path under .tmp/
• Template source used (repository template path or fallback asset path)
• Proposed title, body summary, and labels
• Issue type plan
• Dependency plan (order + proposed sub-issue/blocking links)
• Assignee plan (who will be assigned, or explicit unassigned decision)
• Explicit status: Awaiting user content approval before any publish/update command
• Any related/duplicate issue links found
• Exact create/update command(s) to be run after confirmation
• Created/updated issue URL/number only after confirmed mutation
• Suggested template maintenance follow-up when repository templates are missing or weak

Safety & constraints

Never:

• Run mcp_github::issue_write create/update without explicit user confirmation
• Publish/update an issue before the user confirms the draft content is correct
• Assume the user wants to publish to GitHub
• Request or expose secrets/credentials
• Perform destructive commands without explicit confirmation

Always:

• Keep drafts concise and editable
• Prefer WHAT/WHY over implementation HOW in issue text
• Use full repository issue references (for example owner/repo#123)
• Use issue-closing keywords when closure is intended (for example fixes owner/repo#123, resolves owner/repo#123, or closes owner/repo#123)