When to Use This Skill
| Use this skill when... | Use the alternative when... |
|---|---|
| Transferring, pinning, locking, or bulk-editing GitHub issues | Use github-issue-writing to compose a single issue body well |
| Creating a development branch from an issue (gh issue develop) | Use git-branch-pr-workflow for general branch + PR design |
| Updating custom issue fields (priority, severity, custom selects) in bulk | Use github-labels for label-only operations on issues and PRs |
| Performing bulk operations across many issue numbers in one command | Use git-triage to evaluate issues and PRs by completion evidence and CI state |
Context
- Git remotes: !
git remote -v
Open issues are fetched during execution (requires a configured git remote).
Parameters
Parse $ARGUMENTS[0] as the operation, remaining args as issue numbers and options.
| Operation | Syntax | Description |
|-----------|--------|-------------|
| transfer | transfer <N> <target-repo> | Transfer issue to another repository |
| pin | pin <N...> | Pin issues to repository (max 3) |
| unpin | unpin <N...> | Unpin issues |
| lock | lock <N...> [--reason <reason>] | Lock issue discussions |
| unlock | unlock <N...> | Unlock issue discussions |
| develop | develop <N> [--branch <name>] [--checkout] | Create branch from issue |
| bulk | bulk <sub-op> <N...> [options] | Bulk operations on multiple issues |
| fields | fields <N> [--set <field>=<value>] [--list] | Manage custom issue fields |
Lock reasons: off-topic, too heated, resolved, spam
Bulk sub-operations: label, assign, close, reopen
When to Use
| Use this skill when... | Use X instead when... |
|------------------------|----------------------|
| Transferring issues between repos | Creating new issues (github-issue-writing) |
| Pinning/unpinning important issues | Implementing issue fixes (git:issue) |
| Locking resolved discussions | Managing sub-issues/deps (git:issue-hierarchy) |
| Creating dev branches from issues | Searching for issues (github-issue-search) |
| Bulk labeling/assigning/closing | Auto-detecting related issues (github-issue-autodetect) |
| Setting custom field values | |
Execution
Execute the requested issue management operation.
Step 1: Parse Operation and Validate
Parse the operation from $ARGUMENTS[0]. Validate that specified issue numbers exist:
gh issue view $N --json number,title,state 2>/dev/null
If any issue is not found, report it and skip that issue.
Step 2: Execute Operation
Transfer
Transfer an issue to another repository within the same organization or owner.
gh issue transfer $N $TARGET_REPO
Prerequisites:
- Target repo must exist and you must have write access
- Both repos must be owned by the same user/org (or target accepts transfers)
Report the new issue URL after transfer.
Pin / Unpin
Pin important issues to the top of the issues list (maximum 3 pinned per repo).
# Pin
gh issue pin $N
# Unpin
gh issue unpin $N
If pinning would exceed the 3-pin limit, report which issues are currently pinned and ask which to unpin.
Lock / Unlock
Lock issue threads to prevent further comments.
# Lock with reason
gh issue lock $N --reason resolved
# Lock without reason
gh issue lock $N
# Unlock
gh issue unlock $N
| Reason | When to use |
|--------|-------------|
| resolved | Issue is fixed, no further discussion needed |
| off-topic | Discussion has drifted from the issue |
| too heated | Discussion has become unproductive |
| spam | Issue thread contains spam |
Develop
Create a development branch linked to the issue.
# Create branch and switch to it locally
gh issue develop $N --checkout
# Create branch with custom name
gh issue develop $N --name $BRANCH_NAME --checkout
# Create branch without checkout
gh issue develop $N
The branch name defaults to {issue-number}-{issue-title-slug}. The branch is automatically linked to the issue on GitHub.
Bulk Operations
Apply the same operation to multiple issues at once.
Bulk label:
# Pre-check: create any missing labels before applying
for LABEL in $(echo "$LABELS" | tr ',' '\n'); do
if ! gh label list --search "$LABEL" --json name | jq -e ".[] | select(.name==\"$LABEL\")" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
echo "Label '$LABEL' not found — skipping (create it first with: gh label create \"$LABEL\")"
LABELS=$(echo "$LABELS" | sed "s/,$LABEL//;s/$LABEL,//;s/^$LABEL$//")
fi
done
for N in $ISSUE_NUMBERS; do
[ -n "$LABELS" ] && gh issue edit $N --add-label "$LABELS"
done
Bulk assign:
for N in $ISSUE_NUMBERS; do
gh issue edit $N --add-assignee "$USERS"
done
Bulk close:
for N in $ISSUE_NUMBERS; do
gh issue close $N
done
Bulk reopen:
for N in $ISSUE_NUMBERS; do
gh issue reopen $N
done
Report success/failure count after bulk operations.
Custom Fields
Manage custom issue fields (requires org-level issue field configuration).
List available fields:
# Get org name from repo
ORG=$(gh repo view --json owner --jq '.owner.login')
# List fields
gh api orgs/$ORG/issue-fields --jq '.[] | "\(.id): \(.name) (\(.type))"'
Get field values for an issue:
gh api repos/$OWNER/$REPO/issues/$N/issue-field-values \
--jq '.[] | "\(.field.name): \(.value)"'
Set a field value:
FIELD_ID=$(gh api orgs/$ORG/issue-fields --jq '.[] | select(.name == "$FIELD_NAME") | .id')
gh api repos/$OWNER/$REPO/issues/$N/issue-field-values \
-X POST -f field_id=$FIELD_ID -f value="$VALUE"
If the repo is not in an organization, report: "Custom issue fields require an organization-level repository."
Step 3: Report Results
| Operation | Report |
|-----------|--------|
| transfer | New issue URL in target repo |
| pin/unpin | Confirmation, current pinned issues list |
| lock/unlock | Confirmation with lock reason |
| develop | Branch name and URL, checkout status |
| bulk | Success/failure count per issue |
| fields | Field values table or confirmation of update |
Error Handling
| Error | Cause | Action |
|-------|-------|--------|
| unknown command "develop" | Older gh CLI version | Report: "gh issue develop requires gh CLI 2.30+. Update with: gh upgrade" |
| 403 on transfer | No write access to target | Report permission requirement |
| 422 on pin | Already 3 pinned issues | List current pins, ask which to replace |
| 404 on issue-fields | Org doesn't have custom fields | Report: "Custom fields not configured for this organization" |
Agentic Optimizations
| Context | Command |
|---------|---------|
| Transfer issue | gh issue transfer N target-repo |
| Pin issue | gh issue pin N |
| Lock issue | gh issue lock N --reason resolved |
| Create dev branch | gh issue develop N --checkout |
| Bulk close | Loop: gh issue close N for each N |
| List custom fields | gh api orgs/{org}/issue-fields --jq '.[].name' |
| Get field values | gh api repos/{o}/{r}/issues/N/issue-field-values |
See Also
- git:issue-hierarchy skill for sub-issues and dependencies
- github-issue-writing skill for creating new issues
- git:issue skill for implementing/processing issues
- gh-cli-agentic skill for raw API command patterns
- REFERENCE.md for custom fields API details