GitHub Thread Management Skill

Overview

This skill teaches you how to manage GitHub Pull Request review threads. Review threads are conversation containers attached to specific lines of code in a PR diff.

CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING: Replying to a review thread does NOT automatically resolve it. Resolution is a separate GraphQL mutation that must be explicitly called. Many developers assume replying resolves threads - this is incorrect.

Prerequisites

• GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
• Python 3.8+ for running automation scripts
• Repository collaborator access (required for resolving threads)
• GraphQL API access

Instructions

Follow these steps when managing GitHub PR review threads:

1. Identify threads requiring attention: Use eia_get_review_threads.py --unresolved-only to list all unresolved threads on the PR
2. Determine the appropriate action: Consult the Decision Tree section below to decide whether to reply, resolve, or both
3. Execute the operation: Run the corresponding script from the Available Scripts section with the required parameters
4. Verify success: Check the JSON output's success field and verify the thread state changed as expected
5. Track progress: Re-run listing commands to confirm all threads have been properly addressed

Checklist

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

• Identify unresolved threads using eia_get_review_threads.py --unresolved-only
• Determine action for each thread (reply/resolve/both)
• For implemented changes: resolve thread (optionally with reply)
• For clarification needed: reply only (keep thread open)
• For batch operations: use eia_resolve_threads_batch.py
• Verify each operation succeeded via JSON output
• Re-run listing to confirm all threads addressed
• Check for any comments without replies using eia_get_unaddressed_comments.py

Output

All scripts in this skill output JSON to stdout with the following standard structure:

See the Script Usage Details section for script-specific output format variations.

Decision Tree for Thread Operations

START: You need to handle a review thread
│
├─► Q: Has the requested change been implemented?
│   │
│   ├─► YES: Do you need to explain what was done?
│   │   │
│   │   ├─► YES: Reply THEN Resolve (two operations)
│   │   │       See: scripts/eia_reply_to_thread.py --and-resolve
│   │   │
│   │   └─► NO: Just Resolve (no reply needed)
│   │           See: scripts/eia_resolve_thread.py
│   │
│   └─► NO: Is clarification needed from the reviewer?
│       │
│       ├─► YES: Reply only (keep thread OPEN)
│       │       See: scripts/eia_reply_to_thread.py (without --and-resolve)
│       │
│       └─► NO: Leave thread untouched until you address it
│
├─► Q: Do you need to resolve MULTIPLE threads at once?
│   │
│   └─► YES: Use batch resolution (1 API call for N threads)
│           See: scripts/eia_resolve_threads_batch.py
│
└─► Q: Do you need to find threads that still need attention?
    │
    ├─► Find all unresolved threads:
    │   See: scripts/eia_get_review_threads.py --unresolved-only
    │
    └─► Find comments without any replies:
        See: scripts/eia_get_unaddressed_comments.py

Key Concepts

Thread vs Comment

• Review Thread: A container that holds one or more comments, anchored to a specific file/line
• Review Comment: An individual message within a thread
• Thread ID: The GraphQL node ID of the thread (needed for resolution)
• Comment ID: The GraphQL node ID of an individual comment

Thread States

The Reply-Resolve Separation

GitHub's API separates these operations because:

1. Replying adds a comment to the conversation
2. Resolving changes the thread's status metadata

You might reply without resolving (asking for clarification), or resolve without replying (when the code change speaks for itself).

Reference Documents

Thread Resolution Protocol

See references/thread-resolution-protocol.md

Contents:

• 1.1 Why thread resolution is separate from replying
• 1.2 Single thread resolution workflow
  • 1.2.1 Getting the thread's GraphQL node ID
  • 1.2.2 The resolveReviewThread mutation
  • 1.2.3 Verifying resolution succeeded
• 1.3 Batch thread resolution using GraphQL aliases
  • 1.3.1 Constructing aliased mutations
  • 1.3.2 Handling partial failures
  • 1.3.3 Performance considerations
• 1.4 When to resolve vs when to keep open
  • 1.4.1 Resolve immediately scenarios
  • 1.4.2 Keep open scenarios
• 1.5 Unresolving threads (reopening discussion)

Thread Conversation Tracking

See references/thread-conversation-tracking.md

Contents:

• 2.1 Getting thread history via GraphQL
  • 2.1.1 Query structure for review threads
  • 2.1.2 Pagination for threads with many comments
• 2.2 Tracking addressed vs unaddressed comments
  • 2.2.1 Definition of "addressed"
  • 2.2.2 Finding comments without replies
• 2.3 GitHub's comment threading model
  • 2.3.1 Root comments vs reply comments
  • 2.3.2 Outdated comments (when code changes)
• 2.4 Minimized comments handling
  • 2.4.1 What minimized means
  • 2.4.2 When to consider minimized comments

Available Scripts

All scripts are located in the scripts/ subdirectory and output JSON to stdout.

Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Address All Unresolved Threads

# Step 1: Get all unresolved threads
python3 scripts/eia_get_review_threads.py --owner OWNER --repo REPO --pr 123 --unresolved-only

# Step 2: For each thread, make the code change, then resolve
python3 scripts/eia_resolve_thread.py --thread-id PRRT_xxxxx

Workflow 2: Reply and Resolve in One Command

# When you want to explain what you did AND resolve
python3 scripts/eia_reply_to_thread.py \
  --thread-id PRRT_xxxxx \
  --body "Fixed by using the recommended approach" \
  --and-resolve

Workflow 3: Batch Resolve After Large Refactor

# When you've addressed multiple comments in one commit
python3 scripts/eia_resolve_threads_batch.py \
  --thread-ids "PRRT_aaa,PRRT_bbb,PRRT_ccc"

Workflow 4: Find What Still Needs Attention

# Find comments that haven't received any reply yet
python3 scripts/eia_get_unaddressed_comments.py --owner OWNER --repo REPO --pr 123

Examples

Example 1: Resolve All Unresolved Threads

# Get all unresolved threads
python3 scripts/eia_get_review_threads.py --owner myorg --repo myrepo --pr 123 --unresolved-only
# Output: [{"id": "PRRT_abc", "path": "src/main.py", "line": 42, ...}]

# Resolve each thread
python3 scripts/eia_resolve_thread.py --thread-id PRRT_abc
# Output: {"success": true, "threadId": "PRRT_abc", "isResolved": true}

Example 2: Reply and Resolve in One Command

python3 scripts/eia_reply_to_thread.py \
  --thread-id PRRT_xyz \
  --body "Fixed by refactoring the validation logic" \
  --and-resolve
# Output: {"success": true, "commentId": "...", "resolved": true}

Error Handling

"Thread not found" Error

Cause: The thread ID is incorrect or the thread was deleted.

Solution: Re-fetch thread IDs using eia_get_review_threads.py. Thread IDs start with PRRT_ for review threads.

Resolution Appears to Fail Silently

Cause: The mutation succeeded but the response wasn't checked properly.

Solution: The script verifies resolution by checking the isResolved field in the response. If it returns false, the resolution didn't take effect - check permissions.

Cannot Resolve Thread - Permission Denied

Cause: Only the PR author and repository collaborators can resolve threads.

Solution: Ensure you're authenticated as a user with write access to the repository.

Reply Added But Thread Still Unresolved

Cause: This is expected behavior! Replying does not resolve.

Solution: Use --and-resolve flag with eia_reply_to_thread.py, or call eia_resolve_thread.py separately.

GraphQL Rate Limiting

Cause: Too many API calls in short succession.

Solution: Use batch operations (eia_resolve_threads_batch.py) to resolve multiple threads in a single API call instead of individual calls.

Script Usage Details

eia_get_review_threads.py

python3 scripts/eia_get_review_threads.py \
  --owner <repository_owner> \
  --repo <repository_name> \
  --pr <pull_request_number> \
  [--unresolved-only]

Output: JSON array of thread objects with id, isResolved, path, line, body (first comment).

eia_resolve_thread.py

python3 scripts/eia_resolve_thread.py --thread-id <PRRT_xxx>

Output: JSON object with success, threadId, isResolved.

eia_resolve_threads_batch.py

python3 scripts/eia_resolve_threads_batch.py \
  --thread-ids "PRRT_aaa,PRRT_bbb,PRRT_ccc"

Output: JSON object with results array containing per-thread success/failure.

eia_reply_to_thread.py

python3 scripts/eia_reply_to_thread.py \
  --thread-id <PRRT_xxx> \
  --body "Your reply message" \
  [--and-resolve]

Output: JSON object with success, commentId, resolved (if --and-resolve used).

eia_get_unaddressed_comments.py

python3 scripts/eia_get_unaddressed_comments.py \
  --owner <repository_owner> \
  --repo <repository_name> \
  --pr <pull_request_number>

Output: JSON array of comments that have no replies, with threadId, commentId, author, body, path, line.

Exit Codes (Standardized)

All scripts use standardized exit codes for consistent error handling:

Note: eia_resolve_threads_batch.py returns exit code 0 for partial success. Check the JSON output's summary.failed field for individual failures.

Resources

• references/thread-resolution-protocol.md - Thread resolution workflow
• references/thread-conversation-tracking.md - Conversation tracking patterns