askill
kata-add-issue

kata-add-issueSafety 90Repository

Capture an idea, task, or issue that surfaces during a Kata session as a structured issue for later work. This skill creates markdown issue files in the .planning/issues/open directory with relevant metadata and content extracted from the conversation. Triggers include "add issue", "capture issue", "new issue", "create issue", "log issue", "file issue", "add todo" (deprecated), "capture todo" (deprecated), "new todo" (deprecated).

93 stars
1.9k downloads
Updated 2/22/2026

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SKILL.md

Enables "thought -> capture -> continue" flow without losing context or derailing current work.

Display:

Note: "todos" are now "issues". Using /kata-add-issue.

Then proceed with the action (non-blocking).

if [ -d ".planning/todos/pending" ] && [ ! -d ".planning/todos/_archived" ]; then
  # Create new structure
  mkdir -p .planning/issues/open .planning/issues/closed

  # Copy pending todos to open issues
  cp .planning/todos/pending/*.md .planning/issues/open/ 2>/dev/null || true

  # Copy done todos to closed issues
  cp .planning/todos/done/*.md .planning/issues/closed/ 2>/dev/null || true

  # Archive originals
  mkdir -p .planning/todos/_archived
  mv .planning/todos/pending .planning/todos/_archived/ 2>/dev/null || true
  mv .planning/todos/done .planning/todos/_archived/ 2>/dev/null || true

  echo "Migrated todos to issues format"
fi

Migration is idempotent: presence of _archived/ indicates already migrated.

Note existing areas for consistency in infer_area step.

Without arguments: Analyze recent conversation to extract:

  • The specific problem, idea, or task discussed
  • Relevant file paths mentioned
  • Technical details (error messages, line numbers, constraints)

Formulate:

  • title: 3-10 word descriptive title (action verb preferred)
  • problem: What's wrong or why this is needed
  • solution: Approach hints or "TBD" if just an idea
  • files: Relevant paths with line numbers from conversation
  • provenance: (optional) Origin of the issue - "local" (default), "github:owner/repo#N", or other external reference
Path patternArea
src/api/*, api/*api
src/components/*, src/ui/*ui
src/auth/*, auth/*auth
src/db/*, database/*database
tests/*, __tests__/*testing
docs/*docs
.planning/*planning
scripts/*, bin/*tooling
No files or uncleargeneral

Use existing area from step 2 if similar match exists.

If potential duplicate found:

  1. Read the existing issue
  2. Compare scope

If overlapping, use AskUserQuestion:

  • header: "Duplicate?"
  • question: "Similar issue exists: [title]. What would you like to do?"
  • options:
    • "Skip" - keep existing issue
    • "Replace" - update existing with new context
    • "Add anyway" - create as separate issue

Generate slug from title (lowercase, hyphens, no special chars).

Write to .planning/issues/open/${date_prefix}-${slug}.md:

---
created: [timestamp]
title: [title]
area: [area]
provenance: [provenance or "local"]
files:
  - [file:lines]
---

## Problem

[problem description - enough context for future Claude to understand weeks later]

## Solution

[approach hints or "TBD"]
GITHUB_ENABLED=$(cat .planning/config.json 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"enabled"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*[^,}]*' | head -1 | grep -o 'true\|false' || echo "false")

If GITHUB_ENABLED=false: Log "Local-only issue (GitHub integration disabled)" and skip to next step.

If GITHUB_ENABLED=true:

  1. Check if already synced:

    • Read the just-created local file's frontmatter
    • If provenance already contains github:, skip (already synced)
  2. Create backlog label (idempotent):

    gh label create "backlog" --description "Kata backlog issues" --force 2>/dev/null || true
    
  3. Build issue body file: Write to /tmp/issue-body.md:

    ## Problem
    
    [problem section from local file]
    
    ## Solution
    
    [solution section from local file]
    
    ---
    
    _Created via Kata `/kata-add-issue`_
    
  4. Create GitHub Issue:

    ISSUE_URL=$(gh issue create \
      --title "$TITLE" \
      --body-file /tmp/issue-body.md \
      --label "backlog" 2>/dev/null)
    
  5. Extract issue number and update provenance:

    if [ -n "$ISSUE_URL" ]; then
      ISSUE_NUMBER=$(echo "$ISSUE_URL" | grep -oE '[0-9]+$')
      REPO_NAME=$(gh repo view --json nameWithOwner --jq '.nameWithOwner' 2>/dev/null)
      # Update local file's frontmatter with provenance
      # provenance: github:owner/repo#N
    fi
    
  6. Update local file frontmatter:

    • Read the local issue file
    • Replace provenance: local with provenance: github:${REPO_NAME}#${ISSUE_NUMBER}
    • Write updated file

Non-blocking error handling: All GitHub operations are wrapped to warn but continue on failure. Local file creation is never blocked by GitHub failures.

if ! gh auth status &>/dev/null; then
  echo "Warning: gh CLI not authenticated. GitHub sync skipped."
fi
  1. Count issues: find .planning/issues/open -maxdepth 1 -name "*.md" 2>/dev/null | wc -l
  2. Update "### Pending Issues" under "## Accumulated Context"

Check planning config:

COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=$(cat .planning/config.json 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"commit_docs"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*[^,}]*' | grep -o 'true\|false' || echo "true")
git check-ignore -q .planning 2>/dev/null && COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=false

If COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=false: Skip git operations, log "Issue saved (not committed - commit_docs: false)"

If COMMIT_PLANNING_DOCS=true (default):

git add .planning/issues/open/[filename]
[ -f .planning/STATE.md ] && git add .planning/STATE.md
git commit -m "$(cat <<'EOF'
docs(issue): capture issue - [title]

Area: [area]
EOF
)"

Confirm: "Committed: docs(issue): capture issue - [title]"

[title] Area: [area] Files: [count] referenced GitHub: #[number] (if synced, otherwise "local only")


Would you like to:

  1. Continue with current work
  2. Add another issue
  3. View all issues (/kata-check-issues)
</step>

</process>

<output>
- `.planning/issues/open/[date]-[slug].md`
- Updated `.planning/STATE.md` (if exists)
- GitHub Issue #N with `backlog` label (if github.enabled=true)
</output>

<anti_patterns>
- Don't create issues for work in current plan (that's deviation rule territory)
- Don't create elaborate solution sections - captures ideas, not plans
- Don't block on missing information - "TBD" is fine
</anti_patterns>

<success_criteria>
- [ ] Directory structure exists
- [ ] Issue file created with valid frontmatter
- [ ] Problem section has enough context for future Claude
- [ ] No duplicates (checked and resolved)
- [ ] Area consistent with existing issues
- [ ] STATE.md updated if exists
- [ ] Issue and state committed to git
- [ ] GitHub Issue created with backlog label (if github.enabled=true)
- [ ] Provenance field set in local file (if GitHub synced)
</success_criteria>

Install

Download ZIP
Requires askill CLI v1.0+

AI Quality Score

92/100Analyzed 2/9/2026

An exceptionally well-documented skill for capturing issues during a development session. It includes complex logic for migration, duplicate detection, area inference, and GitHub synchronization.

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Metadata

Licenseunknown
Version-
Updated2/22/2026
Publishergannonh

Tags

apici-cddatabasegithubllmsecurity