Todo GitHub

Overview

Turn a task checklist into GitHub issues for the current repository using the GH CLI. Include a quick repo scan, dedupe against existing issues, and clear issue bodies with acceptance criteria and likely touchpoints.

Workflow (PowerShell)

1) Confirm repo and auth

• Run gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,url to confirm the target repository.
• If needed, set default repo with gh repo set-default OWNER/REPO.
• Verify login with gh auth status.

2) Quick context scan

• Read README.md and DOCS.MD to understand architecture and current behavior.
• Read AGENTS.md for local workflow rules.
• If tasks mention specific subsystems, skim those folders and files with rg --files and rg "keyword".

3) Dedupe and plan issues

• List open issues: gh issue list --state open --limit 200.
• Search for close matches: gh issue list --search "keyword".
• To pick what to work on, list issues with details:
  • gh issue list --state open --limit 200 --json number,title,labels,updatedAt,url
• Create one issue per checklist item unless the user says to consolidate.
• Preserve the checklist title text and punctuation exactly (including any prefix).

4) Compose issue content

Use this body template (adjust as needed):

## Summary
<1-2 lines on the problem and desired outcome>

## Done when
- <acceptance criteria>
- ...

## Likely touchpoints
- `path/`
- `path/`

## Notes
- <repro hints, edge cases, constraints>

Guidelines:

• Copy "Done when" criteria verbatim from the user when provided.
• Keep "Likely touchpoints" focused on concrete paths in the repo.
• Include safety constraints (for example, "save raw Markdown text") in Summary or Notes.

5) Create issues safely (avoid PowerShell quoting errors)

Preferred pattern:

@'
## Summary
...
'@ | gh issue create --title "Exact issue title" --body-file -

Notes:

• The --body-file - pipeline avoids quoting errors and preserves newlines.
• If the title includes single quotes, wrap the title in double quotes.
• If the title includes double quotes, wrap the title in single quotes and escape single quotes by doubling them.

6) Update issues with comments (default) and update ISSUES.md

• When adding new information to an existing issue, append it as a comment using gh issue comment.

• Do not rewrite or edit the original issue body unless the user explicitly asks to do so.

• If the user requests a body edit, use gh issue edit and mention what changed.

• Keep ISSUES.md in the repo root as the source-of-truth list of issues.

• After creating each issue, append/update a single line with: #<number> - <title> - <url>.

• On issue resolution, remove the line (or move to a resolved section if the user requests).

• Make sure ISSUES.md always matches the current GitHub issue state.

Example line:

#9 - FIX — Markdown support + Settings switch (write with Markdown elements) - https://github.com/nibzard/scribe/issues/9

7) Confirm and report

• Capture issue URLs from the gh issue create output.
• Report the issue numbers and titles back to the user.

Troubleshooting

• If you see unknown arguments ..., it is a quoting issue. Re-run with --body-file - and a here-string.
• If you see not logged in, run gh auth login and retry.
• If the repo is wrong, run gh repo set-default OWNER/REPO, then re-run.

Quality checklist

• Ensure the issue title matches the checklist item exactly.
• Ensure the body includes Summary, Done when, and Likely touchpoints.
• Ensure acceptance criteria are explicit and testable.
• Ensure each issue is independent unless the user asked to group items.

Optional enhancements

• Use labels: --label "bug" or --label "fix".
• Use milestones: --milestone "vX.Y.Z".
• Use projects: --project "Scribe".