pr-triage by joelhooks

---
name: pr-triage
description: "Context-efficient PR comment triage. Evaluate, decide, act. Fix important issues, resolve the rest silently."
tags:
  - pr
  - review
  - github
  - triage
  - context-efficiency
---

# PR Comment Triage - Evaluate → Decide → Act

## Philosophy

**Replies are SECONDARY to addressing concerns.**

- Important issue? **FIX IT** → reply with commit ref → resolve
- Not important? **RESOLVE SILENTLY** → no reply needed
- Don't reply to every comment - that's noise

## The Workflow

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│         EVALUATE → DECIDE → ACT             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                             │
│  1. FETCH UNREPLIED (metadata only)         │
│     → Get root comments without replies     │
│     → ~100 bytes/comment, paginated         │
│                                             │
│  2. EVALUATE each comment                   │
│     → Fetch body only if path looks important│
│     → Skip: metadata files, style nits      │
│     → Check: security, correctness, tests   │
│                                             │
│  3. DECIDE action                           │
│     → FIX: implement change, reply, resolve │
│     → RESOLVE: close silently, no reply     │
│     → DEFER: create cell, resolve           │
│                                             │
│  4. ACT                                     │
│     → Fix issues in code                    │
│     → Resolve threads (not reply)           │
│     → Reply ONLY when you fixed something   │
│                                             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## Decision Matrix

| Comment Type | Action | Reply? |
|--------------|--------|--------|
| Security/correctness bug | FIX → reply with commit | ✅ Yes |
| Valid improvement, in scope | FIX → reply with commit | ✅ Yes |
| Valid but out of scope | Create cell → resolve | ❌ No |
| Style/formatting nit | Resolve silently | ❌ No |
| Metadata file (.jsonl, etc) | Resolve silently | ❌ No |
| Already fixed | Reply with commit → resolve | ✅ Yes |
| Disagree with suggestion | Resolve silently | ❌ No |

## SDK Commands

```bash
# Get unreplied root comments (start here)
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts unreplied owner/repo 42

# Evaluate: fetch body for specific comment
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts expand owner/repo 123456

# Act: resolve without reply (preferred)
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts resolve owner/repo 42 123456

# Act: reply then resolve (only when you fixed something)
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts reply owner/repo 42 123456 "✅ Fixed in abc123"

# Helpers
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts summary owner/repo 42   # File-level overview
bun run scripts/pr-comments.ts list owner/repo 42      # All metadata
```

## Quick Triage Pattern

```typescript
import { fetchMetadata, fetchBody, resolveThread, reply, getThreadId } from "./scripts/pr-comments.ts";

const comments = await fetchMetadata("owner/repo", 42);

// Find unreplied root comments
const repliedTo = new Set(comments.filter(c => c.inReplyToId).map(c => c.inReplyToId));
const unreplied = comments.filter(c => !c.inReplyToId && !repliedTo.has(c.id));

for (const c of unreplied) {
  // Skip metadata files - resolve silently
  if (c.path.endsWith('.jsonl') || c.path.includes('.hive/')) {
    const threadId = await getThreadId("owner/repo", 42, c.id);
    if (threadId) await resolveThread("owner/repo", threadId);
    continue;
  }

  // Evaluate important files
  const full = await fetchBody("owner/repo", c.id);
  
  if (full.body.includes('Critical') || full.body.includes('security')) {
    // FIX IT, then reply
    // ... implement fix ...
    await reply("owner/repo", 42, c.id, "✅ Fixed in abc123");
  }
  
  // Resolve either way
  const threadId = await getThreadId("owner/repo", 42, c.id);
  if (threadId) await resolveThread("owner/repo", threadId);
}
```

## Skip These (Resolve Silently)

- `.hive/issues.jsonl` - auto-generated metadata
- `.hive/memories.jsonl` - auto-generated metadata  
- Changeset formatting suggestions
- Import ordering nits
- "Add tracking issue" for intentional skips
- Style preferences you disagree with

## Fix These (Reply + Resolve)

- Security vulnerabilities
- Correctness bugs
- Missing error handling
- Test coverage gaps (if valid)
- Type safety issues

## Context Budget

| Action | Context Cost |
|--------|--------------|
| `unreplied` | ~100 bytes/comment |
| `expand` (1 comment) | ~5KB |
| `resolve` | 0 (GraphQL mutation) |
| `reply` | ~200 bytes |

**Rule:** Fetch <10 bodies per triage session.

## References

- `scripts/pr-comments.ts` - Full SDK with Zod schemas
- `references/gh-api-patterns.md` - Raw jq patterns, GraphQL, pagination