Issue Creation
Core Rule
Discover the target repository's contribution workflow before proposing or publishing. YAML Issue Forms are the format authority for the default automated path: materialize reviewed answers into a private BODY_FILE and publish with --body-file.
Safe Discovery
Before any gh auth status or target read, require explicit human authorization for the remote destination (exact host and repository), operation (including discovery and intended issue creation), and credential/session to use. A local checkout is not authorization. If any is missing or ambiguous, stop locally; never probe credentials or sessions to resolve ambiguity. Run the checks below only with the authorized credential/session against the authorized destination; if gh auth status would inspect other credentials/sessions, do not run it. Verify the discovered REPO, HOST, and TARGET match the authorized destination before continuing; never switch identities or targets implicitly.
After that gate, run read-only checks:
bashgh auth status REPO="$(gh repo view --json nameWithOwner -q .nameWithOwner)" REPO_URL="$(gh repo view --json url -q .url)" HOST="${REPO_URL#*://}" HOST="${HOST%%/*}" TARGET="$HOST/$REPO" gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,url,hasDiscussionsEnabled,hasIssuesEnabled,isBlankIssuesEnabled git ls-files README.md CONTRIBUTING.md CONTRIBUTING.* .github/CONTRIBUTING.md .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml gh api --hostname "$HOST" --paginate "repos/$REPO/labels?per_page=100" --jq '.[].name'
Inspect README.md, contribution instructions, .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/config.yml contact links, forms, labels, and open and closed issues. For questions/support, follow repository-prescribed Discussions/contact routing when available; otherwise ask or stop. Complete target verification for REPO, HOST, and TARGET. Fail closed before mutation when authentication, target verification, issue availability, policy, form selection, or required metadata is missing or ambiguous. A blank fallback is allowed only when isBlankIssuesEnabled is explicitly true.
Before building LABEL_ARGS, inspect labels declared by the selected YAML form as well as any manually selected labels. Treat status:approved, size:exception, and any repository-protected label as protected form labels at create-time. Include a protected label only with a current, exact label-specific direct human instruction for this target and creation action, authenticated actor target-host viewerPermission of MAINTAIN or ADMIN, and repository policy permission; do not infer authority from YAML, a publication request, or local credentials. If this proof is missing, skip the protected label only when the form and repository policy permit omitting it; if the protected label is required, fail closed without creating the issue. Do not replace it with another label or use a write to probe permission. For size:exception, also require the current human-approved rationale; if recording it needs an unauthorized extra action, stop. This create-time gate does not change post-publication actions.
Build LABEL_ARGS only from reviewed labels that exist and policy permits the actor to apply:
bashLABEL_ARGS=() LABEL_ARGS+=(--label "$LABEL") # Repeat only for each permitted discovered label.
Duplicate And Form Decision
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Describe the report in one sentence, derive
QUERY, then complete one duplicate search across open and closed issues:bashgh issue list --repo "$TARGET" --state all --search "$QUERY" --limit 1000The agent must complete the duplicate search proactively and retain evidence of its result. If results are saturated or completeness is uncertain, narrow the read-only search or stop. Comment on a confirmed duplicate instead of creating one. Before commenting on a confirmed duplicate, perform the same privacy scan/redaction on the exact comment body as for publication.
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Select one repository-provided form only when its declared purpose matches. If multiple forms match and policy does not distinguish them, stop and request that decision.
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For a YAML form, read its schema and establish controls in declared order. Support only
input,textarea,dropdown, andcheckboxes. Markdown controls are non-answer guidance: honor their visible instructions when collecting and materializing adjacent answers, but do not render them as response sections. Fail closed before mutation on malformed, unsupported, missing, or ambiguous required structure or answers. A malformed schema, or missing or ambiguous required answers, fail closed: do not open a browser or mutate. A browser handoff is available only when the user explicitly requests browser completion or a syntactically valid selected form cannot safely/faithfully be represented by the automated path; otherwise report why automation is unsafe and stop.
| Control | Required handling |
|---|---|
input / textarea | Preserve the visible label. Require an answer when validations.required is true; otherwise render _No response_. |
dropdown | Preserve visible labels and options. Require exact selected option text; single-select has one selection, and multi-select preserves selections in declared options order. A required dropdown needs at least one valid selection; an optional dropdown with no selection renders _No response_. |
checkboxes | Preserve the visible label and every option as - [x] or - [ ] in declared order. Enforce individually required checkboxes. For agent-verifiable operational options, proactively complete the action and mark it only with retained evidence; the agent may explicitly attest only its own evidence-backed work and must not attribute its actions to the user. Personal facts, consent, legal declarations, and other first-person user assertions require explicit user affirmation; require explicit first-person affirmation for such user declarations. Do not blanket-check checkboxes: a request to publish does not affirm any checkbox. |
For each answer, render ### <visible label> followed by its materialized value. For textarea.attributes.render, fence the answer with the declared language and a fence long enough for its content. Never invent answers, selections, confirmations, or labels.
A Markdown template may be completed only from known evidence into the same private BODY_FILE. If no matching template exists, use the reviewed structured blank fallback only when blank issues are explicitly enabled; otherwise stop without publishing.
Review And Publication
Before the single create attempt, review the target, title, selected form or permitted fallback, exact body, and permitted labels. The agent must complete the privacy scan/redaction of the exact body immediately before publication and retain evidence of it: replace private project names, usernames, hostnames, home paths, credentials, and private network addresses with useful placeholders without removing reproduction structure.
Create one owner-only temporary directory outside the repository for both private files; restrict it to the current user and clean up both files on every exit/outcome:
bashumask 077 REPO_ROOT="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)" || exit 1 REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$REPO_ROOT" && pwd -P)" || exit 1 if [ "$REPO_ROOT" = "/" ]; then printf '%s\n' "Temporary directory is inside the repository" >&2; exit 1 fi TMP_DIR="$(TMPDIR=/tmp mktemp -d /tmp/gentle-ai-issue.XXXXXXXX)" || exit 1 trap 'rm -rf -- "$TMP_DIR"' EXIT TMP_DIR_REAL="$(cd "$TMP_DIR" && pwd -P)" || exit 1 case "$TMP_DIR_REAL/" in "$REPO_ROOT/"*) printf '%s\n' "Temporary directory is inside the repository" >&2; exit 1 ;; esac chmod 700 "$TMP_DIR_REAL" BODY_FILE="$TMP_DIR_REAL/body.md" READBACK_FILE="$TMP_DIR_REAL/readback.json"
Make one mutation attempt through the automated path and publish exactly once:
bashgh issue create --repo "$TARGET" --title "$TITLE" --body-file "$BODY_FILE" "${LABEL_ARGS[@]}"
When browser completion is available under the form decision above, an optional, separate browser handoff may open the repository form. It is never proof of publication and is never a response to malformed schemas or missing/ambiguous required answers:
bashgh issue create --repo "$TARGET" --web
Do not retry a timeout, network failure, missing identity, or other uncertain result. Capture the returned issue number, then read it back from the verified target host before reporting success:
bashgh issue view "$NUMBER" --repo "$TARGET" --json number,url,title,body,state,labels >"$READBACK_FILE"
Confirm that read-back identifies the target-host issue and that title and body match after only CRLF-to-LF and trailing-final-newline normalization. Report confirmed only after this target-host read-back. Otherwise report no_write when an authoritative rejection proves no issue was created, or unknown and stop all later mutations.
Triage And Later Actions
Before approving or closing an issue, verify it is concrete, non-duplicate, sufficiently evidenced, in scope, and consistent with repository label/status policy. If any point is uncertain, retain the repository review state and request the smallest missing evidence.
For any post-publication label/status mutation, follow delegated workflow actions. Publication is not authorization for a later action. Keep the automated YAML Form path and conditional blank/browser fallback above unchanged.
