Codex Issue Coordinator

Codex issue coordinator

Use one Codex thread to coordinate a GitHub issue batch. Give each active issue its own worker thread, worktree, branch, and pull request. Workers hold implementation context. GitHub holds dependency state.

Explicitly naming /codex-issue-coordinator, or explicitly telling the coordinator that agents may merge, authorizes in-scope workers to merge their own pull requests after every merge gate below passes. An implicit skill match does not grant merge authority: run in no-merge mode unless the user's words grant it. Neither mode authorizes deployment, release publication, destructive operations, branch-protection bypasses, or changes outside the supplied batch.

Read required skills directly from their SKILL.md files as instructions for this workflow. Do not invoke them through a skill command that the client blocks.

Preconditions

1. Read the repository instructions, parent issue, native sub-issues, declared dependencies, project board, issue state, and linked open or merged pull requests. A merged pull request is only evidence of completion when it closes or explicitly references the issue and its final change and proof satisfy the issue scope. Reconcile that issue and project state instead of dispatching it again. Do not infer completion from a link alone.
2. Use Codex thread tools. If visible Codex threads and Codex-managed worktrees are unavailable, stop. Do not replace workers with hidden subagents.
3. Make every issue a complete task before dispatch. If a missing product or technical decision could change behavior, data, security, compatibility, operations, cost, or proof, mark that issue as needing human input.
4. Build a dependency graph. Treat GitHub as the durable source of issue, pull request, review, and merge state. Stop for human correction if the graph contains a dependency cycle. Do not create a second local tracker.
5. Default to two active workers. Use another limit only when the user asks or the repository gives a stricter limit.

Coordinator workflow

1. Keep the calling thread as coordinator. Name it #<parent> Coordinator when the batch has a parent issue. Use set_thread_pinned to pin it at the start of every new or resumed coordinator run, before inspecting or dispatching workers.
2. Reuse an existing active worker for the same issue. Inspect an unclear or interrupted worker before creating another. If the issue already has an open pull request, create or resume its worker on that pull request's exact head branch and include the branch and pull request URL in its prompt. Otherwise create a Codex project thread in a managed worktree from the latest remote default branch and include the required new branch name.
3. Name every worker #<issue-number> <short title>.
4. Start only issues whose prerequisites are merged. Independent issues may run together up to the worker limit. Do not stack dependent branches in this workflow.
5. Give the worker the full issue URL, dependency state, repository location, resolved branch and pull request state, and the worker contract below. Tell it to use /task-to-pr and pass the coordinator's explicit merge or no-merge mode. Merge mode grants authority only for that worker's issue.
6. Monitor workers with compact wait_threads snapshots. Use read_thread only when a worker needs help. Send decisions or corrected scope back with send_message_to_thread; do not edit the worker's files from the coordinator.
7. Continue independent work when one issue is blocked. After three failed attempts at the same check or review finding, pause that issue, record the evidence on GitHub, and request human input.
8. In merge mode, when a worker reports completion, verify GitHub says the pull request is merged, the issue contains final proof, and the issue is closed. Close it explicitly if the merged pull request did not close it. Then mark the issue Done when the project supports it and archive the worker thread. In no-merge mode, stop that worker after its pull request passes all agent-completable gates, leave the issue in Review, record any pending human approval or merge as its blocker, and leave the thread available.
9. Refresh the dependency graph after every merge and dispatch newly ready issues from the updated remote default branch. In no-merge mode, when a dependent issue is waiting only for a passing prerequisite pull request to be merged, record that human-merge dependency as its blocker. Do not wait indefinitely or dispatch the dependent from an unmerged branch.
10. In merge mode, finish only when every in-scope issue is merged, closed, and Done when the project supports that state, or every unfinished issue has a recorded blocker that needs human action. In no-merge mode, finish when every in-scope issue has a ready pull request with all agent-completable gates passing or a recorded human blocker.

Worker contract

Each worker owns one issue and follows this order:

1. Read the issue, repository instructions, relevant spec, code, tests, and dependency pull requests. Move the issue to In Progress when possible.
2. Use the Codex-managed worktree. If the issue has an open pull request, reuse its exact head branch and pull request. Otherwise create the repository's required issue-linked branch from the updated default branch.
3. Implement only the issue. Add or update tests for every acceptance criterion, affected failure path, regression risk, and named edge case.
4. Use /test. Browser-facing work requires a real browser check of the affected success and failure flows, responsive widths, keyboard behavior, console errors, and failed requests when relevant.
5. Commit and push the tested change. Open a draft pull request if one is not already open. Include a short summary and current proof.
6. Mark the pull request ready for review and move the issue to Review. Do this before requesting independent review or waiting for GitHub review.
7. Use /review with a fresh subagent that did not implement the change. Wait for required CI and automated review. In merge mode, also wait for every repository-required approval. In no-merge mode, do not wait indefinitely for human feedback; record a pending required approval as a human blocker.
8. Address every valid in-scope finding. Reply to review threads with the fix or evidence for making no change. Resolve a thread only when it is fully addressed.
9. After any code change, repeat affected /test proof and fresh /review, commit and push, update the pull request evidence, and wait for CI and automated review again. Iterate until the mode's gates pass; do not manufacture extra rounds or wait indefinitely for optional human feedback.
10. In merge mode, merge the pull request using the repository's preferred method after every merge gate passes. Never use an admin bypass. Wait until GitHub reports the pull request as merged, record final proof, and verify the issue is closed. Close it explicitly if the pull request did not. In no-merge mode, leave the passing pull request open for a human to merge. Report the final state to the coordinator.

Merge gates

A worker may merge only when all of these are true:

• The pull request is ready for review, not draft.
• The complete issue scope and acceptance criteria have recorded proof.
• Focused and required wider tests pass on the final commit.
• A fresh /review verdict is Approve on the final code.
• Every required GitHub check passes.
• Every actionable automated or human review thread is resolved.
• Every repository-required approval is present.
• The pull request is mergeable and current with its required base.
• No security, data-loss, compatibility, operational, or product decision is unresolved.
• The pull request changes only the worker's issue.

If a gate cannot pass, do not merge. Record the blocker and continue other independent work.

Worker prompt

Use this shape and replace every placeholder:

textCopy code
Use /task-to-pr to complete <issue URL> in this Codex-managed worktree.

Your thread owns only this issue, branch, worktree, and pull request.
Branch state: <reuse PR head branch and PR URL, or create new branch name>.
Delivery mode: <merge after all gates pass, or leave the passing PR open>.
Read the issue and repository instructions as the source of truth.
Implement the smallest complete change and prove acceptance criteria, edge
cases, failure paths, and regressions.

After local proof passes, commit, push, open or update the pull request, and
mark it ready for review. Only then run fresh independent /review and wait for
CI and GitHub review. Address valid findings and repeat test and review after
every code change.

<If merge mode: The user explicitly authorized this /codex-issue-coordinator run to
merge this issue's pull request after every merge gate passes. Wait until
GitHub reports the merge, update and close the issue, and return the result.>
<If no-merge mode: Leave the passing pull request open for human merge and
return its URL and proof.>
Do not deploy, publish a release, bypass repository rules, or change unrelated
work.

Return

For each issue, report its worker, pull request, gate state, and blocker. State which issues are complete and which need human action. Do not repeat worker logs that do not change the result.

Boundaries

• Use visible Codex threads for workers. Fresh subagents are only for the independent /review inside a worker.
• Never dispatch two workers for one issue or let two workers share a worktree.
• Never replace or duplicate an existing pull request for the issue. Resume it.
• Reconcile already-merged pull requests and closed issues before dispatch, but only after their change and proof satisfy the issue scope.
• Never start dependent work from an unmerged pull request in this workflow.
• Never merge an unrelated pull request merely because it blocks the batch.
• Never infer deployment or release authority from merge authority.
• Do not archive a worker until its merge and final issue state are verified.