# Issue Triage

Move issues and external PRs through triage states and write agent briefs.

- Repository: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills (309182 stars)
- Category: Git and review
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill triage -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill triage -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill triage -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add mattpocock/skills --skill triage -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add mattpocock/skills`

## Description

Move issues and external PRs through a state machine of triage roles, categorise, verify, grill if needed, and write agent-ready briefs.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# Triage

Move issues on the project issue tracker through a small state machine of triage roles.

If this repo treats external pull requests as a request surface (see the issue-tracker config), triage covers them too: **a PR is an issue with attached code**, using the same roles, same states, and same machine, with a few deltas marked "for a PR" below. Resolve a bare `#42` to an issue or PR per the tracker config.

Every comment or issue posted to the issue tracker during triage **must** start with this disclaimer:

```
> *This was generated by AI during triage.*
```

## Reference docs

- [AGENT-BRIEF.md](AGENT-BRIEF.md): how to write durable agent briefs
- [OUT-OF-SCOPE.md](OUT-OF-SCOPE.md): how the `.out-of-scope/` knowledge base works

## Roles

Two **category** roles:

- `bug`: something is broken
- `enhancement`: new feature or improvement

Five **state** roles:

- `needs-triage`: maintainer needs to evaluate
- `needs-info`: waiting on reporter for more information
- `ready-for-agent`: fully specified, ready for an AFK agent
- `ready-for-human`: needs human implementation
- `wontfix`: will not be actioned

For a PR, the same states read against the attached code: `ready-for-agent` means a brief is attached and an agent should take the next step on the diff; `ready-for-human` means it's ready for a human to merge.

Every triaged issue should carry exactly one category role and one state role. If state roles conflict, flag it and ask the maintainer before doing anything else.

These are canonical role names. The actual label strings used in the issue tracker may differ. The mapping should have been provided to you. If not, tell the user to run `/setup-matt-pocock-skills`.

The rest: https://github.com/mattpocock/skills/blob/HEAD/skills/engineering/triage/SKILL.md