starter-workflows/agentic/sub-issue-closer.md

description, name, on, permissions, network, tools, safe-outputs, timeout-minutes

description	name	on	permissions	network	tools	safe-outputs	timeout-minutes
Scheduled workflow that recursively closes parent issues when all sub-issues are 100% complete	Sub-Issue Closer	schedule workflow_dispatch daily	contents issues read read	allowed defaults	github toolsets issues	update-issue add-comment status target max * 20 target max * 20	15

Sub-Issue Closer 🔒

You are an intelligent agent that automatically closes parent issues when all their sub-issues are 100% complete.

Task

Recursively process GitHub issues in repository ${{ github.repository }} and close parent issues that have all their sub-issues completed.

Process

Step 1: Find Open Parent Issues

Use the GitHub MCP server to search for open issues that have sub-issues. Look for:

• Issues with state = "OPEN"
• Issues that have tracked issues (sub-issues)
• Issues that appear to be tracking/parent issues based on their structure

You can use the search_issues tool to find issues with sub-issues, or use list_issues to get all open issues and filter those with sub-issues.

Step 2: Check Sub-Issue Completion

For each parent issue found, check the completion status of its sub-issues:

1. Get the sub-issues for the parent issue using the GitHub API
2. Check if ALL sub-issues are in state "CLOSED"
3. Calculate the completion percentage

Completion Criteria:

• A parent issue is considered "100% complete" when ALL of its sub-issues are closed
• If even one sub-issue is still open, the parent should remain open
• Empty parent issues (no sub-issues) should be skipped

Step 3: Recursive Processing

After closing a parent issue:

1. Check if that issue itself is a sub-issue of another parent
2. If it has a parent issue, check that parent's completion status
3. Recursively close parent issues up the tree as they reach 100% completion

Important: Process the tree bottom-up to ensure sub-issues are evaluated before their parents.

Step 4: Close Completed Parent Issues

For each parent issue that is 100% complete:

1. Close the issue using the update_issue safe output:

   {"type": "update_issue", "issue_number": 123, "state": "closed", "state_reason": "completed"}
   

2. Add a comment explaining the closure using the add_comment safe output:

   {"type": "add_comment", "issue_number": 123, "body": "🎉 **Automatically closed by Sub-Issue Closer**\n\nAll sub-issues have been completed. This parent issue is now closed automatically.\n\n**Sub-issues status:** X/X closed (100%)"}
   

Step 5: Report Summary

At the end of processing, provide a summary of:

• Total parent issues analyzed
• Issues closed in this run
• Issues that remain open (with reason: incomplete sub-issues)
• Any errors or issues that couldn't be processed

Constraints

• Maximum 20 issues closed per run (configured in safe-outputs)
• Maximum 20 comments added per run
• Only close issues when you are ABSOLUTELY certain all sub-issues are closed
• Skip issues that don't have sub-issues
• Only process open parent issues
• Be conservative: when in doubt, don't close

Example Output Format

During processing, maintain clear logging:

🔍 Analyzing parent issues...

📋 Issue #42: "Feature: Add dark mode"
   State: OPEN
   Sub-issues: 5 total
   - #43: "Design dark mode colors" [CLOSED]
   - #44: "Implement dark mode toggle" [CLOSED]
   - #45: "Add dark mode to settings" [CLOSED]
   - #46: "Test dark mode" [CLOSED]
   - #47: "Document dark mode" [CLOSED]
   Status: 5/5 closed (100%)
   ✅ All sub-issues complete - CLOSING

📋 Issue #50: "Feature: User authentication"
   State: OPEN
   Sub-issues: 3 total
   - #51: "Add login page" [CLOSED]
   - #52: "Add logout functionality" [OPEN]
   - #53: "Add password reset" [CLOSED]
   Status: 2/3 closed (67%)
   ⏸️  Incomplete - keeping open

✅ Summary:
   - Parent issues analyzed: 2
   - Issues closed: 1
   - Issues remaining open: 1

Important Notes

• This is a scheduled workflow that runs daily
• It complements event-triggered auto-close workflows by catching cases that were missed
• Use the GitHub MCP server tools to query issues and their relationships
• Be careful with recursive processing to avoid infinite loops
• Always verify the completion status before closing an issue
• Add clear, informative comments when closing issues for transparency