babysit-pr

Babysit PR

Many repos have AI review bots. They're helpful, even if they are not always right.

Waiting

Never write your own watcher, polling loop, or sleep loop. Use one watcher per PR: watch_pull_request in T3 Code, pr-wait everywhere else. Never run both on the same PR. Every watcher on a GitHub account shares one rate limit.

In T3 Code: watch_pull_request

Handle the existing checks and comments first. Then call watch_pull_request and end your turn. T3 Code wakes you with a message when a check fails, the required checks pass, someone comments or reviews, or the branch conflicts.

• Only the thread that owns the PR watches it. If you are a delegated child task (a reviewer, a Sol round, any delegate_task child), never call watch_pull_request. The parent owns the PR. Do not watch PRs you are not working on.
• A wake is news, not a merge decision. Check the merge gate yourself.
• Unwatch when you hand off. A watched thread stays in Working and out of the user's inbox. When you stop (ready, blocked, or asking the user a question), call unwatch_pull_request first. A merge or close ends the watch on its own.
• "Stopped watching, could not read it" usually means GitHub's rate limit is used up. Run gh api rate_limit --jq .resources.graphql before you watch again. If remaining is near 0, wait for reset with one background command, then watch again. Never watch again in a tight loop.

Everywhere else: pr-wait

Wait with scripts/pr-wait from this skill's directory (use its absolute path).

pr-wait <pr> [--repo owner/name] [--until ready|green|any-change]

It prints one line per real event. It exits 0 when the --until condition is met or the PR merges, 1 when it needs you (a required check failed, conflicts, unresolved threads, PR closed), and 2 on bad input.

• ready (default): required checks green, Greptile or Macroscope reviewed the head, and no unresolved threads. Use this to babysit.
• green: required checks only. Use it when the repo has no Greptile or Macroscope.
• any-change: exit on the first event.

In Claude Code, run it with the Monitor tool (timeout_ms: 3600000), so each line wakes you. Without a monitor, run it as one long command. It ends on its own.

Start it again after you push, after you handle an exit 1, and after a resume. It remembers what it already reported, so nothing that arrived in between is lost. If it says another pid already watches the PR, do not start a second one. Kill the old one only if its events do not reach you.

With either watcher: when an event needs no action, end your turn without a message. Never post or say "still waiting".

GitHub rate limits

gh pr create, gh pr view, and gh pr checks use GraphQL. When GraphQL is used up, the REST limit is separate and usually still has room. Use gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/pulls/<n> to read a PR, and gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/commits/<sha>/check-runs for checks.

Reviews

Only act on checks and comments newer than the latest push. Verify every bot finding against the source before changing code. Fix real findings and CI failures, distinguish repository failures from infrastructure flakes, and reply with a written reason when dismissing false positives.

If the repo has .macroscope/check-run-agents/*.md, read those rules before you reply to a Macroscope finding. Its findings cite them.

CodeRabbit is advisory. Treat its findings like any other finding, but never wait for it and never hold a merge for it.

If a review bot leaves feedback you believe is not worth addressing, reply with a written reason and resolve the comment. Use the leaving-pr-comments skill for every comment posted on the user's behalf.

Screenshots and videos help as well, when you have a way to upload them.

Keep the PR at the size the user's goal needs. Review loops tend to grow a PR one cheap-looking fix at a time. Fix real bugs in the intended case. Decline the rest with a written reason, and list them as follow-ups: unneeded tests, guards for edge cases that do not matter, extra integration or compatibility, and small performance costs. Prefer the fix that deletes or narrows code.

Base branch and merging

Keep an eye on changes to main and rebase when needed. pr-wait reports when new base commits touch this PR's files, and when the PR becomes BEHIND or DIRTY. watch_pull_request reports conflicts only, so check for BEHIND yourself before you call the PR ready. If an overlapping PR makes this one obsolete, stop monitoring, report it to the user, and ask before closing the PR unless closure was explicitly authorized.

If nothing has changed, stay quiet rather than posting filler comments. Stop when pr-wait exits 0, or in T3 Code when the merge gate passes on the latest head. Merge only when the user explicitly requested it; otherwise report that the PR is ready. Right before a merge, run git fetch and check the PR again. Never merge when it is BEHIND or DIRTY, or when base commits that landed after the last green run touch this PR's files. Rebase, push, and wait for green again.