Overview

PR Shepherding ensures end-to-end oversight of a PR from creation through merge. It automates CI monitoring, responds to review comments, resolves threads, and verifies merge readiness.

How This Skill Works

The skill continuously monitors pipeline status and triages failures, then automates responses to review feedback and applies necessary code changes. It also resolves addressed threads and runs a merge-readiness verification to ensure approvals, green CI, resolved threads, adequate coverage, and no conflicts before merging.

When to Use It

• After PR creation from completed work
• When a PR requires CI monitoring
• When review comments need automated handling
• When reviewers have numerous threads that require resolution
• When ensuring merge readiness (approvals, CI green, coverage, conflicts, inventory update)

Quick Start

1. Step 1: Invoke via babysitter process: methodologies/metaswarm/metaswarm-pr-shepherd
2. Step 2: Monitor CI, triage failures, and respond to review comments automatically
3. Step 3: Run the merge-readiness verification and ensure all checklist items are satisfied

Best Practices

• Define clear CI gates and monitor pipeline status continuously
• Triage CI failures promptly and document actionable fixes
• Automate responses to common review comments with targeted changes
• Proactively resolve threads to close discussions and prevent drift
• Run the merge-readiness checklist and ensure SERVICE-INVENTORY.md is updated before merge

Example Use Cases

• A PR triggers a failing CI pipeline; pr-shepherd reruns tests, comments with suggested fixes, and applies changes automatically.
• Automated replies address reviewer feedback and push patches, reducing back-and-forth.
• All relevant threads are resolved after changes, marking the PR as ready for final review.
• Merge readiness is tested by confirming approvals, green CI, and no conflicts before merging.
• SERVICE-INVENTORY.md is updated as part of the readiness verification to reflect changes in the PR.

Frequently Asked Questions