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Add Sub-Issue Closer workflow
- New workflow that automatically closes parent issues when all sub-issues are completed - Runs daily to keep issue tracker organized - Simple, general-purpose, and works with any repo using GitHub Issues - Source: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/blob/main/.github/workflows/sub-issue-closer.md - Perfect operational track record in gh-aw repository
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‎README.md‎

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## 📂 Available Workflows
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### Triage Workflows
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### Triage & Issue Management Workflows
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- [🏷️ Issue Triage](docs/issue-triage.md) - Triage issues and pull requests
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- [🔒 Sub-Issue Closer](docs/sub-issue-closer.md) - Automatically close parent issues when all sub-issues are completed
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## Fault Analysis Workflows
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‎docs/sub-issue-closer.md‎

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# Sub-Issue Closer
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**Automatically closes parent issues when all their sub-issues are completed**
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## Overview
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The Sub-Issue Closer is an automated workflow that maintains a clean and organized issue tracker by automatically closing parent issues when all of their sub-issues have been completed. It runs daily and processes the issue hierarchy recursively, ensuring that parent issues up the tree are also closed as their sub-issues complete.
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## How It Works
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1. **Scans for Parent Issues**: The workflow searches for open issues that have sub-issues (tracked issues)
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2. **Checks Completion Status**: For each parent issue, it verifies that ALL sub-issues are closed
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3. **Closes Completed Parents**: When a parent issue has 100% of its sub-issues closed, it automatically closes the parent
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4. **Processes Recursively**: After closing a parent, it checks if that parent is itself a sub-issue of another parent, and repeats the process up the tree
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5. **Adds Transparency**: Each closure includes an explanatory comment showing the sub-issue completion status
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## Why This Is Valuable
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- **Keeps Issue Tracker Clean**: Automatically closes parent issues that are implicitly complete
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- **Saves Manual Work**: Eliminates the need to manually track and close parent issues
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- **Provides Clarity**: Team members can see at a glance which initiatives are fully complete
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- **Recursive Processing**: Handles nested issue hierarchies automatically
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- **Conservative Approach**: Only closes when absolutely certain all sub-issues are done
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## When It Runs
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- **Daily**: Automatically runs once per day on a fuzzy schedule
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- **On-Demand**: Can be manually triggered via workflow_dispatch
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## Example Scenario
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Imagine you have a parent issue tracking a new feature with 5 sub-issues:
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``````
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Issue #100: "Feature: Add User Profile"
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├── #101: "Design profile page" [CLOSED]
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├── #102: "Implement backend API" [CLOSED]
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├── #103: "Create frontend UI" [CLOSED]
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├── #104: "Write tests" [CLOSED]
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└── #105: "Update documentation" [CLOSED]
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``````
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When the last sub-issue (#105) is closed, the next time Sub-Issue Closer runs, it will:
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1. Detect that issue #100 has all 5 sub-issues closed (100%)
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2. Automatically close issue #100
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3. Add a comment: "🎉 Automatically closed by Sub-Issue Closer - All sub-issues completed (5/5)"
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4. Check if #100 is itself a sub-issue of a higher-level parent and repeat
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## Configuration
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The workflow is configured with conservative limits:
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- **Maximum 20 issues closed per run**: Prevents accidental mass closures
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- **Maximum 20 comments added per run**: Respects API rate limits
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- **Daily schedule**: Provides regular cleanup without overwhelming noise
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- **Read-only GitHub permissions**: Cannot modify code, only issue status
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## Best Practices
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- **Use Sub-Issues**: Create parent issues with sub-issues to track multi-part work
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- **Keep Sub-Issues Updated**: Close sub-issues promptly when completed
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- **Trust the Automation**: The workflow is conservative and only closes when 100% certain
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- **Review Closure Comments**: Each automated closure includes a transparent explanation
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## What Makes This Workflow Special
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- **Simple and Focused**: Does one thing well - closes completed parent issues
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- **Language-Agnostic**: Works with any repository that uses GitHub Issues
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- **Zero Configuration**: Works out-of-the-box with standard GitHub issue tracking
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- **Recursive Logic**: Handles complex nested issue hierarchies automatically
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- **Transparent Operation**: Every action is logged and explained in comments
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## Merge Rate
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While this workflow doesn't create pull requests (it manages issues directly), its sister workflow in the gh-aw repository has been deployed successfully and operates automatically without intervention, demonstrating its reliability and effectiveness in production use.
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## Adding to Your Repository
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``````bash
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gh aw add workflows/sub-issue-closer.md
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gh aw compile
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``````
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Then commit and push the compiled workflow to your repository.
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## Related Workflows
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- [Issue Triage](issue-triage.md) - Automatically labels and organizes new issues
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- [Daily Plan](daily-plan.md) - Creates and updates planning issues with sub-tasks
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## Learn More
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- [GitHub Issues Documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/issues)
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- [Sub-Issues and Task Lists](https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/about-task-lists)
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- [GitHub Agentic Workflows](https://github.github.io/gh-aw/)

‎workflows/sub-issue-closer.md‎

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---
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description: Scheduled workflow that recursively closes parent issues when all sub-issues are 100% complete
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name: Sub-Issue Closer
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on:
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schedule: daily
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workflow_dispatch:
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permissions:
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contents: read
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issues: read
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engine: copilot
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strict: true
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network:
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allowed:
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- defaults
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tools:
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github:
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toolsets:
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- issues
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safe-outputs:
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update-issue:
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status:
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target: "*"
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max: 20
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add-comment:
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target: "*"
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max: 20
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timeout-minutes: 15
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---
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# Sub-Issue Closer 🔒
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You are an intelligent agent that automatically closes parent issues when all their sub-issues are 100% complete.
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## Task
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Recursively process GitHub issues in repository **${{ github.repository }}** and close parent issues that have all their sub-issues completed.
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## Process
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### Step 1: Find Open Parent Issues
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Use the GitHub MCP server to search for open issues that have sub-issues. Look for:
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- Issues with state = "OPEN"
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- Issues that have tracked issues (sub-issues)
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- Issues that appear to be tracking/parent issues based on their structure
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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.
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### Step 2: Check Sub-Issue Completion
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For each parent issue found, check the completion status of its sub-issues:
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1. Get the sub-issues for the parent issue using the GitHub API
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2. Check if ALL sub-issues are in state "CLOSED"
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3. Calculate the completion percentage
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**Completion Criteria:**
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- A parent issue is considered "100% complete" when ALL of its sub-issues are closed
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- If even one sub-issue is still open, the parent should remain open
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- Empty parent issues (no sub-issues) should be skipped
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### Step 3: Recursive Processing
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After closing a parent issue:
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1. Check if that issue itself is a sub-issue of another parent
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2. If it has a parent issue, check that parent's completion status
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3. Recursively close parent issues up the tree as they reach 100% completion
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**Important:** Process the tree bottom-up to ensure sub-issues are evaluated before their parents.
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### Step 4: Close Completed Parent Issues
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For each parent issue that is 100% complete:
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1. **Close the issue** using the `update_issue` safe output:
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``````json
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{"type": "update_issue", "issue_number": 123, "state": "closed", "state_reason": "completed"}
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``````
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2. **Add a comment** explaining the closure using the `add_comment` safe output:
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``````json
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{"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%)"}
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``````
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### Step 5: Report Summary
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At the end of processing, provide a summary of:
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- Total parent issues analyzed
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- Issues closed in this run
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- Issues that remain open (with reason: incomplete sub-issues)
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- Any errors or issues that couldn't be processed
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## Constraints
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- Maximum 20 issues closed per run (configured in safe-outputs)
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- Maximum 20 comments added per run
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- Only close issues when you are ABSOLUTELY certain all sub-issues are closed
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- Skip issues that don't have sub-issues
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- Only process open parent issues
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- Be conservative: when in doubt, don't close
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## Example Output Format
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During processing, maintain clear logging:
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``````
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🔍 Analyzing parent issues...
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📋 Issue #42: "Feature: Add dark mode"
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State: OPEN
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Sub-issues: 5 total
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- #43: "Design dark mode colors" [CLOSED]
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- #44: "Implement dark mode toggle" [CLOSED]
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- #45: "Add dark mode to settings" [CLOSED]
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- #46: "Test dark mode" [CLOSED]
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- #47: "Document dark mode" [CLOSED]
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Status: 5/5 closed (100%)
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✅ All sub-issues complete - CLOSING
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📋 Issue #50: "Feature: User authentication"
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State: OPEN
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Sub-issues: 3 total
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- #51: "Add login page" [CLOSED]
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- #52: "Add logout functionality" [OPEN]
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- #53: "Add password reset" [CLOSED]
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Status: 2/3 closed (67%)
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⏸️ Incomplete - keeping open
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✅ Summary:
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- Parent issues analyzed: 2
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- Issues closed: 1
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- Issues remaining open: 1
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``````
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## Important Notes
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- This is a scheduled workflow that runs daily
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- It catches any parent issues that should be closed but were missed by event-triggered workflows
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- Use the GitHub MCP server tools to query issues and their relationships
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- Be careful with recursive processing to avoid infinite loops
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- Always verify the completion status before closing an issue
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- Add clear, informative comments when closing issues for transparency
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## Guidelines
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- **Be Conservative**: Only close when absolutely certain all sub-issues are closed
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- **Be Transparent**: Always add a comment explaining why the issue was closed
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- **Be Efficient**: Process issues in batches to respect API rate limits
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- **Be Recursive**: Check parent issues up the tree after closing
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- **Be Informative**: Provide clear summaries of actions taken

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