gh-issue-sync

mitsuhiko's avatarfrom mitsuhiko

Manage GitHub issues locally as Markdown files. Use for triaging, searching, editing, and creating issues without leaving your editor or terminal.

⭐68stars🔀3forks📁View on GitHub🕐Updated Jan 1, 2026
[Developer Tools]

When & Why to Use This Skill

gh-issue-sync is a high-performance Claude skill designed to bridge the gap between GitHub's issue tracking system and a developer's local environment. By synchronizing GitHub issues into local Markdown files, it enables users to triage, search, edit, and create issues directly within their preferred IDE or terminal. This tool optimizes developer productivity by reducing context switching, providing offline access to project tasks, and leveraging the power of local text-editing tools for issue management.

Use Cases

  • Offline Issue Management: Draft, organize, and refine project issues without an active internet connection, then sync changes to GitHub once back online.
  • Streamlined Developer Workflow: Manage bug reports and feature requests directly from your code editor, maintaining focus on the codebase without switching to a web browser.
  • Batch Processing and Advanced Searching: Utilize local CLI tools (like grep) or IDE search-and-replace features to find and update information across multiple issues simultaneously.
  • Markdown-Based Collaboration: Compose detailed issue descriptions and comments using full Markdown support in a familiar local environment before pushing them to the repository.
namegh-issue-sync
description"Manage GitHub issues locally as Markdown files. Use for triaging, searching, editing, and creating issues without leaving your editor or terminal."

gh-issue-sync

Syncs GitHub issues to local Markdown files in .issues/open/ and .issues/closed/.

Commands

gh-issue-sync init              # Initialize in git repo
gh-issue-sync pull              # Fetch open issues (--all for closed too)
gh-issue-sync push              # Push local changes (--dry-run to preview)
gh-issue-sync list              # List issues (supports gh issue list flags + --search)
gh-issue-sync new "Title"       # Create issue (--label, --edit)
gh-issue-sync close 42          # Close (--reason completed|not_planned)
gh-issue-sync reopen 42
gh-issue-sync status            # Show local changes
gh-issue-sync diff 42           # Show diff (--remote to re-fetch)

File Format

.issues/open/42-fix-login-bug.md:

---
title: Fix login bug
labels: [bug, priority:high]
assignees: [alice]
milestone: v1.0
state: open
# For closed: state_reason: completed|not_planned
# Optional: parent: 10, blocked_by: [11, 12], blocks: [15]
---

Issue body in Markdown.

Issue number is derived from the filename, not stored in frontmatter.

Temporary Issues

New issues get a T-prefixed ID (e.g., T1a2b3c). The filename must start with T:

.issues/open/T1a2b3c-my-new-issue.md

On push, the file is renamed to the real issue number (e.g., 42-my-new-issue.md) and number: in frontmatter is updated. Any #T1a2b3c references in other issues are also updated to #42.

Comments

To post a comment when pushing, create a .comment.md file next to the issue:

.issues/open/42.comment.md
.issues/open/42-fix-login-bug.comment.md

Content is plain Markdown. The file is deleted after the comment is posted.

Notes

  • Pull skips conflicts; use --force to overwrite local