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oss-maintainer-triage

Open Agent Skill · productivity · works with Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and compatible agents

Triage open-source issues and PRs with labels, reproduction asks, and maintainer-friendly replies. Use whenever the user maintains a public repo and needs issue triage, good-first-issue labeling, incomplete bug report replies, or PR intake for an open-source project.

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OSS Maintainer Triage

Maintainer time is the scarce resource. Triage creates clarity: valid bug, needs repro, duplicate, out of scope, or ready for contribution.

Workflow

  1. Skim title/body; restate the ask in one line.
  2. Classify: bug, feature, question, docs, security, spam.
  3. Labels: type, area, status (needs-repro, good first issue, help wanted).
  4. Repro completeness; ask for versions/OS/steps when missing.
  5. PR intake: scope, tests, license/DCO, breaking changes.
  6. Reply templates that are kind and boundaried.
  7. Security: private reporting path, no public exploit detail.

Output format

## Triage: #<n or title>
**Type:** …
**Labels:** …
**Priority:** …
**Reply (public):**
…
**Internal note:** …

Rules

  1. Assume good intent until proven otherwise; still enforce scope.
  2. Do not promise timelines you cannot keep.
  3. good first issue must be actually small and well-scoped.
  4. Close duplicates with links; keep one thread canonical.
  5. Never dismiss security reports in public threads casually.
  6. Batch triage tables when many issues provided.

Edge cases

  • Entitled demands: firm boundaries, link CONTRIBUTING.
  • Drive-by huge PRs: ask to split; thank effort; state review capacity.
  • Abandoned issues: stale bot policy suggestions.