Merge Ready

Take an open PR from wherever it is to “ready to merge”, and report exactly what still needs a human when automation can’t finish the job.

Steps

Detect the forge and pick the CLI: Read the remote (git remote get-url origin) and choose the matching CLI, verifying it is installed and authenticated before proceeding:

Host in remote URL	CLI	PR concept	Auth check
github.com / GHE	`gh`	pull request	`gh auth status`
gitlab.com / self-hosted GitLab	`glab`	merge request (MR)	`glab auth status`
Gitea / Forgejo / Codeberg	`tea`	pull request	`tea login list`

The steps below are written with gh; on another forge, translate each operation to the equivalent verb (gh pr view -> glab mr view --output json / tea pr <n>, gh pr comment -> glab mr note, gh run view -> glab ci view, gh pr update-branch -> glab mr rebase, review threads -> glab api projects/:id/merge_requests/:iid/discussions). Confirm exact flags with --help rather than guessing. If the forge has no CLI (e.g. Bitbucket), fall back to git plus the forge’s REST API via curl, and list anything you cannot automate as a blocker in the report.

Identify the PR: Resolve the argument (number or URL) or the current branch’s PR via gh pr view. If no PR exists, stop and suggest the pr skill. If it is a draft, continue fixing but only mark it ready (gh pr ready) at the end, once everything else passes.
Assess: Take one snapshot of the PR state:
```
gh pr view <n> --json number,title,body,url,state,isDraft,mergeable,mergeStateStatus,reviewDecision,reviewRequests,latestReviews,statusCheckRollup,baseRefName,headRefName,maintainerCanModify,closingIssuesReferences
```
Then fetch unresolved review threads (only GraphQL exposes resolution):
```
gh api graphql -f owner=<owner> -f repo=<repo> -F pr=<n> -f query='
  query($owner:String!,$repo:String!,$pr:Int!){
    repository(owner:$owner,name:$repo){ pullRequest(number:$pr){
      reviewThreads(first:100){ nodes{
        id isResolved isOutdated path line
        comments(first:20){ nodes{ author{login} body } }
      }}
    }}
  }'
```
Then discover the merge gates: gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/rules/branches/<base> lists required status checks, required approving review count, and whether code-owner review is required (readable without admin). If that returns nothing, infer gates from mergeStateStatus and reviewDecision.

Build a blocker list and split it in two: fixable by automation (conflicts, failing checks, unaddressed comments, stale description, missing bot trigger, draft state) vs human-only (required approving reviews from people or CODEOWNERS, org settings, missing secrets).
Sync with base: If mergeStateStatus is BEHIND, run gh pr update-branch <n>; if that fails, merge the base locally and push. If DIRTY (conflicts), check out the branch, git fetch origin and git merge origin/<base>, resolve each conflict by reading the surrounding code and preserving the intent of both sides (never resolve by blindly taking one side), then commit the merge and push. Never force-push.
Get CI green: For each failing entry in statusCheckRollup, pull the logs (gh run view <id> --log-failed), diagnose the root cause, fix it, commit conventionally, and push (the fix-and-retry workflow). If a failure is flaky or external (network, rate limit), re-run it instead: gh run rerun <id> --failed. For third-party bot checks that re-trigger via a comment command, find the documented phrase (step 7) rather than pushing an empty commit.
Address review comments: For each unresolved, non-outdated thread:
- Actionable code feedback: apply the fix, commit, push, reply briefly to the thread stating what changed, then resolve it via GraphQL:
```
gh api graphql -f id=<threadId> -f query='
  mutation($id:ID!){ resolveReviewThread(input:{threadId:$id}){ thread{ isResolved } } }'
```
- Question: answer it in a reply; resolve only if fully answered.
- Disagreement or judgment call: reply with your reasoning and leave the thread unresolved for the human to close.
Bot approvals and re-reviews: If a required check or review comes from a bot that is triggered by a comment (Claude, CodeRabbit, Copilot, CLA bots, /retest-style CI bots), find its exact trigger phrase from prior comments on this PR, recent merged PRs in the repo, or CONTRIBUTING/README, then post it: gh pr comment <n> --body '@claude review'. Never invent a trigger phrase; if none is discoverable, list the bot as a blocker in the report. If a bot approved before you pushed new commits, its approval may be stale; re-trigger it after your last push.
Issues and description hygiene:
- Linked issues: check closingIssuesReferences; if empty, look for an issue number in the branch name, commit messages, or by searching open issues for the feature/bug. If the PR clearly fixes one, add Closes #<n> to the body.
- Title: conventional-commit style, under 70 chars, describing the current diff (it may have drifted as commits were added).
- Body: ensure a ## Summary reflecting the full current diff and a ## Test plan. Augment what a human wrote rather than rewriting it. Apply with gh pr edit <n> --title ... --body ... (HEREDOC for body).
Re-assess and loop: After pushes, repeat step 3. Wait for new CI runs by matching headSha to the new HEAD (see gotchas), not by watching the latest run. Loop until every fixable blocker is cleared or only human-only blockers remain. Then, if the PR is a draft and everything else is green, gh pr ready <n>.
Report using this template:

## PR readiness: <url>

**Ready to merge: YES | NO**

Fixed this run:
- <conflict resolved / check fixed / N threads addressed / description updated>

Remaining blockers (need a human):
- <e.g. 1 approving review required from CODEOWNERS: @alice or @bob>
- <e.g. stale approval dismissed by my push; re-request from @carol>
- <e.g. required check "license/cla" needs the author to sign the CLA>

Rules

Never merge the PR, enable auto-merge, force-push, amend, or rebase published commits.
Never resolve a review thread you did not actually address, and never dismiss someone’s review.
Only fix what you can confidently diagnose from logs, diffs, or comments; otherwise report the diagnosis as a blocker instead of guessing.
Do not ping or re-request human reviewers unless the user asked; list them in the report instead.
If the fix needs secrets, repo settings, or permissions you lack, say exactly what is needed rather than attempting workarounds.

Gotchas

mergeable: UNKNOWN means GitHub is still computing it asynchronously; re-query after ~5 seconds, up to a few tries, before acting on it.
mergeStateStatus decoder: BEHIND = needs base update, DIRTY = conflicts, UNSTABLE = a non-required check is failing (technically mergeable, still fix it), BLOCKED = required approvals or checks missing. Draft PRs show BLOCKED no matter what, so check isDraft first.
REST comment endpoints do not expose thread resolution; only the GraphQL reviewThreads query has isResolved/isOutdated, and the resolveReviewThread mutation needs the thread node id from that query, not a comment id.
Pushing new commits can auto-dismiss stale approvals (a branch-protection setting). Re-check reviewDecision after every push and surface any re-approvals needed in the final report.
A new CI run is not registered the instant you push. Capture git rev-parse HEAD, then poll gh run list --branch <head> --json databaseId,headSha,status,conclusion and watch the run whose headSha matches; watching --limit 1 blindly can latch onto the previous run.
Fork PRs: if maintainerCanModify is false and you lack push access to the head branch, you cannot push fixes; describe the needed changes in a PR comment and list them as blockers instead.
gh pr update-branch fails when the repo disallows the update-branch button or on some fork setups; fall back to the local git merge origin/<base> + push path.

merge-ready

Merge Ready

Steps

Rules

Gotchas