Clear Dependabot and bot noise from your GitHub notification inbox: mark settled merged and closed PRs done, merge green dependency PRs in repos you maintain, dismiss low-value ones, and leave only real human threads behind.
Scanned 9/2/2026
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---
name: github-triage
disable-model-invocation: true
description: >-
Clear Dependabot and bot noise from your GitHub notification inbox: mark settled merged and closed PRs done, merge green dependency PRs in repos you maintain, dismiss low-value ones, and leave only real human threads behind.
argument-hint: "[--dry-run]"
allowed-tools:
- AskUserQuestion
- Bash(gh api:*)
- Bash(gh pr view:*)
- Bash(gh pr merge:*)
- Bash(gh repo view:*)
---
# GitHub Triage
Clear bot and Dependabot noise from the notification inbox, leave threads from real humans. `--dry-run` classifies and prints the plan without acting.
## Inbox
!`gh api "notifications?all=true&per_page=100" --paginate | jq -r '.[] | [.id, .reason, .subject.type, .repository.full_name, (.subject.url | sub(".*/pulls/";"#") | sub(".*/issues/";"issue#")), .subject.title] | @tsv' | column -t -s $'\t'`
Triage against `all=true`. The default call returns only unread; the app Inbox also shows read-but-not-done threads, where most stale noise sits. First column is the thread id, which is also the mark-done key.
## Gather
Resolve your own login once: `gh api user --jq .login`. For each open `PullRequest` thread:
- `gh api repos/<r>/pulls/<n> --jq '{author:.user.login, state, merged:(.merged_at!=null)}'`. Any closed/merged PR is settled: mark done, skip the rest.
- `gh pr view <n> --repo <r> --json mergeStateStatus`. Merge gate, per the table below. It computes async, so re-fetch once on `UNKNOWN`.
- `gh api repos/<r> --jq .permissions.push`. `true` means you can merge.
- Latest actor, only for a your-own-PR-in-your-own-repo thread: `gh api <subject.latest_comment_url> --jq '{login:.user.login, type:.user.type}'`.
| `mergeStateStatus` | Meaning | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `CLEAN` | green, no conflict, current | mergeable |
| `BLOCKED` | needs review or a required check | leave, never force |
| `BEHIND` | base moved | leave, Dependabot rebases |
| `UNSTABLE` / `DIRTY` | check failed or conflict | classify by importance |
| `UNKNOWN` | not computed | re-fetch once |
## Classify
First match wins.
- **Closed or merged PR** → done, whatever the author or reason. Largest category: every merge and every landed bump leaves a read-but-not-done thread.
- **Bot or self activity on your own PR** → done. PR author is you, repo owner is you, and the latest actor is you or a bot (`type` `Bot`): your own automation (Worktrunk, Greptile, CI) and replies on your own work. Exception: a *different* human as latest actor is real feedback, leave it. Personal namespace only, not shared orgs.
- **Open human thread** (`reason` `mention`/`comment`, or a person authored) → leave.
- **Open non-Dependabot bot** (e.g. `github-actions[bot]` generated content) → leave; the diff is real.
- **Open Dependabot, `CLEAN`, you have push** → merge, then done.
- **Open Dependabot, not mergeable, low-importance** → done, leave PR open. Low-importance: `deps-dev` tooling (eslint, prettier, globals, ncc, `@types/*`) and routine CI-action bumps (`actions/checkout`, `actions/cache`, `goreleaser-action`).
- **Open Dependabot, not mergeable, runtime/prod dep** → leave. Shipped deps, Go modules, security bumps (`golang.org/x/*`, `through2`, `undici`) are a real call.
- **Non-PR**: `Release` → done; `RepositoryAdvisory` → leave (security).
Ambiguous importance (a `deps-dev` bump that ships, a flaky-looking prod failure) → `AskUserQuestion`. Merges and dismissals are the user's call.
## Act
Under `--dry-run`, print the plan and stop.
Merge with `gh pr merge <n> --repo <r> --squash`. Failure with `add the --admin flag` means branch protection is blocking it: do **not** pass `--admin`, leave and report as needs-review. Within one repo, same-file bumps go `BEHIND` after the first merge. Leave them for Dependabot to rebase.
Mark done with `gh api --method DELETE notifications/threads/<id>` (`204` = ok). `DELETE` marks done. `PATCH` only marks read. Mark done *after* a merge, not before: the merge event resurfaces the thread once, and a rerun catches it under the closed/merged rule.
## Verify
Done has no REST read-back: `all=true` still lists done threads and `GET .../threads/<id>` still returns `200`, so a clean Inbox can't be confirmed by re-listing. Trust the `204`s. Report what you merged, dismissed, and left (one line each), and tell the user to confirm in the app.
Is this your skill, or is something wrong with this listing? Request removal or report an issue. Author removals are honored within 72 hours.
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