Investigate a failing GitHub Actions run or job and create a GitHub issue for the failure.
Scanned 5/27/2026
Install via CLI
openskills install NVIDIA/Megatron-LM---
name: create-issue
description: Investigate a failing GitHub Actions run or job and create a GitHub issue for the failure.
when_to_use: User shares a GitHub Actions URL and wants to file a bug report; 'create an issue for this failure', 'file a bug for this CI run', 'triage this GitHub Actions failure'.
user_invocable: true
argument: "<github-actions-run-or-job-url>"
---
# Triage CI Failure into a GitHub Issue
Investigate a failing GitHub Actions job, extract the root cause, and file a
well-structured bug issue against `NVIDIA/Megatron-LM`.
## Workflow
### 1. Parse the URL
The argument is a GitHub Actions URL. It will be one of:
- **Job URL**: `https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/actions/runs/<run_id>/job/<job_id>`
- **Run URL**: `https://github.com/<owner>/<repo>/actions/runs/<run_id>`
Extract `run_id` and, if present, `job_id`.
### 2. Identify failed jobs
- If a `job_id` was provided, use that job directly.
- If only a `run_id` was provided, list all failed jobs in the run:
```bash
gh run view <run_id> --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM --json jobs \
--jq '[.jobs[] | select(.conclusion == "failure") | {id: .databaseId, name: .name, url: .url}]'
```
If multiple jobs failed, ask the user which one to triage, or triage all of them if they say so.
### 3. Fetch the failure logs
For each failed job, retrieve the logs and narrow them down to the failure:
```bash
# Pull the raw log and keep only error-bearing lines
gh api repos/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/actions/jobs/<job_id>/logs 2>&1 \
| grep -E "(FAILED|ERROR|\bError\b|assert|Traceback|Exception|##\[error\])" \
| head -200
```
Also capture the full job name:
```bash
gh run view --job <job_id> --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM --json name --jq .name
```
If the grep output is sparse, download the full logs and look for the pytest
`FAILURES` section or the last non-zero exit signal.
### 4. Resolve the triggering PR and test author
**Triggering PR**: the run's head branch follows the pattern `pull-request/<number>`.
Extract it and resolve the PR:
```bash
gh run view <run_id> --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM --json headBranch --jq .headBranch
# → e.g. "pull-request/4332"
# Extract PR number and fetch metadata:
gh pr view <pr_number> --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM --json number,title,url \
--jq '{number: .number, title: .title, url: .url}'
```
**Test file author**: find the GitHub login of whoever last touched the failing
test file. The file may not exist on `main` — first determine the PR's base
branch, then search from there:
```bash
# 1. Get the PR's base branch (e.g. "main", "dev", "release/X.Y")
gh pr view <pr_number> --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM --json baseRefName --jq .baseRefName
# 2. Search commits on that base branch
gh api "repos/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/commits?path=<test-file-path>&sha=<base-branch>&per_page=1" \
--jq '.[0] | {login: .author.login, name: .commit.author.name, sha: .sha}'
```
If the result is empty (file was introduced by the PR itself), query the PR's
commits instead:
```bash
gh api "repos/NVIDIA/Megatron-LM/pulls/<pr_number>/commits" \
--jq '[.[] | select(.files? // [] | any(.filename == "<test-file-path>"))] | .[0].author.login'
```
As a last resort, list the PR commits and pick the author of the commit whose
message most closely relates to the failing test file.
### 5. Extract the root cause
From the logs, identify:
- **Failed test(s)**: lines matching `FAILED tests/...::...` give the exact pytest node IDs.
- **Error message**: the assertion failure, exception type, or first meaningful
traceback frame — keep it under ~30 lines.
- **Job name**: the GitHub Actions job name (e.g. `tests/unit_tests/transformer/moe/**/*.py - latest`).
- **Run / job URLs** and **PR URL**: for linking in the issue.
### 6. Check for duplicate issues
Search for open issues that already cover the same test:
```bash
gh issue list --repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM \
--state open \
--search "<failed-test-filename>" \
--json number,title,url \
--limit 10
```
- If a matching open issue exists, **do not create a new one**. Report the
existing issue to the user and stop.
- If no match is found, proceed to file a new issue.
### 7. Create the issue
Pass `--assignee <test-author-login>` to assign the issue to the test file's
author. Include the triggering PR URL in the issue body.
```bash
gh issue create \
--repo NVIDIA/Megatron-LM \
--title "🐛 CI failure: <failed-test-node-id>" \
--label "bug" \
--assignee "<test-author-login>" \
--body "..."
```
Use the bug-report template body structure:
```markdown
**Describe the bug**
CI test `<failed-test-node-id>` failed in job [`<job-name>`](<job-url>).
Tag @NVIDIA/mcore-oncall to get oncall's attention to this issue.
**Failing run**
| Field | Value |
|-------|-------|
| PR | [#<pr_number>: <pr_title>](<pr_url>) |
| Run | [<run_id>](<run_url>) |
| Job | [<job_name>](<job_url>) |
**Error**
```
<core error message / traceback — 30 lines max>
```
**Steps/Code to reproduce bug**
Re-run the failing CI job linked above, or locally inside the dev container:
```bash
pytest <failed-test-node-id>
```
**Additional context**
Triaged automatically via `/triage-issue`.
```
If multiple tests failed in the same job, list each one as a separate bullet
under "Describe the bug" and include the combined error snippets. Assign the
issue to the author of whichever test file appears first in the failure list.
### 8. Report back to the user
Print the URL of the newly created issue (or the duplicate, if found) so the
user can review or share it.
## Important guidelines
- Never create an issue if a duplicate already exists — link the existing one instead.
- Always include the triggering PR link in the issue body.
- Always assign the issue to the test file's most recent author. If the author
lookup fails (e.g. the commit was made by a bot or the login is unavailable),
skip `--assignee` and note it in the "Additional context" section.
- Keep the error snippet concise (≤30 lines). Truncate long tracebacks and note that the full log is available via the job URL.
- Do not guess the root cause — quote the actual log output verbatim.
- If the job is still in progress or the logs are unavailable, say so and ask the user to retry once the run completes.
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