gh-bulk

Run a controlled bulk operation across a query'd set of issues. The skill never applies anything until the user confirms the target list.

When to use

• Backlog hygiene: "close all type:request issues from before Q1"
• Re-tagging after a service rename: "everything currently svc:bridge becomes svc:api"
• Reassigning after a team change: "all issues assigned to @alice → @bob"
• Severity recalibration: "all open type:bug without a severity → severity:medium"

Inputs

gh-bulk --query "<github-search-query>" --action <action> [--value <value>] [--reason <text>] [--yes]

Flag	Required	Effect
--query	yes	A GitHub search query (gh issue list --search). Examples: is:open type:request created:<2026-01-01, is:open svc:bridge no:assignee.
--action	yes	One of: label, unlabel, close, reassign, set-severity, set-effort, comment.
--value	depends	The argument for the action: label name (label/unlabel), assignee handle (reassign), severity name (set-severity), effort tier (set-effort), comment body (comment). Not used for close.
--reason	for close	Free-text close reason; appended to a ## Bulk close reason section in the issue body and posted as a one-line comment for audit.
--yes	no	Skip the confirmation prompt. Use only when scripting; default flow always confirms.

What it does

Step 1 — Resolve the target list

If empty, report No issues match the query. ✓ and exit.

Step 2 — Confirm with the user

Always — unless --yes. Show the matches via AskUserQuestion:

Options: Apply, Show all, Refine query, Cancel.

• Apply → Step 3
• Show all → list every match, then re-prompt
• Refine query → exit; user runs again with a tighter query
• Cancel → exit silently

Step 3 — Apply

Iterate the matches. Per-action:

Action	Operation
label	gh issue edit {N} --add-label "{value}"
unlabel	gh issue edit {N} --remove-label "{value}"
close	gh issue close {N} --reason "completed" (or not planned if --reason starts with "rejected:" or "wontfix:"). Append ## Bulk close reason to the body via update_issue; post a one-line comment with --reason.
reassign	gh issue edit {N} --add-assignee "{value}". If --value starts with -, that user is REMOVED instead.
set-severity	Remove any existing severity:* label, add severity:{value}. Update Project v2 Severity field if a board is attached.
set-effort	Same pattern with effort:* and the Project v2 Effort field.
comment	gh issue comment {N} --body "{value}".

Stop on first failure with the issue number that broke. Print remaining count so the user can re-run from there.

Step 4 — Report

Programmatic guardrails

• Cap at 200 matches unless --limit <n> is passed (max 1000). Enforces a "look before you leap" mindset for accidental wide queries.
• Never matches --query 'is:open' alone — refuses with "query too broad; add at least one label or kind filter".
• Refuses to act on closed issues unless the action is comment (some teams comment on closed issues to surface stale follow-ups).
• Never bulk-merges PRs — bulk operations are for issues only. PR merges go through gh-review/gh-push per-issue with the human in the loop.

Cross-skill contract

• Pairs with gh-search (which finds the query) and gh-triage (which is the per-item version of bulk-close on type:request)
• A bulk close should not move an issue to status:done — done is reserved for completed-via-PR work. Bulk close uses GitHub's native close-with-reason semantics; the status:* label is removed and closed_at set.

Notes

• Out of scope: scheduled bulk operations (run via the /schedule skill instead — e.g. weekly stale-request-defer cron)
• Out of scope: cross-repo bulk (run per-repo; cross-repo plans are tracked separately by #14)