skills.rest
praveenvijayan
praveenvijayanCOMMUNITY
Explore all skills by this author →
GitHub

ratchet-status

Diagnoses GitHub issue queues and explains why no work is ready to pick.

2|Updated Jun 13, 2026
Search Tags:#github#issue tracking#gh cli#dependency graph#read-only#delivery workflow#queue diagnosis
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/praveenvijayan/Ratchet --skill ratchet-status-praveenvijayan
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: ratchet-status
Source: https://github.com/praveenvijayan/Ratchet/tree/main/plugin/skills/ratchet-status
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/praveenvijayan/Ratchet --skill ratchet-status-praveenvijayan

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? When a GitHub-native delivery queue shows nothing in state:ready, it is unclear whether the backlog is drained, blocked, or misconfigured. This Skill performs a read-only diagnosis of the queue and pinpoints the exact cause, then recommends the single next action to unblock work. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Queue State Tally: Counts open issues by state label (ready, in-progress, in-review, changes-requested, blocked, draft) using the GitHub CLI. - Root-Cause Tracing: Identifies drafts missing acceptance criteria, traces blocked chains to their root issue, and detects deadlock cycles in 'Blocked by' dependency graphs. - PR and Plan Inspection: Flags unmerged planning PRs, uncommitted plan files, and distinguishes PRs awaiting auto-merge from those waiting on human review or agent rework. - Use Case: An agent reports 'backlog drained'. Run this Skill to learn that issues #18–#22 are drafts lacking acceptance criteria, and get the recommendation to add - [ ] criteria to their plan files and re-plan. ## Quick Start Ask the agent to run the ratchet-status skill to diagnose why no issues are currently ready to pick.

Frequently Asked Questions about ratchet-status

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I find out why no GitHub issues are ready to work on?▼

Run a queue diagnosis that tallies open issues by state label using gh issue list, then checks drafts, blocked chains, in-flight PRs, and unmerged planning PRs. The result names the root cause and the single best next action.

How to detect deadlock cycles in GitHub issue dependencies?▼

Build a graph from 'Blocked by #N' links on open blocked issues and follow the links from each one. If traversal returns to an issue already on the path, that set is a deadlock cycle that must be broken by editing a plan file and re-syncing.

Does this diagnosis modify issues, labels, or branches?▼

No. The diagnosis is strictly read-only: it only runs gh issue list, gh pr list, and git status commands. It never creates, edits, labels, branches, or commits anything, and ends with a recommended action for the user to take.

Why are draft issues never picked up by the queue?▼

Draft issues lack testable acceptance criteria in the form of '- [ ]' checkboxes, so they are unpickable by design. The fix is to add criteria to the corresponding plan files and re-run planning so the issues become ready.

When is an in-review PR actually blocking the queue?▼

A PR without a risk:high label and without a CHANGES_REQUESTED verdict is flowing, not blocked, since auto-merge handles it. Only risk:high PRs awaiting human approval or PRs with requested changes represent genuine waits.

Related Skills

Explore More Software Engineering Skills→
smallorbitsmallorbit

issue-rank

Rank GitHub issues by priority labels, specificity, architectural impact, and testability.

Community
Intermediate
dotCMSdotCMS
950

dot-release-backport-lts

Backports closed GitHub issues labeled LTS Next Patch to dotCMS LTS release branches.

Official
Advanced
VilnaCRM-OrgVilnaCRM-Org
1

github-pr-merge-readiness-audit

Audits GitHub pull requests for merge readiness across approvals, conflicts, checks, threads, and protection rules.

Official
Intermediate
benzwickbenzwick

download-ci-artifacts

Download GitHub Actions CI artifacts using gh CLI commands.

Community
Intermediate