pr-writer

pr-writer

Popular

Create or refresh reviewer-facing PR titles and descriptions. Use when opening a PR, updating its title or body, or preparing branch changes for review.

883stars
45forks
Updated 7/23/2026
SKILL.md
readonlyread-only
name
pr-writer
description

Create or refresh reviewer-facing PR titles and descriptions. Use when opening a PR, updating its title or body, or preparing branch changes for review.

PR Writer

Write the PR body as a cover note for reviewers, not a changelog, template,
validation log, or file-by-file summary.

Inspect the Change

Requires authenticated gh. Inspect the current branch, working tree, PR,
base branch, commits, and full diff:

git branch --show-current
git status --porcelain
gh pr view --json number,title,body,url,baseRefName,headRefName
gh repo view --json defaultBranchRef

If gh pr view reports that no PR exists, continue with first-time PR
creation. For an existing PR, use its baseRefName; otherwise use the
repository default branch. Set BASE, then inspect:

git log "$BASE"..HEAD --oneline
git diff "$BASE"...HEAD

If on main or master, create a feature branch first. Ensure intended
changes are committed and review the whole branch diff, not only the latest
commit or existing PR text.

Core Rules

  • Describe concrete changed behavior, affected surfaces, and reviewer impact
    before implementation detail.
  • Explain motivation, risk, tradeoffs, migration, or review focus only when
    useful.
  • Use the smallest structure that makes the change easier to review.
  • Replace internal prompt or process terminology with specific behavior.
  • When refreshing a PR, rewrite around the current full diff without narrating
    review history.

Titles

Use <type>(<scope>): <subject> or <type>: <subject>.

Allowed types: feat, fix, ref, perf, docs, test, build,
ci, chore, style, meta, license, and revert.

  • Describe the dominant full-branch change with the narrowest accurate type
    and scope.
  • Use ! only when the change breaks an external contract, and explain the
    affected surface in the body.
  • Avoid vague subjects such as update, cleanup, misc, fix stuff,
    or address feedback. Do not add a trailing period.
  • Keep an existing title only when it still describes the whole diff.

Body Shape

Choose the minimum useful shape:

Change Include
Small or obvious One concise paragraph without headings.
Feature, bug fix, or refactor Changed behavior and effect; add root cause, unchanged behavior, or non-obvious approach when relevant.
Contract or breaking change Affected API, schema, payload, config, permission, storage, or CLI surface; include compatibility and migration guidance.
Operational, visual, or workflow change User/operator effect, measured impact, failure modes, or flow when useful.
Broad, generated, or cross-cutting change Organizing principle, why the breadth is necessary, and where review should start.

Default:

<What changed and what effect it has.>

<Why the approach, risk, migration, or review focus matters, if not obvious.>

For review-feedback updates, describe the resulting PR as a whole rather than
the sequence of revisions.

Reviewer Aids

Use an aid only when it reduces reviewer reconstruction work:

  • A compact before/after or interface example for changed contracts.
  • A small Mermaid diagram for async flows or state transitions.
  • A screenshot or recording note when visual evidence exists.
  • A rollout, compatibility, risk, or review-order note when reviewers or
    adopters need it.

Introduce an artifact with one sentence explaining what reviewers should
notice. Omit it when prose is clearer.

Boundaries

  • Do not add default Summary, Changes, or Test Plan sections.
  • Omit routine validation unless it changes risk assessment or explains
    meaningful regression coverage. For docs, skills, copy, or config changes,
    omit it by default.
  • Do not paste commands, CI logs, validation dumps, commit logs, placeholders,
    or exhaustive file lists.
  • Never include customer or organization names, user emails, support ticket
    contents, secrets, or PII.
  • Use issue references only when verified from user input, branch names,
    commits, PR discussion, or tracker output. Fixes <issue> closes;
    Refs <issue> only links.

Create or Update

Create new PRs as drafts. Write the body to a temporary Markdown file, then run:

gh pr create --draft --title '<title>' --body-file /tmp/pr-body.md

Update existing PRs with gh api:

gh api -X PATCH repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/PR_NUMBER \
  -f title='<title>' \
  -F body=@/tmp/pr-body.md

Refresh the title and body when follow-up commits materially change scope,
approach, breaking behavior, risk, migration, or review expectations. Skip
typo-only, formatting-only, and rename-only follow-ups.

Examples

Small change:

The AI Customizations section now starts collapsed so it does not consume
sidebar space before users need it. Expanding it preserves the existing saved
preference behavior.

Breaking contract:

Run logs now emit chunk-level records instead of one skill-level record.
Consumers that read top-level `findings` must iterate over
`chunk.findings` for each record.

Before:

```json
{"skill": "security-review", "findings": [...]}
```

After:

```json
{"schemaVersion": 1, "chunk": {"index": 1, "findings": [...]}}
```