auto-claim-issues

Auto Claim Issues

Automatically claim a backlog issue / slice for this repository.

When to use

Use when the user requests the following:

• Automatically claim an issue
• Pick a slice from the backlog that can be done now
• Assign a non-conflicting task to a certain agent
• Determine which issues can currently be started in parallel

Rules

1. First use the script to scan docs/backlog/*.md, do not guess manually.
2. By default only claim issues with status: open .
3. By default only claim:
   • depends_on all completed
   • with the current in-progress issue's write_scope not conflicting
4. If the user specifies ISSUE-xxx, try to claim that issue first.
5. If the user specifies a certain swimlane or direction, pass it to the script's --group parameter, rather than filtering manually.
6. After claiming, you must read the claimed backlog file again and report to the user:
   • issue id / title
   • parallel_group
   • depends_on
   • write_scope
   • acceptance
7. Unless the user explicitly requests it, do not claim multiple issues at once.

Usage

By default, automatically claim the most suitable issue at present:

bun .agents/skills/auto-claim-issues/scripts/claim-issue.ts --assignee=agent

Preview only, do not write to disk:

bun .agents/skills/auto-claim-issues/scripts/claim-issue.ts --dry-run --assignee=agent

Specify an issue:

bun .agents/skills/auto-claim-issues/scripts/claim-issue.ts --issue=ISSUE-005 --assignee=agent

Specify a swimlane:

bun .agents/skills/auto-claim-issues/scripts/claim-issue.ts --group=cursor-help --assignee=agent

Output JSON for easy subsequent processing:

bun .agents/skills/auto-claim-issues/scripts/claim-issue.ts --json --assignee=agent

Reading order

1. docs/backlog/README.md
2. docs/next-development-slices-2026-03-14.md
3. The claimed docs/backlog/<issue>.md

Result interpretation

• claimed
  • Successfully claimed and frontmatter has been updated
• preview
  • Only preview candidates, do not write files
• blocked
  • No claimable issue; need to check blockedByDependencies or blockedByConflicts
• already_claimed
  • the specified issue is already in-progress

Things not to do

• Do not bypass docs/backlog/*.md and directly "claim" verbally
• Do not ignore write_scope conflicts
• Do not change the done issue back to in-progress
• Do not modify the issue body requirements while claiming