tommy-ca/pstack/babysit

Babysit a PR

On Codex, Grok, Antigravity, OMP, or OpenCode, consult the respective host mapping under skills/poteto-mode/references/ before following this skill.

Portable agent workflow for shepherd-to-green pull requests across agent harnesses. The implementation is a loop over gh CLI plus host-native pacing.

Inside poteto-mode, the Babysit playbook (`../poteto-mode/playbooks/babysit.md`) supersedes this skill: it owns mode declaration, the merge frontier, stack safety, and the watch-pr watcher. This skill stays the standalone /babysit entry point for a single PR outside a poteto-mode run.

When to use

• There's an open PR and the user explicitly wants it kept green, and you are not already inside a poteto-mode run (the playbook owns that case).
• The user invokes /babysit directly.
• A subagent that opens a PR does NOT babysit — return to the parent and let the parent decide.

Steps

1. Fetch PR state.

``bash gh pr view <number> --json number,title,state,mergeable,reviewDecision,statusCheckRollup,mergeStateStatus,comments,reviews ``

1. Triage in priority order.

• Merge conflicts (mergeStateStatus == DIRTY): run the fix-merge-conflicts skill. Force-push only if the branch is yours and not shared.
• Failing checks (statusCheckRollup entries with conclusion: FAILURE): run the fix-ci skill. Root-cause the failure; fix the underlying code or test; commit; push.
• Before you trust any failing or passing check, scope the gate to the patch instead of the whole matrix: python scripts/verify_portable.py select-checks --base <base-ref> [--head <sha>] names the minimal checks that can fail for the changed paths (docs-only changes do not select the runtime matrix). The PR's forge commands still own the overall check state; gh is the default and origin the fallback when command -v origin resolves. Do not assume a universal forge CLI or package manager.
• Review comments: run the get-pr-comments skill for the summary, then act only on feedback you actually agree with. When a comment has a single mechanical answer — a rename, a guard clause, a formatting nit — make the edit and quote the comment in the commit message. When it hinges on a judgement call, or you can't tell what's being asked, don't guess: leave it and reply with what you would have done.
• Review-bot comments (Bugbot and similar automation): classify fix/dismiss/ask before acting, per `bugbot-triage.md`. Ask by default on security, data, and high-severity findings.

1. Loop. Use the host's native pacing capability (schedule, monitor, or background loop) to pace re-checks. Pick the interval from what you're watching:

• Active CI run: poll gh pr checks --watch (it blocks until checks finish, so no separate loop interval needed).
• Awaiting reviewer: 20–30 min heartbeat.
• Idle but want to catch new comments: hourly.

1. When to stop.

• Build is green, every comment resolved, branch merges cleanly → call it ready.
• You've run three rounds of fix → push → recheck and it still isn't fully green → stop, summarise what's still broken, and hand control back.
• The next fix would force a design choice → pause and put it to the user with the host's question or confirmation capability (human.ask).

1. Report. Summarize fixes applied, comments addressed, comments deferred (with reason), current PR status. Cite each commit by SHA.

Hard rules

• Don't rewrite history on a branch others may have pulled. If a rebase or force-push looks necessary, clear it with the user first.
• Don't tweak a test's expected values just to get a pass. Only change an assertion when the behaviour genuinely changed and the assertion was pinned to the old behaviour.
• Never quote an old result as current CI. A verdict is bound to the head SHA and the git patch-id of the base..head diff; re-check freshness with select-checks --base <base-ref> --receipt <path> after any rebase, retarget, or new commit. A changed patch-id invalidates it; a pure rebase with an identical patch-id keeps it.
• Report FAIL and BLOCKED as they are. A skip is not a pass.
• Never skip hooks (--no-verify).
• Never bypass a failing check by marking it as not required.
• gh pr ready only when all checks are green and no unresolved review comments remain.

Cross-refs

• Opening a PR does not start a babysit; inside poteto-mode the Babysit playbook owns the request and starts only when asked.
• Use interrogate before opening if the diff is contested; once open, babysit takes over.
• Use unslop on any prose you write here (PR comments, commit messages, status reports).

Provenance

Standalone host-portable entry point for shepherd-to-green pull requests across all 5 harnesses. The workflow is driven via standard gh CLI commands and host-native scheduler integrations.