GitHub Project Automation

Reusable GitHub Action to automate cross-repo PR + Issue + Projects V2 workflows. This repo is set up for Sneha first, but the action is configurable for other repo pairs through .github/automation.yml.

Features (Phase 1)

• On PR review_requested or ready_for_review
  • Add label Ready For Review to the PR (if missing)
  • Parse Targets: coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms#<issue_id> from PR body
  • Move Issue to In review in Project V2 SNEHA LMS
  • Audit comments on the Issue for changes that occurred
• On PR review submitted with state approved or changes_requested
  • Remove any configured ready-for-review label from the PR
  • Add reviewed label status : reviewed (if missing)
• On PR opened or synchronize
  • Optionally self-assign the targeted issue to the PR author (without removing existing assignees)
  • Move Issue to In Progress if not already at/after In review
  • Audit comments only if status changed
• If Issue is not in the Project, add it first
• No spam: comments are only posted when an actual change occurred
• If a matched rule needs issue/project actions and Targets is missing/invalid, comment on the PR and exit

Usage

Prerequisites

• A pull request template that includes a Targets line:
  • Targets: owner/repo#<issue_id> (cross-repo)
  • Targets: #<issue_id> (same-repo)
• A GitHub Project V2 with a single-select Status field and options matching your config.
• Repository files:
  • .github/automation.yml
  • .github/workflows/pr_automation.yml

Setup (Consuming Repo)

1. Create a classic PAT (recommended, works reliably with Projects V2):
   • Settings -> Developer settings -> Personal access tokens -> Tokens (classic)
   • Scopes:
     • repo
     • read:project
     • write:project Note: We tried fine-grained PATs, but Projects permissions are not always available there. Classic PATs work consistently for Projects V2.
2. Add the token as a secret in the PR repo:
   • Secret name: GH_AUTOMATION_TOKEN
3. Add .github/automation.yml and .github/workflows/pr_automation.yml (examples below).

Workflow example (coloredcow-admin/sneha)

name: PR Automation

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, ready_for_review, review_requested]
  pull_request_review:
    types: [submitted]

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write
  issues: write

jobs:
  pr-automation:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run automation
        uses: ColoredCow/github-project-automation@v1
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GH_AUTOMATION_TOKEN }}
          config-path: .github/automation.yml

Config schema

Create .github/automation.yml in the consuming repo:

issue_repo:
  owner: coloredcow-admin
  name: sneha-lms
project:
  owner: coloredcow-admin
  name: SNEHA LMS
  status_field: Status
  status_order:
    - Backlog
    - Ready
    - On Hold
    - In Progress
    - In review
    - QA
    - Completed
labels:
  ready_for_review: Ready For Review
  ready_for_review_any:
    - Ready For Review
    - "status: ready for review"
  reviewed: "status : reviewed"
  reviewed_any:
    - "status : reviewed"
    - Reviewed
rules:
  - on:
      event: pull_request
      actions: [opened]
    do:
      - assign_issue_to_pr_author: true
  - on:
      event: pull_request
      actions: [opened, synchronize]
    do:
      - ensure_issue_in_project: true
      - ensure_status_at_least: In Progress
      - audit_on_change: true
  - on:
      event: pull_request
      actions: [review_requested, ready_for_review]
    do:
      - add_pr_label_if_missing: Ready For Review
      - ensure_issue_in_project: true
      - ensure_status_at_least: In review
      - audit_on_change: true
  - on:
      event: pull_request_review
      actions: [submitted]
    do:
      - remove_pr_labels_if_present:
          - Ready For Review
          - "status: ready for review"
      - add_pr_label_if_missing: "status : reviewed"

assign_issue_to_pr_author adds the PR author to the issue assignees list only if not already assigned. Existing assignees are preserved.

Inputs

• token (required): Token with cross-repo + Projects V2 permissions
• config-path (optional): Defaults to .github/automation.yml
• dry-run (optional): Defaults to false and skips writes when true

Outputs

• did_label_change
• did_status_change
• issue_number (set only when issue/project/audit behavior is executed)
• target_status

Targets line format

Required when matched rules include issue/project/audit behavior:

Targets: coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms#123

This format is intentionally strict. The action will only accept a Targets line that matches the repo configured under issue_repo in .github/automation.yml. This keeps cross-repo automation explicit and safe. Supported whitespace variants:

• Targets:coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms#123
• Targets: coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms #123 For same-repo cases, a short format is also accepted:
• Targets: #123

If missing or invalid for those rules, the action comments on the PR and exits.

Permissions / Token scopes

GITHUB_TOKEN often lacks cross-repo + Projects V2 permissions. Use a secret token input named GH_AUTOMATION_TOKEN.

PAT classic

Required scopes:

• repo (read/write issues + PRs)
• read:project and write:project (Projects V2)

Fine-grained PAT

Grant access to both repos and:

• Issues: Read & write on coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms
• Pull requests: Read & write on coloredcow-admin/sneha
• Projects: Read & write (organization-level Projects V2)

GitHub App

Grant installation to both repos and add:

• Issues: write
• Pull requests: write
• Projects: read/write

Build and bundle

This action is bundled via esbuild (CJS output) and committed to dist/index.js. Runtime: Node.js 24 (set in action.yml).

npm run build
npm run bundle

Troubleshooting

• Project not found: Ensure project.owner and project.name match exactly, or set project.number.
• Status option mismatch: Ensure status_order entries exactly match the Project Status options.
• Missing Targets: Add Targets: coloredcow-admin/sneha-lms#<issue_id> to the PR body.
• Permissions errors: Use a token with cross-repo issue/PR write and Projects V2 read/write scopes.

Example consuming repo files

See examples/coloredcow-admin-sneha/.github/workflows/pr_automation.yml and examples/coloredcow-admin-sneha/.github/automation.yml.