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Users can interact with pull requests through comment commands on GitHub. These commands provide manual control over automated workflows and testing.

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Overview

Commands are triggered by posting comments on pull requests containing specific command strings starting with /. Example: 
/verified
/retest all
/cherry-pick develop

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PR Status Management

Control the workflow status of pull requests.

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Verified

Mark a PR as verified (code review passed). 
/verified
Behavior:
  • Adds verified label to PR
  • Required for merge unless user is in auto-verified-and-merged-users
  • Can be canceled with /verified cancel
Cancel Verification: 
/verified cancel
Permissions: Any authenticated user can verify

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Hold

Block a PR from being merged. 
/hold
Behavior:
  • Adds hold label to PR
  • Prevents merge even if all other requirements are met
  • Useful for PRs that need discussion or coordination
Remove Hold: 
/hold cancel
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Work in Progress (WIP)

Mark a PR as work in progress. 
/wip
Behavior:
  • Adds wip label to PR
  • Prevents merge
  • Automatically detected from PR title (“WIP”, “[WIP]”, “Draft:”)
Remove WIP: 
/wip cancel
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Review and Approval Commands

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LGTM (Looks Good To Me)

Approve changes as a reviewer. 
/lgtm
Behavior:
  • Adds lgtm-<username> label
  • Counts toward minimum required approvals
  • Does not grant final approval for merge (use /approve for that)
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Approve

Grant final approval for a PR. 
/approve
Behavior:
  • Adds approved-<username> label
  • Grants merge approval
  • Triggers test-oracle analysis (if configured with approved trigger)
  • Required for merge unless auto-verified user
Permissions: Repository OWNERS (approvers)

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Assign Reviewers

Assign reviewers based on OWNERS files. 
/assign-reviewers
Behavior:
  • Analyzes changed files
  • Finds relevant OWNERS files
  • Assigns appropriate reviewers and approvers
  • Respects component-specific ownership rules
Assign Specific Reviewer: 
/assign-reviewer @username
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Auto-merge

Enable automatic merging when all requirements are met. 
/automerge
Behavior:
  • Adds automerge label
  • PR automatically merges when “can-be-merged” check passes
  • Uses squash merge method
  • Only works for branches configured in set-auto-merge-prs
Permissions: Repository maintainers and approvers

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Check Merge Readiness

Manually check if PR meets all merge requirements. 
/check-can-merge
Behavior:
  • Validates all merge requirements
  • Reports detailed status of each requirement
  • Updates can-be-merged check run
  • Applies or removes can-be-merged label
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Testing Commands

Trigger various tests and validation checks.

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Retest

Run specific tests or all configured tests. Run All Tests: 
/retest all
Run Tox Tests: 
/retest tox
Run Pre-commit Checks: 
/retest pre-commit
Rebuild Container: 
/retest build-container
Test Python Package Installation: 
/retest python-module-install
Permissions: Repository OWNERS

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Build and Push Container

Manually trigger container build and push to registry. Basic Build: 
/build-and-push-container
Build with Custom Arguments: 
/build-and-push-container --build-arg VERSION=2.0
/build-and-push-container --build-arg ENV=production --build-arg DEBUG=false
Permissions: Repository OWNERS

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Workflow Management

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Reprocess PR

Trigger complete PR workflow reprocessing from scratch. 
/reprocess
Behavior:
  • Re-runs entire PR workflow
  • Reassigns reviewers based on current OWNERS file
  • Updates all labels based on current state
  • Re-queues all CI/CD checks
  • Respects current repository configuration
  • Won’t create duplicate welcome messages or tracking issues
Use Cases:
  • Webhook delivery failed or was missed
  • Processing interrupted mid-workflow
  • OWNERS file changed and reviewers need reassignment
  • Configuration changed and checks need re-evaluation
  • PR in inconsistent state and needs full reset
Permissions: Repository OWNERS (same as /retest)

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Regenerate Welcome Message

Regenerate the welcome comment on a PR. 
/regenerate-welcome
Behavior:
  • Deletes old welcome message (if found)
  • Creates new welcome message with current information
  • Updates command list and status checks
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Cherry-pick Commands

Create cherry-pick PRs to backport changes to other branches.

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Single Branch

/cherry-pick develop

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Multiple Branches

/cherry-pick v1.0 v2.0 v3.0
Behavior:
  • Creates new PR for each target branch
  • New PRs labeled with cherry-pick/<target-branch>
  • Original PR receives cherry-picked label
  • Cherry-pick PRs auto-verified by default (configurable)
  • Assigned to original PR author (configurable)
Configuration: 
# Auto-verify cherry-picked PRs (default: true)
auto-verify-cherry-picked-prs: true

# Assign to original author (default: true)
cherry-pick-assign-to-pr-author: true
Requirements:
  • Original PR must be merged
  • User must have write access to repository
  • Target branches must exist
Permissions: Any authenticated user with write access

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AI-Powered Commands

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Test Oracle

Request AI-powered test recommendations based on PR changes. 
/test-oracle
Behavior:
  • Analyzes PR diff using AI (Claude, Gemini, or Cursor)
  • Identifies affected code areas
  • Recommends specific tests to run
  • Posts review comment with recommendations
  • Links to relevant test files
Configuration: 
test-oracle:
  server-url: "http://localhost:8000"
  ai-provider: "claude"  # claude | gemini | cursor
  ai-model: "claude-opus-4-6[1m]"
  test-patterns:
    - "tests/**/*.py"
  triggers:
    - approved  # Also auto-trigger on /approve command
Requirements:
  • PR Test Oracle server running and accessible
  • AI provider API key configured (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, or CURSOR_API_KEY)
  • Valid test-oracle configuration
Permissions: Any authenticated user See: PR Test Oracle

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Label Commands

Add or remove custom labels.

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Add Label

/<label-name>
Examples: 
/bug
/documentation
/enhancement
/good-first-issue

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Remove Label

/<label-name> cancel
Examples: 
/bug cancel
/documentation cancel
Permissions: Any authenticated user

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Draft PR Restrictions

By default, most commands are blocked on draft PRs to prevent accidental operations.

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Allow Commands on Draft PRs

# Allow all commands on draft PRs
allow-commands-on-draft-prs: []

# Allow specific commands on draft PRs
allow-commands-on-draft-prs:
  - build-and-push-container
  - retest
Default Behavior:
  • Commands blocked on draft PRs unless explicitly allowed
  • User receives notification that command is blocked
  • Convert PR to ready for review to enable commands

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Command Reactions

The webhook server reacts to comment commands to provide immediate feedback:
  • 👀 - Command recognized and processing
  • ✅ - Command completed successfully
  • ❌ - Command failed or not permitted
  • 🚫 - Command blocked (e.g., draft PR restriction)

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Permission Model

Commands have different permission requirements:

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Any Authenticated User

  • /verified, /hold, /wip, /lgtm
  • /assign-reviewers, /check-can-merge
  • /<label-name> (custom labels)
  • /regenerate-welcome
  • /test-oracle

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Repository OWNERS

  • /approve
  • /retest (all variants)
  • /build-and-push-container
  • /reprocess

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Maintainers/Approvers

  • /automerge
  • /add-allowed-user (special admin command)

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Write Access Required

  • /cherry-pick

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Command Processing

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Parallel Execution

Multiple commands in a single comment are processed in parallel: 
/verified
/assign-reviewers
/retest all
All three commands execute concurrently for faster processing.

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Error Handling

  • Invalid commands are logged but don’t fail other commands
  • Permission errors are reported to user
  • GitHub API errors are retried automatically
  • Command failures are logged for debugging

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Common Use Cases

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Quick PR Approval Flow

# Review code, then approve
/lgtm
/approve

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Backport Fix to Multiple Releases

# After PR is merged
/cherry-pick release-1.0 release-2.0 release-3.0

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Debug Failed Tests

# Rerun specific test
/retest pre-commit

# Or rerun everything
/retest all

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Block PR Temporarily

# Block merge while investigating
/hold

# Later, unblock
/hold cancel

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Emergency Container Rebuild

# Rebuild with updated base image
/build-and-push-container --build-arg BASE_IMAGE=alpine:3.19

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