Bug Triage

Triage open bug issues on apify/apify-mcp-server. Analyze, draft responses, get approval, post.

Permissions

• Read-only by default: listing issues (gh issue list), viewing details and comments (gh issue view) — do these automatically, no need to ask.
• Write requires approval: commenting (gh issue comment), closing (gh issue close), editing (gh issue edit) — always present the draft and wait for explicit user approval before executing.

Step 0: Parse arguments

$ARGUMENTS controls scope:

Input	Behavior
623 641 639	Triage specific issue numbers
--label bug	Triage all open issues with label (default: bug)
--all	Triage all open bug-labeled issues
(empty)	Same as --all

Step 1: Fetch issues

Use the arguments parsed in Step 0 to determine what to fetch.

If specific issue numbers were provided, skip the list queries and fetch each issue directly:

gh issue view <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --comments

Otherwise (label mode, --all, or empty), fetch open bug reports. Use the label from Step 0 (default: bug). Bug reports come in two forms — find both:

1. By label: issues with the parsed label
2. By title prefix: issues with [Bug] in the title (the bug report template adds this, but the label isn't always applied)

# By label (use the label from Step 0, default: bug)
gh issue list --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --label <label> --state open --json number,title,labels,createdAt,body --limit 30

# By title prefix (catches unlabeled bug reports)
gh issue list --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --state open --search "[Bug] in:title" --json number,title,labels,createdAt,body --limit 30

Merge both lists and deduplicate by issue number.

For each issue, fetch full details including all comments (comments often contain the real context):

gh issue view <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --comments

Always read comments before drafting a response. Previous team members may have already replied, asked for details, or provided workarounds. Don't duplicate existing responses.

Step 2: Categorize each issue

Assign one of these categories:

Category	Criteria	Typical action
Known fix	Root cause is clear, documented fix exists	Draft response with fix, optionally close
Not our bug	Server logs show it works; issue is in the MCP client (Claude Desktop, Cowork, etc.)	Explain findings, suggest workaround
Duplicate	Same root cause as another open issue	Comment with link, close as duplicate
Needs info	No logs, no config, vague description	Ask for specifics
Stale	We asked for info, no reply for 2+ weeks	Close with helpful pointer
Actionable bug	Real server-side bug we need to fix	Acknowledge, investigate further

Common root causes (from past triage)

These patterns recur. Check for them first:

1. SSE endpoint removed (April 1, 2026): Users on /sse URLs get connection failures. Fix: switch to https://mcp.apify.com (streamable HTTP).

2. "Tools connected but Claude ignores them": MCP server logs show successful handshake and tools/list, but Claude doesn't use the tools in conversation. This is a Claude Desktop/Cowork behavior, not an Apify server bug. Users need to explicitly ask Claude to use Apify tools.

3. "Unable to connect to extension server": Claude Desktop extension install issues. Usually caused by corrupted npx cache, Claude silently downgrading the extension, or Node.js not on the GUI app's PATH. Fix: use the remote server https://mcp.apify.com as a custom connector.

4. npx cache corruption: Stale cache prevents stdio server from starting. Fix: rm -rf ~/.npm/_npx (macOS/Linux) or rmdir /s /q %LOCALAPPDATA%\npm-cache\_npx (Windows).

5. Claude Desktop connector downgrade: Claude Desktop silently downgrades connectors to older versions. Fix: remove and re-add the connector.

Step 3: Draft response

Style rules:

• Developer-to-developer, plain language
• Concise — 3-8 lines typical, no fluff
• Acknowledge the issue and apologize briefly if the user is stuck
• Reference documentation when a fix or troubleshooting guide exists
• If the server works correctly (logs prove it), say so clearly
• If closing, explain why and point to where to go next

Key documentation links:

• Setup guide: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp
• Claude Desktop troubleshooting: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/claude-desktop#troubleshooting
• Configurator: https://mcp.apify.com

Use Apify MCP tools (search-apify-docs, fetch-apify-docs) to find the right doc link if the issue touches a topic not covered above.

The default recommendation for connection issues is the remote server:

Add a custom connector in Claude Desktop with URL https://mcp.apify.com and follow the OAuth flow.

Step 4: Present and get approval

Present each issue to the user with:

1. Issue number + title + link (https://github.com/apify/apify-mcp-server/issues/<number>)
2. Category (from Step 2)
3. Summary — one line on what's going on
4. Proposed response — the draft comment in a blockquote
5. Proposed action — comment only / comment + close / close as duplicate of #X / skip

MANDATORY: Wait for explicit user approval before posting anything. Never post, close, or modify an issue without the user saying yes.

Step 5: Post

After approval:

# Comment only
gh issue comment <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --body "<response>"

# Comment + close
gh issue comment <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --body "<response>" && \
gh issue close <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server

# Close as duplicate
gh issue comment <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server --body "Closing as a duplicate of #<other> — same root cause. We'll track and update there." && \
gh issue close <number> --repo apify/apify-mcp-server

Then move to the next issue. After the last one, print a summary table:

Issue	Category	Action taken
#623	Known fix	Commented, SSE migration
#639	Duplicate	Closed as dup of #641
...	...	...