GitHub Repository Monitor

Create a cron automation that polls a single GitHub repository on a configurable schedule (default: every minute). Windows PowerShell equivalents for the setup, packaging, upload, and API-check shell snippets are in references/windows.md.

When a comment on an issue or PR contains the trigger phrase (default: @OpenHands) it:

1. Posts a GitHub comment acknowledging the request with a conversation link.
2. Creates an OpenHands conversation pre-loaded with the issue/PR title, body, labels, and recent comment history for full context.
3. Posts a summary GitHub comment when the conversation finishes.

On every subsequent run:

• New trigger comments on an already-tracked issue/PR are forwarded to the running conversation (or re-open a previously closed one).
• When a conversation goes idle/finished/error the agent's final response is posted back as a GitHub comment.

Local mode only. This automation targets the local OpenHands setup (dev:automation stack). A cloud/webhook variant is out of scope here.

---

Prerequisites

Required secret

Verify that the following secret is set in OpenHands Settings → Secrets before proceeding:

Secret name	Token type	Minimum permissions
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN	Classic PAT	repo (private repos) or public_repo (public repos)
GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN	Fine-grained PAT	Issues: Read and Write

Check with:

curl -s https://api.github.com/user \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  | python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d.get('login') or d.get('message'))"

If the token is missing, inform the user and stop — the automation cannot function without GitHub credentials.

Optional secret

Secret name	Default	Purpose
OPENHANDS_URL	http://localhost:8000	Base URL used to build conversation links in GitHub comments

---

Setup Workflow

Follow these steps in order.

Step 1 - Verify GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN

Fetch the secret and run the curl check above.

• If the secret is absent: tell the user "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN is not set. Please add it in OpenHands Settings → Secrets (classic PAT with repo or public_repo scope, or a fine-grained PAT with Issues: Read and Write)." Then stop.

• If the API returns a non-200 or {"message": "Bad credentials"}: tell the user the token is invalid and ask them to update it.

Step 2 - Collect repository

Ask the user: "Which GitHub repository should be monitored? (Format: owner/repo, e.g. microsoft/vscode)"

Validate access and write permissions:

curl -s "https://api.github.com/repos/{owner}/{repo}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  | python3 -c "
import json, sys
d = json.load(sys.stdin)
if 'message' in d:
    print('ERROR:', d['message'])
else:
    perms = d.get('permissions', {})
    print(f\"Accessible. Private: {d.get('private')}. Permissions: {perms}\")
"

• If message: Not Found or message: Bad credentials → inform the user and ask them to check the repo name and token.
• If the repo is private and permissions.push is false → inform the user the token does not have write access and comments will fail.
• If the check passes, record REPO = "{owner}/{repo}".

Step 3 - Collect trigger phrase

Ask the user: "What trigger phrase should OpenHands respond to? (Press Enter to use the default: @OpenHands)"

Accepted values: any non-empty string unlikely to appear by accident.

Record as TRIGGER_PHRASE. Default: "@openhands".

Step 4 - Collect allowed GitHub logins

Ask the user: "Which GitHub users may trigger this automation? Press Enter to allow only the authenticated GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN owner. You may also provide comma-separated GitHub logins, or * to allow any non-bot commenter on the monitored repository."

Map the answer to ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS:

User answer	ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS value
Empty/default	["<TOKEN_OWNER>"]
enyst,tofarr	["enyst", "tofarr"]
*	["*"]

Default to token-owner-only unless the user explicitly chooses a broader allowlist. Record as ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS.

Step 5 - Collect event types

Ask the user: "Which event types should be monitored? Choose one or more: 1. Issue and PR comments (default) 2. PR inline review comments 3. Both (Press Enter to accept the default: issue and PR comments.)"

Map the choice to the EVENT_TYPES list:

Choice	EVENT_TYPES value
1 (default)	["issue_comment"]
2	["pr_review_comment"]
3	["issue_comment", "pr_review_comment"]

Step 6 - Collect cron schedule

Ask the user: "How often should the automation poll GitHub? (Press Enter for the default: every minute. Use a cron expression for a different interval, e.g.: */5 * * * * = every 5 minutes, 0 * * * * = every hour)"

Default: * * * * * (every minute).

Record as CRON_SCHEDULE.

Step 7 - Generate the automation script

Read scripts/main.py from this skill's directory. Apply exactly five constant substitutions near the top of the file:

Placeholder	Replace with
REPO = "owner/repo"	REPO = "{owner_repo}"
TRIGGER_PHRASE = "@openhands"	TRIGGER_PHRASE = "{trigger_phrase_lower}"
EVENT_TYPES = ["issue_comment"]	EVENT_TYPES = {event_types_list}
ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS = ["<TOKEN_OWNER>"]	ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS = {allowed_logins_list}
DEFAULT_OPENHANDS_URL = "http://localhost:8000"	DEFAULT_OPENHANDS_URL = "{url}" (keep default if the user has no preference)

Write the customised script to a temporary build directory:

mkdir -p /tmp/github-monitor-build
# (write the customised main.py to /tmp/github-monitor-build/main.py)

Validate syntax before packaging:

python3 -m py_compile /tmp/github-monitor-build/main.py && echo "Syntax OK"

Fix any syntax errors before proceeding.

Step 8 - Package and upload

Determine the Automation backend URL and auth from the <RUNTIME_SERVICES> block in your system context:

• Use the Automation backend url_from_agent as OPENHANDS_HOST
• Auth: X-Session-API-Key: $OPENHANDS_AUTOMATION_API_KEY

If no Automation backend is listed in <RUNTIME_SERVICES>, stop and tell the user to start the full automation stack.

tar -czf /tmp/github-monitor.tar.gz -C /tmp/github-monitor-build .

# OPENHANDS_HOST: read from <RUNTIME_SERVICES> Automation backend url_from_agent
OPENHANDS_HOST="<automation-url-from-runtime-services>"

TARBALL_PATH=$(curl -s -X POST \
  "${OPENHANDS_HOST}/api/automation/v1/uploads?name=github-repo-monitor" \
  -H "X-Session-API-Key: $OPENHANDS_AUTOMATION_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/gzip" \
  --data-binary @/tmp/github-monitor.tar.gz \
  | python3 -c "import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['tarball_path'])")

echo "Uploaded: $TARBALL_PATH"

Step 9 - Create the automation

curl -s -X POST "${OPENHANDS_HOST}/api/automation/v1" \
  -H "X-Session-API-Key: $OPENHANDS_AUTOMATION_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{
    \"name\": \"GitHub Monitor: {owner}/{repo}\",
    \"trigger\": {\"type\": \"cron\", \"schedule\": \"{cron_schedule}\"},
    \"tarball_path\": \"$TARBALL_PATH\",
    \"entrypoint\": \"python3 main.py\",
    \"timeout\": 55
  }" | python3 -m json.tool

Record the returned id.

Step 10 - Confirm

Tell the user:

✅ GitHub Repository Monitor is running!

• Automation ID: {id}
• Repository: {owner}/{repo}
• Trigger phrase: {phrase}
• Event types: {event_types}
• Allowed GitHub logins: {allowed_logins}
• Polling schedule: {cron_schedule}
• State file: ~/.openhands/workspaces/automation-state/github_poller_{id}.json

From an allowed GitHub login, post a comment containing {phrase} on any issue or PR in {owner}/{repo} to test it. OpenHands will acknowledge with a comment and a link to the new conversation.

---

Runtime Behaviour (per poll)

Each cron run executes main.py, which:

1. Loads state from the JSON file (see references/state-schema.md).
2. Resolves and validates GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN — aborts immediately if absent or invalid.
3. Polls for new events since the previous last_poll timestamp:
   • GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/comments?since=… for issue_comment
   • GET /repos/{owner}/{repo}/pulls/comments?since=… for pr_review_comment
4. Processes matching comments in chronological order:
   • Skips bot accounts (login ending in [bot]) to avoid feedback loops.
   • Skips already-processed comment IDs.
   • Skips comments from logins outside ALLOWED_GITHUB_LOGINS.
   • Checks body for the trigger phrase (case-insensitive).
   • Extracts the issue/PR number from the comment URL.
5. For each trigger comment, per issue/PR:
   • Active conversation → forwards the new comment directly.
   • Closed conversation → tries to re-open it; falls back to creating a new conversation if the old one is unreachable.
   • No conversation → fetches full context (title, body, labels, last 10 comments) and creates a new conversation with a detailed prompt.
   • Posts a GitHub comment: "🤖 OpenHands is on it! View progress: {url}"
6. Checks active conversations for completion:
   • If status ∈ {idle, finished, error, stuck} and enough time has passed since creation (debounce), fetches the agent's final response and posts it as a GitHub comment. Marks the conversation closed.
7. Saves state and fires the completion callback.

---

Additional Resources

Reference Files

• references/state-schema.md - State JSON schema, field definitions, and conversation lifecycle diagram.
• references/github-api.md - GitHub API endpoint reference, token scopes, rate limits, and common error codes.

Script Template

• scripts/main.py - The complete automation script. Customise the four constants at the top (REPO, TRIGGER_PHRASE, EVENT_TYPES, DEFAULT_OPENHANDS_URL) before packaging.

---

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Bot doesn't respond to comments	GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN missing or wrong scopes	Verify token with curl /user; check scopes in Step 1
"Bad credentials" in run logs	Token expired	Rotate token and update the secret in Settings
404 on repo access	Repo name wrong or token has no access	Re-check owner/repo spelling; add token as collaborator
Comments posted but no conversation created	Agent server URL wrong	Check OPENHANDS_URL secret and AGENT_SERVER_URL env var
Same comment processed twice	processed_comment_ids cleared	State file was deleted; harmless but duplicate comment may appear
Summary never posted	Conversation stuck in running	Open the conversation in the OpenHands UI; agent may need input
No events detected after first run	last_poll in the future	Delete the state file to reset; it will be recreated on next run