# pr-creation

> Creates high-quality pull requests with mandatory self-critique before submission. Activate this skill whenever you are asked to create, open, submit, or push a pull request. Also activate when the user says "make a PR", "open a PR", "submit this for review", "push and create a PR", "I'm done, create the PR", or any variation of requesting a pull request. Always activate before running `gh pr create`.

- Author: Alex Turner
- Repository: alexander-turner/claude-automation-template
- Version: 20260207211445
- Stars: 2
- Forks: 0
- Last Updated: 2026-02-08
- Source: https://github.com/alexander-turner/claude-automation-template
- Web: https://mule.run/skillshub/@@alexander-turner/claude-automation-template~pr-creation:20260207211445

---

---
# prettier-ignore
name: pr-creation
description: >
  Creates high-quality pull requests with mandatory self-critique before submission.
  Activate this skill whenever you are asked to create, open, submit, or push a pull request.
  Also activate when the user says "make a PR", "open a PR", "submit this for review",
  "push and create a PR", "I'm done, create the PR", or any variation of requesting a pull request.
  Always activate before running `gh pr create`.
---

# Pull Request Creation Skill

**IMPORTANT: Always follow this skill before creating any PR.** Do not skip steps, especially the self-critique.

## When to Use

Activate this skill when the user says any of the following (or similar):

- "Create a PR" / "Create a pull request"
- "Open a PR" / "Open a pull request"
- "Make a PR for this"
- "Submit this for review"
- "Push and create a PR"
- "I'm done, create the PR"
- "Can you PR this?"
- "Send this up for review"

Also activate when:

- You have completed a task and the user asks you to submit it
- CLAUDE.md or task instructions say to create a PR when done

Do **NOT** use this skill for:

- Reviewing an existing PR (use `gh pr view` or `gh pr diff` instead)
- Merging a PR (`gh pr merge`)
- Updating a PR description only (just run `gh pr edit`)

## Prerequisites

- GitHub CLI (`gh`) must be authenticated
- All changes must be committed to a feature branch (not `main`/`master`)

## Updating an Existing PR

Before updating an existing PR (pushing new commits, editing the description, etc.), you MUST check its current status:

1. Run `gh pr view <pr-number> --json state` to check the PR state
2. Based on the result:
   - **Open**: Proceed with the update normally
   - **Merged**: Do NOT update it. Create a new PR instead with the additional changes
   - **Closed** (not merged): Ask the user what they'd like to do, if not already clarified

## Workflow

### Step 1: Gather Context

1. Identify the base branch (typically `main` or `master`)
2. Run `git diff <base-branch>...HEAD` to see all changes
3. Run `git log <base-branch>..HEAD --oneline` to see all commits
4. Review the changed files to understand the scope

### Step 2: Self-Critique (Required)

**Before creating the PR**, you MUST read [critique-prompt.md](critique-prompt.md) and launch a critique sub-agent using the Task tool:

- `subagent_type`: "general-purpose"
- `description`: "Critique code changes"
- `prompt`: Include the full diff output and the critique prompt from that file

Do NOT skip reading the resource file — it contains the detailed checklist the sub-agent needs.

### Step 3: Address Critique

1. For each issue raised, determine if it's valid
2. Make necessary fixes and commit them
3. If you fixed more than 3 issues or made structural changes, re-run the critique

### Step 4: Run Validation

Run the project's test/lint/typecheck commands (see [pr-templates.md](pr-templates.md) for common commands per language). Fix any failures before proceeding.

### Step 5: Push and Create the Pull Request

You MUST read [pr-templates.md](pr-templates.md) for the PR template and formatting guidelines before this step.

1. Push the branch: `git push -u origin HEAD`
2. Create the PR using `gh pr create` with the template from the resource file

After creating the PR, and after any subsequent fix commits, update the PR description with `gh pr edit --body "..."` to reflect the current state of all changes.

### Step 6: Wait for CI Checks

1. Run `gh pr checks <pr-number> --watch` to monitor
2. If any checks fail, investigate and fix the issues
3. Push fixes and wait again
4. Only proceed once all checks are green

### Step 7: Report Result

Provide the PR URL and confirm all CI checks have passed.

## Examples

### Example 1: Simple Bug Fix

**User says:** "I'm done fixing the login bug, create a PR"

**Claude's actions:**

1. Runs `git diff main...HEAD` — sees changes in `src/auth/login.ts` and `tests/auth/login.test.ts`
2. Runs `git log main..HEAD --oneline` — sees 2 commits
3. Launches critique sub-agent with the diff
4. Critique returns: "Looks good, minor suggestion to add null check on line 42"
5. Fixes the null check, commits: `fix: add null check for empty session token`
6. Runs `pnpm check && pnpm test && pnpm lint` — all pass
7. Pushes and creates PR:
   ```
   gh pr create --title "fix: handle null session token in login flow" --body "..."
   ```
8. Watches CI with `gh pr checks 47 --watch` — all green
9. Reports: "PR #47 created and all CI checks pass: https://github.com/org/repo/pull/47"

### Example 2: Multi-Commit Feature

**User says:** "Submit this for review"

**Claude's actions:**

1. Runs `git diff main...HEAD` — sees changes across 8 files including new components, tests, and API routes
2. Runs `git log main..HEAD --oneline` — sees 5 commits
3. Launches critique sub-agent with the full diff
4. Critique returns 4 issues: unused import, missing error boundary, test not covering edge case, over-engineered helper
5. Fixes all 4 issues across 2 additional commits
6. Re-runs critique (>3 fixes) — clean this time
7. Runs validation — all pass
8. Pushes and creates PR with detailed body summarizing the feature
9. Watches CI — one check fails (lint warning on new file)
10. Fixes lint issue, pushes, watches again — all green
11. Reports success with PR URL

### Example 3: When Input Is Unclear

**User says:** "Push this up"

**Claude asks:** "I see you have changes on branch `feat/user-dashboard`. Would you like me to create a pull request against `main`, or just push the branch without creating a PR?"

## Error Handling

- **Critique finds issues**: Fix them before proceeding — do not skip
- **Tests fail**: Fix the tests, don't skip them
- **`gh` not authenticated**: Tell user to run `gh auth login` or set `GH_TOKEN`
- **Push fails**: Check branch permissions and remote configuration
- **No changes to PR**: Confirm with the user that work is committed