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Add workflow to comment on PRs when released (PRs only, not issues) #1759

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#1772
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Add workflow to comment on PRs when released (PRs only, not issues)#1759
#1772
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P3Nice to haves, rare edge casesenhancementRequest for a new feature that's not currently supported

Description

@maxisbey
maxisbey
opened on Dec 9, 2025

Summary

Create a workflow that comments on PRs when they are included in a release, notifying contributors that their changes are now available.

Context

We previously added apexskier/github-release-commenter in #1750, but removed it in #1758 because:

  • It comments on both PRs and linked issues (via "Fixes #XXX")
  • This required issues: write permission
  • Commenting on issues felt unnecessary - the PR author is the one who wants notification

Requirements

  • Comment on PRs included in a release with the release tag/link
  • Do not comment on linked issues
  • Should handle the comparison between current and previous release tags

Options

  1. Roll our own workflow using GitHub's GraphQL API to find PRs between releases
  2. Fork apexskier/github-release-commenter and add a skip-issues option
  3. Find an alternative action that only comments on PRs

AI Disclaimer

Activity

  1. maxisbey
    added
    enhancementRequest for a new feature that's not currently supported
    P3Nice to haves, rare edge cases
    on Dec 9, 2025

  2. jlowin commented on Dec 10, 2025

    @jlowin
    jlowin
    on Dec 10, 2025
    Contributor

    This is an amazing idea

  3. yugannkt commented on Dec 10, 2025

    @yugannkt
    yugannkt
    on Dec 10, 2025
    Contributor

    Hy @maxisbey,

    I like to work on this!!

  4. maxisbey commented on Dec 10, 2025

    @maxisbey
    maxisbey
    on Dec 10, 2025
    ContributorAuthor

    Hy @maxisbey,

    I like to work on this!!

    @yugannkt Oh great! Would be keen to hear how you're thinking of solving this?

  5. yugannkt commented on Dec 11, 2025

    @yugannkt
    yugannkt
    on Dec 11, 2025
    Contributor

    Hy @maxisbey,
    I like to work on this!!

    @yugannkt Oh great! Would be keen to hear how you're thinking of solving this?
    Hi @maxisbey!

    I'm going with workflow using GitHub's REST API.

    Approach

    1. Trigger on release.published event
    2. Find the previous release tag using git tag --sort=-version:refname
    3. Use GitHub's compareCommits API to get all commits between releases
    4. Extract PR numbers from commit messages using regex
    5. Validate each number is actually a merged PR (not an issue) by calling github.rest.pulls.get()
    6. Comment only on confirmed PRs

    Why This Works Best

    Issues will fail the pulls.get() API call and be automatically skipped
    needs pull-requests: write, not issues: write

    Implementation

    The workflow explicitly:

    • Checks pr.merged_at exists before adding to the list
    • Catches errors when a number isn't a valid PR
    • Only comments on items that pass both validations
  6. yugannkt
    added 2 commits that reference this issue on Dec 11, 2025

    Add workflow to comment on PRs when released

    c6d848d

    Add workflow to comment on PRs when released

    2a021eb
  7. maxisbey
    closed this as completedin #1772on Dec 19, 2025
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