Problem
The maintainer has to repeat the same end-to-end workflow instructions every session:
- "Start the next issue"
- "Link the issue with the PR when you create a PR"
- "Make sure to close the issue when PR resolved and successfully merge"
This is fragile: every new session re-discovers the convention.
Solution
Persist the workflow as project memory + tooling so it survives across sessions and is enforceable for both AI assistants and human contributors:
- CLAUDE.md — add an AI workflow — standing orders section that lays out the exact sequence (start → commit → push → verify Closes linkage → squash-merge → verify auto-close → recurse). Auto-loaded by Claude Code on every session.
- CONTRIBUTING.md — add rule 7: every PR body must reference its source issue (
Closes #N or Refs #N).
- Makefile — add
make next-issue ISSUE=N and make finish-pr ISSUE=N [PR=M] targets that wrap scripts/issue-workflow.sh and add the missing pieces the script does not do (verify the linkage, use --admin, verify the issue auto-closed).
Out-of-scope
- Changing
scripts/issue-workflow.sh itself — the existing 10-min gh pr checks --watch race is a separate bug.
- Auto-merging without
--admin — branch protection requires a review and enforce_admins: false is intentional (allows solo-author merges), so the admin override stays.
Linked PRs
- (this PR; the three-file edit in CLAUDE.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, Makefile)
Problem
The maintainer has to repeat the same end-to-end workflow instructions every session:
This is fragile: every new session re-discovers the convention.
Solution
Persist the workflow as project memory + tooling so it survives across sessions and is enforceable for both AI assistants and human contributors:
Closes #NorRefs #N).make next-issue ISSUE=Nandmake finish-pr ISSUE=N [PR=M]targets that wrapscripts/issue-workflow.shand add the missing pieces the script does not do (verify the linkage, use--admin, verify the issue auto-closed).Out-of-scope
scripts/issue-workflow.shitself — the existing 10-mingh pr checks --watchrace is a separate bug.--admin— branch protection requires a review andenforce_admins: falseis intentional (allows solo-author merges), so the admin override stays.Linked PRs