Better archival, search and categorization for discussions on Github

[starktech23]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Product Feedback

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Code Search and Navigation

Body

I feel that there could be a better way to revisit and access conversations around Github. While we do have a "Star" feature for repositories which is slightly easier to search through, there is little support for discussions happening within repos such as in specific issues or PRs or Wiki comments, or even discussions like this. While there is a "Subscribe" button for them and a "Watch" option for repos, they are not the best for revisiting these conversations especially if there is little to no activity. There is no search option for them, no custom tags to assign and filter through. Sometimes one may notice a unique point on an issue raised or a discussion here or suddenly remember a PR from long ago, but there does not seem to be an easier way to find them again besides either manual search or saving the links elsewhere.

Perhaps something along the lines of "Lists" might be a future solution.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[Amorfati123]

I agree with this. Subscribing and watching are useful for staying updated, but they do not really solve the “I want to find this again later” problem.

A feature like saved discussion lists or personal collections would be very useful across Issues, PRs, Discussions, and maybe even comments. For example, I might want to save:

• useful debugging threads
• design decisions in old PRs
• feature requests I want to follow
• answers I may want to reference later
• discussions related to a specific project or topic

The important part, in my opinion, is that this should be separate from notifications. Sometimes I do not want to subscribe to every update, but I still want to bookmark the conversation for future reference.

A possible version of this could include:

• A Save to list button on issues, PRs, discussions, and comments.
• Private custom labels/tags, such as React, CI/CD, API design, security, or read later.
• A searchable page under the user profile, similar to stars, but for saved GitHub conversations.
• Filters by repository, organization, author, type, label, date, and status.
• Optional notes, so users can remember why they saved a thread.

This would also help developers who use GitHub as a knowledge base. A lot of valuable information is hidden inside old issues and PRs, but unless you remember the exact repo or keywords, it can be hard to find again.

A workaround today is to save links externally in Notion, bookmarks, Obsidian, or a personal repo, but that adds friction and loses GitHub context. Having a native GitHub feature for this would make archived discussions much easier to reuse.

[starktech23]

Well said! This captures well both the problem as well as a set of potential solution features. Users are already probably using several uncoordinated external methods to save and try to revisit these conversations, but a proper functional native solution should be an essential QoL feature at this point. I wonder what would be the best way to request for this, or perhaps even contribute to it.