Update Pull Request Description

Updates a GitHub pull request description using the REST API. This skill works around the gh pr edit command limitation caused by Projects (classic) deprecation warnings.

When to Use This Skill

• When you need to update an existing pull request description
• When gh pr edit fails with "Projects (classic) is being deprecated" errors
• When you want to programmatically update PR metadata without using the web UI

Instructions

Follow these steps to update a PR description:

Step 1: Parse Input Parameters

Accept the following parameters:

• PR number (optional): If not provided, auto-detect from current branch using gh pr view --json number -q .number
• Description content: Either as direct text or file path

Step 2: Prepare the Description

If given a file path:

# Convert markdown file to JSON format
jq -Rs '{body: .}' /path/to/description.md > /tmp/pr_body.json

If given direct text:

# Convert text to JSON format
echo -n "$DESCRIPTION_TEXT" | jq -Rs '{body: .}' > /tmp/pr_body.json

Step 3: Extract Repository Information

Get the repository owner and name from git remote:

# Get remote URL and extract owner/repo
git remote get-url origin
# Example: git@github.com:owner/repo.git or https://github.com/owner/repo.git

Parse the URL to extract:

• Owner name
• Repository name

Step 4: Update PR Using GitHub API

Use the GitHub REST API to update the pull request:

gh api \
  --method PATCH \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls/PR_NUMBER \
  --input /tmp/pr_body.json

Step 5: Verify the Update

Confirm the update was successful:

# Fetch and display first 10 lines of updated description
gh pr view PR_NUMBER --json body -q .body | head -10

Display confirmation message with:

• PR number
• PR URL: https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/pull/PR_NUMBER
• Summary of what was updated

Examples

Example 1: Update with file path

# User provides PR number and file
update-pr 332 /tmp/pr_description.md

# Steps executed:
jq -Rs '{body: .}' /tmp/pr_description.md > /tmp/pr_body.json
gh api --method PATCH repos/koizuka/echonet-list/pulls/332 --input /tmp/pr_body.json

Example 2: Auto-detect PR number

# User only provides file path, PR number detected from branch
update-pr /tmp/pr_description.md

# Auto-detect PR number:
PR_NUM=$(gh pr view --json number -q .number)
jq -Rs '{body: .}' /tmp/pr_description.md > /tmp/pr_body.json
gh api --method PATCH repos/koizuka/echonet-list/pulls/$PR_NUM --input /tmp/pr_body.json

Example 3: Update with direct text

# User provides description as text
update-pr 332 "## Summary\n\nThis PR fixes bug #123"

# Convert text to JSON:
echo -n "## Summary\n\nThis PR fixes bug #123" | jq -Rs '{body: .}' > /tmp/pr_body.json
gh api --method PATCH repos/koizuka/echonet-list/pulls/332 --input /tmp/pr_body.json

Error Handling

Handle these common errors:

1. Invalid PR number: Verify PR exists before updating
2. File not found: Check file path exists before processing
3. API rate limits: Report GitHub API rate limit errors clearly
4. Malformed JSON: Ensure jq processing succeeds
5. Permission errors: User must have write access to repository

Success Criteria

The skill completes successfully when:

• ✅ PR description is updated on GitHub
• ✅ Verification shows the new description content
• ✅ User receives confirmation with PR URL
• ✅ No errors encountered during API call

Notes

• This method bypasses the gh pr edit Projects (classic) deprecation warning
• The GitHub REST API is more reliable for programmatic updates
• Always verify the update by fetching the PR description after updating
• Temporary files in /tmp/ are automatically cleaned up by the system