Issue-to-Merge GitHub-Native Loop (Engineer the Reload)

A full-lifecycle loop where every piece of workflow state lives in GitHub — issues, labels, PR comments — and repo files, so each cold-start session rehydrates from GitHub rather than a conversation. Built on the official claude-code-action.

Implementation note

When to use: you want an agent operating across the full delivery lifecycle — issue intake, branch, implement, PR, review fixes, merge — reliably enough that losing a session costs nothing. How it works: Claude Code runs the whole flow with all workflow state externalized to GitHub — issues, labels, PR comments — and repo files, built on the official claude-code-action. Each session starts cold and rehydrates entirely from GitHub state, which is the engineer-the-reload idea: the chat being gone doesn't cost you anything, because nothing important ever lived only in the conversation. Safety: externalized state is itself a rail — every decision and status change is visible in GitHub's audit surfaces (issue timelines, PR history) rather than an opaque transcript. The lifecycle includes merge, so govern that step with branch protection, required checks, and human approval; let the agent drive the process while the merge gate stays policy-controlled.

Source: Saulius (saulius.io) ↗

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