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Guide · Agent skill

How to use the GitHub Cache Hygiene agent skill

Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data

The github-cache-hygiene skill is a set of instructions that teaches an AI agent how to read GitHub repository data economically. It is aimed at maintainers and developers who triage many issues and pull requests and keep hitting GitHub API rate limits. After this guide you will know what the skill changes about agent behaviour, how to install it, how to phrase requests that trigger it, and what setup it depends on.

GitHub Cache Hygienesteipete/agent-scripts · MIT

Quick start

  1. 1Confirm the prerequisites. Check that gh, the Gitcrawl CLI with a local archive of your repository, and Octopool 0.7.1 or a compatible version are available, and that GitHub authentication is already configured.
  2. 2Download and unzip the skill. Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it so the github-cache-hygiene folder contains SKILL.md and agents/openai.yaml.
  3. 3Place the skill in the right folder. Move the folder into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. Alternatively, upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills in the Claude apps.
  4. 4Ask a repository question. Name the repository and describe the task, such as checking whether an issue already exists.
  5. 5Let the agent search the archive first. The agent uses gitcrawl search to find candidates locally before making any live GitHub call.
  6. 6Confirm live state before acting. For writes, merges or CI checks, the agent uses gh to read current state for the exact issue, pull request or run.

What the skill makes the agent do

The skill tells the agent to search a local Gitcrawl archive of a repository's issues and pull requests first. Local archive reads are cheap and do not use GitHub API calls. The agent only uses the GitHub CLI (gh) for current data when it needs it, such as before a write, merge, or CI check.

The skill also covers how the agent polls CI and reuses output. It spaces out CI polling, reads logs once only after a failure or an explicit request, and reuses earlier output instead of re-reading completed runs. The skill is written for a setup where gh is routed through a caching shim called Octopool.

Install the skill

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. For a personal install, place the unzipped folder in ~/.claude/skills/. For a single project, place it in that project's .claude/skills/ folder.

If you use the Claude apps, you can instead upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

The package contains agents/openai.yaml and SKILL.md. SKILL.md holds the instructions the agent follows.

Check the requirements before you start

The skill depends on several tools. It does not install or configure any of them, and it does not set up credentials.

  • GitHub CLI (gh) available on PATH, ideally the Octopool-backed shim
  • Gitcrawl CLI with a local archive of the repository
  • Octopool 0.7.1 or a compatible version, for cache statistics and relay behaviour
  • GitHub authentication already configured for the person or agent calling gh

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. Ask for a GitHub task that involves triage, duplicate checks, or CI status, and name the repository. The agent is expected to start with the local archive for discovery and move to live gh calls when the task needs current state.

Requests that suit the skill include asking whether an issue or pull request already exists, reviewing old threads, listing open items by author or label, and checking CI after a push. Requests that need live state, such as merging or commenting, will use gh directly.

  • Is there already an open issue about the login timeout in owner/repo?
  • List open bugs in owner/repo assigned to me, using the local archive first.
  • Check CI for the PR I just pushed to owner/repo and tell me when the run finishes.
  • Before merging PR 123 in owner/repo, confirm its current state live.

Example commands the agent uses

The skill's default path starts with archive searches. Discovery commands look like this:

  • Search the archive for open PRs matching a term, returning number, title and URL.
  • Look up specific archived threads, including closed or merged ones.
gitcrawl search prs "<terms>" -R owner/repo --state open --json number,title,url

Understand freshness and when live calls are required

Archive state can lag GitHub, so local results are good for discovery and duplicate checks but are not proof of current state. The skill says to use a live call before writing, commenting, closing, merging, rerunning, or editing, before a maintainer action, to verify CI after a push, when a local result is missing or obviously stale, and when the user asks for live state.

After a write, the agent should do one targeted fresh readback rather than a broad rescan.

Safety notes: scripts and network

This skill runs scripts and uses the network. Its commands call GitHub through gh and read a local Gitcrawl archive. The skill forbids running octopool login and forbids changing tokens, auth, PATH or config. It also forbids bypassing the shim to replace retired Gitcrawl recipes, and it does not mount host mutation credentials to gain cache coverage.

Review the commands the agent runs, and make sure the credentials it uses are the ones you intend it to use. Note that gitcrawl sync with --with pr-details spends GitHub API calls and updates the Gitcrawl archive.

Tips for getting good results

Name the repository with owner/repo so the agent uses exact refs. Ask for narrow output. The skill advises against one gh issue view per result when a single search or list can answer the question.

If you suspect rate limiting, Octopool's stats commands show cache behaviour. These are response-reuse metrics, not GitHub quota figures.

  • Batch questions by repository and state.
  • Ask for CI status once after a push instead of asking for repeated checks.
  • Use the octopool health and stats commands to inspect cache behaviour when rate limits are suspected.
octopool stats --since 1h

What people use it for

  • Checking whether a bug report already has an open issue before filing a new one.
  • Triaging open pull requests by author or label without calling the API for every item.
  • Checking CI status of one exact workflow run after pushing to a branch.
  • Confirming a pull request's current state before a maintainer merges it.

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the github-cache-hygiene skill?

Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it. Place the folder in ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or in a project's .claude/skills/ folder. In the Claude apps you can upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

What do I need before using this skill?

You need the GitHub CLI (gh) on PATH, ideally the Octopool-backed shim, a Gitcrawl CLI with a local archive of the repository, and Octopool 0.7.1 or a compatible version. GitHub authentication must already be configured, because the skill does not set up credentials.

Is the github-cache-hygiene skill free to use?

The skill is listed under the MIT licence. Check the licence text for the terms that apply to your use. The skill's tools, Gitcrawl and Octopool, are separate projects that this page does not describe in terms of cost.

Does this skill work without Octopool or Gitcrawl?

Not well. Much of the guidance depends on Gitcrawl and Octopool, so it will not apply if they are not installed. The skill does not explain how to install either tool.

Why does the agent still call GitHub if it has a local archive?

Archive state can lag GitHub, so the skill treats local results as good for discovery but not as proof of current state. Live gh calls are used for writes, merges, final state checks and CI verification.

Can this skill change my GitHub login or tokens?

No. The skill forbids running octopool login and forbids changing tokens, auth, PATH or config. It is not a tool for changing credentials.

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Our verdict

This skill suits maintainers and teams who triage many issues and pull requests, already run Gitcrawl and Octopool, and want agents to follow consistent gh usage rules. If you do not use those tools, or you need guaranteed up-to-the-second data from a cache, pick a simpler approach that calls gh directly.

Download the skill