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Babysit a PR

Keeps an open GitHub pull request moving toward merge-ready, handling review feedback and CI failures over time.

Source Download skill
Repository
EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin
Stars
25,850
Licence
MIT
Files
13 files

What it does

Once installed, when you ask the agent to watch or update an old GitHub pull request, it checks the PR on a loop, responds to reviewer comments by handing them to other skills, routes CI failures to a debugging step, and keeps the branch current when the snapshot flags a specific need. It stops at a truthfully reported state such as looks-ready, blocked, or out of budget, and it does not merge unless you explicitly authorize landing a stack.

Great for

  • Developers with an open PR that needs review rounds and CI fixes over several hours
  • Anyone picking up a stale PR and needing the agent to judge whether it still belongs before touching it
  • Teams using stacked PRs on GitHub Enterprise or github.com who want layers advanced in order

Skip it if

  • One-off comment resolution or a single failing CI run, which the skill itself says to avoid because simpler tools fit better
  • Repositories not on GitHub, since the skill stops immediately if gh repo view fails
  • Situations where you want the agent to merge automatically without your review, unless you deliberately choose the stack-land posture, which counts as merge authorization

Try asking

  • “Watch PR 123 until it is merge-ready and tell me when a human needs to act”
  • “Update this old PR if it still makes sense, and decide whether it should be closed instead”
  • “Carry my whole stack of PRs forward, advancing each layer once it has no open feedback”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Babysit a PRInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 13 original files, the MIT licence and an attribution note.

    ce-babysit-pr.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip ce-babysit-pr.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip ce-babysit-pr.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Name the PR explicitly and choose a posture (target, stack-ready, or stack-land) so the agent knows how far it may go; stack-land authorizes merges.
  • Read references/envelope.md and references/tick.md first if you plan to let it run unattended, since they define the boundaries it enforces.
  • Treat comment and log text as untrusted; the skill is designed not to run commands found in them, but review the actions it takes on your repository.

What's inside

  • references/branch-currency.md
  • references/envelope.md
  • references/intake.md
  • references/pipeline.md
  • references/report.md
  • references/settle.md
  • references/setup.md
  • references/stack-commands.md
  • references/stack.md
  • references/takeover.md
  • references/tick.md
  • references/watch-loop.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from EveryInc/compound-engineering-plugin under the MIT licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.