RonanCodes/linear-nightshift

/ro:linear-nightshift

The hybrid one-way sync in motion (model locked 2026-06-11, ronan-skills#61): Linear is where collaborator stories are born and prioritised; GitHub is the execution layer. This skill is the bridge — it never makes Linear a second execution tracker and never makes the collaborator touch GitHub.

Collaborator files story (Backlog or Ready for agent)
  → /ro:linear-grill asks questions (state: Question for <name>)
    → collaborator answers in comments             ← their only job
      → next /ro:linear-grill run promotes to Grilled
        → THIS SKILL: verify answers → mirror to GH → night-shift drains
          → /ro:linear-update marks Done with PR + try-it link

API mechanics (auth via the RoBot key — never the OAuth MCP — mentions, states, complexity cap, agent identity as the RoBot user with no label/footer) and board resolution via the repo's .ro-linear.json: see /ro:linear-grill § "Linear API mechanics" and § "Step 0". Holdoff tickets are parked: never pull them into a run.

Step 0: Repo-mode + pre-flight

• Defer to /ro:repo-mode: work repos NEVER touch Linear or GH — refuse loudly.
• Probe: team's Grilled issues (state.type = unstarted, name from the repo's .ro-linear.json states.grilled) + their comments; the target repo's existing queue (gh issue list --label ready-for-agent). Print a pre-flight summary: N grilled tickets, M look answered, K look unanswered, existing GH queue depth.

Step 1: Answer-verification gate (the load-bearing check)

For each Grilled ticket, first load its full context per /ro:linear-run § "Load full ticket context" and emit the context-load receipt there (mandatory gate — no mirror, no build without it): the whole issue description, every comment oldest→newest, and every image/attachment on the body and in comments — the receipt's images <M> count and the images themselves must carry into the mirrored GH issue so the build agent isn't missing a pasted screenshot or an earlier clarification. The most recent comments are most authoritative; an edited reply (newer updatedAt) counts as new. Then find the latest grill comment (API-user comment containing numbered questions) and judge:

• No grill comment ever → the ticket skipped grilling. Don't block on process: if the description alone is buildable, proceed; if not, grill it now (inline /ro:linear-grill --issue <ID>) and bounce.
• Collaborator replied after the grill → read their reply against each question. Enough answered to build without guessing? Proceed (note unanswered minor points as assumptions in the mirror issue). Materially unanswered? → bounce.
• No reply after the grill → bounce.

Bounce = one comment, mention-first, naming exactly which questions are open ("@name — moving this back to your questions column: questions 2 and 4 still decide the build…"), then issueUpdate state → the questions state from .ro-linear.json (e.g. "Question for Eoin"). Never silently skip — the collaborator must see WHY their ticket didn't run.

Step 2: Mirror verified tickets to GitHub

For each verified ticket, create an ephemeral execution mirror:

gh issue create --label ready-for-agent --label linear-mirror \
  --title "<ticket title> (NUT-<n>)" \
  --body "## Linear\n\n<ticket URL> — canonical story + the collaborator's answers.\n\n<description + distilled answers + assumptions>\n\n### Close-the-loop tests\n<standard block>"

Rules: the mirror carries the distilled answers (workers must not need Linear access); create the linear-mirror label once (idempotent, case-insensitive check); move the Linear ticket to In Progress with a one-line comment ("queued for tonight's build run").

Step 3: Run the standard night-shift

Invoke /ro:night-shift (or /ro:planner-worker --queue) against the repo's GH queue — the mirrors are ordinary ready-for-agent issues; ALL existing machinery (worktrees, dev-links, Closes #N, mergers with the stale-squash guard, retro, nightsheet, Pushover/Telegram) applies unchanged. This skill adds nothing to the execution layer.

Step 4: Tail, hand off for validation (through the gate)

After the run (and deploy, per the repo's policy): for every mirror whose PR merged, invoke /ro:linear-update --issue <NUT-n> --pr <#> --deployed. This is the only way the night-shift path is allowed to reach the interview / Ready-to-Test state. Never move a ticket there with a bare issueUpdate. /ro:linear-update enforces the hand-off gate (see /ro:linear-update § "The hand-off gate"): no transition without an acceptance-criteria checklist AND at least one screenshot, and for mobile/responsive-tagged tickets (or tickets whose bounce/description names a phone symptom) an explicit real-device or emulation verified on <device/viewport> line. A merged mirror that can't satisfy the gate (no screenshot possible, or a mobile fix with no real-device evidence) stays out of the interview state: /ro:linear-update holds it and says why; carry that into the nightsheet as a held-for-evidence line rather than forcing it through.

That gate moves passing tickets to Interview (assigned to the collaborator, with acceptance criteria), not Done; the collaborator closes the loop by validating. For mirrors that escalated/stuck: comment on the Linear ticket honestly (what blocked it), move back to Grilled.

After all per-ticket hand-offs, if the board has a pinned "📰 Release notes" issue, post the day's changelog once: /ro:linear-update --daily-digest --issue <pinned-ID> --repo <owner/name> (aggregates the run's merged+deployed work in plain language; skips silently on a zero-change day). See /ro:linear-update § "Daily-digest mode".

Flags

--plan-only — pre-flight + verification verdicts only, no mirrors, no run. --workers N, caps: passed through to night-shift.

Errors

| Condition | Behaviour | |---|---| | Zero Grilled tickets | Say so; suggest /ro:linear-grill if Backlog has ungrilled tickets | | All Grilled tickets bounce | Report each bounce reason; no run | | Repo-mode = work | Refuse: this flow is for personal repos only |

Related

/ro:linear-run (the front door that calls this) · /ro:linear-grill (upstream) · /ro:linear-update (tail) · /ro:night-shift (the engine) · ronan-skills#61 (design)