Automate needs-reply

When an issue needs more information, comment on it and then add the needs-reply label. After a given timeframe and without any new comments, the issue is automatically closed with a message.

Usage

First, create a workflow (.github/workflows/needs-reply-remove.yml, for example) that removes the needs-reply label whenever comments are made. Comments you or your collaborators make don't trigger removing the label, you can tweak the conditions as needed:

name: Remove needs-reply label

on:
  issue_comment:
    types:
      - created

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: |
      github.event.comment.author_association != 'OWNER' &&
      github.event.comment.author_association != 'COLLABORATOR'
    steps:
      - name: Remove needs-reply label
        uses: octokit/request-action@v2.x
        continue-on-error: true
        with:
          route: DELETE /repos/:repository/issues/:issue/labels/:label
          repository: ${{ github.repository }}
          issue: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
          label: needs-reply
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Then, create a workflow (.github/workflows/needs-reply.yml, for example) that closes old issues that have the needs-reply label and have not been replied to in 30 days:

name: Close old issues that need reply

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Close old issues that need reply
        uses: imhoffd/needs-reply@v2
        with:
          repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          issue-label: needs-reply

Inputs

• repo-token (required) (string): The GitHub Personal Action Token used to authorize with the repository.

  Use ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} to use the token supplied by GitHub Actions by default.

• issue-label (string): The label to look for when closing issues. Defaults to needs-reply.

• days-before-close (number): The number of days to wait to close an issue after the label has been added. Defaults to 30.

• close-message (string): The comment to post when the issue is closed. To disable, pass in an empty string. Defaults to the following:

  It looks like there hasn't been a reply in 30 days, so I'm closing this issue.

• operations-per-run (number): The maximum number of operations per run, used to control rate limiting. Defaults to 30.