cross-repo-issues

Cross-Repo Issue Creation

Overview

Not every issue belongs in the repository where it was discovered. Bugs in forked code belong upstream. Problems in a monorepo dependency belong in that dependency's repo. Filing issues in the wrong place wastes maintainer time and delays fixes.

Core principle: ALWAYS confirm the target repository with the user before creating an issue elsewhere. Never auto-create issues in repositories you don't own.

Iron Law:

NO CROSS-REPO ISSUE CREATION WITHOUT EXPLICIT USER CONFIRMATION

When to Use

• Bug discovered in forked code that should be reported upstream
• Issue in a monorepo sub-package that belongs in the package's source repo
• Bug in a third-party dependency that should be filed in the library's repo
• Feature request that affects an upstream project
• Security vulnerability that needs to be reported to the upstream maintainer

Use this ESPECIALLY when:

• Working in a fork and the bug exists in the original repo
• A monorepo package wraps an external library and the bug is in the library
• You need to coordinate fixes across multiple repositories

When NOT to Use

• Issue is local to the current repository (use normal issue workflow)
• You don't have access to the target repository
• The upstream project is archived or unmaintained
• Simple configuration issues that are project-specific

Configuration

Add upstreamRepos to your codingbuddy.config.json:

{
  "upstreamRepos": {
    ".": "original-owner/original-repo",
    "packages/ui": "design-system/ui-kit",
    "dep:react": "facebook/react"
  }
}

Key Conventions

Key Pattern	Meaning	Example
"."	Current repo is a fork of this upstream	"original-owner/repo"
"packages/..."	Monorepo package maps to external repo	"org/package-repo"
"dep:<name>"	npm/pip dependency maps to its source repo	"facebook/react"

Minimal Configuration

For a simple fork, only one entry is needed: