Prerequisites
- Your admin must install and configure the GitHub connector, add the GitHub actions pack under Admin > Actions, and enable this action.
- A GitHub app must be installed on the relevant organization(s) and linked to the correct GitHub datasource in the Glean admin console.
- The GitHub app must have read permissions to repository issues.
Supported parameters
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | String | Yes | The account owner of the repository (case-insensitive). |
| Repository | String | Yes | The name of the repository without the .git extension (case-insensitive). |
| State | String | No | Filter by issue state: “open”, “closed”, or “all” (default is “open”). |
| Labels | String | No | Filter by label names, comma-separated (e.g., “bug,enhancement”). Only issues with all specified labels are returned. |
| Sort by | String | No | Field to sort by: “created”, “updated”, or “comments” (default is “created”). |
| Direction | String | No | Sort direction: “asc” for ascending or “desc” for descending (default is “desc”). |
| Since | String | No | Only return issues created or updated after this timestamp (ISO 8601 format, e.g., “2024-01-01T00:00:00Z”). |
| Assignee | String | No | Filter by assigned user. Use a username, “none” for unassigned issues, or ”*” for any assigned issue. |
| Creator | String | No | Filter by the user who created the issue (GitHub username). |
| Mentioned user | String | No | Filter by a user mentioned in the issue (GitHub username). |
| Milestone | String | No | Filter by milestone number, “none” for issues with no milestone, or ”*” for issues with any milestone. |
| Results per page | Integer | No | Number of results per page (default is 30, maximum is 100). |
| Page | Integer | No | Page number for paginated results (default is 1). |
Usage examples
- “Show me all open bugs in the ‘octocat/Hello-World’ repository.”
- “List closed issues assigned to me in the ‘facebook/react’ repository.”
- “What are the most recently updated issues in ‘microsoft/vscode’ with the ‘enhancement’ label?”
Troubleshooting
Authentication or authorization failure
Authentication or authorization failure
403 error with OAuth App access restrictions
403 error with OAuth App access restrictions
- Possible cause: The GitHub organization has enabled OAuth App access restrictions, and the app used by this action is not allowed to access the repository.
- Fix: Ask your GitHub organization admin to approve or allow the GitHub app used by this action for the relevant repositories, then retry.
Slow responses or rate limit errors
Slow responses or rate limit errors
- Possible cause: GitHub API rate limits are being reached, especially for organizations with many repositories or when many actions run in a short time.
- Fix: Narrow the query by using filters such as Since, State, or Labels to reduce the number of issues returned. Retry after some time, and coordinate with your Glean admin if rate limits need to be adjusted at the deployment level.
Expected issues do not appear in results
Expected issues do not appear in results
- Possible cause: The repository may not be indexed or authorized for the requesting user, or the filters (such as Labels, Assignee, Creator, or Since) may be too restrictive.
- Fix: Confirm that the repository is part of the connected GitHub datasource and that the requesting user has access to it. Verify that filter values are correct (e.g., label names are exact matches, usernames are valid). Temporarily remove filters to verify that issues are returned without filtering.
No issues returned for a repository with known issues
No issues returned for a repository with known issues
- Possible cause: The default filter for State is “open”, so closed issues are not returned unless explicitly requested.
- Fix: Set State to “all” to return both open and closed issues, or set it to “closed” to return only closed issues.
FAQs
What types of issues does this action return?
What types of issues does this action return?
This action returns issues from the specified GitHub repository based on the filters you provide. By default, it returns open issues. Use the State parameter to include closed issues or both open and closed. Pull requests are also included in the results, as GitHub treats them as issues.
Can I filter issues by multiple labels?
Can I filter issues by multiple labels?
Yes. Use the Labels parameter with comma-separated label names (e.g., “bug,high-priority”). The action returns only issues that have all the specified labels. To find issues with any of several labels, you would need to make multiple calls with different label filters.
How do I find unassigned issues?
How do I find unassigned issues?
Set the Assignee parameter to “none” to return only issues that are not assigned to anyone. To find issues assigned to anyone, use ”*” as the assignee value.
Can I search across multiple repositories at once?
Can I search across multiple repositories at once?
No. This action lists issues from a single repository specified by the Owner and Repository parameters. To search across multiple repositories, call this action multiple times with different repository parameters, or use GitHub’s search issues action for cross-repository queries.