How to Clone a GitHub Issue Using PowerShell and Shell Scripts

7 minute read

Overview

This comprehensive guide demonstrates how to clone GitHub issues using both PowerShell and shell scripts. The solution automatically creates a duplicate issue with the same title and body content, then closes the original issue with a reference to the newly created one.

What is Issue Cloning?

Issue cloning is the process of creating a new GitHub issue that duplicates the content of an existing issue. This is useful for:

Moving issues between repositories
Creating templates from existing issues
Archiving resolved issues while maintaining their content
Reorganizing project workflows

Prerequisites

1. Installing GitHub CLI

On Windows using winget

First, check if winget is available:

Get-Command winget -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

If winget is not found, you can try adding it to your PATH:

$env:PATH += ";C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller_1.27.440.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe"
winget --version

Install GitHub CLI:

winget install --id GitHub.cli

Alternative Installation Methods

Method 1: Manual Download

Download from GitHub: https://github.com/cli/cli/releases
Install the .msi file for Windows

Method 2: Using Chocolatey

Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows. Install GitHub CLI with:

choco install gh

Method 3: Direct Download

$progressPreference = 'silentlyContinue'
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/latest/download/gh_windows_amd64.msi -OutFile gh_installer.msi
Start-Process msiexec.exe -ArgumentList "/i", "gh_installer.msi", "/quiet" -Wait

2. Add GitHub CLI to PATH

After installation, add GitHub CLI to your system PATH:

$env:PATH += ";C:\Program Files\GitHub CLI"
gh --version

3. GitHub Authentication

Authenticate with GitHub:

gh auth login

Follow the prompts to authenticate using your browser or personal access token.

Solution Overview

We’ve created two scripts that provide the same functionality:

PowerShell Script (clone_issue.ps1) - Cross-platform PowerShell solution
Shell Script (clone_issue.sh) - Traditional bash script

Both scripts:

Accept issue number as a parameter
Retrieve the original issue’s title and body
Create a new issue with identical content
Add a reference note (“Cloned from #[original_issue_number]”)
Automatically close the original issue with a comment referencing the new issue

clone_issue.ps1

#!/usr/bin/env pwsh

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    Clone a GitHub issue by creating a new issue with the same title and body.

.AUTHOR
    Mahedee Hasan

.DESCRIPTION
    This script uses GitHub CLI to retrieve an existing issue and create a new one
    with the same content, adding a note that it was cloned from the original.
    After successful creation, it closes the original issue with a comment referencing the new issue.

.PARAMETER IssueNumber
    The issue number to clone.

.PARAMETER Repository
    The repository in format "owner/repo". Defaults to "mahedee/rnd".

.EXAMPLE
    .\clone_issue.ps1 -IssueNumber 7
    
.EXAMPLE
    .\clone_issue.ps1 -IssueNumber 7 -Repository "username/repository"

.EXAMPLE
    .\clone_issue.ps1 9
#>

param(
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
    [int]$IssueNumber,
    
    [Parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
    [string]$Repository = "arisha/myrepo"
)

# Check if GitHub CLI is available
try {
    $null = Get-Command gh -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
    Write-Error "GitHub CLI (gh) is not found. Please install GitHub CLI and ensure it's in your PATH."
    exit 1
}

try {
    Write-Host "Retrieving issue #$IssueNumber from repository $Repository..."
    
    # Get issue title
    $title = gh issue view $IssueNumber -R $Repository --json title -q .title
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        Write-Error "Failed to retrieve issue #$IssueNumber. Please check if the issue exists and you have access to the repository."
        exit 1
    }
    
    # Get issue body
    $body = gh issue view $IssueNumber -R $Repository --json body -q .body
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        Write-Error "Failed to retrieve issue body for #$IssueNumber."
        exit 1
    }
    
    # Create the cloned issue body with reference to original
    $clonedBody = "$body`n`nCloned from #$IssueNumber"
    
    Write-Host "Creating new issue with title: $title"
    
    # Create new issue and capture the result
    $createOutput = gh issue create -R $Repository --title "$title" --body "$clonedBody" 2>&1
    
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
        # Extract issue number from URL (format: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123)
        if ($createOutput -match '/issues/(\d+)$') {
            $newIssueNumber = $matches[1]
            Write-Host "Successfully created new issue #$newIssueNumber!" -ForegroundColor Green
            
            # Close the original issue with a comment
            Write-Host "Closing original issue #$IssueNumber..."
            $closeComment = "Created new issue #$newIssueNumber"
            
            gh issue close $IssueNumber -R $Repository --comment "$closeComment"
            
            if ($LASTEXITCODE -eq 0) {
                Write-Host "Successfully closed original issue #$IssueNumber with reference to new issue #$newIssueNumber!" -ForegroundColor Green
            } else {
                Write-Warning "New issue #$newIssueNumber was created, but failed to close the original issue #$IssueNumber."
            }
        } else {
            Write-Host "New issue created successfully, but couldn't extract issue number from output: $createOutput" -ForegroundColor Yellow
            Write-Warning "Please manually close issue #$IssueNumber if needed."
        }
    } else {
        Write-Error "Failed to create the cloned issue. Error: $createOutput"
        exit 1
    }
    
} catch {
    Write-Error "An error occurred: $($_.Exception.Message)"
    exit 1
}

clone_issue.sh

#!/bin/bash

# Clone a GitHub issue by creating a new issue with the same title and body,
# then close the original issue with a comment referencing the new one.
#
# Author: Mahedee Hasan
#
# Usage: ./clone_issue.sh <issue_number> [repository]
#
# Parameters:
#   issue_number: The issue number to clone (required)
#   repository:   The repository in format "owner/repo" (optional, defaults to "mahedee/rnd")
#
# Examples:
#   ./clone_issue.sh 7
#   ./clone_issue.sh 7 "username/repository"

# Add GitHub CLI to PATH
export PATH="$PATH:/c/Program Files/GitHub CLI"

# Check if issue number is provided
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
    echo "Error: Issue number is required"
    echo "Usage: $0 <issue_number> [repository]"
    exit 1
fi

ISSUE=$1
REPO=${2:-"arisha/myrepo"}

# Check if GitHub CLI is available
if ! command -v gh &> /dev/null; then
    echo "Error: GitHub CLI (gh) is not found. Please install GitHub CLI and ensure it's in your PATH."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Retrieving issue #$ISSUE from repository $REPO..."

# Get issue title
TITLE=$(gh issue view $ISSUE -R $REPO --json title -q .title)
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Error: Failed to retrieve issue #$ISSUE. Please check if the issue exists and you have access to the repository."
    exit 1
fi

# Get issue body
BODY=$(gh issue view $ISSUE -R $REPO --json body -q .body)
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
    echo "Error: Failed to retrieve issue body for #$ISSUE."
    exit 1
fi

echo "Creating new issue with title: $TITLE"

# Create the cloned issue body with reference to original
CLONED_BODY="$BODY

Cloned from #$ISSUE"

# Create new issue and capture the result
CREATE_OUTPUT=$(gh issue create -R $REPO --title "$TITLE" --body "$CLONED_BODY" 2>&1)
CREATE_EXIT_CODE=$?

if [ $CREATE_EXIT_CODE -eq 0 ]; then
    # Extract issue number from URL (format: https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/123)
    if [[ $CREATE_OUTPUT =~ /issues/([0-9]+)$ ]]; then
        NEW_ISSUE_NUMBER="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
        echo "Successfully created new issue #$NEW_ISSUE_NUMBER!"
        
        # Close the original issue with a comment
        echo "Closing original issue #$ISSUE..."
        CLOSE_COMMENT="Created new issue #$NEW_ISSUE_NUMBER"
        
        gh issue close $ISSUE -R $REPO --comment "$CLOSE_COMMENT"
        
        if [ $? -eq 0 ]; then
            echo "Successfully closed original issue #$ISSUE with reference to new issue #$NEW_ISSUE_NUMBER!"
        else
            echo "Warning: New issue #$NEW_ISSUE_NUMBER was created, but failed to close the original issue #$ISSUE."
        fi
    else
        echo "New issue created successfully, but couldn't extract issue number from output: $CREATE_OUTPUT"
        echo "Warning: Please manually close issue #$ISSUE if needed."
    fi
else
    echo "Error: Failed to create the cloned issue. Error: $CREATE_OUTPUT"
    exit 1
fi

PowerShell Script Implementation

Script Features

The PowerShell script (clone_issue.ps1) offers:

Parameter validation with mandatory issue number
Flexible repository specification (defaults to “arisha/myrepo”)
Comprehensive error handling with detailed messages
Built-in help documentation using PowerShell comment-based help
Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, Linux, macOS)

Usage Examples

Basic usage:

.\clone_issue.ps1 -IssueNumber 9

Short parameter syntax:

.\clone_issue.ps1 9

With custom repository:

.\clone_issue.ps1 -IssueNumber 9 -Repository "username/repository"

Get help:

Get-Help .\clone_issue.ps1 -Full

Script Workflow

Validation: Checks if GitHub CLI is installed and accessible
Retrieval: Fetches the original issue’s title and body using gh issue view
Creation: Creates a new issue with the same content plus a clone reference
Extraction: Parses the new issue URL to extract the issue number
Closure: Closes the original issue with a comment linking to the new issue

Shell Script Implementation

Script Features

The shell script (clone_issue.sh) provides:

Command-line parameter support for issue number and repository
POSIX-compliant bash scripting for maximum compatibility
Regex pattern matching for URL parsing
Comprehensive error checking with exit codes
Git Bash compatibility on Windows

Usage Examples

Basic usage:

./clone_issue.sh 9

With custom repository:

./clone_issue.sh 9 "username/repository"

Make script executable (Linux/macOS):

chmod +x clone_issue.sh
./clone_issue.sh 9

Script Workflow

Parameter Check: Validates that issue number is provided
CLI Verification: Ensures GitHub CLI is available in PATH
Data Retrieval: Uses gh issue view with JSON output parsing
Issue Creation: Creates new issue and captures the output
URL Parsing: Extracts issue number using bash regex matching
Original Closure: Closes the original issue with reference comment

Conclusion

This comprehensive solution provides robust GitHub issue cloning capabilities using both PowerShell and shell scripts. The automated workflow saves time while maintaining data integrity and providing proper cross-references between original and cloned issues.

Choose the PowerShell script for cross-platform compatibility and advanced parameter handling, or use the shell script for lightweight, POSIX-compliant environments. Both scripts provide the same core functionality with appropriate error handling and user feedback. Happy coding!

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Mahedee Hasan

How to Clone a GitHub Issue Using PowerShell and Shell Scripts

Overview

What is Issue Cloning?

Prerequisites

1. Installing GitHub CLI

On Windows using winget

Alternative Installation Methods

2. Add GitHub CLI to PATH

3. GitHub Authentication

Solution Overview

PowerShell Script Implementation

Script Features

Usage Examples

Script Workflow

Shell Script Implementation

Script Features

Usage Examples

Script Workflow

Conclusion

Comments

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