How to Create GitHub Issues from TODO Comments with GitHub Actions

name: "Run TODO to Issue"
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: "TODO to Issue"
        uses: alstr/todo-to-issue-action@v5
        with:
          INSERT_ISSUE_URLS: "true"
      - name: Set Git user
        run: |
          git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config --global user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
      - name: Commit and Push Changes
        run: |
          git add .
          git commit -m "Automatically added GitHub issue links to TODOs"
          git push origin main

todo-to-issue-action

This action creates, updates, and closes GitHub issues based on TODO comments in your code.

What is todo-to-issue-action?​

The todo-to-issue GitHub Action automatically converts TODO comments in your code into GitHub issues. You can configure it to assign issues, add labels, and link them to milestones and projects.

How to Use file_glob​

To use file globbing for uploading multiple files that match a pattern, configure file_glob in your workflow:

with:
  file: target/release/my*
  file_glob: true

How to Assign Labels and Assignees to Issues​

To assign labels and assignees to the issues created from TODO comments, specify them directly in the TODO comment block:

def hello_world():
    # TODO: Improve the greeting
    #  assignees: alstr, user1
    #  labels: enhancement, help wanted
    print('Hello world!')

How to Insert Issue URLs​

You can enable the action to insert issue URLs back into your TODO comments by using INSERT_ISSUE_URLS:

with:
  INSERT_ISSUE_URLS: "true"

This provides better integration between the TODO comments in your code and the GitHub issues created.

How to Close Issues Automatically​

To automatically close issues when a TODO is removed from the code, set the CLOSE_ISSUES input to true:

with:
  CLOSE_ISSUES: "true"

How to Add Issues to Projects​

You can add newly created issues to a specified GitHub project by providing a PROJECT and a PROJECTS_SECRET:

with:
  PROJECT: "user/alstr/test"
  PROJECTS_SECRET: "${{ secrets.PROJECTS_SECRET }}"

This works with GitHub v2 projects and requires a Personal Access Token with repo and project scopes.

Supported Languages​

This action supports many languages, including but not limited to:

• Python
• JavaScript
• TypeScript
• Java
• C++
• PHP
• Ruby
• Swift

You can also add new languages to the action by modifying the syntax.json file or by using a custom configuration in your workflow.

Example: Assigning Milestones​

You can assign a milestone to an issue created from a TODO by adding it to the comment block:

def hello_world():
    # TODO: Improve the greeting
    #  milestone: v3.0
    print('Hello world!')