Skill: Ralph — Two-Pass Issue Scanning
Confidence: high Domain: work-monitoring Last validated: 2026-03-24
Context
Cuts GitHub API calls from N+1 to ~7 per round (~72% reduction) by separating list scanning from full hydration. Addresses the scanning inefficiency described in issue #596.
Pattern
Pass 1 — Lightweight Scan
gh issue list --state open --json number,title,labels,assignees --limit 100
Skip hydration if ANY of these match:
| Condition | Skip reason |
|---|---|
assignees non-empty AND no status:needs-review |
Already owned |
Labels contain status:blocked or status:waiting-external |
Externally gated |
Labels contain status:done or status:postponed |
Closed loop |
Title matches stale/noisy pattern ([chore], [auto]) |
Low-signal |
Pass 2 — Selective Hydration
For each issue surviving Pass 1:
gh issue view <number> --json number,title,body,labels,assignees,comments,state
Then apply normal Ralph triage logic. Rule of thumb: hydrate ≤ 30% of scanned list. If more than 30% survive Pass 1, tighten filter rules.