# Close Stale Issues and PRs Warns and then closes issues and PRs that have had no activity for a specified amount of time. The default configuration will: - Add a label "Stale" on issues and pull requests after 60 days of inactivity - Close the stale issues and pull requests after 7 days of inactivity - If an update/comment occur on stale issues or pull requests, the stale label will be removed and the timer will restart ## Recommended permissions For the execution of this action, it must be able to fetch all issues and pull requests from your repository. This can be achieved with the following [configuration in the action](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#permissions) if the permissions are restricted: ```yaml permissions: issues: read pull-requests: read ``` In addition, based on the provided configuration, the action could require more permission(s) (e.g.: add label, remove label, comment, close, etc.). You can find more information about the required permissions under the corresponding options that you wish to use. However, if don't want to bother, you can use these permissions: ```yaml permissions: issues: write pull-requests: write ``` ## All options ### List of input options Every argument is optional. | Input | Description | Default | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | --------------------- | | [repo-token](#repo-token) | PAT for GitHub API authentication | `${{ github.token }}` | | [days-before-stale](#days-before-stale) | Idle number of days before marking issues/PRs stale | `60` | | [days-before-issue-stale](#days-before-issue-stale) | Override [days-before-stale](#days-before-stale) for issues only | | | [days-before-pr-stale](#days-before-pr-stale) | Override [days-before-stale](#days-before-stale) for PRs only | | | [days-before-close](#days-before-close) | Idle number of days before closing stale issues/PRs | `7` | | [days-before-issue-close](#days-before-issue-close) | Override [days-before-close](#days-before-close) for issues only | | | [days-before-pr-close](#days-before-pr-close) | Override [days-before-close](#days-before-close) for PRs only | | | [stale-issue-message](#stale-issue-message) | Comment on the staled issues | | | [stale-pr-message](#stale-pr-message) | Comment on the staled PRs | | | [close-issue-message](#close-issue-message) | Comment on the staled issues while closed | | | [close-pr-message](#close-pr-message) | Comment on the staled PRs while closed | | | [stale-issue-label](#stale-issue-label) | Label to apply on staled issues | `Stale` | | [close-issue-label](#close-issue-label) | Label to apply on closed issues | | | [stale-pr-label](#stale-pr-label) | Label to apply on staled PRs | `Stale` | | [close-pr-label](#close-pr-label) | Label to apply on closed PRs | | | [exempt-issue-labels](#exempt-issue-labels) | Labels on issues exempted from stale | | | [exempt-pr-labels](#exempt-pr-labels) | Labels on PRs exempted from stale | | | [only-labels](#only-labels) | Only issues/PRs with ALL these labels are checked | | | [only-issue-labels](#only-issue-labels) | Only issues with ALL these labels are checked | | | [only-pr-labels](#only-pr-labels) | Only PRs with ALL these labels are checked | | | [any-of-labels](#any-of-labels) | Only issues/PRs with ANY of these labels are checked | | | [any-of-issue-labels](#any-of-issue-labels) | Only issues with ANY of these labels are checked | | | [any-of-pr-labels](#any-of-pr-labels) | Only PRs with ANY of these labels are checked | | | [operations-per-run](#operations-per-run) | Max number of operations per run | `30` | | [remove-stale-when-updated](#remove-stale-when-updated) | Remove stale label from issues/PRs on updates | `true` | | [remove-issue-stale-when-updated](#remove-issue-stale-when-updated) | Override [remove-stale-when-updated](#remove-stale-when-updated) for issues only | | | [remove-pr-stale-when-updated](#remove-pr-stale-when-updated) | Override [remove-stale-when-updated](#remove-stale-when-updated) for PRs only | | | [remove-stale-when-commented](#remove-stale-when-commented) | Remove stale label from issues/PRs on comments | `true` | | [remove-issue-stale-when-commented](#remove-issue-stale-when-commented) | Override [remove-stale-when-commented](#remove-stale-when-commented) for issues only | | | [remove-pr-stale-when-commented](#remove-pr-stale-when-commented) | Override [remove-stale-when-commented](#remove-stale-when-commented) for PRs only | | | [labels-to-add-when-unstale](#labels-to-add-when-unstale) | Add specified labels from issues/PRs when they become unstale | | | [labels-to-remove-when-unstale](#labels-to-remove-when-unstale) | Remove specified labels from issues/PRs when they become unstale | | | [debug-only](#debug-only) | Dry-run | `false` | | [ascending](#ascending) | Order to get issues/PRs | `false` | | [start-date](#start-date) | Skip stale action for issues/PRs created before it | | | [delete-branch](#delete-branch) | Delete branch after closing a stale PR | `false` | | [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) | Milestones on issues/PRs exempted from stale | | | [exempt-issue-milestones](#exempt-issue-milestones) | Override [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) for issues only | | | [exempt-pr-milestones](#exempt-pr-milestones) | Override [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) for PRs only | | | [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) | Exempt all issues/PRs with milestones from stale | | | [exempt-all-issue-milestones](#exempt-all-issue-milestones) | Override [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) for issues only | | | [exempt-all-pr-milestones](#exempt-all-pr-milestones) | Override [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) for PRs only | | | [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) | Assignees on issues/PRs exempted from stale | | | [exempt-issue-assignees](#exempt-issue-assignees) | Override [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) for issues only | | | [exempt-pr-assignees](#exempt-pr-assignees) | Override [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) for PRs only | | | [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) | Exempt all issues/PRs with assignees from stale | | | [exempt-all-issue-assignees](#exempt-all-issue-assignees) | Override [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) for issues only | | | [exempt-all-pr-assignees](#exempt-all-pr-assignees) | Override [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) for PRs only | | | [enable-statistics](#enable-statistics) | Display statistics in the logs | `true` | ### List of output options | Output | Description | | ----------------- | -------------------------------------------- | | staled-issues-prs | List of all staled issues and pull requests. | | closed-issues-prs | List of all closed issues and pull requests. | ### Detailed options #### repo-token Personal Access Token (PAT) that allows the stale workflow to authenticate and perform API calls to GitHub. Under the hood, it uses the [@actions/github](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@actions/github) package. Default value: `${{ github.token }}` #### days-before-stale The idle number of days before marking the issues or the pull requests as stale (by adding a label). The issues or the pull requests will be marked as stale if the last update (based on [GitHub issue](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/reference/issues) field `updated_at`) is older than the idle number of days. If set to a negative number like `-1`, no issues or pull requests will be marked as stale automatically. In that case, you can still add the stale label manually to mark as stale. The label used to stale is defined by these two options: - [stale-issue-label](#stale-issue-label) - [stale-pr-label](#stale-pr-label) A comment can also be added to notify about the stale and is defined by these two options: - [stale-issue-message](#stale-issue-message) - [stale-pr-message](#stale-pr-message) You can fine tune which issues or pull requests should be marked as stale based on the milestones, the assignees, the creation date and the missing/present labels from these options: - [exempt-issue-labels](#exempt-issue-labels) - [exempt-pr-labels](#exempt-pr-labels) - [only-labels](#only-labels) - [any-of-labels](#any-of-labels) - [start-date](#start-date) - [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) - [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) - [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) - [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) Default value: `60` #### days-before-issue-stale Useful to override [days-before-stale](#days-before-stale) but only for the idle number of days before marking the issues as stale. Default value: unset #### days-before-pr-stale Useful to override [days-before-stale](#days-before-stale) but only for the idle number of days before marking the pull requests as stale. Default value: unset #### days-before-close The idle number of days before closing the stale issues or the stale pull requests (due to the stale label). The issues or the pull requests will be closed if the last update (based on [GitHub issue](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/reference/issues) field `updated_at`) is older than the idle number of days. Since adding the stale label will alter the last update date, we can calculate the number of days from this date. If set to a negative number like `-1`, the issues or the pull requests will never be closed automatically. The label used to stale is defined by these two options: - [stale-issue-label](#stale-issue-label) - [stale-pr-label](#stale-pr-label) Default value: `7` #### days-before-issue-close Override [days-before-close](#days-before-close) but only for the idle number of days before closing the stale issues. Default value: unset #### days-before-pr-close Override [days-before-close](#days-before-close) but only for the idle number of days before closing the stale pull requests. Default value: unset #### stale-issue-message The message that will be added as a comment to the issues when the stale workflow marks it automatically as stale with a label. You can skip the comment sending by omitting the option or by passing an empty string. Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` #### stale-pr-message The message that will be added as a comment to the pull requests when the stale workflow marks it automatically as stale with a label. You can skip the comment sending by omitting the option or by passing an empty string. Default value: unset Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### close-issue-message The message that will be added as a comment to the issues when the stale workflow closes it automatically after being stale for too long. Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` #### close-pr-message The message that will be added as a comment to the pull requests when the stale workflow closes it automatically after being stale for too long. Default value: unset Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### stale-issue-label The label that will be added to the issues when automatically marked as stale. If you wish to speedup the stale workflow for the issues, you can add this label manually to mark as stale. Default value: `Stale` Required Permission: `issues: write` #### close-issue-label The label that will be added to the issues when closed automatically. It will be automatically removed if the issues are no longer closed nor locked. Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` #### stale-pr-label The label that will be added to the pull requests when automatically marked as stale. If you wish to speedup the stale workflow for the pull requests, you can add this label manually to mark as stale. Default value: `Stale` Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### close-pr-label The label that will be added to the pull requests when closed automatically. It will be automatically removed if the pull requests are no longer closed nor locked. Default value: unset Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### exempt-issue-labels The label(s) that can exempt to automatically mark as stale the issues. It can be a comma separated list of labels (e.g: `question,bug`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. Default value: unset #### exempt-pr-labels The label(s) that can exempt to automatically mark as stale the pull requests. It can be a comma separated list of labels (e.g: `need-help,WIP`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. Default value: unset #### only-labels An allow-list of label(s) to only process the issues or the pull requests that contain all these label(s). It can be a comma separated list of labels (e.g: `answered,needs-rebase`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. If you wish to only check that the issues or the pull requests contain one of these label(s), use instead [any-of-labels](#any-of-labels). Default value: unset #### only-issue-labels Override [only-labels](#only-labels) but only to process the issues that contain all these label(s). Default value: unset #### only-pr-labels Override [only-labels](#only-labels) but only to process the pull requests that contain all these label(s). Default value: unset #### any-of-labels An allow-list of label(s) to only process the issues or the pull requests that contain one of these label(s). It can be a comma separated list of labels (e.g: `answered,needs-rebase`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. If you wish to only check that the issues or the pull requests contain all these label(s), use instead [only-labels](#only-labels). Default value: unset #### any-of-issue-labels Override [any-of-labels](#any-of-labels) but only to process the issues that contain one of these label(s). Default value: unset #### any-of-pr-labels Override [any-of-labels](#any-of-labels) but only to process the pull requests that contain one of these label(s). Default value: unset #### operations-per-run _Context:_ This action performs some API calls to GitHub to fetch or close issues and pull requests, set or update labels, add comments, delete branches, etc. These operations are made in a very short period of time — because the action is very fast to run — and can be numerous based on your project action configuration and the quantity of issues and pull requests within it. GitHub has a [rate limit](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting) and if reached will block these API calls for one hour (or API calls from other actions using the same user (a.k.a.: the github-token from the [repo-token](#repo-token) option)). This option helps you to stay within the GitHub rate limits, as you can use this option to limit the number of operations for a single run. _Purpose:_ This option aims to limit the number of operations made with the GitHub API to avoid reaching the [rate limit](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/overview/resources-in-the-rest-api#rate-limiting). Based on your project, your GitHub business plan and the date of the cron job you set for this action, you can increase this limit to a higher number. If you are not sure which is the right value for you or if the default value is good enough, you could enable the logs and look at the end of the stale action. If you reached the limit, you will see a warning message in the logs, telling you that you should increase the number of operations. If you choose not to increase the limit, you might end up with unprocessed issues or pull requests after a stale action run. When [debugging](#Debugging), you can set it to a much higher number like `1000` since there will be fewer operations made with the GitHub API. Only the [actor](#repo-token) and the batch of issues (100 per batch) will consume the operations. Default value: `30` #### remove-stale-when-updated Automatically remove the stale label when the issues or the pull requests are updated (based on [GitHub issue](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/reference/issues) field `updated_at`). Default value: `true` Required Permission: `issues: write` and `pull-requests: write` #### remove-issue-stale-when-updated Override [remove-stale-when-updated](#remove-stale-when-updated) but only to automatically remove the stale label when the issues are updated (based on [GitHub issue](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/reference/issues) field `updated_at`). Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` #### remove-pr-stale-when-updated Override [remove-stale-when-updated](#remove-stale-when-updated) but only to automatically remove the stale label when the pull requests are updated (based on [GitHub issue](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/reference/issues) field `updated_at`). Default value: unset #### remove-stale-when-commented Automatically remove the stale label when the issues or the pull requests are commented. Default value: `true` Required Permission: `issues: write` and `pull-requests: write` #### remove-issue-stale-when-commented Override [remove-stale-when-commented](#remove-stale-when-commented) but only to automatically remove the stale label when the issues are commented. Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` and `pull-requests: write` #### remove-pr-stale-when-commented Override [remove-stale-when-commented](#remove-stale-when-commented) but only to automatically remove the stale label when the pull requests are commented. Default value: unset Required Permission: `issues: write` and `pull-requests: write` #### labels-to-add-when-unstale A comma delimited list of labels to add when a stale issue or pull request receives activity and has the [stale-issue-label](#stale-issue-label) or [stale-pr-label](#stale-pr-label) removed from it. Default value: unset #### labels-to-remove-when-unstale A comma delimited list of labels to remove when a stale issue or pull request receives activity and has the [stale-issue-label](#stale-issue-label) or [stale-pr-label](#stale-pr-label) removed from it. Warning: each label results in a unique API call which can drastically consume the limit of [operations-per-run](#operations-per-run). Default value: unset Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### debug-only Run the stale workflow as dry-run. No GitHub API calls that can alter your issues and pull requests will happen. Useful to debug or when you want to configure the stale workflow safely. Default value: `false` #### ascending Change the order used to fetch the issues and pull requests from GitHub: - `true` is for ascending. - `false` is for descending. It can be useful if your repository is processing so many issues and pull requests that you reach the [operations-per-run](#operations-per-run) limit. Based on the order, you could prefer to focus on the new content or on the old content of your repository. Default value: `false` #### start-date The start date is used to ignore the issues and pull requests created before the start date. Particularly useful when you wish to add this stale workflow on an existing repository and only wish to stale the new issues and pull requests. If set, the date must be formatted following the `ISO 8601` or `RFC 2822` standard. Default value: unset #### delete-branch If set to `true`, the stale workflow will automatically delete the GitHub branches related to the pull requests automatically closed by the stale workflow. Default value: `false` Required Permission: `pull-requests: write` #### exempt-milestones A white-list of milestone(s) to only process the issues or the pull requests that does not contain one of these milestone(s). It can be a comma separated list of milestones (e.g: `V1,next`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. Default value: unset #### exempt-issue-milestones Override [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) but only to process the issues that does not contain one of these milestone(s). Default value: unset #### exempt-pr-milestones Override [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones) but only to process the pull requests that does not contain one of these milestone(s). Default value: unset #### exempt-all-milestones If set to `true`, the issues or the pull requests with a milestone will not be marked as stale automatically. Priority over [exempt-milestones](#exempt-milestones). Default value: `false` #### exempt-all-issue-milestones Override [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) but only to exempt the issues with a milestone to be marked as stale automatically. Default value: unset #### exempt-all-pr-milestones Override [exempt-all-milestones](#exempt-all-milestones) but only to exempt the pull requests with a milestone to be marked as stale automatically. Default value: unset #### exempt-assignees An allow-list of assignee(s) to only process the issues or the pull requests that does not contain one of these assignee(s). It can be a comma separated list of assignees (e.g: `marco,polo`). If unset (or an empty string), this option will not alter the stale workflow. Default value: unset #### exempt-issue-assignees Override [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) but only to process the issues that does not contain one of these assignee(s). Default value: unset #### exempt-pr-assignees Override [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees) but only to process the pull requests that does not contain one of these assignee(s). Default value: unset #### exempt-all-assignees If set to `true`, the issues or the pull requests with an assignee will not be marked as stale automatically. Priority over [exempt-assignees](#exempt-assignees). Default value: `false` #### exempt-all-issue-assignees Override [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) but only to exempt the issues with an assignee to be marked as stale automatically. Default value: unset #### exempt-all-pr-assignees Override [exempt-all-assignees](#exempt-all-assignees) but only to exempt the pull requests with an assignee to be marked as stale automatically. Default value: unset #### enable-statistics Collects and display statistics at the end of the stale workflow logs to get a summary of what happened during the run. This option is only useful if the debug output secret `ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG` is set to `true` in your repository to display the logs. Default value: `true` ### Usage See also [action.yml](./action.yml) for a comprehensive list of all the options. Basic: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: stale-issue-message: 'Message to comment on stale issues. If none provided, will not mark issues stale' stale-pr-message: 'Message to comment on stale PRs. If none provided, will not mark PRs stale' ``` Configure stale timeouts: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: stale-issue-message: 'This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 5 days.' days-before-stale: 30 days-before-close: 5 ``` Configure different stale timeouts but never close a PR: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PR' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} stale-issue-message: 'This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 5 days.' stale-pr-message: 'This PR is stale because it has been open 45 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 10 days.' close-issue-message: 'This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 5 days with no activity.' days-before-stale: 30 days-before-close: 5 days-before-pr-close: -1 ``` Configure different stale timeouts: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} stale-issue-message: 'This issue is stale because it has been open 30 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 5 days.' stale-pr-message: 'This PR is stale because it has been open 45 days with no activity. Remove stale label or comment or this will be closed in 10 days.' close-issue-message: 'This issue was closed because it has been stalled for 5 days with no activity.' close-pr-message: 'This PR was closed because it has been stalled for 10 days with no activity.' days-before-issue-stale: 30 days-before-pr-stale: 45 days-before-issue-close: 5 days-before-pr-close: 10 ``` Configure labels: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: stale-issue-message: 'Stale issue message' stale-pr-message: 'Stale pull request message' stale-issue-label: 'no-issue-activity' exempt-issue-labels: 'awaiting-approval,work-in-progress' stale-pr-label: 'no-pr-activity' exempt-pr-labels: 'awaiting-approval,work-in-progress' only-labels: 'awaiting-feedback,awaiting-answers' ``` Configure the stale action to only stale issue/PR created after the 18th april 2020: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: start-date: '2020-18-04T00:00:00Z' # ISO 8601 or RFC 2822 ``` Avoid stale for specific milestones: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: exempt-issue-milestones: 'future,alpha,beta' exempt-pr-milestones: 'bugfix,improvement' ``` Avoid stale for all PR with milestones: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: exempt-all-pr-milestones: true ``` Check stale for specific labels: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: any-of-labels: 'needs-more-info,needs-demo' # You can opt for 'only-labels' instead if your use-case requires all labels # to be present in the issue/PR ``` Avoid stale for specific assignees: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: exempt-issue-assignees: 'marco,polo' exempt-pr-assignees: 'marco' ``` Avoid stale for all PR with assignees: ```yaml name: 'Close stale issues and PRs' on: schedule: - cron: '30 1 * * *' jobs: stale: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/stale@v3 with: exempt-all-pr-assignees: true ``` ### Debugging **Logs:** To see the debug output from this action, you must set the secret `ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG` to `true` in your repository. There are many logs, so this can be very helpful! **Statistics:** If the logs are enabled, you can also enable the statistics log which will be visible at the end of the logs once all issues were processed. This is very helpful to have a quick understanding of the whole stale workflow. Set `enable-statistics` to `true` in your workflow configuration file. **Dry-run:** You can run this action in debug only mode (no actions will be taken on your issues and pull requests) by passing `debug-only` to `true` as an argument to the action. **More operations:** You can increase the maximum number of operations per run by passing `operations-per-run` to `1000` for example which will help you to handle more operations in a single stale workflow run. If the `debug-only` option is enabled, this is very helpful because the workflow will (almost) never reach the GitHub API rate, and you will be able to deep-dive into the logs. **Job frequency:** You could change the cron job frequency in the stale workflow to run the stale workflow more often. Usually, this is not very helpful though. ### Contributing We welcome contributions! Please read the [contributing](CONTRIBUTING.md) file before starting your work.