How can I automate issue management (labels, assignments, notifications) using GitHub Actions or bots?

[Suhebdevtechnosys]

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How can you make GitHub automatically do some tasks for you when new issues are created or updated?

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• I have read the above statement and can confirm my post is relevant to the GitHub feature areas Issues and/or Projects.

[apo-bozdag]

Here’s a simple, human answer with working examples to automate issue labeling, assignment, and notifications using GitHub Actions and lightweight bots.

Basic auto-label on new issues (GitHub Actions)
• Trigger: on new issues
• Action: add labels based on title/body keywords

# .github/workflows/auto-label.yml
name: Auto label issues

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, edited]

jobs:
  labeler:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
    steps:
      - name: Add labels by keywords
        uses: actions-ecosystem/action-add-labels@v1
        if: contains(github.event.issue.title, 'bug') || contains(github.event.issue.body, 'bug')
        with:
          labels: |
            bug

      - name: Label enhancement
        uses: actions-ecosystem/action-add-labels@v1
        if: contains(github.event.issue.title, 'feature') || contains(github.event.issue.body, 'feature')
        with:
          labels: |
            enhancement

      - name: Default triage label
        uses: actions-ecosystem/action-add-labels@v1
        if: github.event.action == 'opened'
        with:
          labels: |
            needs-triage

Assign by label or area owners (GitHub Actions)
• Trigger: label added or issue opened
• Action: auto-assign team members based on label

# .github/workflows/auto-assign.yml
name: Auto assign issues

on:
 issues:
   types: [opened, labeled]

jobs:
 assigner:
   runs-on: ubuntu-latest
   permissions:
     issues: write
   steps:
     - name: Assign frontend owners when 'frontend' label present
       if: contains(join(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, ','), 'frontend')
       uses: tibdex/assign-issue@v2
       with:
         assignees: |
           usernameA
           usernameB

     - name: Assign backend owners when 'backend' label present
       if: contains(join(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, ','), 'backend')
       uses: tibdex/assign-issue@v2
       with:
         assignees: |
           usernameC
           usernameD

     - name: Round‑robin default assignees
       uses: pozil/auto-assign-issue@v1
       if: github.event.action == 'opened'
       with:
         assignees: usernameA,usernameB,usernameC
         numAssignees: 1

Notify on SLA breaches or labels (GitHub Actions → Slack/Email)
• Trigger: issue labeled or stale for N days
• Action: send Slack message or email

# .github/workflows/notify-slack.yml
name: Notify Slack on critical issues

on:
issues:
  types: [labeled, opened]

jobs:
slack:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  permissions:
    issues: read
  steps:
    - name: Send Slack when 'critical' label present
      if: contains(join(github.event.issue.labels.*.name, ','), 'critical')
      uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.27.0
      with:
        payload: |
          {
            "text": "🚨 Critical issue: <${{ github.event.issue.html_url }}|#${{ github.event.issue.number }} - ${{ github.event.issue.title }}>"
          }
      env:
        SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Auto-close stale issues (Probot or Actions)
• Use actions/stale to mark and close inactive issues

# .github/workflows/stale.yml
name: Close stale issues

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * *'  # daily at 09:00 UTC

jobs:
  stale:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/stale@v9
        with:
          stale-issue-message: 'This issue has been marked stale due to inactivity. It will be closed in 7 days unless there is further activity.'
          close-issue-message: 'Closing due to inactivity.'
          days-before-stale: 21
          days-before-close: 7
          exempt-issue-labels: 'critical,blocked'

Template-driven triage with forms (Issue forms + Actions)
• Use an issue form to collect “area” and “severity”
• An Action reads form body and applies labels/assignees

# .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug.yml
name: Bug report
description: Report a bug
labels: [bug]
body:
  - type: dropdown
    id: area
    attributes:
      label: Area
      options:
        - frontend
        - backend
        - devops
  - type: dropdown
    id: severity
    attributes:
      label: Severity
      options:
        - low
        - medium
        - critical

# .github/workflows/triage-form.yml
name: Triage issue form
on:
  issues:
    types: [opened]

jobs:
  triage:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
    steps:
      - name: Parse body and label
        uses: actions-ecosystem/action-add-labels@v1
        with:
          labels: |
            ${{ contains(github.event.issue.body, 'frontend') && 'frontend' || '' }}
            ${{ contains(github.event.issue.body, 'backend') && 'backend' || '' }}
            ${{ contains(github.event.issue.body, 'devops') && 'devops' || '' }}
            ${{ contains(github.event.issue.body, 'critical') && 'critical' || '' }}
      - name: Assign by area
        if: contains(github.event.issue.body, 'frontend')
        uses: tibdex/assign-issue@v2
        with:
          assignees: usernameA

Quick setup checklist
• Create .github/workflows with the YAML above.
• Store secrets (e.g., SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL) in repo/org Secrets.
• Define clear labels: bug, enhancement, frontend, backend, devops, critical, needs-triage.
• Add issue forms to standardize inputs.
• Start simple; expand rules as you see what saves you time.

If you share the labels/team members and your preferred notifications (Slack/Email), I can tailor one workflow file that handles label, assign, and notify in a single pass.