PR Comment Limit Enforcement

Standardized patterns for checking and enforcing the 50-comment limit on pull requests. All commands that post comments must use these patterns.

Purpose

Prevents infinite AI review cycles by capping PR comments at 50. Provides single source of truth for comment counting, limit checking, and auto-resolution patterns.

The Limit

Hard Limit: 50 Comments Per Pull Request

What Counts

A "comment" includes:

• PR review threads (code review comments in conversation threads)
• Inline code comments (comments on specific lines)
• General PR comments (discussions on the PR body)
• Resolved comments (still count toward the limit)

Why Count Resolved Comments?

Prevents gaming the system by resolving old comments to post new ones. All comments take up space in the review conversation.

Pre-Comment Check Pattern

Before posting ANY new comments on a PR, MUST check limit:

Step 1: Count Comments

# Get total comment count (review threads + PR comments)
COMMENT_COUNT=$(gh api graphql --raw-field 'query=query { repository(owner: "{OWNER}", name: "{REPO}") { pullRequest(number: {NUMBER}) { comments { totalCount } reviewThreads { totalCount } } } }' | jq '.data.repository.pullRequest.comments.totalCount + .data.repository.pullRequest.reviewThreads.totalCount')

Step 2: Check Limit

if [ "$COMMENT_COUNT" -ge 50 ]; then
  echo "❌ PR has reached 50-comment limit. Skipping comment posting."
  echo "See PR Comment Limits rule for details."
  exit 0
fi

Step 3: Proceed if Under Limit

# Only if COMMENT_COUNT < 50
gh pr comment "$PR_NUMBER" --body "Your comment here..."

Auto-Resolution Pattern

When limit is reached, auto-resolve all unresolved threads with standard message:

Resolution Message Template

This PR has reached the 50-comment limit. All subsequent comments are being
automatically resolved to allow the PR to be merged. Please address any
critical feedback on a follow-up PR.

Auto-Resolution Workflow

1. Detect limit exceeded:

   bashCopy

   COMMENT_COUNT=$(... count query ...)
   if [ "$COMMENT_COUNT" -ge 50 ]; then
     # Limit exceeded
   fi
   

2. Get unresolved threads:

   bashCopy

   # Use GitHub GraphQL Skill patterns for fetching unresolved threads
   gh api graphql --raw-field 'query=query { ... reviewThreads(last: 100) { nodes { id isResolved } } }'
   

3. Post auto-resolution message (as general PR comment):

   bashCopy

   gh pr comment "$PR_NUMBER" --body "This PR has reached the 50-comment limit..."
   

4. Resolve all unresolved threads:

   bashCopy

   # For each unresolved thread ID
   gh api graphql --raw-field 'query=mutation { resolveReviewThread(input: {threadId: "{THREAD_ID}"}) { thread { id isResolved } } }'
   

Command Integration

For Comment-Posting Commands

Commands that post comments (/review-pr, /manage-pr, custom review tools) MUST:

1. Check limit BEFORE posting any comments
2. Exit gracefully if limit reached (return success code, not error)
3. Log the skip with clear message explaining why

For Comment-Resolution Commands

Commands that resolve comments (/resolve-pr-review-thread) SHOULD:

1. Check limit as informational (doesn't block resolution)
2. Continue resolving even if limit exceeded (help reduce count)
3. Report limit status in final output

Commands Using This Skill

• /review-pr - MUST check before posting review comments
• /manage-pr - MUST check before posting feedback
• Any command that posts PR comments

Related Resources

• pr-comment-limits rule - Policy and rationale
• github-graphql skill - Query patterns for comment counting
• pr-thread-resolution-enforcement skill - Thread resolution patterns

Examples

Example 1: PR with 45 Comments

COMMENT_COUNT=45

if [ "$COMMENT_COUNT" -ge 50 ]; then
  exit 0  # This branch NOT taken
fi

# Proceed with posting comments
gh pr comment 123 --body "Review feedback here..."

Result: Comment posted normally

Example 2: PR with 50 Comments

COMMENT_COUNT=50

if [ "$COMMENT_COUNT" -ge 50 ]; then
  echo "❌ PR #123 has reached 50-comment limit. Skipping new comments."
  exit 0  # Exit gracefully
fi

# This line never executes

Result: No comment posted, command exits cleanly

Example 3: PR with 52 Comments (Auto-Resolve)

COMMENT_COUNT=52

# Limit exceeded - trigger auto-resolution
gh pr comment 123 --body "This PR has reached the 50-comment limit..."

# Get unresolved threads
THREAD_IDS=$(... GraphQL query ...)

# Resolve each thread in parallel using the resolve-pr-thread-graphql agent
# Launch one agent per thread ID
Task(subagent_type='resolve-pr-thread-graphql', prompt='Resolve thread: thread_id_1', run_in_background=true)
Task(subagent_type='resolve-pr-thread-graphql', prompt='Resolve thread: thread_id_2', run_in_background=true)
Task(subagent_type='resolve-pr-thread-graphql', prompt='Resolve thread: thread_id_3', run_in_background=true)
# ... (continue for all thread IDs)
# Wait for all agents to complete using TaskOutput

Result: All threads resolved, message posted

Troubleshooting

Issue: Comment count query returns incorrect total

Cause: Query might not be counting both comments and reviewThreads

Solution: Ensure query sums both: comments.totalCount + reviewThreads.totalCount

Issue: Auto-resolution doesn't prevent new comments

Cause: Commands not checking limit before posting

Solution: Add pre-comment check to all comment-posting commands

Issue: Critical feedback gets auto-resolved

Cause: PR legitimately needs more than 50 comments worth of feedback

Solution: PR should be split into smaller PRs, or critical issues addressed in follow-up

Best Practices

1. Always check before posting - Never post without checking limit first
2. Exit gracefully - Return success (0), not error, when skipping due to limit
3. Clear logging - Explain why comment was skipped
4. Use standard message - Same auto-resolution message everywhere
5. Reference rule - Point users to PR Comment Limits rule for context
6. Count everything - Don't try to exclude certain comment types
7. Respect the limit - No workarounds or exceptions