shipper_reset

shipper_reset

Reset an issue back to an earlier workflow stage without shelling out to the CLI. Requires an explicit target stage. Supports dry-run preview mode and refuses fresh issue locks.

When to use

Use this for explicit recovery when an issue must move backward to an earlier workflow stage. Prefer dry-run first so the agent can inspect cleanup actions before mutating state.

Behavior hints

• destructiveHint: true — The tool can remove or rewrite workflow artifacts and should be used carefully.
• openWorldHint: true — The tool reaches GitHub or other external systems outside the MCP server.

Input schema

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
issue	integer	yes	-	GitHub issue number.
target	enum: new, groomed, designed, planned, implemented	yes	-	Earlier workflow stage to reset the issue to.
dry_run	boolean	no	-	When true, preview reset cleanup without making changes.

Example call

{
  "issue": 42,
  "target": "groomed",
  "dry_run": true
}

Example result

Reset preview for issue #42:
Target: shipper:groomed
Labels to remove: shipper:planned
Label to add: shipper:groomed
Dry run only; no changes made.

Error modes

• Pull request target: # is a pull request, not an issue.
• Closed issue: Issue # is closed. Reset only works on open issues.
• Active lock: Issue # is locked by another shipper instance. Release the lock with shipper_unlock before retrying.
• Already at target: Error: Issue # is already at shipper:. Reset only works backward.
• Target ahead of current stage: Error: shipper: is ahead of the current stage shipper:. Reset only works backward.
• Partial reset failure: failed: ()
• Scan, execution, or GitHub failure: Scan/execute/GitHub failure:

Related tools

• shipper_get_issue
• shipper_unlock