Gitcrawl

Use this skill before live GitHub search when triaging OpenClaw issues or PRs.

gitcrawl is the local candidate-discovery layer. It is fast, includes open and closed threads, and can surface duplicate attempts, related issues, and already-landed fixes. It is not the final source of truth for comments, labels, merges, closes, or current CI.

Default Flow

1. Check local state:

gitcrawl doctor --json

1. Read the target from the local archive:

gitcrawl threads openclaw/openclaw --numbers <issue-or-pr-number> --include-closed --json

1. Find related candidates:

gitcrawl neighbors openclaw/openclaw --number <issue-or-pr-number> --limit 12 --json
gitcrawl search openclaw/openclaw --query "<scope or title keywords>" --mode hybrid --limit 20 --json

1. Inspect relevant clusters:

gitcrawl cluster-detail openclaw/openclaw --id <cluster-id> --member-limit 20 --body-chars 280 --json

1. Verify anything actionable with live GitHub and the checkout:

gh pr view <number> --json number,title,state,mergedAt,body,files,comments,reviews,statusCheckRollup
gh issue view <number> --json number,title,state,body,comments,closedAt

Freshness Rules

• Treat gitcrawl as stale if doctor shows no target thread, an old last_sync_at, missing embeddings for neighbor/search commands, or a clearly wrong open/closed state.
• If stale data blocks the decision, refresh the portable store first:

gitcrawl init --portable-store git@github.com:openclaw/gitcrawl-store.git --json

• Run expensive update commands such as gitcrawl sync --include-comments only when the user asked to update the local store or stale data is blocking the decision.
• The sync default is all GitHub thread states; pass --state open, --state closed, or --state all only when a task requires a narrower or explicit scope.

Boundaries

• Use gitcrawl for candidates, clusters, and historical context.
• Use gh, gh api, and the current checkout for live state before commenting, labeling, closing, reopening, merging, or filing a PR review.
• Do not close or label based only on gitcrawl similarity. Require matching problem intent plus live verification.
• If gitcrawl is unavailable, say so and fall back to targeted gh search rather than blocking normal maintainer work.