---
topic: issues
source_keys:
  - gitea-mcp-repo
  - gitea-mcp-slim-go
---

# Issue operations

Call signatures below were verified live against the deployed `gitea-mcp` server via `ToolSearch`
at authoring time, not copied from `api-reference.md` — this is deliberate: research docs are
generated from source at a point in time and can drift from the server actually deployed (see the
`list_issues` gotcha below, which is the exact drift this policy exists to catch). Re-verify against
the live schema if these tools appear to behave differently than documented here.

## `list_issues`

**Parameters (live schema):**
- `owner` (string, required)
- `repo` (string, required)
- `state` (string, optional, default `"all"`) — conventional values `"open"`/`"closed"`/`"all"`, not
  schema-enforced as an enum
- `labels` (array of strings, optional) — filter by label *name* (not ID)
- `since` (string, optional) — ISO 8601, issues updated after this time
- `before` (string, optional) — ISO 8601, issues updated before this time
- `page` (number, optional, default `1`)
- `per_page` (number, optional, default `30`)

**There is no `type` parameter and no `milestones` parameter**, despite both appearing in
`api-reference.md`. This tool cannot filter issues-vs-PRs or by milestone — see the Gotchas section
of SKILL.md for the consequence (PR entries can appear in results with no way to exclude them here).

**Call:**
```
list_issues owner: <owner> repo: <repo> state: "open"
```

**Response (list item):** `number`, `title`, `state`, `html_url`, `user`, `comments`, `created_at`,
`updated_at`, and optionally `labels` (`[]string`), `milestone` (`{id, title}`), `ref`, `deadline`.
Body and `closed_at` are omitted from list responses — call `issue_read method: "get"` for those.

Paginate with `page`/`per_page` until the returned count is less than `per_page`.

## `issue_read`

**Parameters (live schema, matches `api-reference.md`):**
- `method` (string, required, enum) — `"get"` | `"get_comments"` | `"get_labels"`
- `owner` (string, required)
- `repo` (string, required)
- `issue_number` (number, required)

**`get`** — full issue: `number`, `title`, `body`, `state`, `html_url`, `user`, `labels`
(`[]string`), `comments`, `created_at`, `updated_at`, `closed_at`, and optionally `assignees`
(`[]string`), `milestone` (`{id, title}`), `ref`, `deadline`, `is_pull` (present only when this
number is backed by a pull request — absent, not `false`, on true issues).

**`get_comments`** — array of `{id, body, user, html_url, created_at, updated_at}`.

**`get_labels`** — array of full label objects (`id`, `name`, `color`, `description` — not slimmed
to name strings, unlike the labels array on `get`).

**Call:**
```
issue_read method: "get" owner: <owner> repo: <repo> issue_number: <N>
```

Always check `is_pull` before treating a number as a plain issue — see the shared number-space
gotcha in SKILL.md.

## `issue_write`

**Parameters (live schema, matches `api-reference.md`):**
- `method` (string, required, enum) — `"create"` | `"update"` | `"add_comment"` | `"edit_comment"` |
  `"add_labels"` | `"remove_label"` | `"replace_labels"` | `"clear_labels"`
- `owner` (string, required)
- `repo` (string, required)
- `issue_number` (number, required for every method except `"create"`)
- `title` (string, required for `"create"`)
- `body` (string, required for `"create"`, `"add_comment"`, `"edit_comment"`)
- `assignees` (array of strings, optional) — login names (see `references/enrichments.md` for why
  this is usually omitted)
- `milestone` (number, optional) — milestone ID, never a title
- `state` (string, enum `"open"`/`"closed"`/`"all"`, optional) — for `"update"`
- `commentID` (number, optional, required for `"edit_comment"`)
- `labels` (array of numbers, optional) — label IDs, never names — for `add_labels`/`replace_labels`
- `label_id` (number, optional, required for `"remove_label"`) — singular, not the array form
- `ref` (string, optional) — branch association, informational only
- `deadline` (string, optional) — ISO 8601
- `remove_deadline` (boolean, optional)

**Create:**
```
issue_write method: "create"
  owner: <owner> repo: <repo>
  title: <title> body: <body>
  labels: [<resolved IDs>]        ← omit if none confidently inferred
  milestone: <resolved ID>        ← omit if none clearly fits
  assignees: ["<login>"]          ← omit if no default configured
```

**Close:**
```
issue_write method: "update" owner: <owner> repo: <repo> issue_number: <N> state: "closed"
```
There is no `method: "close"` — using one will error.

**Comment:**
```
issue_write method: "add_comment" owner: <owner> repo: <repo> issue_number: <N> body: <text>
```

**Apply resolved label IDs directly** (bypassing `references/enrichments.md`'s inference step, e.g.
when the caller already named exact labels):
```
issue_write method: "add_labels" owner: <owner> repo: <repo> issue_number: <N> labels: [<IDs>]
```
To replace all labels atomically instead of adding: `method: "replace_labels"`.
To remove one: `method: "remove_label" label_id: <single ID>`.

## Token scope

All of `list_issues`, `issue_read`, and `issue_write` are verified working under a token holding
`write:issue` + `write:repository`.