Skip to content

chore: improve GitHub issue templates with structured forms and doctor output #522

@Aureliolo

Description

@Aureliolo

Summary

Improve the GitHub issue templates to use structured YAML forms with dropdowns, auto-populated fields, and better guidance. Bind bug report templates to synthorg doctor output format so users can paste diagnostics directly.

Motivation

Current issue templates are basic Markdown. Common problems:

  • Bug reports lack system info (OS, architecture, Docker version, CLI version) — see fix(cli): PowerShell installer fails when OSArchitecture returns empty #521 where we had to reverse-engineer the environment
  • Feature requests don't prompt for design spec references or dependency analysis
  • No template for CLI-specific bugs vs backend bugs vs dashboard bugs
  • synthorg doctor collects comprehensive diagnostics but there's no template field to paste its output

Scope

Bug Report Template (bug_report.yml)

  • Convert from Markdown to YAML form
  • Dropdowns for: component (CLI / Backend / Dashboard / Docker), OS, installation method
  • Required field: synthorg doctor output (or "not installed" option)
  • Required field: version (synthorg version output)
  • Pre-filled steps to reproduce with numbered list
  • Error output field (code block)
  • Severity self-assessment dropdown (crash / wrong behavior / cosmetic / performance)

Feature Request Template (feature_request.yml)

  • Convert from Markdown to YAML form
  • Dropdown for component area
  • Design spec reference field (which docs/design/ page is relevant)
  • Dependency field (related issues)
  • Scope self-assessment dropdown (small / medium / large)

CLI Install Bug Template (cli_install.yml)

  • Dedicated template for installation issues
  • Required fields: OS, architecture, installation method (bash script / PowerShell / manual)
  • synthorg doctor output field (with note that it may not be available if install failed)
  • Shell and version info fields

Doctor Output Binding

  • Document the expected synthorg doctor output format in the template help text
  • Add example output so users know what to paste
  • Consider adding synthorg doctor --clipboard flag to auto-copy to clipboard (separate issue)

Acceptance Criteria

  • All templates converted to YAML form format (.yml in .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/)
  • Bug report requires component, OS, and version info
  • Bug report has dedicated field for synthorg doctor output
  • Feature request prompts for design spec reference and dependencies
  • CLI installation bugs handled via unified bug report (dedicated template merged into bug_report.yml per user decision)
  • config.yml chooser configured with template descriptions
  • Templates render correctly in GitHub's "New Issue" page

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    prio:lowNice to have, can deferprio:mediumShould do, but not blockingscope:medium1-3 days of workspec:human-interactionDESIGN_SPEC Section 13 - Human Interaction Layerspec:templatesDESIGN_SPEC Section 14 - Templates & Buildertype:choreMaintenance, cleanup, dependency updatestype:docsDocumentation work

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions