Oleksandr Kuzmenko, EditorPublished 5 min readAI-assisted · editor-reviewed
TL;DR
- Over 6,000 Claude Code issues marked with has repro were auto-closed by bot workflows.
- The stale bot requires 10 thumbs-up reactions (STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD = 10) to exempt an issue from closure.
- Closed issues lock after 7 days, preventing users from appending updated reproduction steps.
Key facts
- Auto-closed issues with reproduction steps
- Over 6,000
- Stale mark inactivity duration
- 14 days
- Stale auto-close duration
- 14 additional days
- Thread lock delay after closing
- 7 days
- Upvote exemption threshold
- 10 thumbs up
Source: Key facts — Upvote exemption threshold
Source: Key facts. Upvote exemption threshold: 10 thumbs up. Each figure is copied from the story.
- Upvote exemption threshold10 thumbs up
Source: Key facts — Stale mark inactivity duration, Thread lock delay after closing
Source: Key facts. Stale mark inactivity duration: 14 days. Thread lock delay after closing: 7 days. The chart compares only values that share a unit. Each figure is copied from the story.
Metric chart
- 14 daysStale mark inactivity duration
- 7 daysThread lock delay after closing
- Stale mark inactivity duration14 days
- Thread lock delay after closing7 days
Flawed Issue Lifecycle in Claude Code Repository
Issue #87647 reveals that the github-actions Issue Sweep workflow on anthropics/claude-code conflicts directly with public maintainer instructions. The official guidance stated that issues are closed only when missing reproduction data or a /feedback ID, and that commenting with an updated version allows re-opening without re-filing. However, the automated sweep triggers whenever human comments cease.
The 10-Upvote Threshold and Auto-Locking
Inspection of the repository actions reveals that STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD is hardcoded to 10. Issues without at least 10 thumbs-up reactions encounter the following automated cascade:
1. Inactivity for 14 days triggers: nudge: "This issue has been automatically marked as stale due to inactivity." 2. Additional 14 days of silence triggers: nudge: "This issue has been marked for automatic closure." 3. The Lock Stale Issues workflow locks the thread permanently after 7 days of closure, making community follow-up impossible.
Because issues labeled with has repro or reproduced are not exempt from the 14-day timer, thousands of verified bug reports have been pruned silently.
Try it in 2 minutes
export const STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD = 10;When to use
- When filing bug reports, regressions, or CLI crashes on the official Claude Code repository.
- When monitoring community pull requests and bug fixes in high-volume agent tooling repos.
When NOT to use
- When tracking bugs in personal or private repositories that do not use stale sweep actions.
- When maintaining small open-source projects where every issue is triaged manually by humans.
What to do today
- Search your filed Claude Code issues on GitHub to confirm if they were marked stale or closed.
- Gather at least 10 thumbs-up reactions on active bug reports to hit STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD.
- Include reproduction steps and Claude Version immediately in the initial issue description.
Step names are taken from What to do today.
Step names are taken from What to do today. Search your filed Claude Code issues on GitHub to confirm if they were marked stale or closed.. Gather at least 10 thumbs-up reactions on active bug reports to hit STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD.. Include reproduction steps and Claude Version immediately in the initial issue description.
- Search your filed Claude Code issues on GitHub to confirm if they were marked stale or closed.
- Gather at least 10 thumbs-up reactions on active bug reports to hit STALE_UPVOTE_THRESHOLD.
- Include reproduction steps and Claude Version immediately in the initial issue description.