---

name: firewatch description: Query GitHub PR activity using the Firewatch CLI (fw). Fetch, cache, filter, and act on PR comments, reviews, commits, and CI status. Outputs JSONL for jq composition. Use when checking PR status, finding review comments, querying activity, resolving feedback, or working with GitHub pull requests. user-invocable: true metadata: author: outfitter-dev version: "3.0"

Firewatch

Query, filter, and act on GitHub PR activity using the Firewatch CLI (fw).

Quick Start

Copyfw --refresh --summary --open    # Sync and see what needs attention
fw --type comment --pr 42       # Comments on PR #42
fw --type comment | jq 'select(.author != .pr_author)'  # External feedback only

Core Concepts

JSONL Output

Firewatch outputs one JSON object per line. Each entry is denormalized — it contains full PR context (title, state, author, labels) so you never need joins.

Copyfw --type comment --limit 1

Copy{
  "id": "IC_kwDOK...",
  "type": "comment",
  "subtype": "review_comment",
  "author": "alice",
  "body": "Consider adding error handling here",
  "file": "src/auth.ts",
  "line": 42,
  "pr": 123,
  "pr_title": "Add user authentication",
  "pr_state": "open",
  "pr_author": "bob",
  "created_at": "2025-01-14T10:00:00Z"
}

Entry Types

Querying

Filter Flags

Copyfw --type comment              # By type
fw --since 24h                 # By time (30s, 5m, 24h, 7d, 2w, 1mo)
fw --pr 42                    # By PR number
fw --author alice              # By author
fw --open                      # Open PRs only
fw --active                    # Open or draft PRs
fw --mine                      # PRs assigned to me
fw --reviews                   # PRs I need to review

Combine filters (AND logic):

Copyfw --type review --author alice --since 7d --open

Aggregation

Per-PR summary instead of individual entries:

Copyfw --summary --open

Composing with jq

CLI filters handle common cases; jq handles everything else:

Copy# Only approved reviews
fw --type review | jq 'select(.state == "approved")'

# Comments mentioning "TODO"
fw --type comment | jq 'select(.body | test("TODO"; "i"))'

# External feedback (not self-comments)
fw --type comment | jq 'select(.author != .pr_author)'

# Count by type
fw | jq -s 'group_by(.type) | map({type: .[0].type, count: length})'

Tip: Use CLI filters first, then jq. CLI filters are faster because they skip JSON parsing for non-matching entries.

See references/jq-cookbook.md for more patterns.

Taking Action

Post a Comment

Copyfw add 42 "LGTM, merging!"

Reply to a Review Comment

Every comment entry has an id field:

Copyfw add 42 "Fixed in latest commit" --reply IC_kwDOK...

Reply and Resolve

Copyfw add 42 "Done" --reply IC_kwDOK... --resolve

Resolve Without Replying

Copyfw close IC_kwDOK...

Resolve multiple threads:

Copyfw close IC_abc IC_def IC_ghi

Staleness Tracking

Review comments can become stale when the file is modified. Run fw check to populate staleness data:

Copyfw check

Then query for unaddressed comments:

Copyfw --type comment | jq 'select(.file_activity_after.modified == false)'

The file_activity_after field shows:

• modified — Whether file was changed after the comment
• commits_touching_file — How many commits touched the file
• latest_commit — SHA of the most recent commit to the file

Graphite Stack Support

Firewatch integrates with Graphite for stack-aware queries. When syncing in a repo with Graphite stacks, entries include stack metadata:

Copyfw --refresh   # Auto-detects Graphite stacks

Stack Fields

Entries gain a graphite object:

Copy{
  "graphite": {
    "stack_id": "abc123",
    "stack_position": 2,
    "stack_size": 4,
    "parent_pr": 101
  }
}

• stack_position — 1 is the base (closest to main), higher = further up
• file_provenance — Which PR in the stack introduced each file

Quick Stack Queries

Copy# All entries with stack metadata
fw | jq 'select(.graphite != null)'

# Base PRs only (bottom of stack)
fw --summary | jq 'select(.graphite.stack_position == 1)'

# Comments where file originated in a different PR
fw --type comment | jq 'select(.file_provenance.origin_pr != .pr)'

Stack Workflows

For detailed Graphite workflows (querying stacks, cross-PR fixes, commit patterns):

• graphite/stack-queries.md — Querying stack data
• graphite/cross-pr-fixes.md — File provenance and fixing in the right PR
• graphite/commit-workflow.md — gt modify vs gt amend -a

Command Reference

Query Options

Add Options

Patterns

• patterns/daily-standup.md — Morning PR review workflow
• patterns/implementing-feedback.md — Systematic feedback resolution
• patterns/resolving-threads.md — Reply and resolve patterns

References

• references/entry-schema.md — FirewatchEntry field reference
• references/jq-cookbook.md — Common jq filters
• references/query-patterns.md — Query combinations
• references/troubleshooting.md — Common issues and fixes

Agent Tips

1. CLI filters first, then jq — More efficient than jq-only filtering
2. Denormalized = no joins — Each entry has full PR context
3. Entry IDs for actions — Use id field with --reply and fw close
4. Run fw check for staleness — Populates file_activity_after field
5. Check .graphite for stacks — Null if not in a Graphite stack
6. File provenance for cross-PR fixes — See graphite/cross-pr-fixes.md