feat: add sticky_comment input to reduce GitHub comment spam (#211)

* feat: no claude spam

* feat: add silent property

* feat: add silent property

* feat: add silent property

* chore: call me a sticky comment

* chore: applying review comments

* chore: apply review comments

* format

* reword

---------

Co-authored-by: Ashwin Bhat <ashwin@anthropic.com>

README.md

@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ jobs:
 | `base_branch`         | The base branch to use for creating new branches (e.g., 'main', 'develop')                                           | No       | -         |
 | `max_turns`           | Maximum number of conversation turns Claude can take (limits back-and-forth exchanges)                               | No       | -         |
 | `timeout_minutes`     | Timeout in minutes for execution                                                                                     | No       | `30`      |
+| `use_sticky_comment`  | Use just one comment to deliver PR comments (only applies for pull_request event workflows)                          | No       | `false`   |
 | `github_token`        | GitHub token for Claude to operate with. **Only include this if you're connecting a custom GitHub app of your own!** | No       | -         |
 | `model`               | Model to use (provider-specific format required for Bedrock/Vertex)                                                  | No       | -         |
 | `anthropic_model`     | **DEPRECATED**: Use `model` instead. Kept for backward compatibility.                                                | No       | -         |

action.yml

@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ inputs:
     description: "Timeout in minutes for execution"
     required: false
     default: "30"
+  use_sticky_comment:
+    description: "Use just one comment to deliver issue/PR comments"
+    required: false
+    default: "false"
 
 outputs:
   execution_file:
@@ -116,6 +120,7 @@ runs:
         MCP_CONFIG: ${{ inputs.mcp_config }}
         OVERRIDE_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.github_token }}
         GITHUB_RUN_ID: ${{ github.run_id }}
+        USE_STICKY_COMMENT: ${{ inputs.use_sticky_comment }}
 
     - name: Run Claude Code
       id: claude-code
@@ -180,6 +185,7 @@ runs:
         TRIGGER_USERNAME: ${{ github.event.comment.user.login || github.event.issue.user.login || github.event.pull_request.user.login || github.event.sender.login || github.triggering_actor || github.actor || '' }}
         PREPARE_SUCCESS: ${{ steps.prepare.outcome == 'success' }}
         PREPARE_ERROR: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.prepare_error || '' }}
+        USE_STICKY_COMMENT: ${{ inputs.use_sticky_comment }}
 
     - name: Display Claude Code Report
       if: steps.prepare.outputs.contains_trigger == 'true' && steps.claude-code.outputs.execution_file != ''

src/github/context.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export type ParsedGitHubContext = {
     directPrompt: string;
     baseBranch?: string;
     branchPrefix: string;
+    useStickyComment: boolean;
   };
 };
 
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ export function parseGitHubContext(): ParsedGitHubContext {
       directPrompt: process.env.DIRECT_PROMPT ?? "",
       baseBranch: process.env.BASE_BRANCH,
       branchPrefix: process.env.BRANCH_PREFIX ?? "claude/",
+      useStickyComment: process.env.STICKY_COMMENT === "true",
     },
   };
 

src/github/operations/comments/create-initial.ts

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { appendFileSync } from "fs";
 import { createJobRunLink, createCommentBody } from "./common";
 import {
   isPullRequestReviewCommentEvent,
+  isPullRequestEvent,
   type ParsedGitHubContext,
 } from "../../context";
 import type { Octokit } from "@octokit/rest";
@@ -25,8 +26,39 @@ export async function createInitialComment(
   try {
     let response;
 
-    // Only use createReplyForReviewComment if it's a PR review comment AND we have a comment_id
-    if (isPullRequestReviewCommentEvent(context)) {
+    if (
+      context.inputs.useStickyComment &&
+      context.isPR &&
+      !isPullRequestEvent(context)
+    ) {
+      const comments = await octokit.rest.issues.listComments({
+        owner,
+        repo,
+        issue_number: context.entityNumber,
+      });
+      const existingComment = comments.data.find(
+        (comment) =>
+          comment.user?.login.indexOf("claude[bot]") !== -1 ||
+          comment.body === initialBody,
+      );
+      if (existingComment) {
+        response = await octokit.rest.issues.updateComment({
+          owner,
+          repo,
+          comment_id: existingComment.id,
+          body: initialBody,
+        });
+      } else {
+        // Create new comment if no existing one found
+        response = await octokit.rest.issues.createComment({
+          owner,
+          repo,
+          issue_number: context.entityNumber,
+          body: initialBody,
+        });
+      }
+    } else if (isPullRequestReviewCommentEvent(context)) {
+      // Only use createReplyForReviewComment if it's a PR review comment AND we have a comment_id
       response = await octokit.rest.pulls.createReplyForReviewComment({
         owner,
         repo,

test/mockContext.ts

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const defaultInputs = {
   useVertex: false,
   timeoutMinutes: 30,
   branchPrefix: "claude/",
+  useStickyComment: false,
 };
 
 const defaultRepository = {

test/permissions.test.ts

@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ describe("checkWritePermissions", () => {
       customInstructions: "",
       directPrompt: "",
       branchPrefix: "claude/",
+      useStickyComment: false,
     },
   });
 

test/trigger-validation.test.ts

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ describe("checkContainsTrigger", () => {
           disallowedTools: [],
           customInstructions: "",
           branchPrefix: "claude/",
+          useStickyComment: false,
         },
       });
       expect(checkContainsTrigger(context)).toBe(true);
@@ -64,6 +65,7 @@ describe("checkContainsTrigger", () => {
           disallowedTools: [],
           customInstructions: "",
           branchPrefix: "claude/",
+          useStickyComment: false,
         },
       });
       expect(checkContainsTrigger(context)).toBe(false);
@@ -276,6 +278,7 @@ describe("checkContainsTrigger", () => {
           disallowedTools: [],
           customInstructions: "",
           branchPrefix: "claude/",
+          useStickyComment: false,
         },
       });
       expect(checkContainsTrigger(context)).toBe(true);
@@ -305,6 +308,7 @@ describe("checkContainsTrigger", () => {
           disallowedTools: [],
           customInstructions: "",
           branchPrefix: "claude/",
+          useStickyComment: false,
         },
       });
       expect(checkContainsTrigger(context)).toBe(true);
@@ -334,6 +338,7 @@ describe("checkContainsTrigger", () => {
           disallowedTools: [],
           customInstructions: "",
           branchPrefix: "claude/",
+          useStickyComment: false,
         },
       });
       expect(checkContainsTrigger(context)).toBe(false);