Comments

IssueDB supports adding comments to issues, allowing you to track notes, progress updates, and resolution details throughout an issue’s lifecycle.

Overview

Comments are a simple but powerful way to:

  • Document your progress while working on an issue

  • Explain why an issue was closed or reopened

  • Add notes for future reference

  • Communicate with team members about an issue

Each comment is associated with a specific issue and includes:

  • Unique comment ID

  • The text content

  • Creation timestamp

Adding Comments

Use the comment command to add a comment to an issue:

issuedb-cli comment ISSUE_ID -t "Your comment text"

Examples:

# Add a simple comment
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Started investigating this issue"

# Add a detailed comment
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Found the root cause: the config file was missing a required field"

# Add with JSON output to get the comment details
issuedb-cli --json comment 1 -t "Testing the fix"

The JSON output includes the comment ID and timestamp:

{
  "id": 1,
  "issue_id": 1,
  "text": "Testing the fix",
  "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00"
}

Viewing Comments

List all comments for an issue:

issuedb-cli list-comments ISSUE_ID

Example output:

--------------------------------------------------
Comment ID: 1
Created: 2025-01-15 10:30:00
Text: Started investigating this issue
--------------------------------------------------
Comment ID: 2
Created: 2025-01-15 11:45:00
Text: Found the root cause: the config file was missing a required field
--------------------------------------------------
Comment ID: 3
Created: 2025-01-15 14:20:00
Text: Fix implemented and tested

JSON output:

issuedb-cli --json list-comments 1

[
  {
    "id": 1,
    "issue_id": 1,
    "text": "Started investigating this issue",
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:30:00"
  },
  {
    "id": 2,
    "issue_id": 1,
    "text": "Found the root cause: the config file was missing a required field",
    "created_at": "2025-01-15T11:45:00"
  }
]

Deleting Comments

Remove a comment by its ID:

issuedb-cli delete-comment COMMENT_ID

Example:

issuedb-cli delete-comment 2

Common Patterns

Closing with Resolution Comment

A common pattern is to close an issue and add a resolution comment:

issuedb-cli update 1 -s closed && issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Resolved: Updated the authentication library to v2.0"

Progress Tracking

Track your progress through comments:

# Starting work
issuedb-cli update 1 -s in-progress
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Starting work on this issue"

# Making progress
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Completed initial investigation, root cause identified"

# More progress
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Fix implemented, running tests"

# Completing
issuedb-cli update 1 -s closed
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "All tests passing, fix deployed to production"

Reopening Issues

When reopening a closed issue, add a comment explaining why:

issuedb-cli update 1 -s open
issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "Reopening: Bug reappeared after last deployment"

Blocking Notes

Document why an issue is blocked:

issuedb-cli comment 1 -t "BLOCKED: Waiting for API documentation from vendor"

Comments and Issue Deletion

When an issue is deleted, all its comments are automatically deleted as well (cascade delete). The audit log preserves a record of the deletion.

Best Practices

  1. Be descriptive: Write comments that will make sense to you (or others) weeks later

  2. Add resolution comments: Always explain why an issue was closed

  3. Document blockers: Note when and why an issue is blocked

  4. Use timestamps implicitly: IssueDB automatically timestamps comments, so focus on the content

  5. Keep comments focused: Each comment should cover one topic or update

API Reference

For programmatic access, see the Repository API documentation for the add_comment(), get_comments(), and delete_comment() methods.