Improve PR sheriff queue flow

Make policy and merge-conflict blockers age as contributor work, keep maintainer-policy decisions out of ready state, auto-close regular contributors unless explicitly exempted, and mark new or reopened issues for triage.

AI-assisted change: implemented and validated by Codex under maintainer direction.

.github/workflows/sheriff.yml

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 name: PR Sheriff
 
 on:
+  issues:
+    types: [opened, reopened]
   schedule:
     # Daily UTC afternoon pass. The script uses an aggressive 7/14 day window:
     # warn contributor-blocked PRs after 7 days open, close after 14.
@@ -24,7 +26,25 @@ concurrency:
   cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
+  issue-inbox:
+    if: github.event_name == 'issues'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Mark issue for triage
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          GH_REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          ISSUE_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}
+        run: |
+          gh label create "needs triage" \
+            --repo "$GH_REPO" \
+            --color "d4c5f9" \
+            --description "New or reopened issue awaiting maintainer triage" \
+            --force
+          gh issue edit "$ISSUE_NUMBER" --repo "$GH_REPO" --add-label "needs triage"
+
   sheriff:
+    if: github.event_name != 'issues'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
@@ -49,4 +69,5 @@ jobs:
             --warning-days 7 \
             --close-days 14 \
             --maintainers "pbakaus" \
-            --regular-contributors "pbakaus,abdulwahabone"
+            --regular-contributors "pbakaus,abdulwahabone" \
+            --auto-close-regulars

scripts/github/sheriff.mjs

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url';
 const DAY_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 
 export const LABEL_DEFS = [
+  { name: 'needs triage', color: 'd4c5f9', description: 'New or reopened issue awaiting maintainer triage' },
   { name: 'waiting on contributor', color: 'fbca04', description: 'Waiting for the PR author to respond or make changes' },
   { name: 'needs maintainer review', color: '5319e7', description: 'Ready for a maintainer to review or decide' },
   { name: 'ready to merge', color: '0e8a16', description: 'Passing, resolved, and ready for a maintainer merge decision' },
@@ -42,6 +43,11 @@ const DEFAULT_TRUSTED_MARKER_AUTHORS = ['github-actions', 'github-actions[bot]']
 
 const REVIEW_BLOCKING_STATES = new Set(['CHANGES_REQUESTED']);
 const FAILING_STATUS_STATES = new Set(['ERROR', 'FAILURE']);
+const CONTRIBUTOR_POLICY_LABELS = new Set([
+  'policy: needs issue',
+  'policy: needs ai disclosure',
+  'policy: generated output',
+]);
 const SHERIFF_WAIT_COMMAND = /^\/sheriff\s+wait\s*$/i;
 
 const PR_QUERY = `
@@ -144,6 +150,7 @@ export function evaluatePullRequest(pr, options = {}) {
   const autoCloseRegulars = options.autoCloseRegulars === true;
 
   const labels = new Set(pr.labels || []);
+  const policyBlockers = [...labels].filter(isBlockingPolicyLabel);
   const author = normalizeLogin(pr.authorLogin || pr.author?.login || '');
   const daysOpen = Math.floor((now.getTime() - toDate(pr.createdAt).getTime()) / DAY_MS);
   const latestContributorCommitAt = latestCommitBelongsToAuthor(pr, author) ? pr.latestCommitAt : null;
@@ -173,7 +180,30 @@ export function evaluatePullRequest(pr, options = {}) {
   }
 
   if (pr.mergeable === 'CONFLICTING') {
-    addBlocker({ kind: 'merge-conflicts', label: 'blocked: merge conflicts', at: pr.updatedAt });
+    const firstSeenAt = latestLabelEventAt(
+      pr.labelEvents || [],
+      'blocked: merge conflicts',
+      'LabeledEvent',
+    ) || pr.updatedAt || pr.latestCommitAt || pr.createdAt;
+    addContributorBlocker({
+      kind: 'merge-conflicts',
+      label: 'blocked: merge conflicts',
+      at: latestDate([firstSeenAt, latestContributorAt]),
+    });
+  }
+
+  for (const label of policyBlockers) {
+    const firstSeenAt = latestLabelEventAt(
+      pr.labelEvents || [],
+      label,
+      'LabeledEvent',
+    ) || pr.updatedAt || pr.createdAt;
+    const blocker = {
+      kind: label,
+      at: latestDate([firstSeenAt, latestContributorAt]),
+    };
+    if (CONTRIBUTOR_POLICY_LABELS.has(label)) addContributorBlocker(blocker);
+    else addBlocker(blocker);
   }
 
   if (latestBlockingReviewAt && !isAfter(latestContributorAt, latestBlockingReviewAt)) {
@@ -216,6 +246,7 @@ export function evaluatePullRequest(pr, options = {}) {
     && !contributorActionRequired
     && unresolvedThreadCount === 0
     && pr.reviewDecision !== 'CHANGES_REQUESTED'
+    && policyBlockers.length === 0
     && statusIsReady
     && mergeableIsReady;
 
@@ -373,7 +404,7 @@ export function staleWarningComment(pr, {
     WARNING_MARKER,
     `Thanks for the PR. Impeccable is moving quickly, and this PR is currently waiting on contributor action.`,
     '',
-    `It has been waiting for contributor action for ${waitingDays} days. Please address the outstanding review feedback, draft state, or explicit maintainer wait request. PRs that are still waiting on contributor action after ${closeDays} days are closed automatically.`,
+    `It has been waiting for contributor action for ${waitingDays} days. Please address the outstanding review feedback, draft state, merge conflict, policy requirement, or explicit maintainer wait request. PRs that are still waiting on contributor action after ${closeDays} days are closed automatically.`,
     '',
     `If nothing changes, this PR may be closed on or after ${closeDate}. Happy to reopen when it is ready to continue.`,
   ].join('\n');
@@ -760,6 +791,10 @@ function normalizeLogin(login) {
   return String(login || '').toLowerCase();
 }
 
+function isBlockingPolicyLabel(label) {
+  return String(label || '').startsWith('policy:') && label !== 'policy: approved';
+}
+
 function requireValue(argv, index, flag) {
   const value = argv[index];
   if (!value || value.startsWith('--')) throw new Error(`${flag} requires a value.`);

tests/github-sheriff.test.mjs

@@ -360,12 +360,15 @@ describe('github sheriff', () => {
     assert.equal(plan.shouldClose, false);
   });
 
-  it('does not warn or close PRs blocked only by merge conflicts', () => {
+  it('treats merge conflicts as contributor action and ages from the first conflict label', () => {
     const plan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({
       createdAt: '2026-06-20T00:00:00Z',
+      updatedAt: '2026-07-07T00:00:00Z',
+      latestCommitAt: '2026-06-20T01:00:00Z',
       mergeable: 'CONFLICTING',
       labels: ['waiting on contributor', 'stale'],
       labelEvents: [
+        labelEvent('LabeledEvent', 'blocked: merge conflicts', 'github-actions[bot]', '2026-06-21T00:00:00Z'),
         labelEvent('LabeledEvent', 'waiting on contributor', 'github-actions[bot]', '2026-07-01T00:00:00Z'),
       ],
       comments: [
@@ -373,11 +376,54 @@ describe('github sheriff', () => {
       ],
     }), { now: NOW });
 
-    assert.equal(plan.contributorActionRequired, false);
-    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToAdd, ['blocked: merge conflicts', 'needs maintainer review']);
-    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToRemove, ['stale', 'waiting on contributor']);
+    assert.equal(plan.contributorActionRequired, true);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToAdd, ['blocked: merge conflicts']);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToRemove, []);
     assert.equal(plan.shouldWarn, false);
-    assert.equal(plan.shouldClose, false);
+    assert.equal(plan.shouldClose, true);
+  });
+
+  it('blocks ready state and starts the stale clock for contributor-resolvable policy labels', () => {
+    const plan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({
+      createdAt: '2026-06-20T00:00:00Z',
+      latestCommitAt: '2026-06-20T01:00:00Z',
+      statusState: 'SUCCESS',
+      mergeable: 'MERGEABLE',
+      labels: ['ready to merge', 'policy: generated output'],
+      labelEvents: [
+        labelEvent('LabeledEvent', 'policy: generated output', 'pbakaus', '2026-06-21T00:00:00Z'),
+      ],
+    }), { now: NOW });
+
+    assert.equal(plan.contributorActionRequired, true);
+    assert.equal(plan.readyToMerge, false);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToAdd, ['stale', 'waiting on contributor']);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToRemove, ['ready to merge']);
+    assert.equal(plan.shouldWarn, true);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps maintainer policy decisions out of ready state without blaming the contributor', () => {
+    const plan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({
+      statusState: 'SUCCESS',
+      mergeable: 'MERGEABLE',
+      labels: ['ready to merge', 'policy: needs approval'],
+    }), { now: NOW });
+
+    assert.equal(plan.contributorActionRequired, false);
+    assert.equal(plan.readyToMerge, false);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToAdd, ['needs maintainer review']);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToRemove, ['ready to merge']);
+  });
+
+  it('does not treat policy approval as a blocker', () => {
+    const plan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({
+      statusState: 'SUCCESS',
+      mergeable: 'MERGEABLE',
+      labels: ['policy: approved'],
+    }), { now: NOW });
+
+    assert.equal(plan.readyToMerge, true);
+    assert.deepEqual(plan.labelsToAdd, ['ready to merge']);
   });
 
   it('uses PR creation, not unrelated updates, for drafts opened as draft', () => {
@@ -634,6 +680,26 @@ describe('github sheriff', () => {
     assert.equal(plan.shouldClose, false);
   });
 
+  it('auto-closes regular contributors in the scheduled mode unless explicitly exempted', () => {
+    const source = {
+      authorLogin: 'abdulwahabone',
+      createdAt: '2026-06-20T00:00:00Z',
+      latestCommitAt: '2026-06-20T01:00:00Z',
+      comments: [
+        comment('pbakaus', '2026-06-21T00:00:00Z', '/sheriff wait'),
+        comment('github-actions[bot]', '2026-06-27T00:00:00Z', WARNING_MARKER),
+      ],
+    };
+    const closePlan = evaluatePullRequest(pr(source), { now: NOW, autoCloseRegulars: true });
+    const exemptPlan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({ ...source, labels: ['do not close'] }), {
+      now: NOW,
+      autoCloseRegulars: true,
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(closePlan.shouldClose, true);
+    assert.equal(exemptPlan.shouldClose, false);
+  });
+
   it('keeps stale comments idempotent', () => {
     const plan = evaluatePullRequest(pr({
       createdAt: '2026-06-20T00:00:00Z',