Rule: Missing/short description detection (missing-description)

[ddjain]

Rule: Missing Description Detection

Overview

Flags PRs with missing or very short descriptions that don't provide context about changes.

Label Metadata

• Label Name: missing-description
• Color: fef2c0 (Light Yellow)
• Description: PR description is missing or too short (<20 words)

Detection Logic

Analyze PR description/body:

• Check if description is empty/null
• Count words in description
• Default threshold: 20 words (configurable)
• Strip markdown syntax for word counting
• Ignore common PR templates (check if just template)

Word Counting

• Strip markdown syntax (#, *, [], etc.)
• Count actual words
• Ignore empty lines and formatting

Configuration

• Default threshold: 20 words
• Configurable via input: min_description_words (optional)

Example Descriptions That Trigger

Empty:

• `` (empty)
• null / undefined

Too Short:

• Fixed bug (2 words)
• Added feature (2 words)
• Updated code (2 words)

Example Descriptions That Do NOT Trigger

• Fixed login bug where users couldn't authenticate. Added error handling and improved validation. (14 words - over threshold)
• Detailed multi-paragraph description

Test Cases Needed

• Detects empty descriptions
• Detects short descriptions (<threshold)
• Counts words accurately (ignores markdown)
• Configurable threshold
• Handles markdown formatting
• Handles PR templates (consider if just template text)

Edge Cases

• Description with only links/URLs (should still count words)
• Description with emoji only (count as description?)
• PR template partially filled (still too short)

Integration Notes

• Useful for enforcing PR documentation standards
• May want to make threshold configurable per repository
• Consider making this rule optional/opt-in

Priority

Low - Team policy dependent

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Status: Not implemented
Category: PR Structure & Metadata