From 353fa54ae19ded0266f65b8501955d4ad1ea5447 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andriujose <43181885+andriujoseba@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2026 15:03:25 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] fix: abort on unreadable issue board

---
 .../issueflow-reconcile.sh                    | 23 +++++++---
 changelog.d/257.md                            |  3 ++
 test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh              | 45 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 66 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 changelog.d/257.md

diff --git a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
index 06f4875..f6c6db1 100644
--- a/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
+++ b/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh
@@ -918,13 +918,26 @@ main() {
         done < <(refs_references <<<"$body")
       done)"
 
-  local n tail_line
+  local n tail_line issue_numbers
   SKIPPED_COUNT=0
   SKIPPED_ISSUES=""
-  for n in $(gh api --paginate "repos/$REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=100" \
-      --jq '.[] | select(has("pull_request") | not) | .number'); do
-    reconcile_issue_pass "$n"
-  done
+  # A command substitution in a for list suppresses errexit. Capture and
+  # check the board read before entering the loop, or a 504 (including one
+  # after partial pagination) reports a full pass over a truncated board
+  # (#257).
+  if ! guarded_read issue_numbers gh api --paginate \
+      "repos/$REPO/issues?state=open&per_page=100" \
+      --jq '.[] | select(has("pull_request") | not) | .number'; then
+    log "could not read the issue board: $(read_failure_reason "$READ_FAILURE_STDERR")"
+    return 1
+  fi
+  if [ -z "$issue_numbers" ]; then
+    log "no open issues."
+  else
+    while IFS= read -r n; do
+      [ -n "$n" ] && reconcile_issue_pass "$n"
+    done <<<"$issue_numbers"
+  fi
   log "reconciled."
   # The job stays green (D7): an hourly sweep over a hundred-issue board meets
   # transient 504s as a matter of course, and reddening the whole run for one
diff --git a/changelog.d/257.md b/changelog.d/257.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b49ecfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/257.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- Abort issue-flow reconciliation when the board read fails instead of reporting a complete pass over an empty or partial result (#257).
diff --git a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
index 605577e..fc0ed67 100644
--- a/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
+++ b/test/issueflow-reconcile.test.sh
@@ -1624,6 +1624,51 @@ sweep_run() {
     bash "$ROOT/actions/issueflow-reconcile/issueflow-reconcile.sh" 2>&1
 }
 
+# The board read is a precondition for the whole pass (#257). A failed read
+# cannot be inferred from an empty result: its status is the only fact that
+# separates an unreadable board from a clean one. Drive both through main(),
+# including gh's partial-pagination shape where stdout is non-empty on error.
+board_fixture="$SWEEP/repos_owner_repo_issues_state_open_per_page_100.json"
+printf '%s\n' "$GH_STUB_ERROR_BODY" >"$board_fixture.http-error"
+board_504_out="$(sweep_run)"
+board_504_rc=$?
+check "an issue-list 504 aborts the whole pass" 0 "" test "$board_504_rc" -eq 1
+check "...names the board read's stderr" 0 \
+  "issueflow: could not read the issue board: $GH_STUB_STDERR" \
+  printf '%s\n' "$board_504_out"
+check "...writes no issue edit or comment" 1 "" test -s "$SWEEP/edits"
+check "...never reports the pass reconciled" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$board_504_out"
+
+board_silent_out="$(GH_STUB_STDERR="" sweep_run)"
+board_silent_rc=$?
+check "a silent issue-list failure still aborts" 0 "" test "$board_silent_rc" -eq 1
+check "...renders the empty stderr as a fact" 0 \
+  'issueflow: could not read the issue board: no error output' \
+  printf '%s\n' "$board_silent_out"
+check "...also writes nothing" 1 "" test -s "$SWEEP/edits"
+
+printf '[{"number":71}]\n' >"$board_fixture.http-error"
+partial_board_out="$(sweep_run)"
+partial_board_rc=$?
+check "partial pagination aborts the whole pass" 0 "" \
+  test "$partial_board_rc" -eq 1
+check "...does not reconcile the returned first page" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issue edit 71' "$SWEEP/edits"
+check "...does not report the truncated pass reconciled" 1 "" \
+  grep -qF 'issueflow: reconciled.' <<<"$partial_board_out"
+
+rm -f "$board_fixture.http-error"
+sweep_board '[]'
+empty_board_out="$(sweep_run)"
+empty_board_rc=$?
+check "a successful empty board stays green" 0 "" test "$empty_board_rc" -eq 0
+check "...writes nothing" 1 "" test -s "$SWEEP/edits"
+check "...names the empty-board outcome" 0 'issueflow: no open issues.' \
+  printf '%s\n' "$empty_board_out"
+check "...still ends with byte-identical reconciled." 0 \
+  'issueflow: reconciled.' printf '%s\n' "$(tail -n1 <<<"$empty_board_out")"
+
 sweep_board '[{"number":70},{"number":71}]'
 sweep_out="$(sweep_run)"
 sweep_rc=$?