How to Bulk Transfer Github Issues to Another Repository

Pre-requisites:

1. Make sure you have Github CLI installed:

$ brew install gh - (Mac)

2. Make sure you are “authenticated” through Github CLI:

$ gh auth login

3. Make sure that the repository you’re transferring from & to have the same labels, fields, etc.

NOTE: I didn't actually test step #3 above... maybe it's not a problem.

Just test it first if you're worried and LMK in the comments if it matters!

Now you’re ready to bulk transfer your issues!

Bulk Transfer your Issues CLI

1. Open your terminal & run the command below

gh issue list -s all -L 500 --json number -R devinschumacher/repository-a | \
    jq -r '.[] | .number' | \
    while read issue; do
        gh issue transfer "$issue" devinschumacher/repository-b -R devinschumacher/repository-a
        sleep 3
    done

Just make sure to replace the `organization/repository` name syntax with the ones that you want.

• "repository-a" is the source repository - aka where you want to transfer (move) your issues FROM

• "repository-b" is the destination repository - aka where you want to transfer (move) your issues TO

In my example, those are:

• devinschumacher/repository-a

• devinschumacher/repository-b -R devinschumacher/repository-a

Note: Adjust the sleep <number> number at your own risk. I started without sleep and have seen account rate limits so far with 0 wait, 1 second, and even 2 seconds. It only happened once on 2 seconds but the repo had 80+ issues. So now i've changed it to 3.

Note: It does not COPY them it moves them.

Note: This will bulk transfer both the active and in-active (archived, closed, whatever) issues - which may not be what you want. To transfer only the active ones, see below

Bulk transfer only the ACTIVE issues (skip the closed/archived ones)

gh issue list -s open -L 500 --json number -R devinschumacher/repository-a | \
    jq -r '.[] | .number' | \
    while read issue; do
        gh issue transfer "$issue" devinschumacher/repository-b -R devinschumacher/repository-a
        sleep 3
    done