Cloud FlowCloud FlowsIntermediate

Cross-Repo Duplicate Finder

For each new issue, runs a GitHub search across the whole org for similar open issues and posts a comment listing possible cross-repo duplicates so fixes land once instead of in multiple repos.

GitHubHTTP

Unique name

flowLibsCrossRepoDuplicateFinderDemo

Publisher

FlowLibs (flowlibs)

Version

1.0.0.0

Components

4 env vars + 1 cloud flow

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What it does

Overview

This flow watches for newly opened GitHub issues on any repository you own and scans the entire organization for open issues with similar titles. When it finds candidates, it posts a single consolidated comment on the source issue listing the possible cross-repo duplicates so triage can happen in one place instead of independently in every repo.

Why you'd use it

Use Case

Engineering orgs that split work across many repos often file the same bug or feature request in multiple places. Nobody notices the overlap until a release manager starts linking issues by hand, by which point two teams have already duplicated investigation. This flow surfaces likely duplicates as the new issue is opened, before engineering picks the work up.

The flow is ideal for teams that:

Platform teams whose products span multiple repos.
Plugin or microservice fleets where a logical bug shows up in many places.
Reduce duplicate investigation cost by linking issues at intake.
Comment-only — humans stay in the decision loop on whether to close.

Step-by-step

Flow Architecture

When a new issue is opened

GitHub IssueOpened

Polls every 15 minutes; trigger body contains the full issue payload (number, title, repository_url).

Init 8 variables

InitializeVariable

varGitHubOrganization, varGitHubApiToken, varMaxResults, varCommentHeader, plus parsed varIssueOwner / varIssueRepo / varIssueNumber / varIssueTitle from the trigger payload.

Search For Possible Duplicates

GitHub SearchIssues

Query: `org:{org} is:issue is:open in:title {title}`, sort=created, order=desc, per_page=20.

Filter Out Source Issue

Filter array

Drops the source issue using a coalesce-resilient body accessor.

Check If Duplicates Found

If condition

Evaluates length(filtered array) > 0.

If duplicates found3 actions run in series

Select Duplicate Markdown Lines — Builds bullet markdown links capped at varMaxResults.
Compose Comment Body — Concatenates header, blank lines, and unwrapped Select output.
Post Duplicate Comment — HTTP POST to /repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{number}/comments with bearer auth from env var.

If no duplicates

Empty branch — nothing is posted.

Solution config

Environment Variables

Schema name	Type	Default	Description
flowlibs_GitHubOrganization	String	aronmb23	Org slug used to scope the duplicate search (org:{value}).
flowlibs_GitHubApiToken	String	—	GitHub PAT used by the HTTP action to post comments. `repo` scope required.
flowlibs_GitHubDuplicateMaxResults	Number	5	Upper bound on how many duplicate links appear in the comment.
flowlibs_GitHubDuplicateCommentHeader	String	🔍 Possible cross-repo duplicates detected:	First line of the duplicate comment.

Auth dependencies

Connectors & Connections

Connector	API name	Actions used
GitHub	shared_github	IssueOpened (trigger) SearchIssues
HTTP	shared_http	POST (issues/{n}/comments — connector lacks a CreateComment op)

Note — All connections are referenced as solution connection references; the flow is portable between environments as long as a connection is mapped at import time.

Tweaks & variations

Customization Guide

Almost every realistic variant of this flow can be implemented by changing environment variable values. A few cases require small edits inside the flow definition — those are called out explicitly below.

Point at a different org: Update flowlibs_GitHubOrganization. No flow changes required.
Broaden or narrow the search: Edit the SearchIssues q — drop is:open, add in:title,body, or scope to repo:{owner}/{name}.
Change the comment format: Edit flowlibs_GitHubDuplicateCommentHeader for the opening line; modify the Select concat for bullet style.
Throttle the volume: Raise or lower flowlibs_GitHubDuplicateMaxResults. Remove the HTTP action to keep search-only.
Change polling cadence: Edit the trigger's recurrence (currently 15 minutes). Shorter intervals cost more API calls.

Helpers & literals

Key Expressions

The flow is intentionally light on Power Fx / WDL gymnastics — the heaviest expressions are the branch-name concatenation and the approval outcome check. They are listed below in the order they appear in the flow.

EXPR.01Parse owner from trigger

Splits repository_url on `/` and indexes 4.

workflow definition language

split(triggerBody()?['repository_url'], '/')[4]

EXPR.02Parse repo from trigger

Last segment of repository_url.

workflow definition language

last(split(triggerBody()?['repository_url'], '/'))

EXPR.03Build the org-scoped search query

Used as SearchIssues q parameter.

workflow definition language

concat('org:', variables('varGitHubOrganization'), ' is:issue is:open in:title ', variables('varIssueTitle'))

EXPR.04Defensive body access

Handles both response shapes for SearchIssues.

workflow definition language

coalesce(body('Search_For_Possible_Duplicates')?['items'], body('Search_For_Possible_Duplicates')?['body'], array())

EXPR.05Cap at varMaxResults

Used by the Select action's `from`.

workflow definition language

take(body('Filter_Out_Source_Issue'), variables('varMaxResults'))

Overview

Use Case

Flow Architecture

When a new issue is opened

Init 8 variables

Search For Possible Duplicates

Filter Out Source Issue

Check If Duplicates Found

Environment Variables

Connectors & Connections

Customization Guide

Key Expressions

EXPR.01Parse owner from trigger

EXPR.02Parse repo from trigger

EXPR.03Build the org-scoped search query

EXPR.04Defensive body access

EXPR.05Cap at varMaxResults

Comments