How Nell answers an issue

Where the answer comes from

When an issue is opened, GitHub tells Clank. Nell is handed the issue and what your repository says about itself: the README, the first files in your docs folder, and up to three source files whose paths match the words in the issue.

She answers from those and nothing else. Under her reply she lists the files she used, so you can check it.

When she does not know

If the README, docs and code do not cover the question, Nell says she could not find it and names the detail that would let a maintainer answer. She does not guess at an option, a command, a file name or a version number.

Follow-ups

If the person who opened the issue replies, Nell answers again with the whole thread in front of her. She only does this where she is already in the thread, only for the author, and only a few times per issue. She does not reply to bots, and never to herself.

Discussions

A new discussion is handled the same way as a new issue, and her reply is posted as a comment on the discussion.

What you see

On hold, the answer waits in your queue with Edit, Approve and Discard. On post automatically, it is posted as a comment the moment it is written. Either way it is signed: Nell, front desk.