zoboth: a GitHub bot that answers @mentions

A machine-user account (zoboth, member of the org with read access) plus a scheduled Claude Code routine. Each run scans the served repos with bot.py, handles them, and replies as the bot through gh.

Setup (claude.ai/code)

Cloud sessions only allow repo-scoped GitHub API calls for the repos that are configured on the routine, so the bot cannot use the notifications API. It scans the repos it serves instead: every org repo added to the routine's repository list is served automatically (bot.py reads the checkouts), and a repo that is not on the list cannot be reached at all.

1. Environment: add
   • GH_TOKEN = the bot's classic PAT (public_repo or repo, read:org)
   • optional REPOS = comma-separated owner/repo list, to serve fewer repos than are checked out Network access: Trusted (default).
2. Routine: repositories = this repo + every org repo the bot should serve, environment = the one above, trigger = schedule (hourly is the minimum), prompt = below.
3. Test: mention the bot in an issue of one of those repos, then Run now.

Routine prompt

The routine's own prompt is one fixed line; the real instructions live in PROMPT.md, so changing them only needs a commit here:

Read PROMPT.md in the zoboth-bot repository checkout and follow it exactly.

Safety

bot.py list enforces the hard rules (only the served org repos, MEMBER/OWNER authors only, never the bot's own comments, at most MAX_ITEMS items) and refuses to run when GH_TOKEN is not the bot's token. State is kept on GitHub: a handled mention carries the bot's 👀 reaction, a handled review request has a bot review on the head commit.