2.4.1-beta.1) — updated automatically on every beta release.Switch to stable →CLI commands
ak watch dry-run
Preview what `ak watch start` would post without actually posting
Poll a GitHub repository for matching issues and simulate the full agent response pipeline - including rate-limit accounting - without posting any comment to GitHub. Reports how many issues would be responded to, skipped (already responded), or blocked by the rate ceiling.
Who it's for: Both: power devs validating filter configurations before enabling a live watch and non-technical users previewing automation impact.
When to use it: Before running ak watch start for the first time on a repo, to verify the label/author/keyword filters match the right issues and the rate limit is correctly configured. Safe to run anytime - nothing is posted.
What changes on disk: Read-only. No comments are posted to GitHub; no state file is updated.
Usage
ak watch dry-run <owner/repo> [flags]Examples
ak watch dry-run owner/repo # preview all matched issues
ak watch dry-run owner/repo --label bug # dry-run with label filter
ak watch dry-run owner/repo --max-per-hour 5 # preview with rate ceiling
ak watch dry-run owner/repo --json # machine-readable summaryFlags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
--agent string | Agent skill to run for each matched issue (default "engineer/scout") |
--author strings | Filter to issues by these GitHub logins |
-h, --help | help for dry-run |
--json | Emit machine-readable JSON (implies --no-interactive) |
--keyword strings | Filter to issues containing any of these keywords |
--kits-dir string | Override kits directory |
--label strings | Filter to issues with any of these labels |
--max-per-hour int | Rate limit ceiling (preview only) (default 10) |
--no-interactive | Disable interactive prompts (CI-safe) |
-q, --quiet | Suppress non-error output on stderr |
-V, --verbose | Extra diagnostic output on stderr (loses to --quiet) |
-y, --yes | Assume yes for all prompts |
Output modes
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
pretty | default on TTY (colors, ASCII markers) |
plain | auto when stdout piped or --no-interactive |
json | --json (single-object envelope, NDJSON-safe) |
Exit codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
0 | success |
1 | runtime error |
2 | invalid flags |
3 | user-cancel (SIGINT, prompt-cancel) |
Related commands
ak watch— Watch a GitHub repository and auto-respond to issues