# Assign a Github Issue to a topic?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [November 5, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335 "2021-11-05T07:42:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@emilio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/emilio)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335/1 "2021-11-05T07:42:00Z")
Is there a way to assign a github issue link to a topic that only moderators can see (or other specified groups). and hopefully be able to sort topics that have one linked to it. Where you can see it has one without even opening topic.
We often use whisper posts to add a link to the GHI the user is reporting but you have to know it is there and it could be in the middle of a very long topic with lots of posts.
I guess it does not need to be specific to Github. I imagine it like a user note, where there is that little note icon, but associated with a topic rather than a user
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### Author:  [@Simon\_Manning](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Simon_Manning)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335/2 "2021-11-05T13:00:07Z")
Using a staff notice on the first post rather than a whisper post would solve the problem of it being anywhere in the middle of a topic, however I don’t think that will help for sorting/visibility outside the topic.
It _might_ be possible to use (create, probably) a theme component to make the presence of a staff notice visible in the topic lists but I suspect sorting would require a plugin.
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### Author:  [@emilio](https://meta.discourse.org/u/emilio)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335/3 "2021-11-05T13:24:31Z")
Had not thought of using a staff notice because afaik they are publicly viewable. sorting is not really necessary I suppose. 🤔 Will need to think on a theme component.
thanks for the ideas
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### Author:  [@Simon\_Manning](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Simon_Manning)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335/4 "2021-11-05T14:34:42Z")
Ah you’re right, staff notices are publicly viewable - I had it in my head that they were notices for staff as opposed to staff-made notices.
The only thing I can think of that doesn’t involve creating a plugin for the purpose would be to use a tag group that is only visible to staff, e.g. with tags such as `ghi-123`. This would be a bit awkward to manage though as a staff member would need to go to the tag group and create a new tag before editing the topic to add the tag. You also won’t get a clickable link to the issue.
If you have multiple repositories that you need to reference issues for, you could create a tag group for each which require a parent tag, using tags like `ghi-abc-123`. Requiring a parent tag might not be a terrible idea even if you don’t have multiple repositories, just to hide all the `ghi-xyz` tags when tagging other topics. The parent tag(s) can also be in a staff-only tag group.
I think a custom plugin is going to provide the best experience here but depending on how many repositories you have, how often you’ll need to be assigning issues to topics and how closely Discourse is tied into your workflow, a tagging approach might be enough.
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### Author:  [@sunjam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sunjam)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/assign-a-github-issue-to-a-topic/208335/7 "2021-11-05T20:48:40Z")
See previous related discussions on this as there are quite a few that relate. 👍
> [@Add issues support to GitHub plugin](https://meta.discourse.org/t/add-issues-support-to-github-plugin/196315/):
>
> Set this up. My understanding is that it is used on pull requests, but not issues? Hoping for linkback to issues. I’m just getting started with this. What I was hoping to do is track our progress from the forum, kanban style, across a number of open issues, as seen here:
> [@Introducing GitHub Issues to Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-github-issues-to-discourse/46671/15):
>
> But, what if someone were “uncooperative”? Wouldn’t it be easy to justify moderating them away? Also, why not just start pushing a subculture on GitHub and convince them all that this is the right way to do it? If it is superior, then you should be able to gain traction? Ah… I’m doing it again. Ok, agree to disagree. You’ve definitely made Discourse better over time, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.
> [@Bidirectional sync between Discourse Topics/Categories and GitHub/Gitlab Issue Trackers](https://meta.discourse.org/t/bidirectional-sync-between-discourse-topics-categories-and-github-gitlab-issue-trackers/203780/5):
>
> Thanks for explaining all this. Really it sounds like you need to ask the projects you are contributing to that are using Discourse to work on this. Right now it’s not even clear to me how many projects are making use of Discourse Code Review and how it’s working out for them. Feel free to PM me with some details so we can get specific. That plugin is different… the discussions live only in Discourse and are embedded at the bottom of WordPress posts. They are not synced.
> [@Mention github issues](https://meta.discourse.org/t/mention-github-issues/131970):
>
> I’ve tried searching the forum and discourse github for an answer, but I didn’t find anything. Is there an existing plugin that lets you mention github issues, pull requests and commits in a similar manner as you can from within GitHub? By simply typing “org/repository#15” ? Is this feasible to create with a plugin?