pbi Command
The pbi command reviews a Product Backlog Item, User Story, or Issue for backlog quality and development readiness using an AI provider. The review is grounded in established agile principles such as INVEST, but presents a holistic narrative assessment rather than a criterion-by-criterion checklist.
Usage
# Review a GitHub issue / PBI (dry-run, console output)
merge-mentor pbi 42
# Review by URL
merge-mentor pbi --url https://github.com/owner/repo/issues/42
# Review a PBI and post comments back to the issue/story on the platform
merge-mentor pbi 42 --write
# Review a PBI on Azure DevOps
merge-mentor pbi 1024 --platform azure --write
Options
| Option |
Description |
Env Variable |
Default |
[id] |
The ID of the issue or Product Backlog Item |
- |
- |
--id <id> |
The ID of the issue or Product Backlog Item |
- |
- |
--url <url> |
GitHub issue or Azure DevOps work-item URL |
- |
- |
--platform <platform> |
Platform to use (github or azure). Unset: detected from the git remote, else azure |
MM_PLATFORM |
azure |
--write |
Post comments back to the PBI/Issue (default is dry-run mode) |
- |
false |
--temp-path <path> |
Base path for temporary files |
MM_TEMP_PATH |
./.mergementor |
| Option |
Description |
Env Variable |
--github-token <token> |
GitHub personal access token |
MM_GITHUB_TOKEN |
--github-repo-owner <owner> |
GitHub repository owner |
MM_GITHUB_REPO_OWNER |
--github-repo-name <name> |
GitHub repository name |
MM_GITHUB_REPO_NAME |
--azure-token <token> |
Azure DevOps PAT |
MM_AZURE_TOKEN |
--azure-org <org> |
Azure DevOps organization |
MM_AZURE_ORG |
--azure-project <project> |
Azure DevOps project |
MM_AZURE_PROJECT |
--azure-repo <repo> |
Azure DevOps repository |
MM_AZURE_REPO |
AI Provider Configuration
| Option |
Description |
Env Variable |
Default |
--provider <provider> |
AI provider (copilot-sdk, opencode-sdk). |
MM_AI_PROVIDER |
copilot-sdk |
--ai-model <model> |
Model name for the active AI provider |
MM_AI_MODEL |
- |
--ai-base-url <url> |
OpenAI-compatible API base URL for BYOK |
MM_AI_BASE_URL |
- |
--ai-api-key <key> |
API key for BYOK |
MM_AI_API_KEY |
- |
Review Approach
The AI provider analyzes the Product Backlog Item’s description, acceptance criteria, and comments and returns a single narrative assessment of its quality and readiness, followed by actionable suggestions. It weighs well-established backlog-quality considerations — such as whether the item can be delivered independently, leaves room for negotiation, delivers clear value, is estimable, is appropriately sized, and is testable — internally, without organizing the output around them or assigning pass/fail ratings.