---
title: New issue or pull request
description: Start the workflow when an issue or pull request is opened or updated on GitHub
---

Start the workflow when an issue or a pull request is opened, or updated, in a GitHub repository.

:::note\[A polling trigger]
It checks for new items on a timer while the workflow is **On**, in the browser extension. Read [Polling triggers](/concepts/flow/polling-triggers/) for the first check, test events and what happens when a check fails.
:::

Pick a saved connection in the **Connection** field, or create one from there. It signs in with a Bearer Token.

## What it does

Every **Check every** minutes, the trigger reads the repository's latest issues or pull requests (**Watch**) and starts one run with the new ones. With **Start a run when one is** set to **Updated**, every new change to an issue counts again. The issue trigger never starts a run for a pull request.

A check that finds nothing new starts no run. Press **Run** to fetch a test event: the latest items, without moving the trigger's position.

## When to use it

* Post new issues to a team channel.
* Label or triage new pull requests with AI.
* Copy new issues to Linear or Todoist.

## Inputs and settings

**Repository** takes `owner/repo`, or paste the repository's link.

## Outputs

Each run returns a list of items with these fields:

```json title="Shape of an output item"
[
  {
    "id": 0,
    "number": 0,
    "title": "…"
  }
]
```

One item per issue or pull request, as GitHub returns it (`number`, `title`, `html_url`, `user`, `labels`…).

## Dependencies and credentials

* **Connection** (connection, Bearer Token): required. See [Create a connection](/app/connections/).

## Example workflow

1. New issue or pull request, **Watch** Issues, **Opened**.
2. [Text Classifier](/nodes/builtin/ai/aiagents/textclassifiernode/) sorts it into bug / question / idea.
3. [Slack](/nodes/builtin/integration/slack/) posts it to the matching channel.

## Common issues

* **"Repository: use owner/repo."**: type it as `owner/repo`, or paste the full link.
* **GitHub answered 404**: the connection's token can't see that repository.

## Related nodes

* [Polling triggers](/concepts/flow/polling-triggers/): how every "New …" trigger checks.
* [GitHub](/nodes/builtin/integration/github/): work with issues, pull requests and repositories.
* [Schedule Trigger](/nodes/builtin/trigger/schedule/): run at fixed times instead.