Copilot PR Prompt Analysis - 2025-12-23

[github-actions[bot]]

Summary

Analysis Period: Last 30 days
Total PRs: 1000 | Merged: 746 (75.1%) | Closed: 248 (24.9%) | Open: 6

Overall Success Rate: 75.1% of completed PRs were merged

Prompt Categories and Success Rates

Category	Total	Merged	Closed	Success Rate
Bug Fix	975	739	236	75.8%
Feature	12	6	6	50.0%
Documentation	4	1	3	25.0%
Testing	2	0	2	0.0%
Other	1	0	1	0.0%

Key Findings

1. Bug fixes dominate: 975 of 994 PRs (98.1%) were bug fixes with a 75.8% success rate
2. Feature additions: 50.0% success rate - moderate performance
3. Documentation changes: Only 25.0% success rate - often closed

Prompt Analysis

✅ Successful Prompt Patterns

Common characteristics in merged PRs:

• Average length: 478 words
• Top action verbs: remove (339), add (326), update (323), fix (228), create (108)
• Top keywords: copilot, agent, github, coding, workflow, details, https, summary

Structural elements that improve success:

• File references: 78.2% success rate when specific files are mentioned
• Error messages: 79.0% success rate when error messages are included
• Structured lists: 77.5% success rate with checklists or bullet points

❌ Unsuccessful Prompt Patterns

Common characteristics in closed PRs:

• Average length: 438 words (slightly shorter than successful PRs)
• Top action verbs: add (116), update (101), fix (55), create (35), remove (31)
• Common issues: WIP (work in progress) PRs, vague requests, lack of specific context

Key Insights

Based on analysis of 994 completed PRs:

1. Specificity matters: PRs that reference specific files have a 78.2% success rate, significantly higher than the overall 75.1% average

2. Bug fixes perform well: 75.8% of bug fix PRs are merged, especially when they include error messages (79.0% success rate)

3. Structure helps: Prompts with structured lists (checklists, bullet points) achieve 77.5% success rate

4. Length is similar: Merged PRs average 478 words vs 438 words for closed PRs - suggesting quality matters more than quantity

Recommendations

Based on today's analysis:

1. DO: Include specific file paths and references in your prompt - this correlates with 78.2% success rate
2. DO: For bug fixes, include the error message or stack trace - prompts with error messages have 79.0% success rate
3. DO: Use structured formatting (bullet points, checklists) to organize your requirements clearly
4. DO: Focus on bug fixes for highest success rates (75.8%)
5. AVOID: Vague, general improvement requests without specific context
6. AVOID: Creating WIP PRs - many of these end up closed

Historical Trends (Last 7 Days)

Date	PRs	Merged	Closed	Success Rate	Top Category
2025-12-23	1000	746	248	75.1%	Bug Fix
2025-12-22	1000	743	251	74.7%	Bug Fix
2025-12-21	1000	744	250	74.8%	Bug Fix
2025-12-20	1000	741	253	74.5%	Bug Fix
2025-12-19	1000	745	249	74.9%	Bug Fix

Trend: Success rate is improving (+0.4%) compared to previous analysis

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This analysis helps identify which prompt patterns lead to successful PR merges. Use these insights to craft more effective prompts for GitHub Copilot.

AI generated by Copilot PR Prompt Pattern Analysis

[github-actions[bot]]

This discussion was automatically closed because it was created by an agentic workflow more than 3 days ago.