Read issue/PR description from stdin or a file (#1096)

Closes #1095.

`tea issues create` and `tea pulls create` now resolve the description in the same way as comments: when stdin is piped and neither `--description` nor `--description-file` is given, the body is read from stdin. Both create and edit commands also accept:

```text
--description-file <path>   # '-' reads stdin
```

This avoids the PowerShell 5.1 argument mangling and ANSI code page issues described in #1095.

## Changes

- Add `--description-file` to `issues create`, `issues edit`, `pulls create`, and `pulls edit`.
- Create commands fall back to piped stdin when no description flag is set.
- Add unit tests for the new body resolution.

---------

Co-authored-by: bircni <bircni@icloud.com>
Reviewed-on: https://gitea.com/gitea/tea/pulls/1096
Reviewed-by: bircni <bircni@icloud.com>
Co-authored-by: Lunny Xiao <xiaolunwen@gmail.com>

cmd/flags/body.go

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package flags
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"os"
+
+	"golang.org/x/term"
+)
+
+// stdinPiped reports whether stdin is not a terminal, e.g. when a description
+// is piped from a file, command substitution, or a CI harness.
+func stdinPiped() bool {
+	return !term.IsTerminal(int(os.Stdin.Fd()))
+}
+
+// resolveCreateBody returns the issue/PR description for create commands.
+//
+// Precedence:
+//  1. --description-file (read from the file, or stdin when the path is "-")
+//  2. --description
+//  3. piped stdin
+func resolveCreateBody(description, descriptionFile string, descriptionFileSet, stdinPiped bool, stdin io.Reader) (string, error) {
+	if descriptionFileSet {
+		return readDescriptionSource(descriptionFile, stdin)
+	}
+	if description != "" {
+		return description, nil
+	}
+	if stdinPiped {
+		return readDescriptionStdin(stdin)
+	}
+	return "", nil
+}
+
+// resolveEditBody returns the new issue/PR body when a description flag was
+// provided, or nil when the caller should leave the body unchanged.
+func resolveEditBody(description string, descriptionSet bool, descriptionFile string, descriptionFileSet bool, stdin io.Reader) (*string, error) {
+	if descriptionFileSet {
+		body, err := readDescriptionSource(descriptionFile, stdin)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		return &body, nil
+	}
+	if descriptionSet {
+		body := description
+		return &body, nil
+	}
+	return nil, nil
+}
+
+func readDescriptionSource(source string, stdin io.Reader) (string, error) {
+	if source == "-" {
+		return readDescriptionStdin(stdin)
+	}
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(source)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("could not read description file %q: %w", source, err)
+	}
+	return string(data), nil
+}
+
+func readDescriptionStdin(stdin io.Reader) (string, error) {
+	data, err := io.ReadAll(stdin)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("could not read description from stdin: %w", err)
+	}
+	return string(data), nil
+}

cmd/flags/body_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+// Copyright 2026 The Gitea Authors. All rights reserved.
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+package flags
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestResolveCreateBody(t *testing.T) {
+	file := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "body.md")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(file, []byte("from file"), 0o600))
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name               string
+		description        string
+		descriptionFile    string
+		descriptionFileSet bool
+		stdinPiped         bool
+		stdin              string
+		want               string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "description flag",
+			description: "from -d",
+			want:        "from -d",
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "description file",
+			descriptionFile:    file,
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			want:               "from file",
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "description file wins over description",
+			description:        "from -d",
+			descriptionFile:    file,
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			want:               "from file",
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "dash reads stdin",
+			descriptionFile:    "-",
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			stdin:              "from stdin",
+			want:               "from stdin",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "description wins over piped stdin",
+			description: "from -d",
+			stdinPiped:  true,
+			stdin:       "from stdin",
+			want:        "from -d",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "piped stdin",
+			stdinPiped: true,
+			stdin:      "from stdin",
+			want:       "from stdin",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "empty description falls back to piped stdin",
+			description: "",
+			stdinPiped:  true,
+			stdin:       "from stdin",
+			want:        "from stdin",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "empty when no source provided",
+			want: "",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := resolveCreateBody(tt.description, tt.descriptionFile, tt.descriptionFileSet, tt.stdinPiped, strings.NewReader(tt.stdin))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResolveEditBody(t *testing.T) {
+	file := filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "body.md")
+	require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(file, []byte("from file"), 0o600))
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name               string
+		description        string
+		descriptionSet     bool
+		descriptionFile    string
+		descriptionFileSet bool
+		stdin              string
+		wantBody           string
+		wantSet            bool
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "no description flag",
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "description flag",
+			description:    "from -d",
+			descriptionSet: true,
+			wantBody:       "from -d",
+			wantSet:        true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:           "empty description clears body",
+			descriptionSet: true,
+			wantSet:        true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "description file",
+			descriptionFile:    file,
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			wantBody:           "from file",
+			wantSet:            true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "description file wins over description",
+			description:        "from -d",
+			descriptionSet:     true,
+			descriptionFile:    file,
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			wantBody:           "from file",
+			wantSet:            true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:               "dash reads stdin",
+			descriptionFile:    "-",
+			descriptionFileSet: true,
+			stdin:              "from stdin",
+			wantBody:           "from stdin",
+			wantSet:            true,
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := resolveEditBody(tt.description, tt.descriptionSet, tt.descriptionFile, tt.descriptionFileSet, strings.NewReader(tt.stdin))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			if !tt.wantSet {
+				assert.Nil(t, got)
+				return
+			}
+			require.NotNil(t, got)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.wantBody, *got)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestResolveDescriptionSourceError(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := resolveCreateBody("", filepath.Join(t.TempDir(), "missing.md"), true, false, strings.NewReader(""))
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "could not read description file")
+}

cmd/flags/issue_pr.go

@@ -100,6 +100,10 @@ var issuePRFlags = append([]cli.Flag{
 		Name:    "description",
 		Aliases: []string{"d"},
 	},
+	&cli.StringFlag{
+		Name:  "description-file",
+		Usage: "Read description from file ('-' for stdin)",
+	},
 	&cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:    "referenced-version",
 		Aliases: []string{"v"},
@@ -133,12 +137,22 @@ var IssuePRCreateFlags = append([]cli.Flag{
 
 // GetIssuePRCreateFlags parses all IssuePREditFlags
 func GetIssuePRCreateFlags(requestCtx stdctx.Context, ctx *context.TeaContext) (*gitea.CreateIssueOption, error) {
+	body, err := resolveCreateBody(
+		ctx.String("description"),
+		ctx.String("description-file"),
+		ctx.IsSet("description-file"),
+		stdinPiped(),
+		ctx.Reader,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	opts := gitea.CreateIssueOption{
 		Title:     ctx.String("title"),
-		Body:      ctx.String("description"),
+		Body:      body,
 		Assignees: strings.Split(ctx.String("assignees"), ","),
 	}
-	var err error
 
 	date := ctx.String("deadline")
 	if date != "" {
@@ -208,9 +222,18 @@ func GetIssuePREditFlags(ctx *context.TeaContext) (*task.EditIssueOption, error)
 		val := ctx.String("title")
 		opts.Title = &val
 	}
-	if ctx.IsSet("description") {
+	body, err := resolveEditBody(
-		val := ctx.String("description")
+		ctx.String("description"),
-		opts.Body = &val
+		ctx.IsSet("description"),
+		ctx.String("description-file"),
+		ctx.IsSet("description-file"),
+		ctx.Reader,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if body != nil {
+		opts.Body = body
 	}
 	if ctx.IsSet("referenced-version") {
 		val := ctx.String("referenced-version")

docs/CLI.md

@@ -221,6 +221,8 @@ Create an issue on repository
 
 **--description, -d**="": 
 
+**--description-file**="": Read description from file ('-' for stdin)
+
 **--labels, -L**="": Comma-separated list of labels to assign
 
 **--login, -l**="": Use a different Gitea Login. Optional
@@ -247,6 +249,8 @@ Edit one or more issues
 
 **--description, -d**="": 
 
+**--description-file**="": Read description from file ('-' for stdin)
+
 **--login, -l**="": Use a different Gitea Login. Optional
 
 **--milestone, -m**="": Milestone to assign
@@ -379,6 +383,8 @@ Create a pull-request
 
 **--description, -d**="": 
 
+**--description-file**="": Read description from file ('-' for stdin)
+
 **--draft**: Create as a draft (prepends "WIP: " to the title; Gitea treats WIP-prefixed PRs as drafts)
 
 **--head**="": Branch name of the PR source (default is current one). To specify a different head repo, use <user>:<branch>
@@ -437,6 +443,8 @@ Edit one or more pull requests
 
 **--description, -d**="": 
 
+**--description-file**="": Read description from file ('-' for stdin)
+
 **--draft**: Mark as draft by prepending "WIP: " to the title (idempotent)
 
 **--login, -l**="": Use a different Gitea Login. Optional