How to have a private repository with public issue tracker on GitHub?

Question

I am going to release some beta version of my application to the community. Project is stored on GitHub in the private repository.

I would like to allow this community to report bugs and place them directly on GitHub Issues tab - it's not provided by GitHub right now. Do you have any idea, how to cover this flow ?

Answer 1

Bitbucket provides this. You can keep the code private but make tracker public (anyone can view, create, and comment on issues).

Answer 2

Not possible as of 2019-09 as documented at: https://help.github.com/articles/issues-only-access-permissions/ (archive):

GitHub does not provide issues-only access permissions, but you can accomplish this using a second repository which contains only the issues.

They suggest that you create a separate public repository just for the issues instead.

Possible same request: Github-like hosting, with private source, public ticketing system