Milestone Management

Overview

Milestones group issues by delivery phase or time period. They answer "what will be done by when?"

Core principle: Milestones are delivery commitments. Track them closely.

Announce at start: "I'm using milestone-management to organize work into delivery phases."

What is a Milestone?

A milestone is:

A GitHub milestone with a title, description, and optional due date
A collection of issues and epics targeting that delivery phase
A progress tracker showing completion percentage

Milestone vs Epic

Aspect	Milestone	Epic
Grouping by	Time/delivery phase	Feature/capability
Scope	Cross-cutting	Focused
Can contain	Multiple epics	Related issues
Progress	% of issues closed	% of issues closed
Due date	Usually has one	Usually doesn't

An epic can be assigned to a milestone. Multiple epics can share a milestone.

Creating a Milestone

Via GitHub CLI

bash

# Create milestone with due date
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones \
  -X POST \
  -f title="[NAME]" \
  -f description="[DESCRIPTION]" \
  -f due_on="YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ"

# Create milestone without due date
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones \
  -X POST \
  -f title="[NAME]" \
  -f description="[DESCRIPTION]"

Milestone Naming Conventions

Pattern	Example	Use Case
Version	`v1.0.0`	Release milestones
Quarter	`Q1 2026`	Quarterly planning
Phase	`Phase 1: Foundation`	Initiative phases
Sprint	`Sprint 23`	Agile sprints
Date	`2026-01 January`	Monthly releases

Milestone Description Template

markdown

## [MILESTONE NAME]

### Goals
- [Primary goal 1]
- [Primary goal 2]

### Epics Included
- #[EPIC_1] - [Epic Title]
- #[EPIC_2] - [Epic Title]

### Key Deliverables
1. [Deliverable 1]
2. [Deliverable 2]
3. [Deliverable 3]

### Success Criteria
- [ ] [Criterion 1]
- [ ] [Criterion 2]

### Dependencies
- Requires: [Previous milestone or external dependency]
- Enables: [What this milestone unblocks]

---
**Target Date:** [DATE]
**Owner:** [Team/Person]

Assigning Issues to Milestones

Assign During Creation

bash

gh issue create \
  --title "[Title]" \
  --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]" \
  --body "[Body]"

Assign Existing Issue

bash

gh issue edit [ISSUE_NUMBER] --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]"

Assign Epic to Milestone

bash

# Assign the epic tracking issue
gh issue edit [EPIC_NUMBER] --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]"

# Assign all issues in the epic
gh issue list --label "epic-[NAME]" --json number --jq '.[].number' | \
  while read num; do
    gh issue edit "$num" --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]"
  done

Tracking Milestone Progress

View Milestone Status

bash

# List milestones with progress
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones \
  --jq '.[] | "\(.title): \(.open_issues) open, \(.closed_issues) closed"'

# Get specific milestone details
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER] \
  --jq '{title, open_issues, closed_issues, due_on, description}'

List Issues in Milestone

bash

# All issues in milestone
gh issue list --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]"

# Open issues in milestone
gh issue list --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]" --state open

# Closed issues in milestone
gh issue list --milestone "[MILESTONE_NAME]" --state closed

Progress Report

Generate a progress report:

bash

# Get milestone data
MILESTONE_DATA=$(gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER])

TITLE=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.title')
OPEN=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.open_issues')
CLOSED=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.closed_issues')
TOTAL=$((OPEN + CLOSED))
PERCENT=$((CLOSED * 100 / TOTAL))
DUE=$(echo "$MILESTONE_DATA" | jq -r '.due_on')

echo "## Milestone: $TITLE"
echo "**Progress:** $CLOSED / $TOTAL ($PERCENT%)"
echo "**Open:** $OPEN issues"
echo "**Due:** $DUE"

Milestone Lifecycle

┌────────────┐     ┌────────────┐     ┌────────────┐     ┌────────────┐
│  Planning  │────▶│   Active   │────▶│  Closing   │────▶│   Closed   │
└────────────┘     └────────────┘     └────────────┘     └────────────┘
     │                   │                   │                  │
     ▼                   ▼                   ▼                  ▼
  Adding              Work in            Finishing         All issues
  issues              progress           last items        resolved

Milestone States

State	Indicators
Planning	Issues being added, 0% complete
Active	Work in progress, 1-80% complete
Closing	Final stretch, 80-99% complete
Closed	100% complete, milestone closed

Updating Milestones

Update Description/Due Date

bash

# Update due date
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER] \
  -X PATCH \
  -f due_on="YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ"

# Update description
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER] \
  -X PATCH \
  -f description="[NEW_DESCRIPTION]"

Close a Milestone

bash

gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER] \
  -X PATCH \
  -f state="closed"

Milestone Planning Patterns

Initiative Phases

For large initiatives, create phase milestones:

bash

# Phase 1: Foundation
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones -X POST \
  -f title="[Initiative] Phase 1: Foundation" \
  -f description="Infrastructure and setup for [Initiative Name]"

# Phase 2: Core Features
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones -X POST \
  -f title="[Initiative] Phase 2: Core Features" \
  -f description="Primary feature implementation"

# Phase 3: Polish & Launch
gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones -X POST \
  -f title="[Initiative] Phase 3: Polish & Launch" \
  -f description="Final testing, polish, and release"

Release Milestones

For version-based releases:

bash

gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones -X POST \
  -f title="v2.0.0" \
  -f description="Major release with [features]" \
  -f due_on="2026-03-01T00:00:00Z"

Quarterly Milestones

For quarterly planning:

bash

gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones -X POST \
  -f title="Q1 2026" \
  -f description="Q1 2026 deliverables" \
  -f due_on="2026-03-31T23:59:59Z"

Handling Slippage

When issues won't make a milestone:

Option 1: Move to Next Milestone

bash

gh issue edit [ISSUE_NUMBER] --milestone "[NEXT_MILESTONE]"

Option 2: Extend Milestone

bash

gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones/[NUMBER] \
  -X PATCH \
  -f due_on="[NEW_DATE]"

Option 3: Reduce Scope

Move non-critical issues out:

bash

# Remove from milestone (set to no milestone)
gh issue edit [ISSUE_NUMBER] --milestone ""

Document Slippage

bash

gh issue comment [EPIC_OR_INITIATIVE] --body "## Milestone Update

**Milestone:** [NAME]
**Original Due:** [DATE]
**Status:** At risk

**Issues slipping:**
- #[N] - [Reason]
- #[N] - [Reason]

**Action taken:**
- [Moved X issues to next milestone]
- [Extended deadline by Y days]
- [Descoped Z items]"

Milestone Reports

Weekly Status Report

markdown

## Milestone Status Report - [DATE]

### [MILESTONE 1]
- **Progress:** 12/20 (60%)
- **Due:** [DATE]
- **Status:** 🟢 On Track
- **Blockers:** None

### [MILESTONE 2]
- **Progress:** 3/15 (20%)
- **Due:** [DATE]
- **Status:** 🟡 At Risk
- **Blockers:** Waiting on #123

### [MILESTONE 3]
- **Progress:** 0/10 (0%)
- **Due:** [DATE]
- **Status:** ⚪ Not Started
- **Blockers:** Depends on Milestone 2

Generate Report Script

bash

echo "# Milestone Status Report - $(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
echo ""

gh api repos/$GITHUB_OWNER/$GITHUB_REPO/milestones --jq '.[] |
  "## \(.title)\n- **Progress:** \(.closed_issues)/\(.open_issues + .closed_issues)\n- **Due:** \(.due_on // "No due date")\n"'

Memory Integration

bash

mcp__memory__create_entities([{
  "name": "Milestone-[NAME]",
  "entityType": "Milestone",
  "observations": [
    "Created: [DATE]",
    "Due: [DATE]",
    "Repository: $GITHUB_REPO",
    "Epics: [LIST]",
    "Issues: [COUNT]",
    "Status: [Planning/Active/Closed]"
  ]
}])

Checklist

Created milestone with clear name
Added description with goals
Set due date (if applicable)
Assigned epics to milestone
Assigned issues to milestone
Documented in initiative (if applicable)
Set up progress tracking
Stored in knowledge graph

Search AI Tools

milestone-management

Install this agent skill to your Project

SKILL.md

Milestone Management

Overview

What is a Milestone?

Milestone vs Epic

Creating a Milestone

Via GitHub CLI

Milestone Naming Conventions

Milestone Description Template

Assigning Issues to Milestones

Assign During Creation

Assign Existing Issue

Assign Epic to Milestone

Tracking Milestone Progress

View Milestone Status

List Issues in Milestone

Progress Report

Milestone Lifecycle

Milestone States

Updating Milestones

Update Description/Due Date

Close a Milestone

Milestone Planning Patterns

Initiative Phases

Release Milestones

Quarterly Milestones

Handling Slippage

Option 1: Move to Next Milestone

Option 2: Extend Milestone

Option 3: Reduce Scope

Document Slippage

Milestone Reports

Weekly Status Report

Generate Report Script

Memory Integration

Checklist