# Group Items To Milestone

> Use when assigning backlog items to a GitHub milestone. Args: {milestone-number} [P0|P1|P2|title-filter]. Uses backlog list to load items, shows items with GitHub Issue status, lets user select which to assign. Creates missing GitHub Issues for selected P0/P1 items, assigns all to the milestone, updates Project V2 Status to Backlog. Use after create-milestone to populate a sprint or release.

- Skill: `jamie-bitflight/group-items-to-milestone-2` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jamie-bitflight/group-items-to-milestone-2`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jamie-bitflight/group-items-to-milestone-2/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Product & Planning
- Author: Jamie-BitFlight (https://skillmd.com/u/jamie-bitflight)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jamie-bitflight/group-items-to-milestone-2

---


# Group Items to Milestone

Assign backlog items to a GitHub milestone. Bridges .claude/backlog/ per-item files → GitHub Issues → milestone assignment.

API references: milestones, issue-stories, and projects-v2 — see the `/gh` skill reference files.

## Arguments

- `{milestone-number}` — required
- Optional filter: `P0`, `P1`, `P2`, or title substring to pre-filter the list

```text
/dh:group-items-to-milestone 3
/dh:group-items-to-milestone 3 P1
/dh:group-items-to-milestone 3 github
```

## Workflow

### Step 1: Resolve Milestone

Call `backlog_list_milestones(state="open")` and filter the returned list for the entry where `number == {number}`. If not found, call `backlog_list_milestones(state="all")` and filter again. Extract `title`, `state`, `open_issues`, `closed_issues` from the matching entry.

If milestone not found or closed, report and stop.

### Step 2: Load Backlog Items

Call `uv run "${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/sam_schema/cli.py" backlog list` (flags: `--section` for P0/P1/P2/Ideas, `--title` for a title filter, `--search` for full-text search — same query syntax as MCP `backlog_list(search=...)`). Parse the returned dict — each entry in `items` has `title`, `priority`, `issue`, `plan`, `status`, `milestone`, `file_path`, `groomed`. Filter items by section (P0, P1, P2, Ideas). Apply any title filter.

For each item determine status:

- **Has issue** — `**Issue**: #N` field present → verify state via `backlog_list_issues(state="open")` — check if issue number appears in the returned list
- **No issue** — P0/P1 item without issue → flagged for creation offer
- **Already in milestone** — issue already assigned to this milestone → shown pre-checked

### Step 3: Present Selection

```text
Milestone #{N}: {title}

P0
  1. [✓] SAM: Error Recovery — Issue #12 (open)
  2. [ ] bash-development: Fix inaccuracies — no issue yet

P1
  3. [✓] gitlab-skill: Remove URL — Issue #8 (open)
  4. [ ] create-backlog-item skill — no issue yet
  5. [~] commitlint verify flag — Issue #5 (already in this milestone)

Legend: [✓] has issue  [ ] needs issue created  [~] already assigned
```

Use `AskUserQuestion`: "Which items to add? (comma-separated numbers, or 'all', or 'P0', 'P1')"

### Step 4: Create Missing Issues

For each selected item with no `**Issue**: #N`:

Build the issue body from the sections the item already holds. Copy each one across; omit every section the item does not have. Author nothing here: `groom-backlog-item` writes Story and Acceptance Criteria, and this workflow runs before grooming, so it has no source for either. Never derive a section from the item title — a title usually names an undesired current state, so slotting it into an `I want to {goal}` clause asserts a desire for the very thing the item exists to remove. Never emit a placeholder such as `Work matches description`, which passes `groom/finalize.md`'s non-empty check while asserting nothing. An item created through `backlog_add` carries Description only; a body containing Description alone is the correct output, not an incomplete one. Create the issue using the Python script (preferred — handles label creation automatically):

```bash
uv run .claude/skills/gh/scripts/github_project_setup.py issue create \
  --title "{type}: {title}" \
  --body "{issue body}" \
  --priority-label "priority:{p0|p1|p2|idea}" \
  --type-label "type:{feature|bug|refactor|docs|chore}" \
  --milestone {number}
```

The backlog script automatically writes `issue: '#N'` back to the item's metadata.

Skip issue creation for P2/Ideas items — assign by milestone number only if they already have an issue.

### Step 5: Assign Existing Issues

For selected items that already have issues but are not yet in this milestone, call `backlog_assign_item_to_milestone(issue_number={issue_number}, milestone_number={milestone_number})`. If the response contains an `error` key, the assignment did not happen — skip Steps 6-7 for that item and report the error instead.

### Step 6: Update Project V2 Status

Set Status = `Backlog` for each newly assigned item:

```bash
uv run .claude/skills/gh/scripts/github_project_setup.py project update-status \
  --issue {issue_number} \
  --status Backlog
```

### Step 7: Report

```text
Milestone #{N}: {title}

Assigned {count} items:
  Issue #12: SAM: Error Recovery (existing issue)
  Issue #14: create-backlog-item skill (new issue created)
  Issue #5:  commitlint verify flag (already assigned — skipped)

Per-item files updated with {created_count} new issue numbers.

Next step: /dh:groom-milestone {number}
```

## Error Handling

- Milestone not found: call `backlog_list_milestones(state="open")` and list available milestones, then stop.
- Issue creation fails: log error per item, continue with remaining.
- Milestone assignment fails (`backlog_assign_item_to_milestone` response has an `error` key): log error per item, skip Project V2 status update and success reporting for that item, continue with remaining.
- No items match filter: report and show available sections.
- Label not found: `github_project_setup.py issue create` handles label creation automatically via `_ensure_label()`.