backlog

Unified backlog lifecycle management and task tracking. Orchestrates session TODOs, workspace checklists (fix_plan.md, checklist.md), and issue trackers with vendor-agnostic lifecycle contracts. Topics — triage (classify incoming requests into session/file/issue backlogs), priority (GitHub-aligned P0-P3 urgency tagging and blocker triage), sync (external tracker status polling and resolution), prune (demote lower-priority backlog noise from active focus), lifecycle (authoring, state transitions, DoD criteria), comment (post follow-up notes/sub-findings to parent issues), create (issue and intake issue creation). Use when: "backlog", "backlog triage", "backlog sync", "backlog prune", "task lifecycle", "manage backlog", "backlog priority", "backlog cleanup", "plane backlog", "issue comment".

Unified backlog lifecycle management and orchestration across multiple storage layers (session WIP, markdown checklist files, and issue trackers).

Overview

The backlog skill provides a consistent operational interface for capturing, classifying, synchronizing, prioritizing, and maintaining backlogs across software development lifecycles.

text

Incoming Task / Request
  ├─ In-Session Short-Lived  ──→ /wip (Session Task API / TodoWrite)
  ├─ Workspace Markdown File ──→ /fix-plan (fix_plan.md / checklist.md)
  └─ Team-Shared External    ──→ Issue Tracker (GitHub Issues / Forge / Secondary Trackers)

Topics

Topic	Description	Guide
prune	Demote lower-priority items (P2/P3) and stale entries to preserve lean active focus sections	prune.md
comment	Post follow-up notes and nested review findings as comments on parent issues	comment.md
create	Create issues and intake items via API with fallback mechanisms	create.md

Default Invocation (/backlog)

When invoked with no arguments, the backlog skill runs the standard health and synchronization pipeline:

1. Sync: Poll external status for linked issues and pull requests to update resolved items.
2. Priority Triage: Re-evaluate urgency and blockers across active items.
3. Hygiene & Prune: Identify bloated or stale tasks exceeding active capacity.
4. Summary Report: Output an actionable breakdown of immediate priority candidates.

Configuration

Option	Default	Description
--file=<path>	fix_plan.md	Target markdown checklist path for local operations
--role=<pm|deep|impl>	(unset)	Execution role profile filter for pipeline scoping
--secondary-sync=<skill>:<topic>	(unset)	Abstract receiver contract for non-GitHub backlog synchronization

Cross-Workspace & Secondary Trackers

Vendor-specific and proprietary tracker integrations (e.g. Jira, Plane, internal enterprise backlogs) are decoupled from this public core skill through abstract Receiver Contracts (--secondary-sync). Private multi-repo orchestrators handle proprietary endpoints without polluting public skill schemas.