draft-roadmap-rfc

name	draft-roadmap-rfc
description	Write a draft RFC for roadmap updates to Wagtail
license	MIT
metadata	{"audience":"maintainers","internal":true,"disable-model-invocation":true}

Overview

Draft a new "Public roadmap updates" RFC, following the structure of past RFCs in the wagtail/rfcs repository (label: roadmap). The output is a new Markdown file in the root of the wagtail/roadmap repository that follows docs/rfc-template.md, populated from the previous RFC, the corresponding Wagtail release notes, and the current state of roadmap issues / project board.

Methodology

Goals

• Produce a draft RFC that mirrors the structure and tone of past roadmap RFCs.
• Pull factual content (issues, sizes, milestones, statuses) from the canonical sources rather than inventing it.
• Use the roadmap style guide: conversational-instructional, link-rich, comfortable hedging.
• Leave parts of the document marked TBC when the input data does not support a confident draft, rather than guessing.

Guardrails

• Never invent issue numbers, sizes, milestones, or release dates — fetch them.
• Always link to roadmap issues by their full URL (e.g. https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues/116).
• Don't rephrase existing roadmap item summaries — copy them as-is from the issue body unless the user asks otherwise.
• Don't propose anything for sections marked TBC (next+1, Future, items to close, items that didn't make the cut). The user will fill those in.
• Don't open a PR or push commits. The skill ends with a file on disk for the user to review.

Inputs

To detect from the context or request from the user if unclear:

• Author name for the RFC frontmatter. Default: read git config user.name.
• RFC date in YYYY-MM-DD for the Created / Last Modified fields. Default: today.
• Previous roadmap RFC. Default: most recent merged or open PR with the roadmap label in wagtail/rfcs. Resolve to its raw text/NNN-roadmap-updates.md file on the main branch (or the PR head ref if not yet merged).
• New RFC number. Default: latest wagtail/roadmap PR / issue number + 1. The user may have already created an empty rfc-NNN.md placeholder in the repo root — prefer that filename if present.
• Output file path. Default: rfc-<NNN>.md in the repo root. Reuse an empty placeholder if it exists.

Reference data sources

Always fetch the latest data from these sources rather than relying on local caches.

• Previous RFC raw Markdown: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wagtail/rfcs/refs/heads/main/text/<NNN>-roadmap-updates.md
• Wagtail release notes (Markdown view): https://docs.wagtail.org/en/latest/releases/<X.Y>.html.md
• Wagtail release schedule: https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail/wiki/Release-schedule
• Roadmap repo issues: https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues and the corresponding milestones.
• Roadmap GitHub Project (for the Size custom field): https://github.com/orgs/wagtail/projects/16 ("Wagtail public roadmap").

If present, project-local data already synced via the gh-issue-sync skill is the fastest source for issue titles, milestones, labels, and bodies:

• .issues/open/*.md and .issues/closed/*.md — synced issues with frontmatter (title, labels, milestone, projects, state).
• .issues/.sync/milestones.json — full list of milestones with state and due dates.

The local issue files do not include the project's Size custom field, so that has to come from gh project item-list 16 --owner wagtail.

Reporting

• After writing the file, summarize what was filled in vs. left as TBC, and link to the inputs used (previous RFC URL, release notes URL, project URL).
• Flag any roadmap issues that were skipped (e.g. closed but not in last release, missing size, ambiguous milestone) so the user can decide what to do.
• Don't invent a title — keep it RFC <NNN>: Public roadmap updates to match the series.

Steps

1. Determine versions and the previous RFC

• Identify the previous roadmap RFC. Run:

  gh pr list --repo wagtail/rfcs --label roadmap --state all --limit 5 \
    --json number,title,state,headRefName,mergedAt,url
  

  Pick the most recent one (highest RFC number / most recent mergedAt).

• Fetch its raw Markdown from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wagtail/rfcs/refs/heads/main/text/<NNN>-roadmap-updates.md. If that 404s (PR not merged yet), fall back to the PR head: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wagtail/rfcs/<headRefName>/text/<NNN>-roadmap-updates.md.

• Extract from the previous RFC:

  • The "next release" version (e.g. v7.4) → this becomes the previous release in the new RFC.
  • The "next+1" version (e.g. v7.5*) → this becomes the next release in the new RFC.
  • The list of items in "Roadmap for the next release" — use these as the rows of the previous release status table.

• Compute the new RFC's "next release" version: increment the minor of the previous "next release" by 1. So if the previous RFC's next release was v7.4, the new RFC's next release is v7.5.

• Confirm the release month/year using .issues/.sync/milestones.json (due_on) and the Wagtail release schedule. Wagtail ships in Feb / May / Aug / Nov. Format as Month YYYY (e.g. August 2026).

• Decide the new RFC number. Default: previous RFC number + 2. If the user has already created an empty rfc-<NNN>.md placeholder, use that number.

2. Pull the previous release's release notes

• Fetch the official release notes for the version that just shipped, from https://docs.wagtail.org/en/latest/releases/<X.Y>.html.md. (Use latest even after release; the release notes stay reachable.) If the page 404s, try https://docs.wagtail.org/en/stable/releases/<X.Y>.html.md.

• Skim the "What's new" headings and bug-fix list. For each item that was on the previous RFC's "next release" list:

  • If a matching feature heading appears in the release notes → status Done.
  • If only partial work appears (or only a related issue is referenced) → status Partial and add a brief note.
  • If the item does not appear at all → status TBC (do not assume "deferred"; the user will resolve it).

  These statuses go in the new RFC's "Roadmap for the previous release" table. Per the user's instructions, when in doubt prefer TBC over guessing.

3. Build the "Roadmap for the previous release" table

For each roadmap item that had milestone equal to the previous "next release" version (e.g. v7.4):

• Find the local file in .issues/open/ or .issues/closed/ whose frontmatter has milestone: vX.Y. Cross-check against the previous RFC's list of items so nothing is missed.

• Build a Markdown table with columns: Roadmap item, Status, Notes. Example row:

  | [Customizable page explorer](https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues/102) | Done | Follow-ups outside the roadmap |
  

  • Title is the issue title from frontmatter.
  • Issue link is https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues/<N> where <N> is the leading number in the filename.
  • Status: prefer TBC unless the release notes give a clear signal (see step 2).
  • Notes: leave empty for TBC rows. For confidently Done rows, mirror the wording style of past RFCs ("Follow-ups outside the roadmap", "UX follow-ups on the roadmap", etc.) only if accurate.

4. Build the "Roadmap for the next release" sections

For each roadmap item with milestone equal to the new "next release" version (e.g. v7.5):

• List the local issue files via:

  rg -l "^milestone: vX\.Y$" .issues/open/
  

  (or read frontmatter directly from .issues/open/*.md).

• Get sizes from the GitHub project. Run once and reuse:

  gh project item-list 16 --owner wagtail --format json --limit 200 > /tmp/wagtail-roadmap-project.json
  

  Then for each issue, find the matching item by content.number and read the Size custom field (single-select, values XS/S/M/L/XL). If Size is missing, write Size: TBC.

• Also read the Strategic theme custom field for each item. If it is missing, write Strategic theme: TBC.

• For each item, write a section like:

  ### [<Issue title>](https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues/<N>)
  
  Size: <XS|S|M|L|XL|TBC>, Strategic theme: one of the options from the README.
  
  <Summary paragraph copied from the issue body — the lead paragraph above the first `##` heading.>
  

  Heading rules:

  • Items that already have a roadmap issue → heading is a link to the issue (mirrors rfc-template.md).
  • Items not yet tracked as a roadmap issue (rare for this skill, since we drive off issues) → plain heading, no link.

5. Fill in the remaining sections as TBC

Per the user's instructions, the following sections are left for the user to refine. Don't generate content for them.

• ## Roadmap for the next+1 release — body: TBC.
• ## Roadmap for "Future" releases — body: TBC.
• ## Proposed roadmap items to close — body: TBC.
• ## Items that didn't make the cut — body: TBC.

Keep each heading from the template intact so the user can fill in directly without restructuring.

6. Assemble the document

• Use the template at docs/rfc-template.md as the structural baseline. Don't keep template HTML comments in the final draft.

• Frontmatter / header:

  # RFC <NNN>: Public roadmap updates
  
  - RFC: <NNN>
  - Author: <author>
  - Created: <YYYY-MM-DD>
  - Last Modified: <YYYY-MM-DD>
  

• Abstract: copy the standard abstract used in rfc-template.md verbatim. It links to past RFCs and the release schedule.

• Version number section: phrase as Provisional version number: v<X.Y> (minor release), in <Month YYYY> based on discussions to date. Use LTS after the version only if the milestone metadata or release schedule says so; otherwise drop it.

• Roadmap for the previous release: the table from step 3, preceded by the line Here is the status of roadmap items for the latest release, v<X.Y> (<Month YYYY>):.

• Roadmap for the next release: the heading line Proposed roadmap items for v<X.Y> (<Month YYYY>)., followed by the per-item sections from step 4.

• Subsequent TBC sections from step 5.

7. Write the file and report

• Save to rfc-<NNN>.md in the repo root (overwrite if the user already created an empty placeholder).
• Lint the file by reading it back: every roadmap issue link should resolve to https://github.com/wagtail/roadmap/issues/<N>, and every section from the template should be present.
• Report to the user:
  • The path of the new file.
  • The previous RFC URL used as input.
  • The release notes URL used as input.
  • The list of items pulled into the "previous release" table (with their inferred status) and the "next release" sections (with their sizes and strategic themes).
  • Anything that was left as TBC and why.
  • Suggested next steps: review statuses, fill in the four TBC sections, then open a PR against wagtail/rfcs with the file renamed to text/<NNN>-roadmap-updates.md.