sprint-planning

name	sprint-planning
description	Convert a plan.md into GitHub milestones, sprint issues, a project board, and worktrees for isolated sprint execution
domain	planning, sprint, github-projects, worktrees
confidence	high
source	manual
tools	[{"name":"gh api","description":"Create milestones and update project board items via GitHub REST/GraphQL","when":"Creating milestones or moving issues between project columns"},{"name":"gh issue create","description":"Create GitHub issues for each sprint todo","when":"Aragorn creates sprint issues from plan.md todos"},{"name":"gh project","description":"Manage GitHub Projects v2 — add/update items, move columns","when":"Adding sprint issues to the MyBlog project board"},{"name":"git worktree","description":"Manage isolated sprint working directories","when":"Boromir sets up or tears down sprint worktrees"}]

Context

This skill applies whenever a plan.md is created or materially updated. Sprint Planning is mandatory for ALL plans — see .squad/ceremonies.md (Sprint Planning ceremony) for the trigger and participants.

Agents involved:

• Ralph — decomposes plan.md into logical sprints
• Aragorn — creates GH milestones, issues, and project assignments
• Boromir — creates sprint branches and worktrees

Full process: .squad/playbooks/sprint-planning.md

---

Patterns

Decomposition (Ralph)

• Read plan.md and the SQL todos table
• Group todos by dependency, theme, or size into sprints
• Target 3–6 issues per sprint
• Earlier dependencies → earlier sprints
• Document sprint groupings before Aragorn creates GH artifacts

Milestone Creation (Aragorn)

gh api repos/mpaulosky/MyBlog/milestones \
  -f title="Sprint N: {Theme}" \
  -f description="{sprint goal}" \
  -f due_on="{YYYY-MM-DDT00:00:00Z}" \
  -f state="open"

Naming: Sprint N: {Theme} (e.g., Sprint 1: Foundation)

Issue Creation (Aragorn)

gh issue create \
  --title "[Sprint N] {Verb} {Noun}" \
  --milestone "Sprint N: {Theme}" \
  --label "squad" \
  --body "## Goal
{description from plan.md}

## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] {criteria}

## Sprint
Sprint N: {Theme}

## Plan Reference
Todo: {todo-id}"

Triage immediately: remove squad label, add squad:{member} label.

Project Board (Aragorn)

# List projects to find the MyBlog project number
gh project list --owner mpaulosky

# Add an issue to the project
gh project item-add 4 --owner mpaulosky --url {issue-url}

New items land in Backlog. Move to In Sprint when sprint starts.

Worktree Setup (Boromir)

git checkout dev && git pull origin dev
git checkout -b sprint/{N}-{slug}
git push -u origin sprint/{N}-{slug}
git checkout dev
git worktree add ../MyBlog-sprint-{N} sprint/{N}-{slug}

Sprint Work (all squad members)

cd ../MyBlog-sprint-{N}           # enter sprint worktree
git checkout -b squad/{issue}-{slug}   # feature branch from sprint branch
# ... do work ...
gh pr create --base sprint/{N}-{slug}  # PR targets sprint branch, NOT dev

Sprint Close (Ralph → Aragorn → Boromir)

# 1. Ralph verifies 100% milestone completion
gh api repos/mpaulosky/MyBlog/milestones/{N} | jq '{title,open_issues,closed_issues}'

# 2. Aragorn opens sprint → dev PR (standard PR review applies)
gh pr create --base dev --head sprint/{N}-{slug}

# 3. After merge, close milestone
gh api -X PATCH repos/mpaulosky/MyBlog/milestones/{N} -f state="closed"

# 4. Boromir removes worktree
git worktree remove ../MyBlog-sprint-{N}
git push origin --delete sprint/{N}-{slug}
git branch -d sprint/{N}-{slug}

---

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Skipping sprint planning when a plan is created — it is mandatory
• ❌ squad/{issue} PRs targeting dev during a sprint — must target the sprint branch
• ❌ Starting sprint N+1 before sprint N's PR merges to dev
• ❌ Deleting worktree before sprint PR merges
• ❌ Releasing from a sprint branch — only release from dev → main
• ❌ Skipping worktree — always work inside ../MyBlog-sprint-{N}/ for isolation