GitHub Project Workflow Skill

Overview

Patterns for tracking multi-developer work using GitHub Projects boards and issues.

Prerequisites

• •GitHub CLI (gh) installed and authenticated
• •GitHub Projects V2 enabled on the repository
• •Repository write access for issue and project management

Output

Instructions

1. •Analyze the requirements and create a task breakdown plan
2. •Create a GitHub Project board with standard columns (Todo, In Progress, Review, Done)
3. •Create GitHub issues for each task with clear acceptance criteria
4. •Assign issues to developers (one task per developer)
5. •Track progress by monitoring issue comments and status updates
6. •Review completion by checking linked PRs and running verification tests
7. •Make integration decisions and authorize merges for completed, verified tasks

Note: This skill handles GitHub-side tracking only. AI Maestro messaging is orchestrator-only.

Checklist

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

• • Analyze the requirements and create a task breakdown plan
• • Create a GitHub Project board with standard columns
• • Create GitHub issues for each task with clear acceptance criteria
• • Assign issues to developers (one task per developer)
• • Track progress by monitoring issue comments and status updates
• • Review completion by checking linked PRs
• • Run verification tests on completed work
• • Make integration decisions and authorize merges

Table of Contents

Procedure Steps

For the complete GitHub Projects workflow, see procedure-steps.md:

• •
  1. •Step 1: Analyze Requirements
• •
  1. •Step 2: Create Task Plan
• •
  1. •Step 3: Create GitHub Project Board
• •
  1. •Step 4: Create Issues with Acceptance Criteria
• •
  1. •Step 5: Assign Issues to Developers
• •
  1. •Step 6: Monitor Progress via Issue Updates
• •
  1. •Step 7: Review Completion via PR Links
• •
  1. •Step 8: Integration Decision Making

Issue Templates

For GitHub issue templates, see instruction-templates.md:

• •
  1. •Task Assignment Template
• •
  1. •GitHub Issue Template for Subtasks
• •
  1. •Integration Assignment Template
• •
  1. •Conflict Resolution Assignment Template
• •
  1. •Merge Authorization Template
• •
  1. •Progress Check-In Template

Failure Handling

For handling blocked or failed tasks, see communication-patterns.md:

• •
  1. •Failure Scenarios
  • •1.1 Subtask Reports Failure After Others In Progress
  • •1.2 Integration Reports Failures
  • •1.3 Developer Becomes Unresponsive
• •
  1. •Conflict Resolution Planning

Quick Reference

GitHub Project Board Columns

Standard Labels

Workflow Summary

Key Principles

1. •Tracking via GitHub Projects - Use issues and boards for all work
2. •One task per developer - No multitasking
3. •Clear acceptance criteria - Every issue has success criteria
4. •TDD first - Tests before integration approval

Examples

Example 1: Create a New Project Board

# Create project board with standard columns
gh project create --owner OWNER --title "Sprint 1" --body "Sprint tracking"

# Add standard columns: Todo, In Progress, Review, Done
gh project field-create PROJECT_NUMBER --owner OWNER --name "Status" --data-type "SINGLE_SELECT"

Example 2: Create Issue with Acceptance Criteria

gh issue create --repo owner/repo \
  --title "Implement user authentication" \
  --body "## Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] User can log in with email/password
- [ ] JWT tokens are issued on successful login
- [ ] Invalid credentials return 401 error"

Error Handling

Issue: Project board not syncing

Cause: Project field IDs may have changed or permissions issue.

Solution: Re-fetch project field IDs and verify write access.

Issue: Developer assignment fails

Cause: User may not have repository access.

Solution: Verify user has repository collaborator access before assignment.

Resources

• •references/procedure-steps.md - Complete workflow steps
• •references/instruction-templates.md - Issue templates
• •references/communication-patterns.md - Failure handling patterns