backlog-survey

Surveys open issues against the code, tiers them, and recommends what to work on next.

Updated Jun 6, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/hacker-cb/claude-code-plugins --skill backlog-survey-hacker-cb
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: backlog-survey
Source: https://github.com/hacker-cb/claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hcb-dev/skills/backlog-survey
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/hacker-cb/claude-code-plugins --skill backlog-survey-hacker-cb

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes references (resource) components.

What problem does it solve? Engineering backlogs accumulate stale, contradictory, or already-solved issues, making it hard to decide what to work on next. This Skill reads an entire slice of the backlog (a milestone, label, or everything open), verifies each issue against the actual code, and produces a prioritized, dependency-aware plan instead of a raw issue list. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Whole-slice reading: Fetches every open issue in a milestone or label via wide and deep tiers, fanning out to parallel reader subagents when the slice is too large for one session. - Code-verified verdicts: Classifies each issue as current, needs rewrite, stale, or unverifiable based on the repository state, pinned to a base commit and tracker timestamp. - Tiered plan with dependency graph: Builds the dependency graph and critical path, tiers issues by importance (blocking, firing today, catching regressions), and proposes candidate parallel batches plus a hygiene plan. - Use Case: Before splitting an epic into parallel work waves, ask for a survey of the milestone to learn which issues are still real, which block others, and which batch to start with. ## Quick Start Survey all open issues in the current milestone, verify each against the code, and tell me what to take next.

Frequently Asked Questions about backlog-survey

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I prioritize a large backlog of GitHub or GitLab issues?▼

Run a backlog survey over a milestone, label, or everything open. It reads every issue, verifies each against the code, tiers them by importance, draws the dependency graph, and recommends which batch to start with.

How to check if open issues are still relevant to the current code?▼

Each issue gets a verdict of current, needs rewrite, stale, or unverifiable based on a deep read of its body and comments against the repository state. Verdicts are pinned to a base commit and tracker timestamp so the reading is dated.

Does the backlog survey edit issues automatically?▼

No. It is report-first: every tracker edit it proposes, such as closing stale issues or rewriting bodies, executes only on the user's explicit word, item by item through the issue-tracking skill.

Can it handle a milestone with hundreds of issues?▼

Yes. When the deep read exceeds what one session can hold, issues fan out to parallel reader subagents weighted by comment count, and their conclusions are synthesized back into the main session's report.

When should I use backlog-survey instead of issue-tracking?▼

Use backlog-survey to study or lay out the backlog as a whole before an epic is split into waves. Use issue-tracking for the mechanics of a single issue, and wave-refresh when a slice is already under a wave ledger.