backlog cleanup

Maintaining a clean issue tracker shouldn't be a manual chore. This skill grooms your GitHub repository by identifying issues that no longer belong in the backlog based on the actual state of your codebase. It cross-references open issues against your files, commits, and activity logs to find finished work that was never closed.

What it does

• Verify implementations by scanning code for file:line evidence, functions, or endpoints that prove an issue is already done.
• Detect redundancies by finding duplicate or overlapping issues across both open and closed states.
• Audit stale progress by identifying "in progress" labels on issues with no commits or PR activity for 14 days.
• Cleanup labels by automatically finding closed issues that still carry active progress tags.
• Batch propose changes via a structured checklist for your approval before any write actions occur.

How it works

1. Fetch state from the GitHub CLI, retrieving the latest 500 open issues and any closed issues with active labels.
2. Scan the codebase using git log and file inspection to find evidence of completed work or recent activity.
3. Draft a proposal listing specific issues to close, merge, or unlabel with a concrete reason for each.
4. Execute updates once you approve, using the gh tool to update issue statuses and labels.

Frameworks & tools

This skill requires the GitHub CLI (gh), git, and an authenticated session. It works with any repository regardless of language or framework.

Why this beats prompting it yourself

Generic prompts can't verify code evidence or calculate label staleness accurately. This skill uses specific git log grep patterns and gh api event timelines to ensure every suggestion is backed by hard data rather than LLM hallucinations.

Use cases

• Post-sprint cleanup to close issues that were accidentally left open after a merge.
• Duplicate hunting to consolidate feedback during high-volume periods.
• Backlog grooming to remove progress labels from tasks that were abandoned or paused.

Known limitations

Requires local git checkout and GitHub CLI authentication. It cannot see private data outside the repository scope or analyze third-party project boards not integrated with GitHub Issues.

One of five backlog skills that work together: suggest, order, next, keeper, cleanup. From the maker of Sideboard, a live GitHub Issues board for Claude Code.