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Agent skill

Backlog

by sammcj in sammcj/agentic-coding

Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedProduct & Project Management

Install Backlog

skills CLI
$ npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill backlog -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install sammcj/agentic-coding backlog --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sammcj/agentic-coding.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/Skills/backlog .claude/skills/backlog && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
backlog
GitHub stars
162
Token cost
~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length
723 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
65
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog.

  • Works in 4 steps: gh repo view succeeds → use GitHub… → Else docs/BACKLOG.md exists → append for… → Else docs/issues/ directory exists →… → …
  • The user wants to file a bug
  • SKILL.md covers Destination detection, Add mode, Review mode and Gotchas
  • Calls gh

What it does

Backlog is an agent skill from sammcj/agentic-coding. Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog. Use this skill whenever the user wants to file a bug, feature request, or backlog item without writing a full PRD, including casual requests mid-conversation like "create an issue for that", "add this to the backlog", or "file a quick bug for X". Also use when the user wants to see what's open, triage stale items, or pick something to work on ("what's open?", "show me the issues", "review the backlog"). Auto-detects destination (GitHub…

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Product & Project Management, covering PRD writing. It works with GitHub. The repository describes itself as: Agentic Coding Rules, Templates etc... The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

  • The user wants to file a bug
  • Feature request
  • Backlog item without writing a full PRD
  • Including casual requests mid-conversation like create an issue for that

Example prompts

  • “create an issue for that”
  • “add this to the backlog”
  • “file a quick bug for X”
  • “/backlog”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. gh repo view succeeds → use GitHub issues for that repo.
  2. Else docs/BACKLOG.md exists → append for adds, read for reviews.
  3. Else docs/issues/ directory exists → per-issue files (one .md per issue, numbered prefix).
  4. Else ask the user where to put it. Don't silently create files in the project root.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 415ac71. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • gh

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use gh, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Backlog loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 146 tokens; SKILL.md has 723 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~146
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from sammcj/agentic-coding at commit 415ac71, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© sammcj). 723 words, ~1,360 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/backlog/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
backlog
description
Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog. Use this skill whenever the user wants to file a bug, feature request, or backlog item without writing a full PRD, including casual requests mid-conversation like "create an issue for that", "add this to the backlog", or "file a quick bug for X". Also use when the user wants to see what's open, triage stale items, or pick something to work on ("what's open?", "show me the issues", "review the backlog"). Auto-detects destination (GitHub via `gh` CLI, or local `docs/BACKLOG.md` / `docs/issues/`).
disable-model-invocation
true

Backlog management

Capture single items to a project backlog, or list and triage an existing one. Detect the user's intent and run in either add mode (one item being filed) or review mode (looking at what's there). The two modes share destination detection.

Destination detection

Try in order; cache the result for any follow-up in the same flow:

  1. gh repo view succeeds → use GitHub issues for that repo.
  2. Else docs/BACKLOG.md exists → append for adds, read for reviews.
  3. Else docs/issues/ directory exists → per-issue files (one .md per issue, numbered prefix).
  4. Else ask the user where to put it. Don't silently create files in the project root.

If the user invokes this skill in a directory with no obvious project (no git, no docs/), say so and ask before doing anything.

Add mode

The user has a single item to file. Goal: lower ceremony than typing the issue themselves. If it's heavier than that, they'll stop using the skill.

  1. Dupe check. Search existing items for keyword overlap (gh issue list --search "<keywords>" or grep the local file). If a near-match exists, surface it and ask whether to update that one or file new. This is the cheapest defence against ending up with three issues for the same thing.

  2. Enhance proportional to input. A one-liner from the user warrants 2-3 short context bullets drawn from CLAUDE.md and the current project state (technical caveats, related modules, open questions). If the user already wrote a paragraph or more, file it as-is. Don't restructure their words. The point of enhancement is to capture context they didn't bother to type, not to dress up what they did type.

  3. One clarifying question max, and only when scope or category (bug vs enhancement) is genuinely ambiguous. If you can guess from context, guess.

  4. File and return the URL or path. No trailing summary; the URL is the receipt.

Labels

GitHub: pick from gh label list. Don't invent new labels without asking. Projects often have label conventions wired into filters, project boards, or release automation, and an invented label is invisible to those.

Local docs/BACKLOG.md or per-issue files: prefix the title with [bug] / [enhancement] / [question] for easy scanning.

Show full SKILL.md (357 more words)Show less

Review mode

The user wants to see what's open and possibly act on something.

  1. List.

    • GitHub: gh issue list --state open --limit 50 --json number,title,labels,createdAt.
    • Local file: read it and parse the bullet/heading structure.
    • Per-issue files: list filenames with their first-line title.

  2. Group and present. By label first (bug / enhancement / question / other), then by age within each group. One line per item: number, title, age, label. Don't paginate unless the list is genuinely long (>50 items).

  3. Offer three actions without auto-picking:

    • Triage: re-label, close stale items, merge duplicates. Per-item confirmation.
    • Pick one: load the full item into context and stop. Do not auto-implement; the user might be scanning the backlog before deciding what to focus on.
    • Themes: cluster related items, suggest groupings or parent issues.

The "pick one" action is deliberately a stop point. Sliding into implementation work breaks the user's actual flow, which was reviewing.

Gotchas

  • Don't bulk-close in triage. "Close the stale ones" almost always means show them first, then close after confirmation. Wrong-close is much more expensive than an extra confirmation step.
  • Don't invent labels. gh label list is cheap; respecting existing label conventions matters because labels drive filters and project boards downstream.
  • Capture must be lighter than typing the issue manually. The "one clarifying question max" rule isn't about being terse; it's about preserving the value proposition. If the skill takes longer than the user just typing it, they'll stop using it.
  • Per-issue local files need a numbering scheme. When using docs/issues/, look at existing files (0001-slug.md? 001-slug.md?) and continue the existing scheme. Don't impose a new one.
  • Project root pollution. If no gh, no docs/BACKLOG.md, no docs/issues/, ask. Silently creating BACKLOG.md in the project root surprises the user.
  • Don't restructure the user's words. If they wrote a paragraph, file the paragraph. Reformatting into your preferred template feels like the AI is overwriting their intent, even if the template is "better".
  • Respect issue templates. If the repo has .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/, conform the body to the matching template (typically bug vs feature). gh issue create --title --body skips templates silently, which surprises maintainers who built filters or automations around the template's fields.

© sammcj, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in Skills/backlog of sammcj/agentic-coding.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 415ac71

Compare with similar skills

Backlog next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Backlog compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Backlog this skillsammcj/agentic-coding162—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
CCPM Project Managementautomazeio/ccpm8.4k—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Ouroboros PM InterviewQ00/ouroboros6.2k—~5.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
To Issuessmallnest/pigo474—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Write A Prdbestofjs/bestofjs3.1k1 repos~722Automated safety check: PassMIT
Write Update Tidb Docspingcap/docs616—~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Backlog

What does Backlog do?

Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog. Backlog is an agent skill from sammcj/agentic-coding. Capture single backlog items, or list and triage an existing project backlog.

When should I use Backlog?

Backlog fits situations like: the user wants to file a bug; feature request; backlog item without writing a full PRD; including casual requests mid-conversation like create an issue for that.

How do I install Backlog in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill backlog -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (Skills/backlog in sammcj/agentic-coding) into .claude/skills/backlog in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Backlog in Codex?

Run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill backlog -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (Skills/backlog in sammcj/agentic-coding) into .agents/skills/backlog in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Backlog in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add sammcj/agentic-coding --skill backlog -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/backlog, .gemini/skills/backlog, .github/skills/backlog and .opencode/skills/backlog in your project.

What does Backlog need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Backlog needs the command-line tools its instructions call (gh).

Does Backlog access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use gh, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Backlog safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Backlog use?

Backlog is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Backlog use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Backlog?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Backlog: CCPM Project Management (automazeio/ccpm, 8.4k stars), Ouroboros PM Interview (Q00/ouroboros, 6.2k stars), To Issues (smallnest/pigo, 474 stars) and Write A Prd (bestofjs/bestofjs, 3.1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Backlog?

sammcj (a GitHub user) maintains it in sammcj/agentic-coding, which has 162 GitHub stars. The repository holds 65 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 5, 2026.

Source: sammcj/agentic-coding on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.