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Close a GitHub milestone and carry unfinished work forward
For project managers at the end of a sprint who want open issues moved and the milestone closed, by asking their AI assistant.
On this page
Connector
Connect GitHub, pick your AI tool and paste the prompt.
The problem
Unfinished work stranded on a closed milestone
Closing a GitHub milestone means finding the issues still open, moving them one at a time and then closing it. Done in a rush at sprint end, unfinished work gets closed by mistake or stranded.
Without PopdockAI
- Filter the milestone for open issues
- Move each one to the next milestone by hand
- Close the milestone
- Find stranded issues weeks later
With PopdockAI
- Both milestones are read and open issues listed with assignees
- You approve the plan and can leave issues out
- Approved issues move, then the milestone closes
- Final counts are read back, and no issue is closed
The prompt
Use this prompt
Copy it into any AI tool connected to PopdockAI. Swap the values in braces for your own.
**Objective:** Close the milestone titled `{milestone-title}` in `{repository}`, first moving any still-open issues to the milestone titled `{next-milestone-title}` when it is given, all with the user's confirmation.
**Step 1: Resolve the milestones**
Call `github-get-milestone` with company `{repository}` and title `{milestone-title}`, and keep its milestone-number, state, open-issues and closed-issues. If `{next-milestone-title}` is given, call `github-get-milestone` again with that title and keep its milestone-number.
**Step 2: List the unfinished work**
Call `github-get-issue` with company `{repository}`, milestone-title `{milestone-title}` and status `open`. List each issue-number, title and assignee.
**Step 3: Confirm the plan**
Show the user the milestone summary, the open issues, and the plan:
* move each open issue to `{next-milestone-title}`, or
* if no next milestone was given, leave the open issues where they are and ask whether to close the milestone anyway.
Wait for confirmation. The user may exclude individual issues.
**Step 4: Apply**
* For each approved issue, call `github-update-issue` with issue-number and the next milestone's milestone-number only.
* Then call `github-update-milestone` once with the milestone's milestone-number and state `closed`.
Re-read with `github-get-milestone` and report the final state and counts.
**Rules & Guidelines:**
* Never close issues in this prompt; do not pass state to `github-update-issue`.
* Do NOT call `github-add-milestone`. If the next milestone does not exist, stop and tell the user to create it first.
* Do NOT change the milestone's title, description or due-date.
**Validation:**
* If `{milestone-title}` matches no milestone, or more than one, list what was found and stop.
* If the milestone is already closed, say so and stop.Who it's for
One answer, three teams that use it
Project managers
Close sprints without losing work
Open issues move to the next milestone in one confirmed step.
Close Sprint 17 in fabrikam/app and move open issues to Sprint 18.
Team leads
Choose what carries over
Leave out individual issues before anything moves.
Close the October milestone in contoso/web, but let me pick which open issues go to November.
Developers
Keep your issues on a live milestone
Unfinished work stays visible on the next milestone, not stranded on a closed one.
Wrap up the v2.0 milestone in northwind/api and carry anything open to v2.1.
How it works
What PopdockAI does when you ask
You name the milestone and optionally the next one, and your AI assistant shows the plan first. Nothing moves until you confirm.
01
Ask
You name the milestone and optionally the next one.
02
Read
It reads both and lists the open issues with assignees.
03
Confirm
You approve the plan and can leave out individual issues.
04
Apply
It moves the approved issues, closes the milestone and reads back the counts.
What PopdockAI provides
The tools behind the answer
Ready made tools for GitHub and one secure connection to your AI tool. No code, no exports.
github-get-milestone
github-get-issue
github-update-issue
github-update-milestone
This report is built from Get data tools only. PopdockAI applies the row, field and parameter rules your admin sets, and every query is written to the audit trail.
The outcome
Milestones closed cleanly, work carried forward
Related use cases
More ways to put this data to work
One prompt template with infinite possibilities.
Your AI assistant adapts its approach, tone, and capabilities to match each unique context while you maintain a single, manageable workflow.
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