Milestones

Use milestones to group related issues into a deliverable unit of work.

Milestones can be read and managed through the GitHub REST API.

List Milestones

gh api "repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones?state=all&per_page=100" \
  --paginate \
  --jq '.[] | {number, title, state, open_issues, closed_issues, due_on}'

Get Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones/{milestone_number}

Create Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones \
  -X POST \
  -f title="Milestone title" \
  -f description="Milestone description"

Optional due date:

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones \
  -X POST \
  -f title="Milestone title" \
  -f description="Milestone description" \
  -f due_on="2026-09-01T00:00:00Z"

Update Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones/{milestone_number} \
  -X PATCH \
  -f title="Updated title" \
  -f description="Updated description"

Close Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones/{milestone_number} \
  -X PATCH \
  -f state=closed

Reopen Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones/{milestone_number} \
  -X PATCH \
  -f state=open

List Issues in Milestone

Use the milestone number, not the milestone title.

gh api "repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues?milestone={milestone_number}&state=all&per_page=100" \
  --paginate \
  --jq '.[] | select(.pull_request == null) | {number, title, state}'

The Issues REST endpoint can also return pull requests, so exclude entries containing pull_request when the caller specifically requests milestone issues.

Assign Issue to Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number} \
  -X PATCH \
  -F milestone={milestone_number}

Remove Issue from Milestone

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/issues/{issue_number} \
  -X PATCH \
  -F milestone=null

Delete Milestone

Delete a milestone only when explicitly requested.

gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/milestones/{milestone_number} \
  -X DELETE

Usage Rules

Use milestone numbers for API operations.
A milestone groups work; it does not define issue execution order.
Use native issue dependencies for execution ordering.
Do not infer dependencies merely because issues belong to the same milestone.
Listing a milestone for an automated workflow should include all open and closed issues unless the caller explicitly requests otherwise.

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