Description

Replaced static EVEN/ODD milestone versioning assumptions with a runtime discovery protocol across three GitHub backlog instruction files. The protocol fetches open milestones at runtime, detects naming patterns (SemVer, CalVer, Sprint, Feature), classifies milestones into abstract roles (stable, pre-release, current, next, backlog), and maps issue characteristics to target roles dynamically.

• Added Milestone Discovery Protocol section to the planning specification with discovery steps, naming pattern detection, role classification, and an assignment map replacing the former Milestone Conventions section.
• Updated the triage workflow to invoke the discovery protocol during Phase 1 and reference discovered milestone roles instead of EVEN/ODD versioning in milestone recommendation and priority assessment tables.
• Updated the discovery cross-references table to reference the Milestone Discovery Protocol with role-based classification instead of the former EVEN/ODD convention.
• Replaced bolded-prefix list items and ALL CAPS directives (MUST, SHOULD, MAY) with writing-style-compliant alternatives across all three files.

Related Issue(s)

Closes #466

Type of Change

Select all that apply:

Code & Documentation:

• Bug fix (non-breaking change fixing an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change adding functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature causing existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Infrastructure & Configuration:

• GitHub Actions workflow
• Linting configuration (markdown, PowerShell, etc.)
• Security configuration
• DevContainer configuration
• Dependency update

AI Artifacts:

• Reviewed contribution with prompt-builder agent and addressed all feedback
• Copilot instructions (.github/instructions/*.instructions.md)
• Copilot prompt (.github/prompts/*.prompt.md)
• Copilot agent (.github/agents/*.agent.md)
• Copilot skill (.github/skills/*/SKILL.md)

Other:

• Script/automation (.ps1, .sh, .py)
• Other (please describe):

Sample Prompts (for AI Artifact Contributions)

User Request:

Triage the untriaged issues in this repository.

Execution Flow:

1. The triage workflow activates github-backlog-triage.instructions.md via its applyTo glob pattern.
2. Phase 1, Step 1 invokes the Milestone Discovery Protocol from github-backlog-planning.instructions.md, fetching open milestones and classifying them into abstract roles.
3. Triage analysis assigns milestones using discovered roles (stable, pre-release, current, next) instead of hardcoded EVEN/ODD version numbers.
4. The discovery cross-references in github-backlog-discovery.instructions.md direct agents to the new protocol section.

Output Artifacts:

Planning log entries in .copilot-tracking/github-issues/triage/ containing detected naming pattern, per-milestone role classification, and the generated assignment map.

Success Indicators:

• Milestone assignments use abstract role names (for example, "nearest stable or current") rather than specific version parity.
• The planning log records discovery confidence level (high, medium, low).
• Repositories using CalVer, Sprint, or Feature milestones receive correct classifications without code changes.

GHCP Artifact Maturity

GHCP Maturity Acknowledgment

• I acknowledge this PR includes non-stable GHCP artifacts
• Non-stable artifacts are intentional for this change

Testing

All automated validation passes with zero errors:

• Markdown linting: npm run lint:md
• Frontmatter validation: npm run lint:frontmatter
• PowerShell analysis: npm run lint:ps
• Combined validation: npm run lint:all

Checklist

Required Checks

• Documentation is updated (if applicable)
• Files follow existing naming conventions
• Changes are backwards compatible (if applicable)
• Tests added for new functionality (if applicable)

AI Artifact Contributions

• Used /prompt-analyze to review contribution
• Addressed all feedback from prompt-builder review
• Verified contribution follows common standards and type-specific requirements

Required Automated Checks

The following validation commands must pass before merging:

• Markdown linting: npm run lint:md
• Spell checking: npm run spell-check
• Frontmatter validation: npm run lint:frontmatter
• Link validation: npm run lint:md-links
• PowerShell analysis: npm run lint:ps

Security Considerations

• This PR does not contain any sensitive or NDA information
• Any new dependencies have been reviewed for security issues
• Security-related scripts follow the principle of least privilege

Additional Notes

Three follow-up items identified during review:

1. .github/milestone-strategy.yml schema design for repositories that declare their milestone strategy explicitly
2. Cross-repository adoption testing to validate the discovery protocol against diverse milestone naming patterns
3. Pre-existing maturity: experimental frontmatter on all three modified files

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