Roadmap

Roadmap

Build a release roadmap for "$ARGUMENTS". Define the time horizon, group work into themes and epics, set release milestones with target dates, map dependencies, identify the critical path, and mark confidence levels.

Prerequisites

Check that .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md exists. If it does not, tell the user to run an Initiate skill first (e.g., project-charter) and stop.

If the user passes --skip-checks, skip the prerequisite check and log the skip to .project/$ARGUMENTS/skip-log.md with a timestamp and reason.

Process

1. Read existing context:

   • Read .project/$ARGUMENTS/00-initiate.md for charter, scope, and milestone context
   • Read .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md if it exists (for product vision and goals)
   • Read plugins/project-management/shared/scrum-guide.md for Scrum alignment

2. Define time horizon:

   • Select an appropriate planning horizon: 3 months (short), 6 months (medium), or 12 months (long)
   • Base the decision on project complexity, uncertainty level, and stakeholder expectations
   • Define sprint cadence (1-week or 2-week sprints recommended) and how many sprints fit the horizon
   • Identify key external dates (launches, conferences, regulatory deadlines) that constrain the timeline

3. Group work into themes and epics:

   • Identify 3-7 major themes (strategic focus areas) from the vision and charter
   • Break each theme into epics (large bodies of work that span multiple sprints)
   • For each epic: name, description, estimated size (S/M/L/XL), owning theme
   • Validate that themes cover all in-scope items from the charter

4. Define release milestones:

   • Define 3-6 milestones across the time horizon
   • For each milestone: name, target date, description, key deliverables, success criteria
   • Assign epics to milestones based on priority and dependencies
   • Ensure the first milestone is an MVP or meaningful first release
   • Include a "done" definition for each milestone

5. Map dependencies between milestones:

   • Identify epic-to-epic dependencies (which epics must finish before others can start)
   • Identify external dependencies (APIs, third-party services, approvals, other teams)
   • Create a dependency graph showing the order of work
   • Flag circular dependencies or bottlenecks

6. Identify the critical path:

   • Trace the longest sequence of dependent tasks from start to final milestone
   • Highlight tasks on the critical path — any delay here delays the entire project
   • Identify near-critical paths (tasks with minimal slack)
   • Recommend buffer or mitigation for critical path risks

7. Mark confidence levels:

   • Committed — scope is well-defined, team is confident, resources are allocated
   • Planned — scope is understood, details need refinement, tentatively resourced
   • Exploratory — scope is fuzzy, needs research or spikes, no resource commitment
   • Apply a confidence level to each milestone and each epic
   • Note: milestones further out should generally have lower confidence

8. Write the artifact — append to .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md under a ## Roadmap section:

   • Time Horizon — planning window, sprint cadence, key external dates
   • Themes & Epics — themes with their epics, sizes, and descriptions
   • Release Milestones — timeline with milestones, deliverables, and success criteria
   • Dependency Map — epic and external dependencies
   • Critical Path — critical and near-critical paths highlighted
   • Confidence Levels — per-milestone and per-epic confidence ratings

Output

Roadmap appended to .project/$ARGUMENTS/01-plan.md. Present a summary highlighting:

• Time horizon and number of milestones
• First milestone (MVP) target date and key deliverables
• Critical path and highest-risk dependencies
• Confidence level distribution across milestones