Introduction to GitHub Projects and Project boards

  • 3 minutes

GitHub Projects provides a powerful, adaptable project management solution that helps teams plan and track their work effectively. As the modern approach to project management on GitHub, Projects offers flexible tools that adapt to your team's workflow, whether you're working on a single repository or coordinating across multiple repositories and teams.

What are GitHub Projects?

GitHub Projects are flexible tools designed to help you plan and track work across repositories. They provide customizable views including tables, boards, and roadmaps, allowing teams to organize and visualize their work in the way that makes most sense for their workflow.

Core capabilities:

  • Flexible project views: Switch between table, board, and roadmap views to see your work from different perspectives
  • Custom fields: Track the information that matters most to your team with dates, numbers, text, selections, and iterations
  • Cross-repository integration: Include issues and pull requests from multiple repositories in a single project
  • Real-time synchronization: Changes to issues and pull requests automatically update in your project
  • Powerful automation: Built-in workflows that keep your project updated as work progresses

Screenshot showing GitHub Projects interface with customizable fields, multiple view options, and advanced filtering capabilities.

Project types and organizational scope

User-owned projects:

  • Scope: Issues and pull requests from any repository you have access to
  • Use case: Individual developers managing personal projects, contributions, or cross-repository initiatives
  • Best for: Open source maintainers, freelancers, personal portfolio projects, individual contributor work

Organization-owned projects:

  • Scope: Issues and pull requests from any repository within the organization
  • Use case: Cross-team coordination, high-level roadmap planning, and strategic initiative tracking
  • Best for: Product roadmaps, company-wide initiatives, release planning, portfolio management

Note

To create organization projects, you must have the appropriate permissions within the organization.

Multiple views for different perspectives

GitHub Projects provides three main view types to accommodate different working styles and use cases:

View Type Best Use Case Key Features Ideal For
Table Detailed project management and data analysis Spreadsheet-like interface, bulk editing Project managers, detailed planning
Board Visual workflow management and Kanban-style tracking Drag-and-drop cards, status columns Development teams, agile workflows
Roadmap Timeline planning and milestone tracking Gantt-style visualization, date tracking Strategic planning, release management

Custom fields for enhanced project tracking

Strategic custom field implementation:

Field Type Use Case Example Applications Business Value
Date Track deadlines and milestones Target ship dates, sprint end dates Timeline management, deadline tracking
Number Quantify effort and complexity Story points, hours estimated Capacity planning, effort estimation
Single Select Categorize and prioritize work Priority, Status, Team assignment Workflow management, resource allocation
Text Add contextual information Notes, external references, requirements Context preservation, documentation
Iteration Plan work in time-boxed periods Sprint planning, release cycles Agile planning, delivery cadence

Advanced iteration and workflow management

Iteration planning capabilities:

  • Flexible scheduling: Plan work in time-boxed periods with customizable durations
  • Break planning: Include planned breaks and holidays in your iteration schedule
  • Capacity tracking: Monitor team velocity and workload distribution across iterations
  • Progress visualization: Track completion rates and identify bottlenecks
  • Cross-team alignment: Coordinate iterations across multiple teams and repositories

Built-in automation features:

  • Status updates: Automatically update item status based on linked issue or pull request changes
  • Assignment tracking: Keep project assignments in sync with repository assignments
  • Label synchronization: Maintain consistent labeling across issues and project items
  • Milestone integration: Connect project milestones with repository milestones

Implementation strategy and best practices

Project setup checklist:

  1. Define your workflow: Identify how your team wants to organize and track work
  2. Choose project scope: Decide between user-owned or organization-owned projects
  3. Configure custom fields: Set up fields that capture important project metadata
  4. Create initial views: Establish board, table, and roadmap views for different stakeholders
  5. Set up automation: Configure built-in workflows to reduce manual maintenance
  6. Train your team: Ensure everyone understands how to use and maintain the project

Enterprise scaling considerations:

  • Standardized field schemas: Use consistent custom fields across organization projects
  • Access control: Implement appropriate permissions for different stakeholder groups
  • Integration planning: Consider how projects will connect with existing tools and processes
  • Governance frameworks: Establish guidelines for project creation, maintenance, and archival

For more information about GitHub Projects, see: