Reference: Repository Priorities File

The plan/REPO_PRIORITIES.md file defines which repositories are considered high, medium, or low priority for issue scanning, and which are paused or not PM tracked for issue scanning. It is the single source of truth for all Copilot PM prompts and agents when deciding which repos to scan for issues and how to order proposals.

It now works alongside plan/REPO_PM_PARTICIPATION.md, which decides whether a repo is fully managed, observed only, or completely excluded.

Structure

• Tier 1 - Active Focus: Highest priority. Issues from these repos are always considered first for Up Next. Keep this tier small.
• Tier 2 - Medium Priority: Considered after Tier 1. Good for background or less urgent work.
• Tier 3 - Low Priority: Only considered if there is capacity after Tier 1 and 2. Long-running or low-urgency projects.
• Paused: Temporarily suspends issue scanning for a repo without changing its tier. PRs are still always surfaced.
• Not PM Tracked: Repos skipped for issue scanning. PRs are still always surfaced.

Related File

• Repository PM Participation: plan/REPO_PM_PARTICIPATION.md controls whether a repo is full, observe, or exclude. It also carries OSS override metadata used by /pm-backlog-review for OSS suitability checks.

Rules

• PRs from any non-exclude repo (including Not PM Tracked and Paused) are always surfaced and must be resolved.
• To promote/demote a repo, move its row to the appropriate tier table.
• To pause a repo, move it to the Paused table with a reason and resume condition.
• To change how a repo participates in PM, update plan/REPO_PM_PARTICIPATION.md.

Usage in Prompts

• /pm-backlog-review and /pm-iteration-plan both read this file to determine which repos to scan for issues and how to order candidates.
• Only Tier 1, 2, and 3 repos are scanned for issues. Not PM Tracked and Paused are skipped.
• PRs are always included, regardless of tier, unless the repo’s participation mode is exclude.
• When proposing work, prompts order candidates by tier: Tier 1 first, then Tier 2, then Tier 3.

See the file itself for the latest tier assignments: plan/REPO_PRIORITIES.md