Projects (classic) recovery

This article outlines the classic projects restoration process.

GitHub projects (classic) are older project types that were used to create customized workflows (like tracking and prioritizing specific feature work, comprehensive roadmaps, or even release checklists) before projects v2 were introduced.

---

General information

Support for backing up projects (classic) has been removed. It is now available only for restoring previously backed-up projects (classic) — when restored, projects (classic) are automatically converted into projects v2.

According to the official GitHub page, projects (classic) are being discontinued.

You can only create a new project (classic) for an organization, repository, or user that already has at least one project (classic). If you are unable to create a project (classic), create a project v2 instead.

When repositories containing projects (classic) are restored to an organization that does not support this feature, direct restoration in the original format is not possible. Instead, the system converts the restoration from projects (classic) to projects v2.

Key considerations include:

1. The conversion retains elements such as the project name, issue cards, and pull request cards.

2. Certain metadata, such as columns or notes, cannot be restored due to GitHub API limitations.

3. The system flags these conversions in the restoration summary for transparency.

Data that cannot be converted remains in the backup copy. Future updates to the GitHub API may enable improved restoration capabilities, allowing additional metadata to be recovered.

---

Useful links and items

About projects (classic) - GitHub Enterprise Server 3.15 DocsGitHub Docs