diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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 It treats infrastructure like a medical record: every asset and component has a complete, queryable history of location, firmware, incidents, and reliability over time.
 
+## Project Tracking
+
+Development milestones and execution checklist are in `TODO.md`.
+
 ## What Reanimator Solves
 
 - Inventory and shipment tracking
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
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+# Reanimator Development Milestones
+
+Use this file as the single source of truth for progress tracking and AI task delegation.
+
+Status legend: `[ ] todo` `[-] in progress` `[x] done` `[!] blocked`
+
+## Milestone 0 - Project Bootstrap
+
+**Goal:** initialize repository structure and baseline tooling.
+
+- [ ] Initialize Go module (`go mod init`)
+- [ ] Create folders: `cmd/reanimator-api`, `internal/{domain,repository,api,ingest,events,connectors,jobs}`
+- [ ] Add app entrypoint (`cmd/reanimator-api/main.go`)
+- [ ] Add config loading (env-based, minimal)
+- [ ] Add migration framework and first migration folder
+- [ ] Add Makefile targets (`build`, `test`, `migrate-up`, `migrate-down`)
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- `go build ./...` passes
+- project starts and exposes health endpoint
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 0 from TODO.md. Keep changes minimal and production-oriented. Update TODO.md status as you complete tasks.
+
+---
+
+## Milestone 1 - Core Schema + Registry API
+
+**Goal:** implement core data model and CRUD for registry entities.
+
+- [ ] Migration: `customers`, `projects`, `locations`
+- [ ] Migration: `assets`, `components`, `lots`, `installations`
+- [ ] Add required indexes from README
+- [ ] Repositories for registry entities
+- [ ] API endpoints for create/list/get assets/components/projects
+- [ ] Basic request validation and error mapping
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- schema is applied end-to-end
+- registry APIs work with real MariaDB
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 1 from TODO.md with SQL migrations and REST endpoints. Include tests for repository and handler layers.
+
+---
+
+## Milestone 2 - Log Ingestion Pipeline
+
+**Goal:** support idempotent upload and observation persistence.
+
+- [ ] Migration: `log_bundles`, `observations`
+- [ ] `POST /ingest/logbundle` with idempotency by bundle hash
+- [ ] Store raw metadata + parsed observations
+- [ ] Parser adapter interface (pluggable parsers)
+- [ ] Error handling for partial parse failures (without data loss)
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- same bundle upload is idempotent
+- observations are persisted and queryable
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 2 from TODO.md. Focus on idempotency and clean ingest abstractions. Add integration test for duplicate bundle upload.
+
+---
+
+## Milestone 3 - Derived Events + Timeline
+
+**Goal:** generate lifecycle events from observations and expose timeline APIs.
+
+- [ ] Migration: `timeline_events`
+- [ ] Observation diffing service
+- [ ] Generate events: `LOG_COLLECTED`, `INSTALLED`, `REMOVED`, `MOVED`, `FIRMWARE_CHANGED`
+- [ ] APIs: `GET /assets/{id}/timeline`, `GET /components/{id}/timeline`
+- [ ] Ensure deterministic ordering and pagination
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- timeline is generated from observation deltas
+- API returns consistent chronological history
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 3 from TODO.md. Add deterministic event generation and timeline pagination. Include tests for move/install/remove scenarios.
+
+---
+
+## Milestone 4 - Ticket Correlation + Failure Events
+
+**Goal:** connect service cases to assets/components and track failures explicitly.
+
+- [ ] Migration: `tickets`, `ticket_links`, `failure_events`
+- [ ] Connector endpoint: `POST /connectors/tickets/sync`
+- [ ] Link tickets to project/asset/component
+- [ ] Implement component ticket visibility through installation time windows
+- [ ] Create failure event ingestion path (`log`/`ticket`/`manual`)
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- tickets are synced and linked
+- failure events can be created and queried
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 4 from TODO.md with time-window ticket correlation and explicit failure events. Add tests for inherited component visibility.
+
+---
+
+## Milestone 5 - Reliability Analytics (MVP)
+
+**Goal:** provide first operational analytics for decision making.
+
+- [ ] Aggregations by LOT, firmware, and component type
+- [ ] AFR/MTBF calculation jobs (initial version)
+- [ ] API endpoint(s) for reliability summary
+- [ ] Background job scheduling for periodic recomputation
+
+**Definition of done:**
+- analytics endpoint returns stable metrics
+- recalculation jobs run successfully on schedule
+
+**AI task prompt:**
+> Implement Milestone 5 from TODO.md. Prioritize correctness and reproducibility of AFR/MTBF metrics. Add test fixtures for edge cases.
+
+---
+
+## Cross-Cutting Tasks
+
+- [ ] Observability: structured logs + request IDs
+- [ ] AuthN/AuthZ baseline for non-public endpoints
+- [ ] OpenAPI spec and API examples
+- [ ] CI pipeline: build, test, migration check
+- [ ] Release notes/changelog discipline
+
+---
+
+## Progress Snapshot
+
+Update this section each time work is merged.
+
+- Last update: 2026-02-04
+- Current milestone: Milestone 0
+- Overall progress: 0/6 milestones completed
+- Active blockers: none
+