pgfplots: How to align dateplot with two x axis?

Question

Assumed we have this Minimum Working Example (MWE) to display a dateplot with two completely identical x axis, but with different xtick positions:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepgfplotslibrary{dateplot}%
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.8}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
            axis x line*        = top,
            axis y line*        = left,
            date coordinates in = x,
            xtick               = {2018-11-15,2018-12-15,2019-01-15,2019-02-15,2019-03-15,2019-04-15,2019-05-15},
            xticklabels         = {Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb,March,Apr,May},
            date ZERO           = 2018-11-01;
            xmin                = 2018-11-01;
            xmax                = 2019-05-01;
            ]
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
            axis x line*        = bottom,
            axis y line*        = right,
            date coordinates in = x,
            xtick               = {2018-11-01,2018-12-01,2019-01-01,2019-02-01,2019-03-01,2019-04-01,2019-05-01},
            xticklabels         = {Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb,March,Apr,May},
            date ZERO           = 2018-11-01;
            xmin                = 2018-11-01;
            xmax                = 2019-05-01;
            ]
\end{axis}%
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

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Screenshot of the result:

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Description of the issue:

• Despite of setting all xticks manually with xtick = {2019-01-15,...}, they falsely appear on the completely same position like xticks at very different dates of the second x axis, e.g. xtick = {2019-01-01,...}.
• Furthermore, the month Nov is completely missing (thanks marmot!)

Question:

How can I align the xticks precisely without failure shifts in x direction? While the upper x axis should display the mean days of the month (e.g. 2019-01-15), the lower x axis should display the start dates of the month (e.g. 2019-01-01).

Answer 1

This might be a bug, but as mentioned in a comment if you plot something the axis limits work as expected. So if you, in addition to fixing the semicolon-issue mentioned by marmot, add \addplot [mark=none] coordinates {(2019-1-1,0)}; in each axis, the output is this:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfplots}
\usepgfplotslibrary{dateplot}%
\pgfplotsset{compat=1.8}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
\begin{axis}[
            axis x line*        = top,
            axis y line*        = left,
            date coordinates in = x,
            xtick               = {2018-11-15,2018-12-15,2019-01-15,2019-02-15,2019-03-15,2019-04-15,2019-05-15},
            xticklabels         = {Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb,March,Apr,May},
            date ZERO           = 2018-11-01,
            xmin                = 2018-11-01,
            xmax                = 2019-05-01
            ]
\addplot [mark=none] coordinates {(2019-1-1,0)};
\end{axis}
\begin{axis}[
            axis x line*        = bottom,
            axis y line*        = right,
            date coordinates in = x,
            xtick               = {2018-11-01,2018-12-01,2019-01-01,2019-02-01,2019-03-01,2019-04-01,2019-05-01},
            xticklabels         = {Nov,Dec,Jan,Feb,March,Apr,May},
            date ZERO           = 2018-11-01,
            xmin                = 2018-11-01,
            xmax                = 2019-05-01
            ]
\addplot [mark=none] coordinates {(2019-1-1,0)};
\end{axis}%
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}