Tracer Bullets

{{if .plugins.agents -}}

name: tracer-bullets description: Slice a feature into thin end-to-end "tracer bullet" increments — each one shippable, demoable, and touching every layer — instead of building horizontal layers that only connect at the end.

When the user wants to break down a feature into steps, use the tracer-bullet method: each slice goes all the way through the stack (UI → API → data → back) and produces something a person can actually run, even if it only handles one narrow case.

How to apply it in a planning conversation:

1. Name the thinnest path that produces a visible result end-to-end. Ignore edge cases, config, and polish. This is slice 1 — it should feel almost embarrassingly small.
2. Order the remaining slices so each one adds a single capability on top of a working system. Every slice ends with "you can now do X" — never "the database layer is done."
3. For each slice, name its demo: the one action that proves it works.
4. Call out which slices are reversible vs. hard to undo, and put the irreversible ones as late as the plan allows.

See reference.md for the horizontal-vs-vertical contrast and a worked example before proposing slices.

Keep the plan to three to six slices. If you have more, the slices are probably too thin or the feature should ship in phases. {{- end}}