# Decompose

> Break a whole into parts at its natural joints

- Skill: `synapseradio/decompose` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add synapseradio/decompose`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/synapseradio/decompose/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: synapseradio (https://skillmd.com/u/synapseradio)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/synapseradio/decompose

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Follow these steps:

### 1. State the whole

State what is being examined.

### 2. Identify part-whole relations

For things: components, members, portions, materials, phases, qualities, places. For tasks and problems: subgoals, cases, constraints, epistemic status (know / assume / verify / ask). Select only the relations that fit.

### 3. Find the natural joints

Find where boundaries already exist. A cut sits at a joint when the interface stays small, the parts change for independent reasons, and properties change abruptly at the line.

### 4. Verify coverage and connections

Do the parts account for the whole — no gaps, no overlaps? How do parts relate to each other?

### 5. Recurse

Recurse into parts that are still too complex, naming the relation type at each level — part-of does not compose across types. Set up todos and call the decompose skill on those parts as well.

### 6. Stop at simple

Stop when a part can be acted on or verified directly, or when further cutting grows the interfaces more than it shrinks the parts.

The object relations follow Winston, Chaffin & Herrmann (1987), "A Taxonomy of Part-Whole Relations," Cognitive Science 11(4), 417-444.