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Plan Decomposition

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Convert an approved plan.md into a set of task files that another agent (or a future you) can execute one at a time without re-reading the whole plan each time.

Goal

Given docs/ephemeral/plans/<plan-dir>/plan.md, produce:

1. <plan-dir>/tasks/backlog/NN-<short-name>.md — one file per task
2. <plan-dir>/tasks/done/ — empty directory (tasks move here when finished)
3. <plan-dir>/tasks/README.md — dependency DAG, task table, workflow

Each task is self-contained: the executor should only need the task file plus the referenced plan lines, never the whole plan.

When to invoke

• A plan has just been finalized and an explicit breakdown is needed.
• The user says "decompose this plan", "break this into tasks", "turn this plan into a backlog".
• Re-decomposing after a plan revision — reconcile with any already-done tasks, do not overwrite them.

When NOT to invoke

• The change is trivial (< 5 min, obvious approach) and needs no plan.
• There is no plan yet — creating the plan is a different workflow (expert panel + design, see docs/development-workflow.md).
• Tasks already exist and are partially in progress — edit them in place.
• You are being asked to execute tasks — that is also a different step.

Inputs

Required:

• Absolute path to plan.md (or the directory containing it).

Optional:

• Scope hints ("Phase 2 only", "skip UI work", "ignore E2E for now").
• Priority override for specific sections.

Outputs

• Task files under <plan-dir>/tasks/backlog/
• <plan-dir>/tasks/README.md
• Empty <plan-dir>/tasks/done/
• A short report listing: task count, dependency summary, total named test count, anything ambiguous the human still has to resolve.

Decomposition algorithm

Step 1 — Read the plan in full

Use Read on the plan top-to-bottom. Never decompose from a summary. Every task must cite exact line numbers in the plan, and only a full read gives you those.

Step 2 — Identify natural task boundaries

Look for these structural signals, in order:

1. Explicit phase / change / subphase headers — Phase 1, Phase 2a, Change 4b. These usually map 1:1 to tasks.
2. Deploy / verify gates between phases — become their own tasks with no code, just integration checks. Never bundle "implement X" and "deploy and verify X" into one task.
3. Independent parallel work — UI-only changes, doc-only changes, or config-only changes that do not depend on code work.
4. End-to-end verification — scripted E2E becomes a final task at the bottom of the dependency graph.

A single-phase plan with one cohesive change becomes one task. Do not fragment a five-line fix into three tasks just to hit a count.

Size heuristic: context-window fit, not wall-clock time. A good task is one that can be implemented end-to-end inside a single ~150K-token context window — meaning the executing agent can hold, at the same time:

• the full task file
• the cited plan line range
• every source file the task edits
• the test files it writes or extends
• the output of the test runner and any deploy/verify commands
• enough headroom (≥ 20%) for reasoning, tool results, and retries

If the combined footprint would blow past ~150K tokens, the task is too big — split it. Typical splits: separate data model from consumers, separate loader from rules, separate code change from deploy + verify, separate config/rule additions from the engine code that evaluates them.

Conversely, if two adjacent tasks together are comfortably under the budget and share most of the same files and tests, merge them — two overhead-heavy tasks are worse than one cohesive one.

When in doubt, estimate: count edited source files × rough LOC, plus test files × rough LOC, plus the cited plan range. If that number is already more than a third of the budget before the agent even starts reasoning, split.

Step 3 — Determine dependencies

For each task, identify which other tasks must complete first. Common reasons:

• File conflicts (two tasks edit overlapping regions of the same file)
• Logical ordering (config loading must exist before config consumers)
• Safety gates (deploy + verify must precede the next phase)
• Test ordering (rules or fixtures must exist before the integration test that asserts on them)

Dependencies go into the task file's **Dependencies:** line and into the tasks/README.md dependency DAG.

Keep dependencies minimal. Over-serializing the graph blocks work that could have run in parallel. Config-only or doc-only tasks rarely depend on anything.

Hard rule — serialize generator and dependency-mutating tasks. Per-task worktrees (see workflow-management.md) isolate normal source edits, but some operations are globally ordered and unsafe to parallelize even with isolation. The project's exact serialize-true signal list lives in docs/workflow-management.md — consult it and adjust per the stack.

Common families (fill in concrete examples for your stack):

Tag such tasks with serialize: true plus explicit upstream and downstream edges so the orchestrator runs them solo in the main checkout. If two tasks both need the same generator run, merge them or split the generator step into its own task both depend on.

Step 3.5 — Best-effort file-touch hints

Emit a **Likely files:** line in the task header. This is a scheduling hint, not a contract — the executor is bound by In scope, not this list, and the orchestrator only uses it to bias pairing (prefer disjoint file sets per round).

Valid values: a list of concrete paths the plan names, or the literal unknown (common and preferred) when the file set only becomes clear after reading the code. Empty = unknown. Never guess — an inaccurate hint is worse than an absent one because the orchestrator schedules against it.

Step 4 — Extract per-task test plan

For every task, apply the project's test-authoring contract (see docs/how-to-write-tests.md):

• At least 2 failure or edge-case assertions per happy-path assertion.
• Name every test. Never write "add unit tests" — list the exact test function names and what each proves.
• If the plan enumerates tests (e.g. TestXxx_Foo with a test number), copy the numbers and names verbatim — that is the contract between plan and task.
• If the plan does not enumerate tests, apply the project failure-mode catalog and name the cases yourself.
• Pick the correct tier per docs/how-to-run-tests.md.

Step 5 — Extract documentation updates

If the plan has a "Documentation Updates" section, split it per task. If not, infer from the change surface using the project's Documentation Map in CLAUDE.md. Common signals:

Step 6 — Write the task files

Use the template in references/task-template.md. Every field is required unless the template marks it optional. No "see plan for details" handwaves except for the exact plan line range.

Naming: NN-<kebab-short-name>.md where NN is two-digit zero-padded and matches execution order (01, 02, 03...). Keep names short but unambiguous: 03-ring-buffer-size-bump.md beats 03-phase2b.md.

Optional context packs. For any task a fresh task-executor subagent would not be able to finish from the task file + cited plan lines alone, also emit a sibling backlog/NN-<name>.context.md file and reference it from the task's header block. The pack is a focused starter context, not a dump. Include only what the executor legitimately cannot re-derive cheaply on its own:

• exact excerpts (with file + line range) from source files the task must read but that are scattered across the repo
• rule IDs, config field names, or message/type names the task references implicitly through the plan's prose
• environment or deploy facts that are true at execution time but not captured anywhere durable
• verbatim YAML reports from prior tasks this one depends on, when the dependency is a contract decision rather than a file

Do not put into a context pack:

• anything the executor would naturally find by Grep in under a minute
• the full plan (the cited line range is enough)
• narrative background that repeats CLAUDE.md or architecture.md
• information the orchestrator may need to refresh at execution time — leave that field out and let the orchestrator add it on spawn

Config-only and trivial tasks almost never need a context pack. Multi-file refactors, tasks with non-obvious cross-references, and final E2E tasks usually do. When in doubt, skip it — the orchestrator can always write one at spawn time.

Step 7 — Write tasks/README.md

Use the template in references/readme-template.md. It must include:

• Link back to the plan
• ASCII dependency DAG
• Numbered task table with columns: # | Task | Phase | Priority | Status
• Workflow section explaining how to run one task end-to-end
• Totals (task count, test count, lines-of-code estimate if known)

Step 8 — Pragmatic review

Before declaring done, delegate the full set of task files to the pragmatic agent and ask it to stress-test:

• Is any task too big to implement inside a single ~150K-token context window (full task file + cited plan range + edited sources + test files + verify output + ≥ 20% reasoning headroom)?
• Is any task so small it is pure overhead (and should be merged)?
• Are the dependencies correct and minimal?
• Does every task have a concrete failure case a reviewer could reject?
• Is the out-of-scope section explicit or just implicit?
• Are deploy/verify gates separated from implementation tasks?
• Is any task missing the test plan or doc update rows?

Apply the agent's feedback before finishing. Do not ship a task set the pragmatic agent has objections to.

Task file structure

Every file in tasks/backlog/ follows the template in references/task-template.md. The mandatory sections are:

1. Title — # Task NN: <Short Title>
2. Header block — plan reference with line numbers, priority, dependencies, estimated size, serialize: true|false (default false; set true for generator / dep-mutating tasks per Step 3), and Likely files: hint per Step 3.5 (explicit file list or the literal unknown).
3. Summary — one paragraph: what, why, why-now.
4. In scope — specific files, line numbers, concrete changes. Include code snippets when the plan has them.
5. Out of scope — explicit list of things the task does NOT touch. This is load-bearing — it prevents scope drift during execution.
6. Validation — how to prove the task is done (unit tests, deploy + smoke, manual verification commands, API queries).
7. Tests — named test functions per the project test-authoring contract. Include exact file path, new-or-additions, and the command to run.
8. Documentation updates — table of files to update in the same commit as the code change.
9. Checklist — the final step-by-step execution checklist the agent ticks off.

tasks/README.md structure

See references/readme-template.md.

Quality bar

The task set passes only when all of these are true:

1. Self-contained. A fresh agent can execute any task without the whole plan — only the cited line range.
2. Explicit out-of-scope. Every task lists what it is not doing.
3. Named tests. Never "add unit tests"; always specific function names.
4. Named docs. Never "update relevant docs"; always the exact file and what to change.
5. Minimal dependencies. No over-serialization.
6. Separated deploy gates. Code + verify are never the same task.
7. Right-sized. Small plans produce one task, not artificial splits.
8. Pragmatic-reviewed. Not skipped, not batched after the fact.
9. Reachable tests. Every test in every task file can be run from the standard project runner per docs/how-to-run-tests.md.
10. Generator and dep-mutating tasks tagged serialize: true. Every generator-run and manifest-edit task has the tag and an explicit ordering dependency. No such task is buried inside a "normal" implementation task.
11. Likely files hint set (or explicitly unknown). Every task has a Likely files line. A guess is worse than unknown.

Output contract

When done, report (under 200 words):

• Number of task files created and path to tasks/README.md
• Dependency graph summary (critical path length, parallel branches)
• Total named test count across all tasks
• Any ambiguity in the plan a human must resolve before execution starts

References

• docs/workflow-management.md — plan/task decision rules this skill implements
• docs/how-to-write-tests.md — test-design contract every task must honor
• .claude/agents/pragmatic.md — review agent that must approve the task set before declaring done
• references/task-template.md — exact task file structure with placeholders
• references/readme-template.md — exact tasks/README.md structure

Source: extractumio/extractum-skills — distributed by TomeVault.