Task Breakdown Skill

Purpose

Break down high-level implementation plans into actionable task lists with proper user story organization, enabling:

1. Structured Planning: Epic → Story → Task hierarchy with clear dependencies
2. Infrastructure First: Enabler tasks completed before user-facing work
3. Priority-Driven: P1 (MVP) → P2 (Nice-to-Have) → P3 (Polish) execution order
4. Acceptance Driven: Each story has testable acceptance criteria
5. Tracking Integration: Automatic TaskCreate for all tasks with proper metadata

When to Use

Invoke this skill after plan-generator creates an implementation plan and before development starts:

// After plan-generator completes
Skill({
  skill: 'task-breakdown',
  args: '.claude/context/plans/my-feature-plan.md --create-tasks --output .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/my-feature-tasks.md',
});

Use when:

• Plan-generator has created a multi-phase implementation plan
• You need to convert plan phases into trackable tasks
• User stories need to be prioritized (P1/P2/P3)
• Shared infrastructure (Enablers) needs to be identified
• TaskCreate calls are needed for task tracking system

Skip when:

• Plan is already in task format (no conversion needed)
• Single-phase simple task (directly use TaskCreate)
• Exploratory research (use research-synthesis instead)

Iron Law: Enablers Before Stories

CRITICAL: Enabler tasks (shared infrastructure) MUST complete before any user story begins.

WRONG (concurrent):
ENABLER-1.1 ─┐
             ├──→ [ALL START TOGETHER - RACE CONDITIONS]
P1-1.1.1 ────┘

CORRECT (sequential):
ENABLER-1.1 → ENABLER-1.2 → [ALL ENABLERS DONE] → P1-1.1.1 → P1-1.1.2 → ...

Why: Enablers provide shared infrastructure (database schema, authentication middleware, shared utilities). Starting user stories before enablers complete causes:

• Duplicate infrastructure work across stories
• Breaking changes when enabler completes late
• Integration bugs from inconsistent infrastructure

Task Dependencies: All P1 story tasks MUST have addBlockedBy: ['ENABLER-1.1', 'ENABLER-1.2', ...]

Workflow

Step 1: Read Plan and Extract Structure

Read the implementation plan created by plan-generator:

const plan = Read('.claude/context/plans/my-feature-plan.md');

// Extract key information:
// - Plan title and overview
// - Executive summary
// - Total phases and milestones
// - Dependencies between phases
// - Key deliverables per phase
// - Estimated effort per phase

Parse the plan structure:

• Identify all phases (Phase 0: Research, Phase 1: Foundation, Phase 2: Core Features, etc.)
• Extract tasks from each phase
• Identify parallelizable work (PARALLEL_OK flags)
• Note dependencies between phases

Step 2: Identify Enablers (Shared Infrastructure)

CRITICAL: Scan phases for infrastructure work that blocks all user stories.

Enabler Indicators:

• Database schema/migrations
• Authentication/authorization middleware
• Shared utility libraries
• API scaffolding/routing setup
• Configuration/environment setup
• Deployment infrastructure (Docker, CI/CD)

Example Enablers:

Phase 1: Foundation
├── Task 1.1: Create user database schema → ENABLER-1.1
├── Task 1.2: Implement JWT token service → ENABLER-1.2
└── Task 1.3: Set up authentication middleware → ENABLER-1.3

Reason: All user stories need these for authentication

Enabler Extraction Algorithm:

1. Find tasks in “Foundation” or “Infrastructure” phases
2. Check if task description includes: schema, middleware, shared, infrastructure, setup, config
3. Verify task is referenced by multiple user stories
4. Mark as [ENABLER] and assign ID: ENABLER-X.Y

Step 3: Extract User Stories from Plan Phases

Convert plan phases into user stories using the “As a… I want… So that…” format.

Phase → Story Mapping:

Plan Phase 2: Core Features
├── Milestone 2.1: User login functionality
│   ├── Task: Create login API endpoint
│   └── Task: Build login form UI
└── Milestone 2.2: User registration

↓ CONVERT TO ↓

User Story 1.1: User Login with Email/Password [P1]
As a registered user,
I want to log in with my email and password,
So that I can access my account securely.

Tasks:
- [P1-1.1.1] Create login API endpoint
- [P1-1.1.2] Build login form UI

Story Extraction Rules:

1. Each milestone becomes a user story (if user-facing)
2. Combine related tasks under the same story
3. Generate user role, capability, business value
4. Extract acceptance criteria from plan verification steps
5. Calculate estimated effort (sum of task efforts)

Step 4: Apply P1/P2/P3 Prioritization (MoSCoW Method)

Classify each user story by priority:

Prioritization Algorithm:

function prioritizeStory(story, plan) {
  // P1 indicators (MVP)
  if (
    story.includes('authentication') ||
    story.includes('core data') ||
    story.includes('essential workflow')
  ) {
    return 'P1';
  }

  // P3 indicators (polish)
  if (
    story.includes('optimization') ||
    story.includes('polish') ||
    story.includes('nice-to-have')
  ) {
    return 'P3';
  }

  // Default to P2
  return 'P2';
}

Priority Assignment Rules:

• Foundation/infrastructure → Enabler (not P1/P2/P3)
• Core user flows → P1
• User account management (beyond login) → P2
• UI polish, performance optimizations → P3
• Check plan’s “Critical Path” section for P1 hints

Step 5: Generate Acceptance Criteria

For each user story, create testable acceptance criteria:

Acceptance Criteria Formula:

- [ ] {User action} results in {expected outcome}
- [ ] {Edge case} handled with {specific behavior}
- [ ] {Performance metric} meets {threshold}
- [ ] {Security requirement} enforced

Examples:

User Story: User Login with Email/Password [P1]

Acceptance Criteria:

- [ ] User can submit email and password via login form
- [ ] Valid credentials return JWT token and redirect to dashboard
- [ ] Invalid credentials show error message "Invalid email or password"
- [ ] Failed login attempts are logged for security audit
- [ ] Login response time < 200ms (p95)

Extraction from Plan:

1. Look for plan’s “Verification Commands” per task → convert to acceptance criteria
2. Extract performance requirements from plan overview
3. Add security criteria for auth/data handling stories
4. Include error handling criteria for all user actions

Step 6: Assign Task IDs and Dependencies

Use standardized task ID convention:

Task ID Format:

• Enablers: ENABLER-X.Y (e.g., ENABLER-1.1, ENABLER-1.2)
  • X = Enabler group number
  • Y = Task number within group
• P1 Tasks: P1-X.Y.Z (e.g., P1-1.1.1, P1-1.1.2)
  • X = Story number within P1
  • Y = Substory (usually 1 unless nested)
  • Z = Task number within story
• P2 Tasks: P2-X.Y.Z (same structure as P1)
• P3 Tasks: P3-X.Y.Z (same structure as P1)

Dependency Rules:

1. All P1 stories depend on all Enablers
2. P2 stories depend on P1 stories they extend
3. P3 stories depend on P1 or P2 they enhance
4. Tasks within a story are sequential by default (each depends on previous)

Example Dependencies:

// Enabler tasks (no dependencies)
TaskCreate({ subject: 'ENABLER-1.1: Create user database schema', ... });
TaskCreate({ subject: 'ENABLER-1.2: Implement JWT token service', ... });

// P1 story tasks (blocked by enablers)
TaskCreate({
  subject: 'P1-1.1.1: Create login API endpoint',
  metadata: { priority: 'p1', story: '1.1' }
});
TaskUpdate({ taskId: 'P1-1.1.1', addBlockedBy: ['ENABLER-1.1', 'ENABLER-1.2'] });

// P1 story task (blocked by previous task in same story)
TaskCreate({
  subject: 'P1-1.1.2: Build login form UI',
  metadata: { priority: 'p1', story: '1.1' }
});
TaskUpdate({ taskId: 'P1-1.1.2', addBlockedBy: ['P1-1.1.1'] });

// P2 story task (blocked by P1 story it extends)
TaskCreate({
  subject: 'P2-2.1.1: Implement password reset token generation',
  metadata: { priority: 'p2', story: '2.1' }
});
TaskUpdate({ taskId: 'P2-2.1.1', addBlockedBy: ['P1-1.1.1'] }); // Needs auth infrastructure

Step 7: Invoke Template Renderer

Use template-renderer to generate the structured task document:

// Build token map from extracted data
const tokens = {
  // Header metadata
  FEATURE_NAME: extractFeatureName(plan),
  VERSION: '1.0.0',
  AUTHOR: 'Claude',
  DATE: new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0],
  STATUS: 'draft',
  PRIORITY: determinePriority(plan),
  ESTIMATED_EFFORT: calculateTotalEffort(plan),

  // Overview
  FEATURE_DISPLAY_NAME: extractDisplayName(plan),
  FEATURE_DESCRIPTION: plan.executiveSummary,
  BUSINESS_VALUE: extractBusinessValue(plan),
  USER_IMPACT: extractUserImpact(plan),

  // Epic level
  EPIC_NAME: extractEpicName(plan),
  EPIC_GOAL: plan.overview.goal,
  SUCCESS_CRITERIA: extractSuccessCriteria(plan),

  // Enablers (repeat for each enabler)
  ENABLER_1_NAME: 'Authentication Infrastructure',
  ENABLER_1_PURPOSE: 'Set up shared authentication middleware and database schema',
  ENABLER_1_EFFORT: '2 days',

  // User stories (repeat for each story)
  // P1 stories, P2 stories, P3 stories

  // Summary counts
  ENABLER_COUNT: enablers.length,
  P1_STORY_COUNT: p1Stories.length,
  P2_STORY_COUNT: p2Stories.length,
  P3_STORY_COUNT: p3Stories.length,
  TOTAL_STORIES: allStories.length,
  TOTAL_TASKS: allTasks.length,
  TOTAL_EFFORT: totalEffort,
};

// Invoke template-renderer
Skill({
  skill: 'template-renderer',
  args: {
    templateName: 'tasks-template',
    outputPath: outputPath,
    tokens: tokens,
  },
});

Step 8: Create TaskCreate Calls (Optional –create-tasks)

If --create-tasks flag is provided, generate TaskCreate calls for all tasks:

// Phase 1: Create all Enabler tasks
enablers.forEach(enabler => {
  TaskCreate({
    subject: `${enabler.id}: ${enabler.title}`,
    description: enabler.description,
    activeForm: enabler.activeForm,
    metadata: {
      type: 'enabler',
      blocksAll: true,
      estimatedEffort: enabler.effort,
      outputArtifacts: enabler.outputs,
    },
  });
});

// Phase 2: Create P1 tasks with Enabler dependencies
p1Tasks.forEach(task => {
  TaskCreate({
    subject: `${task.id}: ${task.title}`,
    description: task.description,
    activeForm: task.activeForm,
    metadata: {
      priority: 'p1',
      story: task.storyId,
      estimatedEffort: task.effort,
      outputArtifacts: task.outputs,
    },
  });

  // Block P1 tasks on all enablers
  TaskUpdate({
    taskId: task.id,
    addBlockedBy: enablers.map(e => e.id),
  });

  // Block on previous task in same story
  if (task.previousTaskInStory) {
    TaskUpdate({
      taskId: task.id,
      addBlockedBy: [task.previousTaskInStory],
    });
  }
});

// Phase 3: Create P2 tasks
p2Tasks.forEach(task => {
  TaskCreate({
    subject: `${task.id}: ${task.title}`,
    description: task.description,
    activeForm: task.activeForm,
    metadata: {
      priority: 'p2',
      story: task.storyId,
      estimatedEffort: task.effort,
    },
  });

  // Block P2 on dependencies (usually P1 stories)
  TaskUpdate({
    taskId: task.id,
    addBlockedBy: task.dependencies,
  });
});

// Phase 4: Create P3 tasks (similar to P2)

TaskCreate Best Practices:

1. Always include activeForm (present continuous for spinner display)
2. Use metadata for priority, story ID, effort, outputs
3. Create tasks in dependency order (Enablers → P1 → P2 → P3)
4. Use TaskUpdate immediately after TaskCreate to set dependencies
5. Record task IDs in memory for verification

Step 9: Validation and Verification

Run post-breakdown validation:

# Check no unresolved placeholders in task document
grep "{{" <output-file> && echo "ERROR: Unresolved tokens!" || echo "✓ All tokens resolved"

# Verify all P1 stories have acceptance criteria
grep -A 5 "## User Story.*\[P1\]" <output-file> | grep "Acceptance Criteria" || echo "WARNING: P1 missing acceptance criteria"

# Check task ID format
grep -E "(ENABLER-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+|P[123]-[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)" <output-file> || echo "WARNING: Invalid task IDs"

# Verify dependency integrity (if --create-tasks used)
TaskList() # Check all tasks created successfully

Validation Checklist:

• All {{PLACEHOLDER}} values replaced
• All enabler tasks identified and marked [ENABLER]
• User stories prioritized (P1 = MVP, P2 = Nice-to-Have, P3 = Polish)
• Task dependencies documented (blockedBy references)
• Acceptance criteria defined for each user story
• Task IDs follow convention (ENABLER-X.Y, P1-X.Y.Z)
• If --create-tasks: All TaskCreate calls successful
• Task summary table has correct counts

Examples

Example 1: Basic Task Breakdown (No TaskCreate)

// After plan-generator creates a plan
Skill({
  skill: 'task-breakdown',
  args: '.claude/context/plans/auth-feature-plan.md --output .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/auth-tasks.md',
});

// Result: .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/auth-tasks.md created with:
// - 2 Enabler groups (database, authentication middleware)
// - 3 P1 user stories (login, logout, session management)
// - 2 P2 user stories (password reset, profile editing)
// - 1 P3 user story (remember me checkbox)
// - All tasks have IDs, descriptions, acceptance criteria

Example 2: Task Breakdown with TaskCreate Integration

// Generate task document AND create tasks in tracking system
Skill({
  skill: 'task-breakdown',
  args: '.claude/context/plans/api-feature-plan.md --create-tasks --output .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/api-tasks.md',
});

// Result:
// 1. Task document created at .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/api-tasks.md
// 2. TaskCreate calls executed for all tasks:
//    - ENABLER-1.1: Create API schema
//    - ENABLER-1.2: Set up API versioning
//    - P1-1.1.1: Create GET /users endpoint
//    - P1-1.1.2: Add authentication to GET /users
//    - ... (all tasks created)
// 3. Dependencies set via TaskUpdate
// 4. TaskList() shows all tasks ready for assignment

Example 3: From Planner Agent

// In planner agent workflow
// Step 1: Create implementation plan
Skill({
  skill: 'plan-generator',
  args: '--feature "User Authentication" --output .claude/context/plans/auth-plan.md',
});

// Step 2: Break down plan into tasks
Skill({
  skill: 'task-breakdown',
  args: '.claude/context/plans/auth-plan.md --create-tasks --output .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/auth-tasks.md',
});

// Step 3: Verify tasks created
TaskList(); // Shows all tasks with proper priorities and dependencies

// Step 4: Developer can now claim tasks in order:
// 1. Claim ENABLER-1.1 (no blockers)
// 2. After ENABLER-1.1 done, claim P1-1.1.1 (now unblocked)
// 3. Continue sequential execution

Example 4: Manual Task Breakdown (CLI)

# Using skill via CLI
node .claude/skills/task-breakdown/scripts/main.cjs \
  --plan .claude/context/plans/feature-plan.md \
  --output ./tasks.md \
  --create-tasks

# Output:
# ✓ Plan parsed: 5 phases, 14 tasks extracted
# ✓ Identified 2 Enabler groups (4 tasks)
# ✓ Extracted 8 user stories (4 P1, 3 P2, 1 P3)
# ✓ Generated acceptance criteria for all stories
# ✓ Task document created: ./tasks.md
# ✓ Created 14 tasks in tracking system
# ✓ All dependencies configured
# → Next: TaskList() to view tasks

Integration with Planner Agent

The task-breakdown skill is designed to be invoked by the planner agent after plan-generator:

Planner Agent Workflow:

1. [PLANNER] Invoke plan-generator → creates .claude/context/plans/feature-plan.md
2. [PLANNER] Invoke task-breakdown → creates .claude/context/artifacts/tasks/feature-tasks.md
3. [PLANNER] Review task breakdown for completeness
4. [PLANNER] If --create-tasks used: TaskList() to verify all tasks created
5. [PLANNER] Hand off to developer agent to claim first unblocked task

Expected Output:

[PLANNER] ✓ Plan created: auth-feature-plan.md (5 phases, 14 tasks)
[PLANNER] → Invoking task-breakdown...
[TASK-BREAKDOWN] ✓ Identified 2 Enabler groups (4 tasks)
[TASK-BREAKDOWN] ✓ Extracted 8 user stories (4 P1, 3 P2, 1 P3)
[TASK-BREAKDOWN] ✓ Task document created: auth-tasks.md
[TASK-BREAKDOWN] ✓ Created 14 tasks in tracking system
[PLANNER] → Verification: TaskList()
[PLANNER] ✓ All tasks visible, ready for development
[PLANNER] → Next: Developer claims ENABLER-1.1

Task ID to TaskCreate Mapping

How to convert task IDs to TaskCreate subject strings:

// Task ID in document: ENABLER-1.1
// TaskCreate subject: "ENABLER-1.1: Create user database schema"

// Task ID in document: P1-1.1.1
// TaskCreate subject: "P1-1.1.1: Create login API endpoint"

// Format: "{TASK_ID}: {TASK_TITLE}"

Metadata to include:

TaskCreate({
  subject: 'ENABLER-1.1: Create user database schema',
  description:
    'Design and implement users table with email, password_hash, created_at, last_login columns. Create migration file.',
  activeForm: 'Creating user database schema',
  metadata: {
    type: 'enabler', // 'enabler' | 'p1' | 'p2' | 'p3'
    blocksAll: true, // Only for enablers
    priority: 'enabler', // 'enabler' | 'p1' | 'p2' | 'p3'
    story: null, // Story ID (e.g., '1.1') or null for enablers
    estimatedEffort: '4 hours', // From plan
    outputArtifacts: ['migration file', 'schema documentation'],
    verificationCommand: 'psql -c "\\d users"',
  },
});

Best Practices

1. Always identify Enablers first – Shared infrastructure must complete before user stories
2. Use P1 for MVP only – P1 should be releasable minimum viable product
3. Testable acceptance criteria – Every criterion should be verifiable (e.g., “response time < 200ms”)
4. Follow task ID convention – ENABLER-X.Y, P1-X.Y.Z, P2-X.Y.Z, P3-X.Y.Z
5. Sequential task creation – Create tasks in dependency order to avoid circular dependencies
6. Invoke template-renderer – Don’t manually write task documents (use token replacement)
7. Validate before TaskCreate – Check task document completeness before creating tasks
8. Use metadata extensively – Include priority, story, effort, outputs in TaskCreate metadata
9. Record task IDs – Keep list of created task IDs in memory for verification

Error Handling

Missing Plan File:

ERROR: Plan file not found: .claude/context/plans/missing-plan.md
Ensure plan-generator has run successfully before invoking task-breakdown.

No User Stories Extracted:

ERROR: No user stories extracted from plan
Plan may be too abstract. Ensure plan has concrete phases with tasks.
Check plan sections: Executive Summary, Implementation Phases, Key Deliverables.

Invalid Task ID Format:

ERROR: Invalid task ID format: "TASK-1.1"
Must use: ENABLER-X.Y for enablers, P1-X.Y.Z for P1 tasks
Example: ENABLER-1.1, P1-1.1.1, P2-2.1.3

Circular Dependency Detected:

ERROR: Circular dependency detected: P1-1.1.2 → P1-1.1.3 → P1-1.1.2
Fix: Ensure tasks within a story are sequential, not circular.

TaskCreate Failed:

ERROR: TaskCreate failed for P1-1.1.1
Reason: Task with same subject already exists
Solution: Check TaskList() for existing tasks before creating

Memory Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before starting:

cat .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

Check for:

• Previously created task breakdowns
• Common task ID patterns for this project
• User preferences for prioritization
• Known issues with plan-generator output

After completing:

• New task breakdown created → Append to .claude/context/memory/learnings.md

  ## Task Breakdown: {feature-name} ({date})
  - Plan: {plan-file}
  - Output: {task-file}
  - Enablers: {count}
  - User Stories: P1={count}, P2={count}, P3={count}
  - Tasks Created: {yes/no}, Count={count}
  

• Issue found → Append to .claude/context/memory/issues.md

  ## Issue: {description} ({date})
  - Context: task-breakdown skill processing {plan-file}
  - Problem: {what went wrong}
  - Workaround: {how it was resolved}
  

• Decision made → Append to .claude/context/memory/decisions.md

  ## [ADR-XXX] {title}
  - Date: {date}
  - Context: {why decision was needed}
  - Decision: {what was decided}
  - Consequences: {impact}
  

ASSUME INTERRUPTION: Your context may reset. If it’s not in memory, it didn’t happen.