Agent skill · operations · aiskillstore
planning-and-task-breakdown
Breaks work into ordered tasks. Use when you have a spec or clear requirements and need to break work into implementable tasks. Use when a task feels too large to start, when you need to estimate scope, or when parallel work is possible.
Why this skill is useful
Codifies a structured approach to task breakdown and planning that the AI could infer but now doesn't have to guess.
What it needs
About 7k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 405 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Planning and Task Breakdown Overview Decompose work into small, verifiable tasks with explicit acceptance criteria. Good task breakdown is the difference between an agent that completes work reliably and one that produces a tangled mess. Every task should be small enough to implement, test, and verify in a single focused session. When to Use You have a spec and need to break it into implementable units A task feels too large or vague to start Work needs to be parallelized across multiple agents or sessions You need to communicate scope to a human The implementation order isn't obvious When NOT to use: Single-file changes with obvious scope, or when the spec already contains well-defined tasks. The Planning Process Step 1: Enter Plan Mode Before writing any code, operate in read-only mode: Read the spec and relevant codebase sections Identify existing patterns and conventions Map dependencies between components Note risks and unknowns Do NOT write code during planning. The output is a plan document saved to tasks/plan.md and a task list recorded in the task list target (see Output Files; default tasks/todo.md), not implementation. Step 2: Identify the Dependency Graph Map what depends on what: Implementation order follows the dependency graph bottom-up: build foundations first. Step 3: Slice Vertically Instead of building all the database, then all the API, then all the UI — build one complete feature path at a time: Bad (horizontal slicing): Good (vertical slicing): Each vertical slice delivers working, testable functionality. Step 4: Write Tasks Each task follows this structure, whether it lands in the markdown task list or as an item in an external tracker (see Output Files): Step 5: Order and Checkpoint Arrange tasks so that: 1. Dependencies are satisfied (build foundation first) 2. Each task leaves the system in a working state 3. Verification checkpoints occur after every 2-3 tasks 4. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills aiskillstore/planning-and-task-breakdown