Breakdown Tasks

Task Breakdown — Orchestrator

Productivity — multi-agent orchestration. Break architecture into executable tasks; consumers implement one at a time.

Core Question: "Can an engineer pick up any single task and ship it independently?"

> Methodology (risk-first, vertical slices, stable IDs, multi-agent rationale), principles, when NOT to use: [references/playbook.md](references/playbook.md) [PLAYBOOK].

Capabilities surfaced: decompose, task-breakdown, sprint-plan, work-breakdown, acceptance criteria, task dependencies, implementation order, risk-first ordering.

Critical Gates

Critic-agent verifies ALL before delivery:

• [ ] Every task has exactly ONE acceptance test
• [ ] No task depends on something not yet defined
• [ ] Risky/uncertain work is front-loaded
• [ ] All external config is in Prerequisites, not buried in tasks
• [ ] A junior dev could verify each acceptance criterion
• [ ] No task requires unstated knowledge
• [ ] Tasks are vertical slices (each delivers a testable increment through all layers); horizontal-only needs explicit justification

On fail: critic names the agent; orchestrator re-dispatches with feedback. Max 2 rounds; round >2 → DONEWITHCONCERNS.

Before Starting

Apply [references/_shared/before-starting-check.md](references/_shared/before-starting-check.md) [PLAYBOOK]:

| # | Action | |---|---| | 0 | Mode resolve per [references/_shared/mode-resolver.md](references/_shared/mode-resolver.md). Default standard. Downgrade to fast (<10 tasks, single feature, no upstream) → Single-Agent Fallback. Escalate to deep for multi-feature roadmaps with cross-feature deps. | | 1 | Read implementation-roadmap/canonical-paths.md if present. | | 2 | Read architecture/system-architecture.md + docs/forsvn/artifacts/meta/specs/*.md + docs/forsvn/artifacts/product/flow/*.md. None + no source in chat → recommend /discover or /architect-system. | | 3 | Read existing docs/forsvn/artifacts/meta/tasks.md — re-run behavior in [references/task-format.md](references/task-format.md) §"Re-run behavior". | | 4 | No experience/ read — project-specific. |

Pre-Dispatch

Per [references/_shared/pre-dispatch-protocol.md](references/_shared/pre-dispatch-protocol.md) [PROCEDURE]. Warm/Cold Start prompts, dimensions, write-back: [references/procedures/pre-dispatch.md](references/procedures/pre-dispatch.md) [PROCEDURE]. Session execution profile (single-vs-multi): inherit per references/_shared/execution-policy.md.

Multi-Agent Architecture

5 agents, 2 layers (decomposer + dependency-mapper parallel → ordering → acceptance → critic). Agent Roster, Execution Layers, 6-step Dispatch Protocol, Routing Rules, Single-Agent Fallback: [references/procedures/multi-agent-dispatch.md](references/procedures/multi-agent-dispatch.md) [PROCEDURE].

Artifact Contract

• Path: docs/forsvn/artifacts/meta/tasks.md (single file; edited in place; full re-decomposition snapshots prior to tasks.v[N].md)
• Lifecycle: pipeline
• Frontmatter: skill, version, date, status, stack (=meta), review_surface (=md), decision_state, review_tool, reviewed_at, reviewer. Schema + Status Index + Shared Context + task-block format: [references/task-format.md](references/task-format.md) [PROCEDURE].
• Required sections: Status Index (source-of-truth for resume), Shared Context (decisions every task references), Tasks (sibling ### blocks, stable IDs).
• Consumed by: fresh engineering sessions running Resume Protocol from [references/execution-protocol.md](references/execution-protocol.md); orchestrators batching AFK; operator; fresh-eyes.

Execution Hand-off

Planner, not runner. After tasks.md ships, the next consumer owns execution. Do not re-run this skill to implement. Operating manual: [references/execution-protocol.md](references/execution-protocol.md) (Resume, Per-Task, Update/Remove/Reopen, Concurrency, Staleness, Coding Rules).

Anti-Patterns

[references/anti-patterns.md](references/anti-patterns.md) [ANTI-PATTERN] — re-read before any task that smells off.

Worked Example

[references/examples/decompose-walkthrough.md](references/examples/decompose-walkthrough.md) [EXAMPLE] — Todo app, end-to-end Layer 1 + Layer 2 + critic PASS.

Durable Rules (protected)

Completion Status

Every run ends with explicit status:

• DONE — tasks decomposed, sized, ordered, deps + criteria written; critic PASS round 1 or 2
• DONEWITHCONCERNS — complete but sizing/dep/criteria ambiguity, or critic FAILed round 2
• BLOCKED — work too large/under-specified; needs scope reduction or further discovery
• NEEDS_CONTEXT — missing spec/architecture/product-context; recommend discover or architect-system

Next Step

Hand off tasks.md to implementing agent/dev with the Resume Protocol pointer. Do not re-invoke for the same scope unless re-decomposing.

References

• references/: playbook.md [PLAYBOOK], task-format.md [PROCEDURE], execution-protocol.md, anti-patterns.md [ANTI-PATTERN], {sizing-examples, dependency-patterns, acceptance-criteria}.md
• references/procedures/{multi-agent-dispatch, pre-dispatch}.md [PROCEDURE]
• references/examples/decompose-walkthrough.md [EXAMPLE]
• references/_shared/{before-starting-check, mode-resolver, pre-dispatch-protocol}.md

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: hungv47
• Source: hungv47/meta-skills
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://skills.forsvn.com/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.