Agile Planning Skill

What it does

• Translates new requirements into epics and user stories mapped to the active project.
• Defines acceptance criteria and estimation (story points/t-shirt sizes) consistent with team velocity.
• Produces a prioritized backlog aligned to outcomes and logs decisions in memory.

When to use

• Before starting a new initiative or feature set.
• When backlog is unclear or lacks acceptance criteria or estimates.
• When stakeholders need scope clarity and effort signals.

Key operations

• Identify active project (projects/current-project.txt or PROJECT.md status) and review PROJECT.md, backlog/epics.json, backlog/user-stories.json, current-sprint.json.
• Identify outcomes and slice into epics and stories with INVEST acceptance criteria.
• Estimate effort (points) and dependencies; flag risks/assumptions; check against historical velocity in sprint-history.md.
• Prioritize using value vs. effort and constraints; propose sprint placement respecting capacity guidance from AGENTS.md.
• Log rationale and decisions in memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md.

Output files

• projects/<ACTIVE>/backlog/epics.json — epics with goals, scope, risks, dependencies.
• projects/<ACTIVE>/backlog/user-stories.json — prioritized user stories with acceptance criteria and estimates.
• projects/<ACTIVE>/backlog/backlog-index.md — human-readable summary.
• projects/<ACTIVE>/backlog/assumptions-risks.md — assumptions, constraints, risks, mitigations.
• projects/<ACTIVE>/backlog/estimation-log.md — estimation rationale and calibration notes.
• memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md — decisions, rationale, sprint placement notes.

Example workflow

1. Run session init (AGENTS.md checklist); confirm active project.
2. Capture product goal and constraints; scan backlog for overlaps.
3. Draft epics and slice into stories with acceptance criteria.
4. Estimate each story (points); note dependencies and risks; check velocity.
5. Prioritize, propose sprint placement, update backlog files; log decisions in memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md.

Best practices

• Make stories INVEST and testable; acceptance criteria are observable.
• Calibrate points with recent completed stories; avoid single-person estimates.
• Keep epics outcome-oriented; avoid solution-locking too early.
• Note risks and unknowns explicitly; create spikes for research.
• Respect capacity guidance: planned points ≤ velocity × 1.1 and reserve 10–20% buffer.

Related resources

• AGENTS.md (session flow, safety rules)
• SKILLS.md, MEMORY.md, memory/YYYY-MM-DD.md
• projects/<ACTIVE>/PROJECT.md, backlog/epics.json, backlog/user-stories.json, backlog/backlog-index.md
• Definition of Ready/Done; team estimation guide (Planning Poker)