slice-tasks

story: e45s29

Slice Tasks

Spine position: Step 2 — scope-work → slice-tasks → plan-work.

Produce epic capsule story tasks in specs/epics/eNN-slug/ — vertical slices, each independently deliverable and testable. Output: decoupled eNNsYY-tasks.yaml files with runnable verify commands. Legacy specs/epics/ (see slice-tasks) is deprecated; use capsule dirs + execution-status.yaml.

Pre-flight

• Does specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml exist? If not, run scope-work first — you can't slice what you haven't bounded.
• Is the release-plan.yaml populated with the epics you're slicing? Epic IDs (e01, e02…) should exist before you create stories.
• Do you understand the difference between a horizontal layer and a vertical slice? (See anti-patterns below.)

Process

1. Read planning-context.yaml — If specs/planning-context.yaml exists, read it first:

   test -f specs/planning-context.yaml && echo "Context found" || echo "No context — starting fresh"
   

   Use feature_name, constraints, and out_of_scope to inform slice boundaries. key_decisions in the file may constrain how stories are cut (e.g., "no external deps" constrains slice 2). If absent, proceed normally.

2. Read context — Read specs/product/SCOPE_LATEST.yaml and/or specs/release-plan.yaml. Understand what the epic delivers end-to-end.

3. Cut tracer-bullet slices — Identify the thinnest possible vertical path through the stack that delivers user value. Start with this slice; it will catch integration issues first. For example:

   • A search feature: first slice is "user types query → API returns results" (no filters, no pagination, no ranking — just the plumbing working end-to-end).
   • A checkout flow: first slice is "user clicks buy → order created" (no payment, no inventory, no email).

4. Assign BCPs — For each story, estimate Business Complexity Points (1–13). A 1-BCP story is a trivial change (one file, one concept). A 13-BCP story is a major feature across multiple modules. If a story exceeds 8 BCPs, consider splitting it.