# Plan and Break Down Tasks

Splits a spec into ordered, implementable tasks and estimates the scope.

- Repository: https://github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills (112533 stars)
- Category: Business
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills --skill planning-and-task-breakdown -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills --skill planning-and-task-breakdown -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills --skill planning-and-task-breakdown -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add addyosmani/agent-skills --skill planning-and-task-breakdown -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add addyosmani/agent-skills`

## Description

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.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# 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:

```
Database schema
    │
    ├── API models/types
    │       │
    │       ├── API endpoints
    │       │       │
    │       │       └── Frontend API client
    │       │               │
    │       │               └── UI components
    │       │
    │       └── Validation logic
    │
    └── Seed data / migrations
```

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:

The rest: https://github.com/addyosmani/agent-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/planning-and-task-breakdown/SKILL.md