# Epic Breakdown Advisor

Break down epics into user stories with Humanizing Work split patterns.

- Repository: https://github.com/deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills (7825 stars)
- Category: Engineering
- License: see repository
- Last updated: 2026-10-16
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill epic-breakdown-advisor -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill epic-breakdown-advisor -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill epic-breakdown-advisor -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills --skill epic-breakdown-advisor -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills`

## Description

Break down epics into user stories with Humanizing Work split patterns. Use when a backlog item is too large to estimate, sequence, or deliver safely.

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

## Purpose
Guide product managers through breaking down epics into user stories using Richard Lawrence's complete Humanizing Work methodology, a systematic, flowchart-driven approach that applies 9 splitting patterns sequentially. Use this to identify which pattern applies, split while preserving user value, and evaluate splits based on what they reveal about low-value work you can eliminate. This ensures vertical slicing (end-to-end value) rather than horizontal slicing (technical layers).

This is not arbitrary slicing, it's a proven, methodical process that starts with validation, walks through patterns in order, and evaluates results strategically.

## Input

**Works best with:** The epic or large story you need to break down, paste it as written in your backlog.
**Also useful:** Team context (sprint length, estimation ceiling) and what's blocking delivery (too big to estimate, sequence, or release).

Anything supplied with the invocation itself, text after the skill name, a pasted context dump, or an appended `ARGUMENTS:` line, counts as answers already given. Use it and skip whatever it covers; don't re-ask.

**Arriving empty-handed? That works too.** The advisor opens by asking for the epic text, then walks the Humanizing Work pattern flowchart against it.

**Example invocation:** `Break this down: 'As a finance admin, I can export any report to Excel, PDF, or CSV with custom date ranges and saved templates.'`

## Key Concepts

### Core Principles: Vertical Slices Preserve Value
A user story is "a description of a change in system behavior from the perspective of a user." Splitting must maintain **vertical slices**, work that touches multiple architectural layers and delivers observable user value, not horizontal slices addressing single components (e.g., "front-end story" + "back-end story").

The rest: https://github.com/deanpeters/Product-Manager-Skills/blob/HEAD/skills/epic-breakdown-advisor/SKILL.md