Decompose Plan into Tasks

Overview

Parse implementation plan and create one Task tool task per H2 Task header. Tasks reference plan via citation-manager, keeping plan authoritative.

Core principle: Plan is source of truth. Tasks are pointers, not copies.

Announce at start: "I'm using the decompose-plan skill to create tasks from this plan."

When to Use

• Before executing any implementation plan
• When /executing-plans or similar workflow starts
• When plan has ## Task N structure with ### Step sub-headers

The Process

Step 1: Parse Plan Structure

Use citation-manager to extract H2 headers (Tasks):

citation-manager extract header "{plan_path}" "Task 1"

Each ## Task N becomes one Claude Code Task.

Step 2: Create One Task Per H2

For EACH ## Task N header, create a Task tool task:

TaskCreate({
  subject: "Task {N}: {task_title}",
  description: `Fetch task details:\n\`citation-manager extract header "${plan_path}" "Task {N} - {task_title}"\`\n\nPlan: ${plan_path}`,
  activeForm: "{task_title}"
})

Step 3: Set Dependencies

• Task N+1 blocked by Task N (linear chain)
• If plan specifies non-linear dependencies, follow plan

Task Description Template

Fetch task details:
`citation-manager extract header "{plan_path}" "Task N - {task_title}"`

Plan: {plan_path}

Why citation directive: Plan may be updated. Task fetches current content at execution time.

Granularity Rules

| Level | What to Create | Example | |-------|---------------|---------| | ## Task N | ONE Task | Unit of work with steps inside | | ### Step N | Part of parent Task | Executed within Task, not split | | #### Sub-step | Part of parent Step | Don't split further |

Common Rationalizations (STOP These)

| Excuse | Reality | |--------|---------| | "I'll split into steps" | Steps execute within their Task. One Task per H2. | | "I'll copy content inline" | Copies go stale. Citation directive fetches current content. | | "Citation adds overhead" | One command. Guarantees current content. Worth it. | | "I need fewer tasks" | One per H2 is the right granularity. Don't merge Tasks. |

Red Flags - You're About to Violate

• Creating 22 tasks for a plan with 6 Tasks (too granular)
• Merging multiple ## Task into one task (too coarse)
• Copying task content into descriptions
• Ignoring dependency chain

Example Output

For a plan with 6 Tasks:

Task #1: Task 1: Create shared library lib/status-helpers.sh
Task #2: Task 2: Refactor task-status-sync.sh to use library  (blockedBy: #1)
Task #3: Task 3: Refactor stop-sync.sh to use library         (blockedBy: #2)
Task #4: Task 4: Enhance plan-path-sync.sh for multi-plan     (blockedBy: #3)
Task #5: Task 5: Create /set-plan slash command                (blockedBy: #4)
Task #6: Task 6: Verification                                 (blockedBy: #5)

Verification

After decomposition, verify:

# Count tasks created
ls ~/.claude/tasks/{session_id}/*.json | wc -l
# Should match number of H2 Task headers in plan

Quick Reference

| Input | Output | |-------|--------| | Plan with 6 ## Task | 6 tasks | | Each task description | Citation directive to plan | | Dependencies | Task-to-task chain |